Until The Ride Stops. Amie Denman

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СКАЧАТЬ Caroline said, looking around. “You’re not supposed to use the official name. Someone might hear.”

      “Sorry,” he said. He leaned closer and whispered, “Matt Dunbar, construction engineer on the nameless mystery project opening next May. I hope.”

      Caroline let her shoulders relax but didn’t let down her guard. He still hadn’t explained himself. Not really, anyway.

      “That’s enough,” Caroline said. “Tell me why you’re here at midnight. I don’t see any of your crew, and I didn’t think there was nighttime construction going on.”

      “Couldn’t sleep, so I walked over.” He gave up on the handshake and put both hands in his pockets.

      “Walked?”

      Starlight Point was on a peninsula jutting into Lake Huron with a long bridge providing nearly the only access. No one walked to Starlight Point. They either caught the ferry or drove over. Caroline narrowed her eyes. His story was not holding water so far.

      “From the campout. My company sponsored a tent and I drew one of the lucky tickets to stay over tonight.”

      Of course Caroline knew about the campout. It was the reason she was working an overnight shift. With a five-hundred-dollar donation to a local charity, groups of four could pitch a tent and stay on the Western Trail overnight. They’d get VIP treatment when the park opened in the morning.

      “You’re here for the coaster campout?”

      “It sounded like a good idea at the time. Stay the night, campfire breakfast and coasters at first light before the crowds get here. Nice donation to local charities. However, I forgot two things.”

      “What did you forget?” Perhaps this would explain why he was wandering the construction zone. Caroline was still considering whether or not to haul him over to the station where she could question him under harsh fluorescent lights. Protecting Starlight Point was not a joke to her.

      “I don’t like riding roller coasters.”

      “And yet you’re building one,” Caroline said. She was starting to doubt he was actually in charge of the project. Shouldn’t it be someone much older? She’d been patrolling the fence surrounding the high-profile construction for several weeks now, but she’d hardly noticed the men in hard hats coming and going. “Will you ride this coaster when it’s done?”

      He nodded, his expression serious in the ambient glow from the flashlight. “It’s my job. Inspires confidence if the man who builds it is willing to ride it. Even if I have to hold my breath for the entire ride.”

      “Dedication,” Caroline said. I can respect that. But something still did not add up.

      “You said there were two things. What else did you forget?” Caroline asked. “Is it here in the construction zone?”

      “No. It’s a fact—I hate camping. When I was a kid, my older cousins used to consider it a badge of honor to scare me to death by scratching on the outside of the tent like ravenous mountain lions. This was especially effective after ghost stories and urban legends around the campfire.”

      Caroline suppressed a laugh. “I’m Caroline Bennett,” she said, holding out her hand. “I went camping one time when I was a Girl Scout.”

      “And?”

      “I was trapped in a tent with a spider large enough to cast a shadow.”

      He took her hand and gave it a lingering shake. “I’m picturing you ordering the spider out of your tent. Or else.”

      She smiled. “The spider disappeared and we never found it, even though we stayed up all night looking.”

      “I have no doubt you’re braver than I am,” he said. “Which is why I’ve already decided to surrender should you cuff me and haul me off to the Starlight Point Jail. I just hope you serve funnel cakes and boardwalk fries for breakfast. It’s the least you could do for keeping a man from his own worries.”

      “What are you worried about?”

      “Getting this done in the next three hundred and forty-two days.”

      Caroline pulled her radio off her belt and keyed the police dispatcher to let her know the situation was under control and she would be escorting a guest back to the camping area. She clipped the radio to her belt and gave Matt her attention again.

      “So you wandered off the Western Trail and thought you’d poke around here since you couldn’t sleep?”

      A line appeared between his eyebrows as he scanned the area. “I just thought it might be interesting to get the lay of the land at night. I’m trying to picture it all lit up with miles of steel track going everywhere.”

      Caroline glanced around. It was dark inside the walled-off section of the park, especially after closing time when lights all over the Point were dimmed or switched off. Only the chasing lights on the tall hills of a few roller coasters were visible.

      By next season, there would be an addition to the Starlight Point skyline. The new top secret coaster was being built on the site of the ill-fated and short-lived Loose Cannon that had claimed a life and closed after only part of one season.

      She shuddered, imagining the girl being thrown from the ride and dying on what should have been a fun day.

      “Cold?” Matt asked.

      Caroline shook her head. No way was she sharing her plan to investigate an old case no one wanted to reopen.

      “I wish I had a jacket to offer you,” he said. “I could give you my hard hat but it won’t do much good.”

      “I should escort you out of here and secure the site,” Caroline said. She swung her flashlight in an arc toward the gate. “Let’s go. I’ll see you back to your tent.”

      Matt blew out a long breath. Maybe he wanted to stay and work, but she couldn’t allow it. It was her job to keep the area free of trespassers all night. No matter what they claimed. She planned to check his name and credentials the next morning.

      “Will you come in and do a spider check?” he asked.

      She pressed her lips together to suppress a smile. “You’ll have to handle that yourself. Not in my job description.”

      Caroline opened the gate and they walked onto the dimly lit, empty midway. During the day, there was barely room for a shadow on the crowded thoroughfare, and now it was abandoned.

      Matt fell into step beside her as they passed the long fence concealing the construction site and then the dodgem cars and several shuttered food stands. The late May evening was chilly and the damp air smelled like the earth recently churned up in the flowerbeds. A lingering aroma of hot dogs and fried food remained, even hours after park closing.

      “Have you worked here long?” Matt asked.

      “This is my second season,” she said, hoping the finality in her tone would discourage him from asking further questions. If she hurried back to the station, she could reclaim the second half of her lunch break and get another look at that file. Was it really СКАЧАТЬ