darcie
Everyone thought the blackout at the yacht club was only a temporary event: a blown fuse or something. But the power remained out the following night as well. With the death of Dr Mendelen and a killer on the loose, I convinced Dane to stay in Summervale a little longer. I wanted to investigate this case because I didn’t think this blackout and the murder that occurred during it was a coincidence. Something was happening here, and I had to get to the bottom of it.
And because the power was still out, I plugged my laptop into my portable battery pack and uploaded the crime scene photos from my phone to a cloud storage app.
Dane and I had placed many candles throughout his mom’s house. As I worked by the light of a couple of candles at the kitchen counter, I could see the sashay of Dane’s flashlight as he moved through the house.
“Dane? What are you doing?” I called out, taking a sip of tea. It was after seven at night and completely dark out. Dane then came into the kitchen dressed in a raincoat and boots. He had a jerry can in his hand.
“Ash and I have volunteered to go to the power station to try and turn the power back on. The main switch is up there. If there’s a town-wide power outage, surely we’ll find something up there.”
“The Power Station? The one near the headland near the asylum and lighthouse?”
“Yeah. That’s the one.” A loud crack of thunder made me jump, almost spilling my tea. I shivered, but it wasn’t the cold. It was quite humid. I jumped off my bar, stood and ran to him.
“What’s with the jerry can?”
He placed it near his boots on the ground and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. Leaning in, I pecked him on the lips.
“That’s for the generator at the police station. They’re almost out of gas in the one they currently have running. Everyone’s stocking up on gas and food. It’s ridiculous in town. Lucky we’re all stocked up… I think,” he said, scratching his head, thinking. “Do you need anything?”
“No. I’m fine. You know me. I can survive on caffeine and granola bars. I’ve got food, drinks, candles, and battery packs. I’ll be fine for at least a few days. I’m going to get some work done.” I kissed him again and went back to my computer. “You guys, be careful. Okay?”
He smiled.
“We will be. Love you,” he said as he walked out into the pitch-black darkness.
I know I said I was fine, but as soon as Dane was gone and I was alone since Dane’s mom had gone to be with some of her other society club ladies, the cold dread settled in. I don’t think it had anything to do with the storm.