Muller, Marcia - [McCone 04] Games to Keep the Dark Away (v.1,shtml) Read Free Book Online

then replaced the
receiver and looked up at me. "Mrs. Bates is in conference right
now. Perhaps you'd like to walk around the grounds while you wait? It
shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes."
    A walk appealed to me far more than sitting on one of the hard
carved-wood chairs in the reception area. I went back outside and
looked around. Eucalyptus bordered the semicircular drive on either
side, and farther back, toward the edge of the bluff, clumps of
cypress leaned to indicate the direction of the prevailing wind. I
cut across the well-manicured lawn toward the cliff. A wooden
platform with wicker chairs perched there, and a pair of white-haired
ladies sat together, knitting and chatting. They didn't look ill, and
they certainly didn't seem sad or afraid. In fact, they nodded
pleasantly at me and went on with their conversation.
    I looked down at the sea. Huge outcroppings of black rock rose
from the placid water, up and down the sheltered beach. A long
stairway scaled the side of the cliff from the platform. I climbed
down it, noting the high tide line of seaweed and shells. When the
tide was in, the entire beach would be submerged. The reefs, with the
exception of one or two huge ones, would disappear—and the
waves crashing against them would be treacherous. I took off my boots
and socks and walked across the damp sand to the water's edge. When I
tested it with my toes, it was as cold as I'd expected.
    But so what? Born in San Diego, I'd grown up around the sea. To
me, walking on a beach without getting my feet wet was practically
heresy and, besides, I wanted to get a look at the tidepools for
which the hospice was named. I rolled up my pants legs and waded out
to the start of the reefs.
    The rocks felt rough even on my feet, which were toughened by my
habit of going barefoot whenever possible. I squatted down and peered
into one of the pools formed by concavities in the reef. Tiny fish
darted through the trapped waters, and starfish and anemones clung to
the sides, their delicate arms drawn in and still.
Tidepools—microcosms of the unfathomable sea—had always
fascinated me. I watched this one for several minutes, until I
realized it was time for my appointment with Mrs. Bates.
    The white-haired ladies were gone when I reached the platform. I
sat down on a wicker chair and brushed sand from my feet before
putting on my socks and boots. Then I recrossed the lawn and entered
the main building. The receptionist picked up her phone when she saw
me and, minutes later, a slender woman with sleekly styled gray hair
entered through an archway. She was dressed in a tailored black suit
that would have looked more at home on Montgomery Street than in this
coastal setting, and the smooth lines of her face indicated the gray
was premature.
    "Ms. McCone? I'm Ann Bates, the personnel director here."
She extended her hand.
    I clasped it briefly. "Thank you for taking the time to see
me."
    "I understand you're a private detective." She glanced
at my card, which she held in her other hand.
    "Yes. I'm investigating the disappearance of one of your
former employees."
    She raised one finely penciled eyebrow. "Who might that be?"
    "Jane Anthony. I believe she was a social worker here up
until eight months ago."
    Ann Bates frowned. "Yes, she was. But why have you come to us
now?"
    "Apparently Jane is somewhere in the Port San Marco area. I
thought she might have come to see you, perhaps in hopes of getting
her old job back. She hasn't found work since she left your employ."
    "I haven't seen Jane since the day she terminated."
    She spoke abruptly, and her choice of words made it sound as if
Jane were dead.
    "Well, you knew her, at any rate. Maybe you can tell me
something that would shed some light on where she might be."
    "I doubt anything I have to say would be helpful."
    "Another of your former employees, Liz Schaff, mentioned some
unpleasantness that occurred here before they both quit. Did it
involve Jane?"
    Ann Bates glanced over her