He shook his head. “We don’t want her to know about…this situation. She’s got enough on the go without worrying about us.”
The stubborn old man was afraid he and Gracie would lose their independence if their daughter knew they were in danger. And I’d probably feel the same if I were in his shoes.
“Then I’ll call you,” I said. “What would be a good time?”
He didn’t answer at once, no doubt pondering the implications of my offer. “We’re here in the evenings,” he said tersely. “Don’t like driving in the dark.”
“If I call at seven will you be indoors where you can hear the phone?”
“Oh, yes. By seven, we’re locked up for the night.”
“You’ll hear from me at seven.” It was the best I could do.
A framed poster on the wall caught my eye. It was a larger version of a map of the chain of five lakes that I had at the cottage. I had used that map as my guide when I took a snowmobile across the frozen lakes the previous winter. I went over to the wall. Racoon, Black Bear, Raven, Paradise and Serenity. Raven was by far the largest lake in the chain, and it was the lake I’d paddled into on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s a great chain of lakes,” Chuck said. “When we had our motorboat, Gracie and I took it to Braeloch every week for groceries.”
I ran a finger over the lakes on the poster. When I’d crossed them on the snowmobile, they had been covered with ice and snow with few distinguishing features.
I decided I would drop in on Chuck and Gracie when I was out in the kayak in the weeks ahead. Raven was the lake right after Black Bear in the chain.
At the cottage, I called Bouchard at the OPP detachment. I told him that the Gibsons were determined to stay in their home and that I was worried about them. He said he would arrange for a cruiser to stop by once a day.
“Could one of your officers talk to them about alarm systems?” I asked. “I suggested they have an alarm installed.”
“We can’t endorse specific companies,” he said, “but we can tell them how they work.”
“The rental sites that carried the bogus ads,” I said.
“What about them?”
“Did they send you the IP addresses of the computers that posted the ads?”
“Our Anti-Rackets Branch is looking into the Gibsons’ case, and that’s the first thing it would want from the rental sites.”
It sounded like the police were on top of it. So why wasn’t I convinced?
Twenty minutes later, I had the kayak skimming over Black Bear Lake. I paddled to the bay where the Johnstons’ cottage and Norris Cassidy’s executive vacation home were located, and turned into the creek that connected the two lakes.
A short paddle down it, and I was on Raven Lake.
Directly across from the mouth of the creek, a low granite outcropping rose out of the lake to form a rocky beach. There were no cottages on this stretch of Raven so I assumed that the beach was Crown land. I paddled over to it, tied the kayak to a poplar and stripped down to my bathing suit.
The water was delicious—cool and silky. Clear, too. Diving into it, I could see the granite bedrock, sparkling in the sunlight, sloping down toward the middle of the lake. Small fishes swam over it.
I was about to pick up my towel from the rock where I’d left it, when I saw a snake basking in the sun just inches away from the towel. I jumped back. The snake sounded its rattle, and slithered across the rock and into the grass.
I poked at the towel with a stick before I picked it up.
A silver canoe emerged from the creek as I was drying myself off. Its sole occupant was a woman, whose short, dark hair was cut in the same style as Ella Prentice’s.
“Ella,” I called as she paddled past the beach.
If it was Ella, she hadn’t heard me because she kept on paddling.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I tossed and turned in bed for the better part of the night, thinking about Nate’s keycard and Ella’s appearances around the township. I wondered if they had any connection to the two murders. Probably not, I told myself, but my subconscious mind didn’t buy it. When I finally fell asleep, Ella, Zoe, Nate and orange keycards floated through my disjointed dreams. Just before I awoke, Ella plowed through Glencoe Self-Storage’s gate in Nate’s gold van.
“Okay,” I muttered as I dragged myself out of bed. “Nate and Zoe have a van that’s large enough to transport a body to the storage locker. But why would they kill Vi?”
I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. On my first day of freedom I was still programmed to rise at seven.
I was picking at a bowl of cereal when Tommy and Maxie joined me on the porch. “What’re we doing today?” Tommy asked as he slipped into the chair beside me.
“I’m going to the library in Braeloch this morning. Want to come? You can borrow some books.”
“Can Maxie come, too?”
“She won’t be allowed in the library. We’d better leave her here with Laura.”
Tommy’s mouth turned down in a pout.
I reached over and put an arm around him. “We’ll be back for lunch.”
“Can I sit in the front of the car?”
I shook my head. “You know the answer to that. You’re too small.” When Tommy turned eight two months before, I gave away his booster seat. And he’d been pushing to ride in the passenger’s seat ever since.
Tommy and I were waiting outside the front door when the Braeloch Public Library opened at nine. We introduced ourselves to the librarian, Ruth Cameron, and I told her that Tommy needed a library card. When she found out that we were cottagers, she said he could have a temporary card that he could use for the next two months, and he could check out five books at a time with it.
“Do I need a reservation to use a computer?” I asked her.
“Not this morning,” she said. “Our first booking today is for one o’clock. But you’ll need a library card to log onto a computer.”
While she made up our cards, I took Tommy over to the children’s section. I returned to Ruth for our cards and sat down at a computer terminal. Fifteen minutes later, I’d printed out pages from the websites of three security firms that served this part of Ontario cottage country.
I went over to Tommy, who was sitting on the floor surrounded by books. “Decide which five you want?” I asked him.
He drew five books toward him. “These.”
Ruth showed him how to check out his books at the electronic checkout counter. I picked up a pamphlet on the library’s kids’ program.
“Let’s go, Mrs. T.” Tommy tugged on my arm. “We gotta get back to Maxie.”
On the way out, we nearly collided with Zoe who was about to enter the building with an armful of books.
“Summer reading,” I said.
“Can’t read enough murder mysteries,” she said. “Nate says I should write one.”
“I saw your Aunt Ella on Raven Lake yesterday,” I said. “She must have been visiting you.”
Zoe laughed and shook her head. “Not Ella. She never comes up here.”
“Where are we going?” Tommy asked when I turned into the side road that led to the Gibsons’ lane.
“A quick stop. I have something for Chuck and Gracie.”
“Who?”
“Chuck and Gracie Gibson. They live on Raven Lake, and they’re thinking about having an alarm installed. I have some information that may help them.”
“Like the fire alarm at school?”
“That’s one kind of alarm. There are also alarms that go off when somebody comes into a house where he shouldn’t be. Like the one we have at home in Toronto.”
“To scare off bad guys.”
“That’s right.”
“Do we have one here?”
“Not at the lake.”
“Maybe we should get one.”
An image of Bruce’s cabin after the break-in flashed through my mind. Cardboard boxes torn open, papers scattered around the room. A tingle
ran down my spine.
I turned into the Gibsons’ drive and Chuck came around the side of the house.
“That man’s got a gun,” Tommy cried. In the rearview mirror I saw that his brown eyes were shining with excitement.
“That’s Chuck Gibson and he’s holding an air pistol,” I said. “He uses it for target practice.” I didn’t tell him that Chuck’s favorite target was rabbits.
I pulled up beside Chuck and hit the button that lowered the window. “Everything okay?” I asked him.
“It’s been quiet.” He looked like he hadn’t slept well.
“Quiet’s good,” I said. “Chuck, this is my boy Tommy in the back seat. Tommy, meet Mr. Gibson.”
“Mr. Gibson,” Tommy said, “can you show me how your gun works?”
“I sure can, son.” Chuck opened the back door for Tommy.
I followed Tommy out of the car.
“This is a spring pistol with a break-barrel design,” Chuck said. “Each time you want to shoot, you have to break the barrel to pop the spring inside.”
He cocked the pistol and loaded a metal pellet. He took aim at a tin can that was nailed to a post about ten feet away. “Here goes.”
He pulled the trigger and the pistol made a cracking sound.
We squinted, trying see the damage he’d inflicted on the can.
“You didn’t hit it, sir,” Tommy said.
Chuck sighed. “I need more practice.”
“And a good alarm system.” I opened the car door and took out the photocopies I’d made at the library. “Take a look at what these companies offer. I’ve circled the URLs so you can look up their websites on your computer.”
“You think bad guys will come here, Mr. Gibson?” Tommy asked. “Is that why you’ve got a pistol?”
“Tommy,” I said.
Chuck stooped to look Tommy in the eyes. “A man has to be prepared to defend his home.”
Tommy nodded solemnly.
“I’ll call you at seven tonight,” I said to Chuck.
He held up the papers I’d given him. “Thanks.”
“Can we get a pistol?” Tommy asked as we drove down the lane.
“We’re not getting a pistol or any other firearm.”
“What if…” Tommy sounded worried. He’d been through some frightening experiences in the past year and he needed reassuring.
“We’ll just mind our own business and lock our doors at night.” It didn’t sound as reassuring as I’d intended.
“Laura said you can’t mind your own business.”
I looked at Tommy in the mirror. He had a grin on his face.
“Is Laura right?” he asked.
“Laura has been known to exaggerate.”
“What’s exaggerate mean?”
“Laura sometimes stretches the truth.”
We were sitting down to lunch on the porch when Tracy’s Honda came up the drive.
“Just in time for lunch,” I said when we’d exchanged hugs with Tracy and Jamie.
“Thanks, but we ate at Ronnie’s,” Tracy said.
They joined us at the table and poured themselves tea.
“I’ll stay at Ronnie’s tonight,” Tracy said. “Jamie doesn’t want to leave her alone.”
Laura rolled her eyes. “And you two haven’t seen each other in what? Five whole days?”
“Dinner here tonight?” I asked hopefully.
“I don’t think Mom’s up for that,” Jamie said. “She hasn’t left the house yet.”
She knew I was disappointed because she added, “We’ll come over for lunch and a swim tomorrow if you’ll have us.”
“Ask Ronnie if she’d like to come,” I said.
“I will but I don’t think she’ll take you up on it.”
Another vehicle arrived as we were changing into our swimsuits. “Can’t people phone before they drop in?” I grumbled.
“They’re in the neighborhood and they want to say hello,” Laura answered from the room beside mine. The cottage’s thin walls offered no privacy.
“Kyle’s here,” Tommy cried.
From the porch, I saw Yvonne and Kyle getting out of the black Ferrari. I gritted my teeth, gave them a wave and went back inside to tell Laura.
Laura flopped down on the living room sofa. “This is my last full day of vacation. I don’t want to be around that woman.”
“Be polite,” I said. “Say hello and take the air mattress out on the lake.”
Laura flounced out of the cottage with a beach towel tied at her waist. “Hi, guys,” she said to the Shinglers, and continued down to the lake.
Tommy followed her out. “Kyle, let’s go fishing.”
I slammed a hat on my head, and grabbed a towel and a tube of sunscreen. I knew the reason for Yvonne’s visit, and I didn’t feel up to another argument. “I hope you brought your swimsuits,” I said, going over to the Shinglers.
“Pat, we have to talk,” Yvonne said.
I gave her my best smile. “Later. I’m going for a swim.”
I took two reclining lawn chairs out of the shed and set them up near the edge of the water. “Have a seat, Yvonne.”
Yvonne took off the linen jacket that matched her shorts and sat down.
“No bathing suit?” I asked.
“No. Pat, we really must—”
I followed Kyle and Tommy to the rowboat that was chained to the dock, and handed Kyle the key to the shed. When the door was unlocked, Tommy took out his fishing rod and two life jackets.
Laura took out an air mattress and brought it down to the water.
“How are you feeling, Laura?” Yvonne called out.
“I’m good,” Laura said as she stepped into the water.
I held the mattress while she climbed onto it. I spread sunscreen over her back, legs and arms, and pushed the mattress out into the lake. Then I put sunscreen on Tommy and fastened his life jacket. Kyle helped him into the rowboat and Maxie jumped in.
I stayed in the water for a good twenty minutes. I practiced my breaststroke, my backstroke, my butterfly stroke and my sidestroke. If I’d followed that routine every day, I would have been in top shape by the end of the summer.
“Impressive, Pat,” Yvonne said when I came out of the water. “Have you given some thought to the arrangement Russell and I proposed?”
I took the chair beside her, leaned back and closed my eyes.
“It makes good sense,” she went on. “Laura will want to get back to school, and you’ll be busy with your business. But I have all the time in the world to devote to the little one.”
I opened my eyes and looked at her. “That’s what brought you here today?”
“It’s always best to talk in person.”
Kyle steered the rowboat close the shore. I went over to it, and helped Tommy and Maxie out of the boat. Kyle threw himself into the lake and swam over to Laura on the mattress.
Tommy and I waited by the water until Laura and Kyle came in and tied up the rowboat. Kyle picked up Laura’s towel and draped it over her shoulders.
“Kyle, your shorts are soaking wet,” Yvonne said.
“They’ll be dry in no time,” he said, spreading the towel over the grass for Laura.
Maxie ran up from the lake, and shook the water off her coat, spraying us all. Yvonne yelped.
Laura rolled off her towel and handed it to Yvonne.
“Tommy, get yourself a Popsicle in the house,” I said.
He took Maxie by the collar and they went up to the cottage.
“We’re all here,” Yvonne said as she dried herself off, “so we should talk about the baby. What hospital did you say you’ll be in, Laura?”
Laura looked away, saying nothing.
“Our family doctor has referred Laura to a midwife,” I said. “The baby will be born at the Toronto Birthing Place unless there are complications.”
“A midwife!” Yvonne looked horrified.
“That’s right,” Laura said.
“And what has this mi
dwife told you?” Yvonne probed. “Does she think there will be complications?”
The woman was beyond endurance. “Laura hasn’t seen the midwife yet,” I said. “She has an appointment on Thursday.”
“I’ll be sure to call you on Thursday evening, Laura. You’ll be in Toronto then?”
“I start my job on Monday,” Laura said.
‘Kyle, you never told me about Laura’s summer job,” Yvonne said. “What will you be doing, my dear?”
“I’ll be looking after a little girl,” Laura said.
“Good practice for her,” I added.
Yvonne cleared her throat. “That’s where I was heading. Laura, you and Kyle don’t want to marry, but you must agree that the baby needs a mother and a father. Russell and I can provide that.”
Kyle sat up on the grass. “Our baby will have a mother and a father. He’ll live with Laura and Mrs. T—until we get married. In the meantime, I’ll be very involved in my kid’s life.”
“Kyle will definitely be involved.” Laura smiled at him. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“This child needs a mother and father under the same roof. A solid family unit,” Yvonne said. “Kyle and Laura, you may want to start dating other people, which would create all kinds of complications. Would that be any way to raise a child?”
“Mom, I told you and Dad to back off.” Kyle turned to Laura and said, “And I’m not going to date anyone else.”
Yvonne gave a little snort. “Back off on how my grandchild is raised?”
“Mom, I’m warning you.”
“Warning me?” She turned to face her son. “Warning me that if I don’t allow my grandchild to be raised in some loosey-goosey fashion, you’ll do what?”
“Don’t make me do it, Mom,” Kyle said.
Yvonne laughed. “Do what?”
Kyle sighed. He looked at Laura, then at me. “Mom has a…habit she hasn’t told you about.”
Yvonne’s face grew rigid. “Don’t you dare,” she said.
“A habit she finds difficult to break,” Kyle continued.
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