Free Endless Fear by Adrianne Lee Page A

Catching hold of it, April padded across the rugs and stepped over the threshold onto the porch outside.
    She slipped into her jacket and hastened down the steps to the deserted apron in front of the house. The air was crisp, and few clouds littered the sky. It was much like a spring day; only the occasional lick of a winter gust said otherwise. The sun felt good on her face, but the glare was blinding.
    Squinting, April reached for her sunglasses in her pocket, then remembered she’d left them on the dashboard of her rented car which, along with the other family vehicles, had been relegated to the garages earlier in the week. Well, she had to get them or the glare would give her a headache before she even began her walk.
    Leaving the asphalt, she started down the grassy slope toward the garages. The sudden roar of a motorboat engine belched from the belly of the boathouse, startling not only April, but a pair of sea gulls who had been perched on its rooftop. Squawking like a couple of disgruntled old maids, they lifted into the cloud-patched sky, wheeled over the protected bay and out across the glistening water.
    April moved down the path toward a stone and mortar building—a miniature copy of the house, laughingly called a shed. Strange how much smaller it appeared than her memories of it, she thought, circling the elaborate structure.
    As children, the twins and she had been fascinated by it and its cache of ladders, rakes, nails, hammers, shovels and various garden sundries. They were allowed inside only when accompanied by an adult. Of course, when they had reached their teens and understood its function, their curiosity had died altogether.
    Now her curiosity was peaked by the powerful boat motor. Momentarily forgetting her sunglasses, she crossed the road. The tide was in. The ramp, bridging shore and dock, stretched as flat as the water today. April advanced onto the dock, enjoying the bob of motion.
    As she neared the metal boathouse, the engine silenced. The flat notes of Karl’s off key whistling, accompanied by a metallic clank, echoed from within. Was he alone? Why did the thought of that make her hesitant?
    Stifling the inexplicable feeling, she strode through the open door. The light inside was fluorescent, dull after the sun’s radiance. She blinked, peering at the exposed framework walls and the score of orange life jackets, fishing nets and poles, gaff hooks, and buoys hung about on nails. The dock cuffed the inside of the building on the front and two side walls like a giant U. Aged creosote and brine tangled with the odor of fresh motor oil.
    Her gaze fell on the sleek royal blue-and-white speedboat taking up the body of the boathouse. It skimmed the water, slung on large straps supported by a ceiling hoist as though it were in traction, April mused, realizing the purpose was more likely to protect the boat from the tide’s whims. Seeing two heads dipped close together over its motor eased her tension.
    “ Okay,” her father instructed Karl. “That should do it.” August shifted to the boat’s wheel and stopped. His eyes widened as they always did when something unexpected intruded on his train of thought. “April, this is a pleasant surprise. What brings you down here?”
    “ The noise.” April acknowledged Karl’s friendly grin with one of her own. “What’re you two doing?”
    Her father leaned toward her and dragged a grease-stained rag from his rear overall pocket. He wiped his hands, then poked the cloth back. “Karl and I are installing one of my gadgets. A keyless ignition.”
    “ Something new?”
    “ Nope. Never found a buyer for it, though. Still, it’s a convenience I appreciate. No good inventing things if you can’t use them.” The subject seemed to draw his attention back to the project. He fiddled with something beyond her line of vision on the dashboard. “Okay, Karl, here goes.”
    The motor sputtered. Sparks flew at Karl. He swore and stumbled backward. August