by Stella Bixby
I maneuvered the truck so the headlights shone on the cove, put it in park, and jumped out. “What happened?”
“You told me—” Reginald’s voice was hysterical. “I never should have taken her.”
He pointed to the lake.
“Who?” Antonio asked. He and I both strained to see where this person was. If they’d gone under, it would be much harder to get to them.
“Polly.”
His dog.
“I should have gone in after her, but you said—”
“Where did she go in?” I asked.
Reginald pointed. “I don’t see her.”
“Do you want to go in or do you want me to?” I asked Antonio.
“You go in,” he said. “I’ll pull you out.”
I was in the Gumby suit in less than two minutes. “Do you have a visual?”
Both men stared out onto the ice. The dog was tiny and white. Getting a visual was going to be nearly impossible.
“Zip me,” I said to Antonio.
His hands shook, and he looked me in the eye for the first time in months. I gave him a small smile. “We got this.”
He nodded and looked away.
“There,” Reginald shouted. “She’s right there.”
Open water about thirty-five feet from shore held what looked like a splashing rat.
“The ice might not be stable getting out there,” Antonio said. “I would approach from the right.”
He clicked the carabineer to my suit.
“Reginald, you need to help Antonio pull me out once I get Polly, okay?”
Tears streamed down his face. It was amazing such a small animal could cause such a strong man so much pain.
“Good to go?” I asked Antonio.
“Yes.”
I walked out onto the ice keeping my center of gravity low and my steps as wide as possible. Reach was an option. Throw, not so much. Go would probably be the outcome.
The ice crackled under my feet sending a chill up my legs. Polly’s little legs swam as fast as they could.
“Come here, Polly,” I called.
If she could rescue herself, it would be for the best.
She put her front paws onto the ice shelf but couldn’t quite pull herself up.
“I’m coming,” I said as reassuringly as possible.
The ice surrounding Polly was still thick. She had to have fallen in a man-made hole. Thank goodness it hadn’t been Reginald.
I got on my hands and knees and reached a hand out toward her. She had gone back to swimming in the icy water and was impossible to catch.
“Going in,” I yelled to Antonio.
I slid into the hole—big enough for at least three people—and pulled my arms and legs into a ball. Air rushed out of my suit, and Polly practically jumped into my arms.
I bobbed around trying to keep her above water while pushing myself into a position so I wouldn’t crush her when Antonio pulled me out.
I put a hand on my head and then up in the air—the signal for Antonio to pull. The rope tightened, and I rolled to my side keeping the sweet little pup’s shivering body cradled carefully in my arms.
Once I was on the ice shelf and Antonio stopped pulling, I stood and walked back to shore.
Reginald scooped Polly into his arms. “Oh baby, I’m so sorry. No more ice fishing for you.”
She licked his face once.
“There’s a towel in the back of my truck,” I said. Antonio nodded and walked over to get it.
“Thank you so much, Rylie,” Reginald said. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you.”
“I’m just glad you didn’t go in after her.” I smiled.
Antonio returned with the towel and Reginald wrapped Polly in it.
“Can you help me out of this suit?” I asked Antonio. Now that it wasn’t a matter of life and death, it was awkward asking him to help me disrobe.
He undid the Velcro and pulled the zipper down far enough that I could pull the top half of the suit off.
On the path next to my truck, I heard clapping.
The three of us turned to see naked guy with a huge smile on his face. “That was seriously awesome,” he said. “I wish I had my phone on me. But, alas, no pockets.”
“Not again,” Antonio mumbled under his breath. “Are you going to run if I try to catch you?”
Naked guy shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Aren’t you cold?” I asked trying not to look right at him.
“The cold air makes my pores practically non-existent,” Naked guy said. “It’s a rush better than drugs.”
That reminded me of Alex. And Jordan. Had Jordan gone out there for the rush? I had to go see him. Guilt swelled through me. I hadn’t visited him since the day he was taken to the hospital.
“I will give you a ride to your car,” Antonio said. “The park is closed, and my shift was over twenty minutes ago.”
Naked guy thought about this for a minute. “Okay.”
They got into Antonio’s truck, Antonio throwing a towel on the seat and saying something about covering up.
“Why don’t I get you to your car too,” I said to Reginald.
He was still snuggling Polly like a little baby doll. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”
“I’d take her to the vet if I were you,” I said. “But I think she’ll be fine.”
Polly wagged her tiny tail.
22
Jordan was still hooked up to all of the machines when I arrived early the next morning. No one else was in the room.
“Hey Jordan,” I said quietly. “It’s Rylie, the park ranger who found you.”
I stepped a bit closer. His color had returned, and there were little bruises on his forehead. They were in a pattern.
“Hello?” A voice from behind me almost made me scream.
“Hi,” I said. It was Jordan’s mom. “I’m Rylie, the park—”
“I remember you.” She smiled.
“Any word on how he’s doing?” I asked.
“He’s still not breathing on his own.” She looked too exhausted to cry.
My heart sank. Were both of these boys going to die?
“Do you know what those bruises are on his head?” I asked. “I didn’t see them when I found him.”
“They didn’t show up until he got his color back.”
“It looks like some sort of pattern,” I said. “Little stars maybe?”
She looked closer and shrugged. “Perhaps.”
“Do you have any idea how this could have happened?” I asked as gently as I could.
She slumped down into the chair next to Jordan’s bed and grabbed his hand. “I’ve been over and over it in my mind. Jordan never would have done something like this alone. I think it was Alex. I guess now we’ll never know.”
“It wasn’t Alex. I know that for certain.” Well as certain as the word of a teenage girl.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re friends with his cousin. Of course you’re going to defend him.”
The last thing I wanted to do was cause her any additional heartache. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to defend anyone. I just wanted to know if you had any other ideas. If anyone has visited and acted weird or—well—anything.”
She stared at Jordan’s hand in hers.
“I’ll just let myself out,” I said turning toward the door.
“Debbie,” she almost whispered.
“What?” I asked.
“Debbie has visited several times.” She didn’t look up when she spoke. “She never even liked Jordan.”
“But Jordan liked her, didn’t he?”
“He loved her,” his mother corrected. “She could do no wrong in his eyes.”
“Why would she do something like this?” I asked. “And how?”
“I don’t know.”
Nikki dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t even want to go.”
We were inside her uncle’s house, searching every nook and cranny. She’d promise
d no one would be there—and they weren’t . . . yet. If her uncle found us, not only would it start a civil war in their family, but I’d probably end up in jail. Just to be safe, my hair was up in a bun and I had on gloves to keep my fingerprints off everything.
“It’s stupid,” she said. “I know I should be there, but if I go, it’s like I’m giving in to the fact that Alex’s gone and he’s never coming back. I don’t know that I’m ready to accept that. Not yet.”
“You’ll have your mom and dad and Luke with you.” I yanked open a drawer that held silverware and gently moved things around before closing it. What could he possibly be hiding in a silverware drawer?
My mind bounced back and forth between the task at hand and the information I’d gotten from Jordan’s mom. I had to tell Nikki about it, but I didn’t know how. Especially with the funeral coming up.
“Mom and Dad are both in helper mode, and Luke is off in his own world right now. I think it’s the thought of possibly going to the Middle East. He just doesn’t seem to care about me.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” I asked.
Nikki’s head jerked up. “You’d do that?”
Stupid.
Why couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut? I hated funerals. They were the absolute worst.
“Of course I would.”
“That would be amazing. Really, Rylie. Thank you.”
“What time does it start?”
She gave me all the information. “But be there early so we can walk in together.”
“I’m not family,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter.”
We searched in silence for a few moments. She looked in closets, and I checked the kitchen cabinets.
“I went to see Jordan this morning,” I said.
“How is he?” Nikki asked.
“Alive, but barely.”
“I still think he did this to Alex.”
“His mom thinks Alex did it to him,” I said. “I told her he didn’t.”
“How can we know that, though? I mean, I know—knew—my cousin.” She cleared her throat. “But he was on drugs, he could have done anything.”
“Did you know he had a new girlfriend?”
“Alex or Jordan?”
“Alex. I met her the other night after I went to talk to your ex.”
“You talked to Brody?” She stared at me. “Why?”
“Because I want to get to the bottom of this. It’s really gotten under my skin.”
“Tell me everything,” she said.
I explained what Brody said about Jordan riding Alex’s coattails and how Debbie had cornered the new girlfriend in the bathroom.
“What’s the new girlfriend’s name?” Nikki asked when my monologue had concluded.
“I never asked.”
Nikki stood with her hands on her hips. “Let’s go upstairs, to the bedroom. There’s nothing down here.”
“How will we know if we find Jordan’s clothes?” I asked. “Won’t they look just like Alex’s? Or Henry’s since he’s smaller than Alex?”
“He wore the number fourteen. Their jersey number is printed on all of their school clothes,” she said leading up the stairs. “You said you talked to Alex’s new girlfriend, right?”
“After I talked to Brody, she pulled me under the bleachers at the school.” We began methodically going through the rooms on the second floor. If only their house wasn’t so large. “She told me Alex had gone to her house after his fight with his dad. He was there until he took the snowmobile.”
“So he couldn’t have hurt Jordan?”
“According to her.” I shrugged. “And both she and Jordan’s mom think Debbie has something to do with all of this. After the way Debbie acted in the bathroom, I would have to agree with them.”
“What about Uncle Hal?” Nikki asked. “Do we still think he could have done it? Or are we searching for nothing?”
“I don’t think we’re searching for nothing. But I do think Debbie is a very real suspect too.”
“But what did she do? Did she spike Alex’s drink? There’s no way she forced Jordan to take off his clothes and freeze to death.”
“Maybe there is,” I said. The gears in my brain spun so hard I was surprised steam wasn’t coming out of my ears. “If Jordan was drunk he would have done lots of stupid things, right?”
“Okay, I’ll play along.”
“Even his mom said he loved Debbie. So wouldn’t he have followed her to the ends of the earth?”
“Probably.”
“One of the kids I talked to said they saw Jordan and Debbie making out in a car at the party. What if she lured him to the beach? Acted all seductive and told him to take off his clothes?”
“And then?”
My brain hurt. He may have taken off his clothes but why would he have stayed there? All night? In the freezing cold?
“I don’t know. But she took his clothes and left,” I said.
“He would have chased after her.”
“The theory needs some work,” I admitted. “But it’s plausible.”
Nikki looked under her aunt and uncle’s bed. “And you think she drugged Alex because he broke up with her?”
“Maybe,” I said. “She’s pretty crazy.”
“Do you think she’s the one who killed Alex in the hospital?”
“Maybe,” I said slowly. “If someone did something to Alex in the hospital, it could have been her. But Jordan’s mom seemed to have pretty negative feelings too.”
She waved a hand as if she didn’t care what I thought.
“Debbie always seemed so nice,” Nikki said. “I guess it was all an act.”
I hadn’t seen Nikki so down . . . ever. Her usual edge was dulled by grief.
“We’ll talk to her after the funeral. Together,” Nikki said.
“Deal,” I said. “There’s nothing here. Your uncle is smarter than hiding anything in his house where his wife or Henry could find it.”
She nodded. “I don’t think we’ll get access to his patrol car, but his personal truck is in the garage.”
Why hadn’t we started there? “Let’s go.”
There was nothing suspicious in the truck either. Nothing suspicious in the entire garage, in fact.
“It’s a dead end,” I said giving into defeat. “If he did it, we’ll have to get him to confess. He’s probably burned the evidence by now.”
“You’re right, I would have,” Hal’s voice echoed through the garage propelling me to my feet, my hands clasped into fists.
“Uncle Hal,” Nikki said. “We were just—”
“I know exactly what you were doing.” He had his arms crossed over his chest, his face full of shadows. “I just can’t for the life of me figure out what made you think searching a police officer’s home for clues was a good idea.”
My knees shook. Every part of me was terrified of this man.
“We had to,” I whispered so he wouldn’t hear the fear in my voice.
“Had to?” He took a step toward both of us and moved his hands to his duty belt—his gun.
I swallowed. “Yes, sir.” I figured being polite couldn’t hurt. “We need to figure out who drugged Alex. Who tried to kill Jordan. And if that means we need to search for clues, then we will.”
“Nikki. Do you agree with her?”
Nikki leveled her gaze at him. “Yes, Uncle Hal. And if you had anything to do with it, I’d like you to tell us.”
“If I confess to you, what will you do with that information?” He looked from Nikki back to me. “Do you have a recorder going? Because even if I say something to you, it’ll still be my word against yours in court.”
I didn’t have a recorder. I didn’t have any way of proving it.
“Confessing to us is not the goal,” I said. “We have no authority over the situation.”
“You’re absolutely right you don’t.” His pompous voice made me want to punch him.
“However, if you did something to on
e or both of those boys, and you confessed it to us, we would take that information to the police, and they would launch a full investigation.” I was speaking out my ass. I had no idea if they would or not.
“I’m one of their most decorated officers,” he said.
“And someone many people are afraid of,” I added.
“But not you.” He stepped closer to me, bending over slightly at the hips so he could look me right in the eye.
I didn’t blink. “No. I’m not afraid of you.” Okay, so I was, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing those words come out of my mouth.
“I could shoot you for entering my house.”
“You could,” I said. “But would you shoot your own niece? The person Alex may have loved more than anyone else in the world?”
His gaze darted to Nikki then back to me. He stood back up to his full height towering over me. “You’re good.”
“I’m what?” My mind reeled.
The corners of his mouth twitched up slightly. “You’d make a damn good police officer.”
Was he trying to change the subject? Get us away from some sort of evidence?
“I didn’t do anything to Alex—” his voice caught on his son’s name “—or Jordan. And I’m not trying to take your focus off the investigation. I have a solid alibi for that evening. I was working a case with several other police officers—many who despise me and would happily rat me out if I wasn’t where I said I was.”
Frustration swept over me.
“Uncle Hal, are you mad at me?” Nikki asked.
“Mad? Hell no. I’m proud. You stood up for what you thought was right. Anyone who can stand up to me is a tough SOB.”
Nikki smiled a bit, the sadness not leaving her eyes.
“I need to thank you,” he said to me.
“For what?”
“If you hadn’t confronted me at Hentemens, I might never have gone to see Alex that night. My workaholic and avoidance tendencies are huge downfalls. And if I hadn’t gone to see Alex, I might never have been able to make amends before—” he couldn’t say the rest.
“I’m glad you were able to talk to him. I’m so sorry that he didn’t make it.”