by James Swain
“What are you looking at?” she asked.
“This road had six inches of water the last time I was here.”
“That’s so strange. Does anyone know what causes the flooding?”
“No one knows what causes the King Tides. It screws everything up when it’s here, and when it’s gone, it’s like it was never there in the first place. I guess it’s the price we pay for living in paradise.”
“I want to stick my feet in the ocean,” she said.
They crossed and walked to the ocean’s edge. Taking off their shoes, they stood in the wet sand and let the gentle waves tickle their feet. The world felt normal again, and they stayed until the sun went down, knowing the feeling would not last.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2007 Robert Allen Sergeant
James Swain is the national bestselling author of twenty mystery novels and has worked as a magazine editor, screenwriter, and novelist. His books have been translated into a dozen languages and have been selected as Mysteries of the Year by Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. Swain has been nominated for three Barry Awards, has received a Florida Book Award for fiction, and was awarded France’s prestigious Prix Calibre .38 for Best American Crime Writing. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys performing close-up magic.