Dawn Patrol

62

Boone and Petra run down the stairs at Sea Cliff Park, just south of Shrink's, Boone trying to hear Tammy as she whispers into her phone, “He's coming. I can hear him.”

“Keep coming this way,” Boone says. “We're almost there.”

He makes it down to the beach and looks north, the direction Tammy should be coming from. But it's tough to see anything-the fog has moved in and set up housekeeping for the night, and the moon hasn't thought about getting up yet.

“Tammy?” Boone says. “Can you see me?”

“No.”

Boone peers into the fog.

Then he sees her.

Dressed only in a white robe, she looks like a ghost. Or maybe an escapee from a mental hospital, her long red hair disheveled and wild in the moist night air. She's running, as much as she can run in the heavy sand, her long legs working against her, struggling for balance. She's not even sure what she's running toward, just a voice on the other end of a telephone, saying he was going to help her. At first, she didn't believe him, but there was something in the voice that changed her mind.

She sees him and tries to run faster.

Boone trots toward her, grabs her as she falls into his arms, gasping for breath.

“He's behind me,” she says.

“Dan?”

She nods and gulps some air. Petra comes up and helps Boone lift Tammy to her feet. Tammy looks at her. “I'll testify. I'll do anything you want.”

“Good. Thank you.”

“Let's get you out of here,” Boone says.

The shot comes out of the fog.