Dead End by Mariah Stewart

Author:Mariah Stewart [Stewart, Mariah]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Suspense
Published: 2005-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

15

Annie topped off the tank of the rented Ford Taurus sedan at the station advertised as the last gas for 167 miles. She had started out from the airport with a full tank, but wasn’t sure how far she’d have to drive to find Melissa Lowery and figured that “Last Gas” sign must have been put there for a reason.

Mariana Gray, she corrected herself. She’d have to assume that Melissa was known around West Priest as Mariana Gray.

The last road sign told her that Priest lay twenty-four miles up the road, but Annie had driven in the west before and had found that sometimes the mileages weren’t exactly accurate. It appeared from the map she’d picked up at the airport that West Priest lay just a few miles beyond Priest. She should be able to make the drive in well under an hour.

She was pleased to find herself arriving at Priest a mere forty minutes later. She went straight to the post office, where she was given directions that would take her three miles outside of town on Old Fort Road. When she reached West Priest, the postmistress assured her, she’d know it.

The road between the two towns consisted of two skinny lanes of flat gravel with no shoulder on either side. The scenery, however, made it worth the caution one was forced to take in maneuvering the roadway. In the distance rose the East Front of the Continental Divide, with its scraggy plateaus and rolling grassy hills. Annie stopped once, pulling off onto the edge of the hard-earthed field to photograph the landscape. She would want to share its beauty with Evan, and knew words alone could not do it justice.

The tiny town of West Priest grew on both sides of the highway, two blocks in either direction from the intersection with Main Street, which, as its name implied, was the primary thoroughfare, with one bank and three churches. A post office shared a white clapboard building with an insurance agent and a flower shop. Next door a sign advertised guns and ammunition, and across the street was a general store with a “Help Wanted” sign in the window.

Annie parked in front of the post office and, as she’d done in Priest, asked directions from the sixtysomething man behind the counter.

“I’m looking for Big Creek Road,” Annie told the postal clerk.

“South or North?” the man asked.

“I don’t know.” Annie frowned and searched her pockets for the paper upon which Will had written Melissa’s address. “It only says Big Creek Road.”

“Who you looking for?”

“Mel—” She corrected herself: “Mariana Gray.”

“She’s out on East Big Creek.”

“I thought you said South or North.” Annie frowned again. “How could it be East, too?”

“Different creek.” He returned to whatever it was he’d been doing when she came in. To Annie, it looked as if he’d been counting stamps.

“Could I get directions?”

“Not from me.” He shook his head. “We’re not allowed to give out anyone’s address.”

“You’re not giving me the address,” Annie said patiently. “I have the address.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.