Read Online The Sunset Witness by Gayle Hayes - Free Book Online Page B

had the number wrong, why didn't I find her on
Orchard Avenue?  I called her number and was not surprised when she did not
answer.  I was sure she'd used me again.
    I searched my phone browser for the graphic design
company Sarah mentioned.  I was encouraged to find it did exist.  When I
arrived, I found a CLOSED sign hanging in the window.  They were open from nine
to five Monday through Friday.  I peered in the windows and saw three desks. 
The desktop name plates were for Craig, Jennifer, and Ed.  If Sarah worked for
the company, she did not have a desk in the office.  I called the number on the
bottom of the sign.  An automated answering service gave me extensions for
Craig, Jennifer, and Ed.  There was no extension for Sarah.  I left a message
on Jennifer's extension.  I told her I was looking for a friend named Sarah who
might be employed at their company.  I asked her to call me one way or the
other on Monday.  By this time, I felt like the butt of a sick joke, but I
wanted to believe I'd misunderstood somehow.
    I drove slowly through Hoquarten noticing places to
eat and shop.  I passed a modern-looking hospital and a clinic.  There was the
usual mall with shops specializing in sports equipment, shoes, various types of
apparel, and a hair and nail salon.  I found the Agate County Courthouse and Agate
County Administration Building and assumed the sheriff's department must be
close by when I saw vehicles like the one the evidence tech had driven to
Sunset when I met Detective Gannon.  I pulled into a parking space in front of
the administration building and went inside.  The sheriff's department was
straight ahead.  I asked the receptionist if Detective Gannon was on duty.  She
was not.  I wanted to know if she'd been in touch with Sarah after she moved to
Hoquarten.
    It seemed I'd not be getting any information until
Monday at the earliest, so I left downtown Hoquarten and drove until I found a
Fred Meyer grocery and drug store.  I needed everything, so my cart was almost
overflowing by the time I unloaded it into my trunk.  I was too hungry to wait
for lunch, so I pulled into the lot of the local diner, ordered one of those
truck driver breakfasts Twyla thought so little of, and hoped no one I knew
would see me eating there.  The diner was not busy, so I took my time over
brunch to give Sarah time to call me back.  Before I left the parking lot, I
called her again.  I did not leave a message.
    As I was driving north out of Hoquarten, I'd noticed
signs advising I was leaving the tsunami hazard zone.  Once I was back in
Hoquarten and again when I picked up the highway to Sunset, the warnings reappeared. 
The difference in elevation was not noticeable to me, but it must have been
significant enough to warrant the difference in signage.  I wondered if the
warnings had a negative impact on the beach economies.  If I'd known about the
Cascadia Subduction Zone before I left Arizona, I'd not have agreed to assume
Sarah's lease.
    The Cascadia Subduction Zone is also known as the
Cascadia Fault and runs from Vancouver, Canada to northern California.  It
separates the Juan de Fuca and North American plates.  The Zone has the
potential to cause an earthquake of 9.0 or greater.  The last earthquake caused
by the Zone was in 1700.  After more than 300 years, another quake would not be
out of the question.  Tsunamis followed all previous earthquakes.
    Perhaps the heightened awareness about tsunamis would
encourage people to stay in motels and hotels farther away from the beach. 
Those establishments might actually raise prices while the beachfront locations
would become less expensive and more accessible to those who did not believe
they were in danger.  On the other hand, I might have taken the warnings to
heart when everyone else simply ignored them.
    If it were not for getting groceries cheaper than I
could in Sunset, the trip would have been a waste of time.  Hoquarten was a
typical small