Stranded Read Online Free PDF Page A

curtain move.”
    “That could be anything. A breeze, a draft.”
    “Something moved in front of the window. Then the curtain fell back into place.”
    “We’re both pretty wiped. When was the last time either of us got a full night’s sleep?”
    He didn’t believe her. Before she could argue her case, she saw his fingers instinctively move up to his shoulder holster. But he didn’t reach for his weapon. Instead he grabbed his sports jacket from where he had draped it carelessly over a fence post. He pulled it on casually without a hint of tension.
    Maybe she was exhausted from too little sleep, but Maggie knew she had seen something or someone in the house. A house that had been vacant for ten years. Tully started walking away. With or without him she’d check it out. Still, she followed him, trying to figure out what would convince him. It was smarter to have backup. They had both been in situations before where a killer had come back to the scene just to watch law enforcement officersdiscover his victims. They’d also been at crime scenes where the killer had left a trap for the police.
    Now it made sense to Maggie. Why had the killer given her a map? Why send them on a scavenger hunt then lead them directly to the gravesite if he didn’t get to enjoy or observe it?
    Tully stopped beside the backhoe, and that’s when Maggie realized he had put the heavy equipment between them and the rear of the house. Then he said in a low voice, “Damn it. We should have thought about checking out the house first thing.”
    So he did believe her.
    “The sheriff said the estate’s executor is on his way here. He has a key.”
    “But if the house is rigged …”
    So she and Tully were on the same page.
    “It’d be doors, not windows.”
    “Are you sure he didn’t see you notice him?”
    “I’m not sure of anything right this minute,” Maggie admitted.
    “He’s watching the excitement back here. He can’t watch all sides of the house at the same time.”
    “We split up?”
    Tully nodded.
    “What do we tell Uniss and his deputies?”
    “To stay put.”
    “You don’t want them to back us up?”
    Tully looked over her head at the men gathered by the barn. She stole a glance over her shoulder. Foreman Buzz had wandered into the woods and was coming back, smoking a cigarette. His crew was talking, pointing or waving at the garbage bag. Thesheriff was still on his cell phone. His deputies were on their own, either talking or texting.
    “I’d rather we have them stand down until they hear from one of us.”
    Maggie remembered the young deputy losing his lunch and she couldn’t help wondering if he’d ever fired his weapon in the field.
    “I’ll tell them,” Tully offered. “Why don’t you check out those lilac bushes and take the east side of the house. I’ll go behind the barn and come up on the west side.”
    Maggie glanced at the house again. The double-hung windows were set about four feet up off the ground. She remembered seeing a porch at the front of the house and a side door on the west side. She hadn’t seen the east side that was flanked by lilac bushes. If the windows were as high, she’d have to struggle to get up and in without taking too much time and becoming a target.
    “What are you thinking?” she finally asked Tully.
    He took off his jacket again and draped it over the side rail of the backhoe.
    “Break a window. Then take cover and wait. If someone’s inside, he’ll go check it out. It’ll give me enough time to kick in the door on my side. From what I remember, it didn’t look like much of a challenge.”
    “I’m not sure I like it. What if he’s sitting in a corner with a semiautomatic, waiting for you? Maybe we should wait for the executor and a key.”
    “He could still be sitting in a corner with a semiautomatic waiting for us. Or we could put the key in the lock and the whole place explodes.”
    “Were we always this paranoid?”
    Tully smiled. “I think you’ve