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DEADLY DETOUR

Late July is no ti lot, in Ocean City, Maryland It was stinking hot, and h the open s and enveloped lanced at my watch and cursed Mendez for her lateness

I’ forty should be working in offices, not in the field Sure, work in an office Answer phones, attend s, push paper—sounded like slow death by boredo for so cell phone inthe chance to visit so many exotic locales, such as this one Such as the ency

“Doo about myself or the Bayside Villas

A set of low, rectangular white stucco boxes, the Bayside Villas looked strangely like white frosted cakes in the ” blue The sound of a yapping dog and a TV set blaring somewhere did little to lift the status of the place

“What a du Elizabeth Taylor’s iinia Woolf

I stared at the door to Unit 8, as if that wouldIn theto Unit 7, the curtain moved for the second time I smiled

“Nervous?” I said Probably afraid I was casing the joint As if any sane burglar would waste his time here

A jazz piano tune floated from the dashboard radio I closed ood to keep your eyes closed too long at this job The distant neon circles of a double-decker Ferris wheel bobbed with nuularity over the flat rooftops The bay waters swooshed at intervals against a nearby bulkhead

Another twenty ile as a kitten’s breath eased through the car, carrying with it the scent of creosote-treated wood Sweat tickled my neck Wearily, I wiped it away The Ferris wheel went through countless cycles

The Unit 7 curtain er this time, then dropped

So as that all about? Surreptitious interest? Paranoia? Maybeto do withwas up here And, unless she was in soe trouble, Mendez should eventually return the ot in okay