Silent Fall

mind back to the situation at hand. "She wouldn’t have planned to hide here for long. She would have known the police would eventually get around to searching this place."
    "So perhaps she just wanted to make it clear that she was here." He glanced around the room again. "I don’t see anything of hers, nothing that she obviously planted, although I haven’t gone through every drawer and closet."
    "She might not have had time. She left in a hurry. I think we should go, too."
    "Let me grab some clothes in case I can’t get back here for a while." Dylan moved into the bedroom, returning a few minutes later with a packed sports bag.
    "So where are we headed?" she asked as they left his apartment and walked down the stairs. She was relieved to be out of Dylan’s house. She didn’t want to think any more about what had almost happened between them. She needed to concentrate on what they needed to do to find Erica and get Dylan out of the trouble he was in.
    "My grandmother’s house," he replied, surprising her.
    "Are you serious? We can’t go to a family home."
    "Relax. It’s the perfect place. My grandmother doesn’t share my last name. She remarried about ten years ago, and she took her second husband’s name. The house belonged to him, so it would take some in-depth investigating to tie her house to me. She also has a car that we can use, since we should probably get yours out of sight."
    "This is your grandmother who’s in the rest home?" she asked, feeling better about his plan.
    "That’s right. She has a small house in the Sunset District that no one is using. I have a key, as I occasionally go over there and make sure the cleaning service and gardeners are keeping up with everything."
    "What happened to your grandmother’s husband?"
    "He died about three years ago."
    "Are you close to her?"
    "Somewhat. She’s a good woman. Although it’s hard to believe she and my father actually share the same blood. She’s generous to a fault. He’s a selfish bastard. Her one flaw was that she couldn’t see my father for what he was, so I couldn’t tell her what he did to me. I tried a few times, but she always turned it around. I guess she couldn’t go down that road."
    Catherine nodded. A lot of people looked away when it came to abuse. No one wanted to see it or admit that someone they knew could do something so horrible. And despite Dylan’s casual manner now, it must have hurt him when he realized that no one was coming to his rescue. At least he’d had his brother.
    Dylan stopped the car at a red light and glanced over at her. "On another note, are you hungry?"
    Her stomach immediately rumbled in response.
    "Now that you mention it, I’m starving. Breakfast was a long time ago."
    "There’s a very good Italian restaurant not far from my grandmother’s house, Antonio’s. We can pick something up on our way in."
    "That sounds good. What are you going to do about your job, Dylan?"
    "I don’t have to be at work until Monday. If we haven’t found Erica by then I’ll take a sick day. I’m just hoping the newsroom doesn’t pick up on this story."
    "Lake Tahoe is a long way from here."
    "Yes, but the prime suspect in the disappearance of a San Francisco woman in Tahoe is KTSF’s lead reporter. How’s that for a sound bite?"
    "Very good. I’m just glad you kept me out of it."
    He shot her a pointed look. "I’ll try, Catherine, but I can’t promise that you’ll stay out of it. Before this is through you could very well be an accessory to murder -- or worse."
    "I don’t want to know what ‘worse’ is," she said.
    "But you already do, don’t you?"
    She hadn’t seen a vision, but her gut told her that Erica might not be the only person who was supposed to end up dead.
    * * *
    A half hour later Catherine was distracted from her negative thoughts by their arrival at Dylan’s grandmother’s house. Set on the corner, the light blue structure shared sidewalls with its neighbor. The house was located about a half mile from the beach, and Catherine could smell the salty sea air as they got out of the car.
    There was an ominous feeling to the sky now. The sun had set, and a heavy mist thickened the air. Catherine felt as if the whole world were closing in on them, the trap tightening with each passing moment. She tried to tell herself that she was being paranoid,