Dark Harbor (Stone Barrington 12)

She heard him walk across the room and open a door, then the sound of the bedpan being emptied and a toilet being flushed, then running water. He walked down the stairs, and she heard a door open and close. He hadn’t said a word.

STONE LAY ON HIS BED trying to sleep, telling himself he would be no good to Holly if he was exhausted. Finally, very late he dozed off. He woke to the sound of the ringing telephone. He rolled over in bed and grabbed it. “Hello?”

“It’s Sergeant Young. Has Holly returned?”

“No, Sergeant, she hasn’t, and I’m beyond being just worried.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get your message earlier, but I’ve been to the mainland and back.”

“Can you keep an eye out for her in your search?”

“We’ve completed most of the search,” Young said. “I had forty people tramping every foot of the island, and we’ve done two-thirds of it. Then, the second woman’s body was found, and I called it off because nobody was missing anymore.”

Stone looked at his watch: eight-fifteen. “Well, you’ve got to get the search going again,” he said, “because whoever is doing this has taken Holly, and he’s getting more dangerous.”

“Why more dangerous?”

“It’s a pattern with some serial killers: Their pace accelerates, they enjoy it more and more. Sometimes they become more reckless, as if they want to get caught.”

“But some of these people go on for years, almost on a regular schedule.”

“Not this guy. He wants more and more, and he’s getting it. He may stop for a few days, but he won’t be able to resist starting again. Three women in less than forty-eight hours: Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“I’ll get on the phone and get some people together. What time did you last see Holly yesterday?”

“About noon, when I went to lunch with Caleb Stone.”

“So we can ignore the parts of the island we searched after noon and concentrate on the rest.”

“Good idea. Have you searched Hal Rhinehart’s place?”

“Not yet.”

“Please go there first.”

“Why?”

“Rhinehart has a criminal background. Dino and I got him for a series of high-end burglaries in New York years ago. He’s done time.”

“Did any of the burglaries have sexual overtones? Did he rape any of his victims?”

“Not that we knew of, but still…”

“All right, we’ll start there.”

“I want to come with you.”

“I’ll pick you up in half an hour.” Young hung up.

Stone got dressed and had some cereal in the kitchen while Mabel protested that he should eat some bacon and eggs. He was waiting at the roadside when Young drove up in his patrol car. There were two men in the backseat who looked more like locals than summer people. Young introduced them, then drove on north.

“You don’t look so good,” he said as he drove.

“I didn’t get any real sleep,” Stone said. “I’m tired.”

“I understand.”

They reached the Rhinehart sign and turned into the drive. Hal Rhinehart came out of the house as they drove tip, apparently on the way to work.