Solid as Steele by REBECCA YORK Page B

hardly slept the night before, and he wasn’t going to wake her to go out to dinner, but he could bring back something they’d both like.
    The question made him realize how little he knew about her tastes. But he remembered a Light Street Fourth of July party where he’d seen her eating ribs and buffalo wings. Something like that was probably safe.
    The hotel had a binder with information on local restaurants. He found there was a place down by the river where you could get ribs and crabcakes. Kind of a weird combination, but it looked like he could walk down a path along the canal and get there in a few minutes.
    In case Jamie woke up and wondered where he was, he wrote her a note explaining that he’d gone out to get them dinner. He left the sheet of paper on the rug where she’d be sure to see it if she stepped out of the bedroom.
    Then he stopped at the desk to make sure he knew which way to walk. On the way to the restaurant, he passed an old dye works that was partly demolished. Too bad it was sitting right down in the tourist section of town. But maybe they could use the part that was still standing for shops or something.
    Inside the restaurant, he grabbed a menu and scanned the selections. The cream of crab soup sounded good. He asked for two cartons and two orders of barbecued ribs. And salad. Women always liked salad.
    While he waited for the kitchen to prepare the food, he looked around the restaurant and found a rack near the door with local newspapers. Maybe they’d give him some information that would help lead to the funhouse.
    As he turned from the rack, he saw a man at a corner table watching him. The guy was pretty ordinary looking, but there was something unsettling about him.
    Mack took in details. The guy was sitting down, but from the way he filled the chair, he was probably about six feet tall. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, with dark hair. Dark eyes. Wire-rimmed glasses. He was wearing a blue flannel shirt, hiking boots and dark slacks.
    When he caught Mack scrutinizing him, he bent to his plate of crabcakes.
    â€œYour order’s ready,” the woman behind the counter called out, and Mack turned away to get the food. When he’d paid with his credit card, he took one more look at the guy in the corner and saw he was now reading an outdoor magazine.
    Mack exited the restaurant and took the path back to the hotel. When he walked into the room with their dinner, Jamie was sitting on the couch watching a recap of the earlier newscasts.
    She used the remote to turn off the television and silence rang in the room.
    â€œYou’re up,” he said, thinking that was a pretty dumb line. “How are you feeling?”
    â€œRested.”
    He set the bags down on the coffee table. “Sorry. Iforgot to get drinks. But we can grab something from the minibar.”
    She got up and crossed the room, opening the little refrigerator. “What do you want?”
    â€œDo they have Dr Pepper?”
    She laughed. “That’s your soft drink of choice?”
    â€œYeah.”
    She got out two cans of Dr Pepper and brought them to the table.
    â€œYou, too?”
    She nodded. “Yes. I hate to find we’ve got something in common.”
    â€œWhy?”
    The question hung in the air between them. When she didn’t answer, he sat down and gestured toward the food, as he told her what he’d gotten.
    â€œThere’s only one place in town where you could have scored that combination.”
    She reached into one of the bags and took out the cartons, not hesitating to spoon up some of the soup. “I haven’t had this in a while. It’s as good as you can get in Baltimore.”
    He took the chair across from her, pulling it closer to the table.
    After taking a spoonful, he nodded. “It’s strange to specialize in crab when you’re this far from the ocean.”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    It was an oddly polite and cautious