The Other Child (Maggie Novak Thriller Book 3) by Keith Houghton

Author:Keith Houghton [Houghton, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scriptacular
Published: 2020-06-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

The Tortoise and the Hare

A warm breeze lifted the hairs on Maggie’s arm as she leaned on the rubber rim of the open passenger window of Steve’s Tahoe, her gaze barely registering the gaudy arrays of tourist attractions passing by on either side of the highway.

An hour had passed since she had spoken with Smits, in which time she had showered, applied light makeup, and then dressed in outdoorsy clothes appropriate for exploring the waterways at Shingle Creek. Now, she and Steve were headed into Kissimmee—Steve tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to a Journey song playing on the radio while she contemplated the case inconsistences that she couldn’t get past, chiefly, Wendy’s shock confession, Blair’s strange misconduct, and the girl’s vanishing into thin air.

There was so much about last night that didn’t make sense. And Maggie couldn’t settle.

She took out her phone and called Loomis on FaceTime, letting his number ring out.

“Do you think it’ll be busy at the creek?” Steve asked, glancing sidelong at her as he drove.

“It’s the weekend,” Maggie answered. “Most people will be at the parks.”

She let Loomis’s number ring for a few seconds more before cancelling the call.

They left the highway after mile marker 15 and followed the gravel road that curled into the woods.

Maggie had introduced Steve to the creek a few months ago, during a sunny Labor Day weekend, and the park’s natural beauty had won him over right away—the same way it had smitten her when she had struck out on the flat water for the first time many years ago.

Steve parked in a sandy clearing, and they got out.

“Perfect conditions for water sports,” he said, sniffing the air.

She saw him take a sunscreen stick from his pocket and rub it over his cheekbones and nose.

“You’re weird,” she said.

He grinned, “I’m a survivalist. You’ll thank me when the end of the world comes.”

Even though mid-February was gripped in a micro heatwave, basking in temperatures hot enough to make tourists perspire, it was still considered ‘sweater weather’ to Orlando natives, and Maggie had dressed accordingly: a baggy Gators sweatshirt over jeggings. Steve, on the other hand, had changed out of his cool linens into cargo shorts and a tight T-shirt with the slogan May Contain Nuts emblazoned across the chest.

Steve handed her a plastic zip-lock bag. “For your phone,” he said. “Just in case you fall in.”

“I won’t fall in.”

“You never know.”

“I have excellent balance.” She demonstrated by standing on one foot and striking a pose.

“Nice arabesque,” he said. “You clearly know your ballet.”

“Worryingly,” she said, “so do you.”

He pressed the bag into her hand. “All the same, better safe than sorry. Right?” He took out his own phone and sealed it inside another bag, then stuffed it back in his pocket.

They crossed the sandy parking lot to the Paddle Center—a wood cabin with a corrugated metal roof and touristy signage. Maggie could hear the rumble of traffic passing by on US 192, and the gentle drone of a helicopter somewhere in the direction of Disney.

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.