By the time Sandy reached the courthouse, the town was full of heavy rain. After the church traffic clears, Park Beach is usually calm and quiet. That Sunday it was wet and miserable. The thunder and lightning might come later at her first meeting with Moran. Sandy parked in the police parking lot as usual and hurried across the boulevard to the courthouse, dodging puddles and holding her notebook over her head.
The courthouse appeared closed, but as she walked up the splendid wide steps, a sheriff's deputy opened the huge door for her. She was expected.
"I'm soaked, any paper towels around?" He produced a roll. "Thanks, I didn't come to Florida to catch cold."
"Why didn't you use the covered parking next to this building?"
"Now you tell me. It's going to be one of those days."
He scanned her with a handheld detector and directed her to the third floor offices of the state attorney.
The building was new and oversized. An imposing structure inside and out. Sandy crossed the spacious atrium to the elevators. The only break in the cold silence was the echo of the click and slide of her shoes. The building air conditioning must have been set to cool a weekday crowd. At that moment, she was not only wet but also surrounded by bone-chilling marble.
She found Moran's office on the third floor next to the conference room and opened the door. She didn't see him but heard him call out, "Just take a seat in the conference room, Miss Reid."
She assumed he wanted this meeting to scare her off. That fit into Chip's description of him as a bully. Even so, if he's at all rational, there should be some room to negotiate for bail. She must come away with a compromise, and do it before he learns the newspaper won't be printing anything unfavorable.
She sat at the side of the long conference table, rubbing her arms for warmth and wishing she had brought a sweater. She waited. After twenty minutes, she assumed he was playing a power game making her wait.
It occurred to her this wait wasn't a show of power-maybe he had discovered the truth. Maybe he was on the phone being told Linda had lied to him, and the sky wasn't falling.
At two p.m., one hour after the scheduled time, Moran entered. Without an apology or even looking at her settled in opposite. Taking his time and not yet acknowledging her, he placed a stack of official-looking papers on his left side, a recorder on the other side and a yellow legal pad in front "You came all by yourself. I thought Kagan would be with you." He finally raised his head and took a look at her. "So you're the clever Sandy Reid. Frankly, I don't see it."