SWAINS LOCK (The River Trilogy, book 1) by Edward A. Stabler Read Free Book Online Page B

words.
“Are you a professional photographer?”
    She glanced up and nodded, then told him
that most of her work involved events like weddings, graduations,
and Bar Mitzvahs. When Vin said he and Nicky were getting married
in the D.C. area next fall and needed a photographer, she asked if
they’d chosen a date. He shook his head; both the date and place
were still up in the air. But they wanted to be married outdoors,
at a venue where they could hold both the wedding and the
reception. Kelsey told him popular venues were booked a year in
advance, and photographers were quickly slotted into those dates.
She already had a few weddings booked for next fall.
    “Right,” he said glumly, realizing how much
remained unplanned. “Do you have a card?” She had one in the car,
so he walked her out to the driveway and watched her retrieve her
purse from a charcoal-gray Audi with dark tinted glass. She fished
out a business-card holder and handed him a card, telling him to
schedule a visit to her studio. He waved as she drove off, then
looked at the card in his hand. The address was a listing on River
Road, like practically every other business in the small suburb of
Potomac… maybe in the same strip mall as the hardware store he’d
visited today. In the corner, he read “Kelsey Ainge, Partner.” The
studio name was printed in white reversed on forest green. “Thomas,
Ainge Photography.” He read the tagline below it twice to make sure
he’d read it correctly. It said “Today Made Timeless.”
    ***
    By the time Nicky’s car pulled into the
driveway a little after four, Vin had drilled the required holes
and connected the limbs of the driftwood letters with bolts.
    “Gimme an N!”, he said, holding up the N
with both hands as she emerged from the car.
    Nicky laughed. “Looks like you already got
one.” He could hear the fatigue in her voice as she approached.
    “Welcome home,” he said, kissing her lightly
on the lips. “Long day, considering you were expecting a day
off.”
    She exhaled and told him that her day had
started off with a cat with a compound fracture, and the pace had
accelerated from there. She felt lucky to escape by four. How was
his day? “Kind of interesting.” He told her about his visit to the
old shed on the hillside and his discovery of the drill and
photograph behind the planks. They walked inside and headed for the
living-room couch. Vin let Randy in from the deck as Nicky read Lee
Fisher’s note.
    “Swains Lock. We were there yesterday,” she
said. “And ‘I may be buried along with the others’? What a creepy
thought.” She examined the photo, turning it over to read the
notation on the back. “K. Elgin is the girl?”
    “That’s my guess. Assuming the guy is Lee
Fisher.”
    “She reminds me of someone, but I can’t
think who.”
    “I forgot to mention…the dog-fight lady came
by this afternoon to pick up the meds. Turns out she’s a
professional photographer. Kelsey Ainge. She handles weddings and
events. I got her card, for what it’s worth.”
    “Hmm,” Nicky said. “You never know.”
    Vin put his legs up on the table and asked
when they were due at the Tuckermans. “Seven,” Nicky said, rocking
back into the cushion beside him, “but first we can open your
presents and nap for a bit. Then you get to meet the natives.”
    ***
    Sitting on a bone-colored leather couch, Vin
watched Doug Tuckerman lean forward in his armchair to carefully
balance a slab of soft cheese on an overmatched cracker. Doug
interrupted his sermon to wash the cracker down with scotch on the
rocks. He’d been expounding on the obstacles his firm faced in its
efforts to convert idled farmland on the periphery of the city into
condominiums and office parks. Doug’s wife Abby said something
about schools and Nicky asked what she thought. No one wanted to
send their kids to public schools in D.C., Abby said. Only the
lobbyists and the lawyers needed to work downtown, and they could
afford to live