As the Mason sisters went about their shopping, the distant drone of a motorcycle engine could be heard from one of the headlands flanking the beach.
On the narrow coastal road rounding the cliffs, a rider on a black Harley-Davidson weaved between what cars were present, moving without urgency. The rider was tall, and built like an American footballer. Though he was wore navy coloured leathers with a faint grey star across his chest, he wore no helmet, revealing a chiseled face, grey eyes and short blond hair that whipped in the stinging wind. As the seafront drew into view, bathed in golden sunlight, he allowed himself a smile, made tight by the wind chill. With everything that he had been through lately, he couldn't remember the last time he had taken a moment to appreciate his surroundings.
Down near the beach, something emerged in the swirling tide, bobbing near the surface. It was a smooth, curved surface, dark brown and slick with water. At a distance, anyone watching might initially assume it to be a seal. However, as seconds turned to minutes, the thing did not submerge, as a seal would usually do, nor did it splash or surge through the water. Instead, it simply continued to drift with the swell, very gradually being pushed closer to the beach.
