Nameless by Debra Webb Read Free Book Online Page A

a brief glance; undoubtedly he was thinking the same thing she was. Since when did a posted sign stop a determined lawbreaker? Since never.
    “Have you had any trouble in the past?” McBride said, going on with his questioning.
    Holcomb paused at their first stop. His gnarled hands shook as he poked the key into the lock. “Not in a good long while. But we did have a little vandalism a year or so back. Couple knocked-over headstones and some graffiti. Had to put locks on all of ’em after that.” He gestured to the mausoleum and wagged his head sadly. “Damned teenagers got too much time on their hands. Gives the old Devil plenty to work with.”
    Once the rusty iron door was opened, McBride stepped inside. Vivian stayed close behind him. The musty smell invaded her nostrils with the first intake of breath. Dust and cobwebs held dominion over the interior, where a single tomb served as the focal point. McBride held out his hand and she slapped a steel Maglite into his palm, then sneezed.
    “Bless you,” the caretaker offered.
    “Thank you.” Her allergies always flared up in the fall. This dust wouldn’t help. The dull ache that had started behind her forehead had her wondering about McBride’s headache. She had watched him devour half a bottle of aspirin before he had fallen asleep on the plane. She had drifted off herself. The first sleep she’d had since before Alyssa Byrne was reported missing. Later, when she had awakened, McBride had been watching her.
    Even now, his way of looking so deep inside her flustered her. The man had that whole intimidation thing down to a science. Not to mention he filtered every damned thing between them through an erotic lens. She had to get a grip on how to handle that aspect of his persona.
    Zoning back in on the here and now, she followed the flashlight’s beam over the limestone walls and floors, landing lastly on the tomb.
    “Are the seals on all the tombs intact?” McBride asked their guide.
    A shudder went through her and she braced against it. The unsub had said Alyssa’s fate would be sealed. That possibility made Vivian feel ill. Just let us find her. As much as she had loved this cemetery as a kid, something about being here under these circumstances amplified the desperation and her awareness of time passing so swiftly.
    Holcomb nodded. “Yes, sir. Resealing all the tombs is part of the master preseveration plan. This cemetery’s on the National Historic Registry, you know. Every last one of the tombs had to be resealed to ensure the remains are protected. They started the process a couple months ago.”
    McBride’s posture changed, signaling that he had just experienced the same epiphany as she. The sealing of the tombs couldn’t be coincidence.
    “Does the process require opening the tombs?” McBride pressed for specificity.
    “No, sir.” Holcomb touched the ledge where the top rested against the walls of the casket-sized tomb. “There’s a couple ways of doing it, but these folks didn’t want ‘em opened. So the sealing is done right around this ledge with the lids sitting in place. That way there’s no risk to the remains. Air ain’t kind to ’em, you know? And there’s always the fear that some no-account will steal something. Even some of the ones in the business of restoring can’t be trusted. I had to be right with ’em as they done each one.”
    “So,” McBride restated, “they’ve all been done? No chance one was skipped?”
    Jesus, he was thinking the same thing Vivian was. Her body literally vibrated with the need to pry open every damned one of the tombs. But the timing was off. Holcomb had said the process had started two months ago, well before Alyssa went missing. That would eliminate the possibility of her being sealed up inside one of them.
    Holcomb pushed his cap up his forehead and scratched the bald spot there. “There’s—”
    A burst of frantic barking had Vivian moving out of the mausoleum since she was closest to