Page 51 of Tightrope

“Behind that farm stand. With luck, whoever is in that car will assume that we decided to hitchhike into town to get some assistance.”

They made their way to the boarded-up stand and moved behind it. Amalie listened to the approaching vehicle. She heard it pause briefly at the turnoff onto the farm road, and then it drove onto the unpaved lane. Tires crunched on gravel and dirt. Headlights blazed.

She looked at Matthias. There was enough moonlight to let her see that he was listening intently. He had his gun out now.

A car door opened. Footsteps sounded.

“Anybody around? Looks like you blew a tire. Be glad to give you a hand.”

A man, Amalie thought, but not one she knew.

Matthias was very still but Amalie was almost certain that he was radiating an icy-hot fever. She knew that he was ready to do battle.

There were more footsteps. A moment later a car door slammed shut with far more force than necessary. An engine rumbled back to life. The vehicle roared off down the road, spitting gravel.

Matthias moved out from behind the back wall of the farm stand.

“Damn.” He said it very quietly and with feeling.

Amalie walked around the corner. She was just in time to see the headlights of the other car vanish on the twisty road above the sea.

“What?” she asked.

“I didn’t get a look at the driver,” Matthias said.

“What about the car?”

“A late-model sedan.” Matthias holstered his gun. “Ford, I think.”

“There are probably a lot of Ford sedans in Burning Cove at the moment.”

“Probably.”

Matthias walked back to the Packard and crouched beside the tire.

Amalie switched on the flashlight. “I couldn’t help noticing that you did not respond to that man when he offered to help us.”

Matthias concentrated on loosening a lug nut. “No.”

“Why not?” she said.

“He lied.”

“You could hear that in his voice?”

“Yes.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

Chapter 24

Was Matthias paranoid, possibly even delusional? The only thing she knew for certain was that he was convinced of his ability to detect lies.

Amalie was still trying to decide how she felt about that when the two of them walked into the lobby of the Hidden Beach Inn some forty minutes later. Willa was lounging on the sofa reading a copy ofHollywood Whispers. She tossed the paper aside and got to her feet, yawning. She gave Matthias a head-to-toe survey, taking in the jacket slung over one arm, the rolled-up shirtsleeves, and the shoulder pistol. Then she winked at Amalie.

“How was the action at the Carousel?” she asked. “Did you two have a good time?”

“Blew a tire on the way back here,” Amalie said.