Solid as Steele by REBECCA YORK Read Free Book Online Page B

doors to the house were locked, he climbed into his SUV and drove to an area down by the Potomac River where there were some shops, artists’ studios and restaurants. The Chamber of Commerce or some other group was sprucing up the town, but they’d left some major messes. Right down by the river was a half-demolished brick building that used to be a dye works. It dragged down the whole area. And there should be more restaurants to choose from. He’d had Italian for dinner last time before the fun. This time he was going to try that place where you could get Maryland crabcakes and barbecued ribs.
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    M ACK HAD CONTINUED DRIVING as they talked, and Jamie looked up to see that they were on a road that ran parallel to the CSX train yard where more than a hundred freight cars were parked.
    â€œWhere are we going?”
    â€œYou said the funhouse was in Gaptown. Maybe we can find it.”
    â€œGaptown’s a big place.”
    â€œNot like say, Baltimore or Washington. Maybe you’ll have some…insights.”
    â€œOkay.” She took in a sharp breath.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI do remember hearing a train whistle in my dream.”
    â€œWhich means it could be down here.”
    â€œNo. The train goes right through town. There are evenbridges over the tracks on the west side—the elegant part of town. You can’t get away from CSX. The railroad’s been here since before the company bought the Chesapeake & Ohio.”
    â€œThen which way should we go?”
    â€œYou know more about murder than I do. Would the guy leave the body somewhere near the house, or would he drive far away?”
    â€œFar away. Unless he wanted the cops nosing around his playground.”
    â€œThen we might as well head west, into the mountains.”
    He did as she asked, and they drove into the countryside. She looked at houses, but nothing seemed right. They were all too small and modern. Unless he had an enormous underground complex. No, that didn’t seem right, since she remembered climbing upstairs.
    â€œIt’s got to be bigger,” she murmured. “There were lots of rooms. Lots of corridors. He must have modified the interior himself.”
    â€œWe could try a development of tract mansions,” he suggested.
    â€œIt’s not a new house.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    She thought about her impressions. “The floorboards were old. And some of the walls were real plaster. I guess drywall and plywood were added to make all those hallways.”
    â€œOkay.
    â€œSo how did Lynn get there?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œEither she drove herself there, or the killer drove her.”
    â€œWhy would she drive herself?”
    â€œBecause she knew him and felt he wasn’t a threat. Do you have any idea what kind of car he had?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œI guess an emergency room nurse wouldn’t moonlight selling any kind of products,” he mused.
    â€œShe might. Something like cosmetics. Or cleaning supplies for one of those big companies that rope in a lot of owners. But she’d sell them to people she knew at work or at church, not door to door.”
    â€œI guess that’s right.” He thought for a moment. “You said the dream started when she was already in the house.”
    â€œI jumped into it when she was running from him. I had the impression that the…game had been going on for a while.”
    They drove through the countryside for almost an hour until Jamie said, “This is just wasting time. I didn’t see the outside of the place. I’m not going to find it this way.”
    â€œI guess we might as well head back to town.”
    Since she had spent most of the previous night tossing and turning, she leaned back and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep. Her eyes snapped open again when she felt the car stop.
    â€œWhere are we?”
    â€œA hotel.”
    They were under a marquee, and she