if she wasn’t. Then it got quiet; no footsteps and no voices. Even the gulls overhead were quiet. What was going on? The idea to hide in the trees was starting to seem foolish. Then the conversation began again. The feet weren’t moving, though. The Chief must have needed a breather. Only the extremely fit can make it up the hill from the light without getting winded.
“Look, Chief. This is getting us nowhere. Precious time is slipping away from us. We need to close down the entrance to the inn. No one gets out until we figure this out.” Elizabeth stifled a gasp.
“We have no concrete evidence that this is anything other than a teenager who has run away from her parents for a while. Amelia will never go for closing down the—”
“It’s not her choice!” The other man insisted. His voice was loud and demanding. “We have a very serious situation and could be losing vital evidence or allowing key witnesses or even the perpetrators the opportunity to walk away, Scot free.”
Elizabeth was starting to feel uncomfortable eavesdropping on their conversation. If they could see her, she would look rather guilty. She was starting to shift her focus from keeping her balance, crouched behind the tree, to what they were saying. Her left foot, which was further down the hill than the other, started to slide. Her body weight must have been balanced predominantly on that foot because her whole body started to slide down the steep hill toward the water. The trunk slipped from her grasp and she felt her whole body heading downward. She could hear the surf crashing against the rocks below. Panic set in. The edge of this part of the cliff wasn’t very far away, but she didn’t know exactly how far. Desperately she snatched at low branches as she tried to stop herself from sliding further. The first branch pulled right off the tree. The second slipped from her hand, but slowed her down a bit. The third branch was the charm. She felt her whole body jolt to a stop. She quickly grabbed the trunk of the tree and held her breath. She wondered how much noise had she made slipping down the side of the hill. Had they noticed? She listened. The air was silent. She couldn’t see their faces to tell if they were just pausing in their conversation or listening for her. She prayed it wasn’t the latter. She would have a hard time explaining herself if they found her. She slowly exhaled and glanced down the hill, beyond her left foot. Her eyes grew wide. She was mere inches away from an abrupt drop off. She was on the edge of the cliff. She stifled another gasp. Her head suddenly felt dizzy. This was where the trail took a right turn and zigzagged the rest of the way down the cliff. They would have been investigating another situation at the inn if she had kept going over the edge. Elizabeth decided to put that out of her head and concentrate on holding on and keeping quiet. She listened for what seemed to be a very long time, longing to hear their voices again. Hopefully, they thought she was just a squirrel. She listened. Finally the voices came back to life again.
“Lieutenant Perkins, look. We don’t know that it’s a serious situation. It could just be –”
“Not a serious situation! Check with the girl’s parents and see what they think! It most certainly is. The evidence we’ve collected so far certainly indicates it is and speaking of checking, I’d like to check with Mitchell and see what he’s been up to.”
The voices started to trail off so the chief must have caught his breath while he was getting yelled at and they started heading back up to the top of the hill again. The squelch from a two-way radio confirmed they were further up the path.
Poor Nana. She will absolutely flip. This will be terrible for business. And Kurt. What did the Lieutenant mean by that? Do they suspect him? If he really is a suspect, what would his motive be? And are others in danger? And what evidence…what have they
“Look, Chief. This is getting us nowhere. Precious time is slipping away from us. We need to close down the entrance to the inn. No one gets out until we figure this out.” Elizabeth stifled a gasp.
“We have no concrete evidence that this is anything other than a teenager who has run away from her parents for a while. Amelia will never go for closing down the—”
“It’s not her choice!” The other man insisted. His voice was loud and demanding. “We have a very serious situation and could be losing vital evidence or allowing key witnesses or even the perpetrators the opportunity to walk away, Scot free.”
Elizabeth was starting to feel uncomfortable eavesdropping on their conversation. If they could see her, she would look rather guilty. She was starting to shift her focus from keeping her balance, crouched behind the tree, to what they were saying. Her left foot, which was further down the hill than the other, started to slide. Her body weight must have been balanced predominantly on that foot because her whole body started to slide down the steep hill toward the water. The trunk slipped from her grasp and she felt her whole body heading downward. She could hear the surf crashing against the rocks below. Panic set in. The edge of this part of the cliff wasn’t very far away, but she didn’t know exactly how far. Desperately she snatched at low branches as she tried to stop herself from sliding further. The first branch pulled right off the tree. The second slipped from her hand, but slowed her down a bit. The third branch was the charm. She felt her whole body jolt to a stop. She quickly grabbed the trunk of the tree and held her breath. She wondered how much noise had she made slipping down the side of the hill. Had they noticed? She listened. The air was silent. She couldn’t see their faces to tell if they were just pausing in their conversation or listening for her. She prayed it wasn’t the latter. She would have a hard time explaining herself if they found her. She slowly exhaled and glanced down the hill, beyond her left foot. Her eyes grew wide. She was mere inches away from an abrupt drop off. She was on the edge of the cliff. She stifled another gasp. Her head suddenly felt dizzy. This was where the trail took a right turn and zigzagged the rest of the way down the cliff. They would have been investigating another situation at the inn if she had kept going over the edge. Elizabeth decided to put that out of her head and concentrate on holding on and keeping quiet. She listened for what seemed to be a very long time, longing to hear their voices again. Hopefully, they thought she was just a squirrel. She listened. Finally the voices came back to life again.
“Lieutenant Perkins, look. We don’t know that it’s a serious situation. It could just be –”
“Not a serious situation! Check with the girl’s parents and see what they think! It most certainly is. The evidence we’ve collected so far certainly indicates it is and speaking of checking, I’d like to check with Mitchell and see what he’s been up to.”
The voices started to trail off so the chief must have caught his breath while he was getting yelled at and they started heading back up to the top of the hill again. The squelch from a two-way radio confirmed they were further up the path.
Poor Nana. She will absolutely flip. This will be terrible for business. And Kurt. What did the Lieutenant mean by that? Do they suspect him? If he really is a suspect, what would his motive be? And are others in danger? And what evidence…what have they
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