Joyride by Jack Ketchum Read Free Book Online Page B

to do something, not that anything had actually happened, she was just afraid that somethingmight. She sounded a little better by then so he’d had to let it go at that. He could hear Edwards in the background saying something to her but he couldn’t make out what.
    And that was the last he’d heard from her.
    He walked up the fieldstone steps to the porch and rang the bell. He waited.
    When she came to the door his first impression was that here it was nearly five o’clock and she looked like she’d just gotten herself ready and put together for the day. Her blouse and jeans looked crisp, like she’d just put them on. Her hair looked freshly brushed, makeup newly applied.
    Rich people, he thought. She’s probably changed clothes six times already.
    She smiled and opened the door. He decided she looked a little tired but otherwise okay.
    “Lieutenant Rule. Joe. Come on in.”
    This is bullshit, he thought. Howard’s been missing maybe eight, nine hours. There’s nothing wrong here.
    He watched her move through the hall ahead of him into the living room. The room was neat and tidy.
    “What can I do for you? I just made coffee. Want some?”
    She turned. The smile looked fine too as far as he could see.
    “No thanks. I don’t want to hold you up. I was just wondering what you’d heard from Howard lately.”
    She sighed and sat down on the couch. Rule joined her.
    “Nothing, thank god.”
    “Nothing? No phone calls?”
    She shook her head. “I think he’s finally given up on me. Can you believe it? I thought he never would.”
    “I was beginning to agree with you. Congratulations. When’s the last you heard from him?”
    She thought about it.
    “I guess that would be…the night I phoned you. The middle of last month.”
    “Nothing since?”
    “Nothing. No.”
    “I’d been wanting to ask you for a while, what was that all about? You sounded pretty bad there.”
    She shrugged and shook her head again.
    “Just another phone call. But this one was…worse than most.”
    “How so?”
    “Threatening. You know. He’s going to do this to me and he’s going to do that. I don’t remember exactly what he said. Maybe I’ve blocked it. Or maybe it’s just faded away into…into all the rest of them. Anyway, it upset me, so I phoned you. And then I thought, my god, it’s just a telephone call for god’s sake. You’ve had plenty. You ought to be used to them by now.”
    She studied him a moment.
    “Is this just a follow-up, Joe?”
    “Not exactly. Your husband’s—Howard’s—secretary called. He didn’t show up for work today. She can’t seem to reach him.”
    “So?”
    Which was his reaction entirely.
    He sighed. “You know how it is. Howard’s rich and he’s connected. If he’s missing, he gets missed. If it was the guy who mows his lawn nobody’d think twice about it. As it is, people worry.”
    She looked at him again and he could see the implications of the thing slowly dawn on her. But all it read was normal curiosity.
    “You’re treating this as a potential homicide, aren’t you,” she said.
    “No. Not really. Not at this point. Right now it’s just a missing persons. Is Lee still working over at the Pines?”
    “Yes.”
    “Could he have heard from Howard?”
    “I think he would have said something.”
    “Probably. Can you think of anywhere Howard might have disappeared to for a day or so?”
    “God. Anywhere. He’s got a sailboat docked over in Waterbury. There’s a sister in Lexington, Massachusetts. June Rusch is her name. And he travels a lot scouting real estate. But I’d think his secretary would know about anything like that, wouldn’t you?”
    “I’d think so. Yeah.”
    “Maybe he’s got a girlfriend. Maybe that’s why I haven’t heard from him lately. Is that possible?”
    “Sure it’s possible. Got any candidates?”
    She laughed. “Anybody who works for him, is under thirty and dumb enough to find him charming. And I mean dumb—not stupid. Believe me,