Free Chasing Forever Down (Drenaline Surf Series) by Nikki Godwin

leaving my world and chasing after something as awesome as being a big name surfer makes me long for an escape even more than I already do. I literally feel my bones aching for that freedom.
    I take a deep breath and break off a piece of cheese biscuit. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?” I ask, trying to focus on anything but surfing.
    “ Shop for necessities, more research on the surfer, then party with his friends?” Linzi wiggles her eyebrows as she says ‘friends.’ It’s not hard to figure out where her mind is.
    “ Reed and Alston,” I say, trying to wrap my mind around what will happen tonight, what I’ll say, how I’ll get a step closer to the reason I’m even here in Crescent Cove Bakery eating cheese biscuits.
    “ Oh, Alston!” Linzi exclaims, clasping her hands over her heart and falling back against the booth. “Beautiful, beautiful Alston.”
    My instincts want to warn her not to get too close because we’re not going to be here forever, not to mention his player reputation. But my mind decides against it because she’s way too excited and infatuated . She might as well have some fun while she’s out here trying to help me uncover sunken treasure and buried secrets.
    “ Let’s go, Juliet,” I say. “Time to shop.”
     
    Linzi suggests we start on the other end of The Strip and work our way back up to Strickland’s Boating. The vendor booths are clones of the next, the same beach wear and T-shirts with a random fresh fruit shack wedged in the middle. We avoid the mob of little kids begging their parents to buy them inflatable water toys and floats. Linzi manages to dodge a huge inflated dolphin without even dropping a shopping bag.
    Even with the surf craze and Colby Taylor billboard, the heavy surf culture of Crescent Cove doesn ’t become a reality until we stop at the entrance of Drenaline Surf. An aqua wave projects from the roof, hanging over the top of the store.
    “That’s insane,” I say, pointing up at the frozen wave. It glistens like the ocean in the sunlight.
    “ So is the surfboard. This place is amazing,” Linzi says.
    A silver surfboard with the Drenaline Surf logo is centered under the wave, the body of the surfboard painted like that of a shark, complete with a black eyeball and jagged white teeth. I can ’t move from the arched entranceway. This store is the closest I’ve come to seeing his life, seeing what he disappeared for – what he died for. My stomach flips and flops like a washed up fish as Linzi tugs my arm and pulls me through the doorway.
    The inside is the same ocean blue color as the outside of the building, and the walls are decorated with huge black and white photos of sharks, just like the one in Strickland’s Boating. The main showroom is well organized by item – surf gear, surf accessories, sunglasses and clothing, beach towels, souvenirs, and jewelry racks ranging from expensive shell necklaces to cheap rubber bracelets. There’s an entire corner dedicated to shark tooth necklaces and all else shark-related, which makes sense given the shark decor. Shouldn’t sharks and surfers be mortal enemies?
    Linzi’s attention must be shark-focused too because she’s looking at the necklaces before I can say anything. A poster-sized photo of a Great White hangs above us, demanding my attention. The pictures all have one thing in common – the silver logo for Jake McAllister Photography.
    “For a surf shop, you’d think they’d have surfboards,” Linzi says, turning from the shark teeth to me.
    I glance around and spot a side room – packed with surfboards. “That’s because they have a separate room for them,” I say.
    The surfboard room is a freaking goldmine, and I don ’t know how long I can linger in here without drawing attention to myself and being kicked out. Linzi oohs and ahhs over the incredible surfboard designs while I try to absorb the wall of snapshots that have been taped over the paint. My eyes land on a picture of a