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local guys and I swept a hundred yards into the woods." He shook his head in exasperation. "Not even a footprint. I looked around the car, too. It's locked. No blood, no sign of a struggle. But something happens to them out here. Someone accosts them. Twenty, thirty yards from the hotel." I took a frustrated 360-degree scan of the driveway and the nearby parking lot. A local police cruiser was set up outside the property gate. "Not accosts them. Too risky. It's in plain view. Maybe someone picked them up." "Reservations were only for two," he countered. "And the guy at the front door insists they were headed to their car." "Then they vanish?" Our attention was diverted by the swoosh of a long black limousine turning into the resort's pebbly driveway. It pulled up under the redwood overhang in front of the entrance. Raleigh and I watched the hotel door open and the doorman emerge rolling a trolley of bags out. The driver of the limo hopped out to open the trunk. It hit us both at the same time. "It's a long shot," said Raleigh, meeting my eyes. "Maybe," I agreed, "but it would explain how someone gained access without attracting anyone's attention. I think we should check if any limos have been reported stolen lately in the Bay Area." Another car turned into the driveway, a silver Mazda, and parked near the far end of the circle. To my dismay, a woman in cargo pants and a University of Michigan sweatshirt jumped out. "Raleigh, you said one of your particular skills was containment, didn't you?" He looked at me as if I had asked Dr. Kevorkian, You're sort of good at mixing chemicals, aren't you? "Okay," I said, eyeing the approaching figure, "contain this." Walking up to us was Cindy Thomas. :i
Chapter 31
"EITHER YOU'VE GOT the sharpest nose for a story I've ever seen," I said to Cindy Thomas angrily, "or I may start to think of you as a murder suspect." This was the second time she had intruded in the middle of a possible crime scene. "Don't tell me I'm stepping on some interoffice romance?" she quipped. That made me steaming mad. We had a developing situation here. If it got in the news prematurely, it would hurt any chance the department had to control this case. I could just imagine the nightmare headlines: bride and groom killer strikes again. And Roth would be livid. This would be the second time I had failed to control the crime scene with the same reporter. "Who's your friend?" Raleigh asked. "Cindy Thomas," she a
Chapter32
It was risky and rash, precisely the opposite of whatever had gotten me as far as I was. Maybe I just wanted to say screw it in the face of authority. To Roth, Mercer. To play things my own way. Maybe the case was widening, and I just wanted to keep the illusion that it was in my control. Or maybe all I wanted to do was let someone else in. "Before we go anywhere," I said, grasping Cindy's wrist as she started up the car, "I need to know something. How did you find out about what was going on down here?" She took a deep breath. "So far, all that's happened is you've pushed me away from the story of my career. Now I have to give up my sources, too?" "Anything we do from here on is dependent on it." "I'd kind of prefer it if I can keep you guessing," Cindy said. "If this is go