A Stranger on the Beach. Michele Campbell

do that to my daughter.

      I picked up the phone to call Lynn; then I remembered she was in Florida. I thought of the bar in town, where I’d gone a couple of nights earlier. There would be people there. And a stiff drink. I put a jacket on and got my car keys.

      If I thought things were bad, I was about to make them much worse.

      9

      The bar at the Red Anchor hosted a two-for-one happy hour on Wednesday nights. The place was packed by seven, and Aidan was hustling to keep up when chief of police Tommy Callahan walked in. Even in the midst of the crowd, Tommy was hard to miss, with his bulk, his booming voice, and his ruddy face. The Irish sunburn, they called it. The bar at the front of the Red Anchor restaurant was Tommy’s favorite place to hold court, and if he was here, his men weren’t far behind. They’d sit around for hours, the guys laughing at Tommy’s jokes and generally licking his boots, all of them expecting a couple of rounds on the house. But Aidan knew better than to complain. His big brother had gotten him this job and bailed him out of trouble more times than he could count. Acting like a devoted kid brother was small price to pay for the cover he got from Tommy. He never knew when he might need that cover again.

      As Tommy approached, Aidan reached across the bar and clasped his brother’s hand.

      “Good to see ya, bro. The usual?” Aidan said, grabbing a beer stein.

      “No. I got something to say to you. Outside,” Tommy said, jerking his head toward the door.

      “Uh, I’m working here.”

      “Don’t backtalk, Aidan. I’m not in the mood.”

      The flash of anger was like heat in his blood. But he held his tongue. “All right. Give me a minute.”

      He called out to Nancy, the waitress. A huge smile lit up her tired face as she caught sight of Tommy. She hurried over, wiping her hands on her apron.

      “Chief!” Nancy said.

      “Nance, you’re looking fine tonight,” Tommy said, and gave her a hug.

      “Aww, thanks,” Nancy said, blushing with pleasure. “We got shepherd’s pie for the special. Want me to grab a plate for you?”

      “You know I do.”

      “Tommy needs to talk to me outside,” Aidan said. “Cover the bar for a few?”

      “No problem,” Nancy said.

      Yeah, right. She would’ve screamed bloody murder if Aidan ever asked that for himself.

      Aidan followed Tommy out to the parking lot, which backed up onto the ocean. It was a blustery evening, with the tang of salt in the air. Clouds scudded across the dark sky, and gulls cawed around the trash cans. Tommy’s cruiser was parked in front of the restaurant in a spot reserved for the owner, who wasn’t in yet. If he did come in, what the hell, he could find himself another spot.

      Tommy leaned against the cruiser and took out a pack of cigarettes. He lit one, and offered the pack to Aidan, who shook his head.

      “I quit.”

      “Yeah? Good for you,” Tommy said, with a cynical half laugh that implied it wouldn’t last.

      “What’s up?” Aidan said. “Ma complaining about me again?”

      “No. But you really ought to call her.”

      “I do call. It’s never enough.”

      “You could come for dinner on Sunday.”

      “I work Sundays. Some of us don’t make our own hours.”

      Tommy shrugged and took a few drags off his cigarette before grinding it out under his shoe. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out something. Aidan saw a glitter of gold, and his heart skipped.

      “What’s this?” Tommy said, dangling the St. Christopher’s medal so it swung in the breeze.

      Aidan took the medal and put it in his pocket. “You know what it is,” he said.

      Tommy had given that medal to Aidan when he graduated high school, the year after their dad died. For protection on your journey, the card had read. Trouble was, Aidan’s journey never took him out of this shitty town.

      “The clasp is loose. I’ve been meaning to get it fixed,” he said in a defensive tone.

      Tommy watched him with cynical eyes.

      “Why did I find that on the bluff the other night, when I was checking out an alarm at the new house?” Tommy asked.

      They both knew which house he was talking about. The one built on land that had once belonged to their family. Tommy pretended like that didn’t bother him. But Aidan knew better.

      “I worked a job there,” Aidan said, gazing out at the oily, black water. Moments like this felt like déjà vu. For good reason. They seemed to come over and over again. Tommy questioning him, acting aggrieved and disappointed, Aidan having to defend himself against the accusations. He was exhausted by it.

      “What kind of job?” Tommy asked.

      Aidan sighed. Like it or not, he was going to have to explain himself to his brother.

      “What do you think, teaching astrophysics? I was tending bar at a party. Remember Brittany Pulaski, Samantha’s sister? She’s the manager for Harbor Gourmet now. She hooked me up with the gig.”

      “Brittany Pulaski hooked you up? Why would she do that? She hates you.”

      “I was surprised, too. The lady who owns that house threw a big party. Harbor Gourmet was catering. Who knows, they must’ve been short-staffed, because Brittany reached out to me. You don’t believe me, ask her.”

      “Look, I believe you were there. I believe you were working. But that doesn’t set my fears to rest. Where was the bar?”

      “What?”

      “The bar, for this party. Where was it set up? Inside the house, outside?”

      “The bar was outside, in a tent on the lawn, next to the pool house.”

      “Then explain to me how this medal ended up under the window of the master bedroom around the side of the house.”

      “How should I know, Tommy? There must’ve been a hundred people there that night. The medal falls off, somebody picks it up, drops it, drags it on their shoe. Or maybe I have a thing going on with the lady of the house and I dropped it climbing out her bedroom window, so her husband wouldn’t see me.”

      “Like she’d ever be interested in you.”

      “She likes me. We met before, on the beach. She came looking for me after that.”

      “Bullshit. And why the hell were you on her beach?”

      “It’s not her beach. It’s public. I got as much right to be there as anybody.”

      “Gramps is dead. Let it go already,” Tommy said, shaking his head.

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

      “Yes, you do. Don’t lie. You’re not making it easy to help you, Aidan.”

      “Look, I appreciate everything you do for me. And I work hard to stay on track, so I don’t let you down. Give me some credit. Stop riding me when I didn’t do anything wrong.”

      “I can’t stand to see you backslide. That’s all.”

      “I’m not backsliding. I wouldn’t do that to you. Don’t worry. Please, Tommy,” he said.

      “Fine, I’ll back off. But you need to stay away from that woman’s house. You got it?”

      A second police cruiser drove up, sparing Aidan from having to answer. Wayne Johnson and Mike Castro