by Jessica Beck
“I didn’t think Della had anyone after her,” I said. “If what you say is correct, why would we be in any danger?”
“And why would you threaten us like that if we weren’t on to something?” Annie added.
“I never threatened you,” he said.
“My mistake. It sure sounded like a threat to me. How about you, Pat?”
I shrugged. “I’m with you. I definitely felt threatened just then.”
“You two think you’re funny, don’t you?” Chief Cameron asked us.
“We have our moments,” I conceded.
“Maybe, but this isn’t one of them. You’ve been warned.”
“Got it. Threatened and warned. You’ve covered them both.” I looked at him for another moment before I asked, “Is there anything else?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, the police chief just shook his head and got back into his car.
As he sped off, Annie looked at me and grinned. “Somebody’s not happy with our investigation, are they?”
“No, the police chief seemed to be a bit miffed with us,” I answered.
“I’m not talking about that. He was just trying to carry out someone else’s wishes. Think about it. How could he know that we’ve been going around town asking questions if someone didn’t complain about it to him? We’ve got someone on edge, so I have a hunch that we must be getting warmer.”
“I didn’t think of it that way,” I admitted.
“That’s why there are two of us. After all, two heads are better than one.”
“Unless they just have one hat to share between them,” I said with a grin. Maybe it wasn’t that funny, but I felt as though the tension of the moment needed a little relief.
“Why don’t you let me carry the Dutch oven for a while?” Annie asked as she reached for the handle.
I didn’t give it up, though. “If you do that, then what will I have to complain about?”
She smiled at me as she lowered her hand. “I’m sure you’d think of something, but let’s not tax that tiny little brain of yours, okay?”
“It’s the same size as yours,” I said.
“Perhaps, but I use mine a lot more efficiently than you do.”
I decided not to challenge her assertion. I needed to save my breath for the rest of our hike. After we’d walked a little ways, I asked my sister, “So, who do you think we rattled with our questioning? Did Gary White call him?”
“He doesn’t seem the type to cry for help, does he?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure that Davis wouldn’t run to him,” I said.
“Serena might, depending on how close they are. I’m honestly not sure. Who else did we talk to today about Della’s suspicions?”
“Nobody that I can think of,” I said. I glanced at my watch and realized that quite a bit of time had passed since we’d left Della’s the last time. “Would you look at that? It’s almost lunchtime.”
Annie glanced at hers as well. “Not for another half an hour.”
“Tell that to my stomach. I didn’t get to finish my breakfast.”
“Fine,” she said. “When we get back to Aunt Della’s, we can drop this stuff off, grab a quick bite, and then start back up this afternoon. I don’t know what she’s making, but surely there will be something worth eating.”
“Start back up and do what, actually? I was under the impression that we’d already spoken to our suspects once, and without new information, what good will it do us to interview them again?”
“I don’t know. We clearly need to think of a new game plan. There must be something we can do,” Annie said.
“If there is, I don’t know what it might be.”
She frowned in thought for a minute before she suggested, “Why don’t we eat, and then we’ll talk about it again? Maybe our subconscious minds will be able to come up with something if we don’t think about anything for a while.”
I smiled at her. “You know me. Not thinking is one of my favorite things to do.”
I’d set her up with a softball pitch, and she hit it over the wall. “You don’t have to tell me that. I work with you every day, remember?”
I laughed, and we finally made it back to Della’s house with our newfound objects safely. No one had offered us a ride along the way, but my twin sister and I had elicited a few stares as we’d walked carrying our cast iron purchases. It amazed me how many folks would rather peek out behind their blinds than just come out onto their front porches to get a better look at us. It felt to me as though the closer we got to our aunt’s house, the more stares we generated.
Without even meaning to, it appeared that my sister and I were generating quite a bit of interest in Gateway Lake just by our presence.
I wasn’t all that excited about getting that much attention, but then again, maybe if the attempted killer knew that we were out there searching for them, they’d give up their mission to murder our aunt.
I doubted it, though.
Whoever was doing it seemed quite determined to carry out their original quest, whether we were involved or not.
I started to knock on the front door when Annie laughed at me and grabbed the handle instead. “We don’t need to knock, Pat,” she said.
“Maybe you don’t,” I replied as I followed her inside. I wasn’t sure I felt good about just barging in. Despite my earlier warnings, the front door had been unlocked. I needed to speak to her about that, but not just yet. The place smelled amazing, and I followed my nose, and my sister, into the kitchen. When I walked into the room, I saw that the small dining room table just off the kitchen was covered in dishes, from entrees to sides to desserts. “Are we interrupting something? It looks as though you’re having a party. We can always go back to Moe’s for lunch,” I volunteered, though in truth everything looked and smelled wonderful.
“Silly, this is for the two of you,” she said. “Do you see anything you like?”
“It all looks wonderful,” Annie said as she put her cast iron skillet down on one of the few free spaces on the kitchen counter. “You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.”
“Of course I should have.” She grinned at the bounty and added with a smile, “I clearly couldn’t decide what to make.”
“So you made everything,” I said with a grin of my own, putting my Dutch oven down on the floor out of the way.
“Is it too much?”
“Not if you don’t mind having leftovers for the next few weeks,” I said.
Annie nudged me a little as she said, “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“I had fun cooking for you,” she said, and then she glanced at the new pieces we’d just brought in. “Did you bring some cast iron with you from home?”
“No, we bought a few Griswold pieces at the hardware store in town,” Annie said.
“Griswold? What’s that mean?”
“It’s the manufacturer’s name,” I said. “Annie got an amazing deal.”
“I’ll bet Gary wasn’t pleased about that,” she said. “He hates being outdone.”
“You’re telling me,” Annie said. “He got so mad that he fired a kid named Tommy.”
Della shook her head. “That’s terrible, but truthfully, I told him that he should have quit months ago.”
“You know him?” I asked.
“Of course I do. Gateway Lake is a small town. I shouldn’t have to tell the two of you about how much interaction there is in tight communities. From what I understand, Maple Crest is much the same.”
“It is,” Annie conceded. “I hated to see it happen because of me, though.”
“Don’t worry yourself about it,” Della said. “Tommy is destined for bigger and better things now that he’s out from under Gary White’s thumb.”
“You know, Gary seemed so nice at first when we met him at the diner this morning, but we saw a completely different side of him at his store,” I said as I pinched off a piece of ham.
“Patrick, at least get a plate,” Annie scolded me.
“No, it’s just the three of us,” Della said.
“Then let’s eat. I’m suddenly starving.”
I grabbed a plate and started piling things on. I’d started off trying to choose in moderation, but there was just too much of it to do that.
“That was all delicious,” I said as I pushed my plate aside. We’d eaten in her formal dining room, since there hadn’t been any room in the kitchen or at the dinette. I never understood having a room devoted strictly to eating, but I was happy for it at the moment.
“I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I’m sure none of it was up to Annie’s cast iron standards.”
“Don’t be so certain about that,” I said, and my sister promptly swatted me. “Hey.”
“I didn’t hit you that hard,” Annie said with a grin, “mostly because I agree with you.”
“If you agree with me, then why did you swat me?”
“I like to keep you in line,” my sister said with a smile.
“I really would love to taste some of your cast iron cooking sometime,” Della said.
“I’d offer to make you something tonight, but I have a feeling that we’ll be eating leftovers the entire time that we’re here,” Annie said as she picked up her plate and made her way back into the kitchen.
As we followed her with ours, Della said, “Don’t worry about this spread. All of it will save nicely. I’d be honored if you’d make something for us tonight.”
I’d seen the fire pit near the water the night before, and I had to admit, it would be the perfect spot to spend a few hours tending a fire, especially given the chill in the air. “Why not?” I asked my sister. “It could be fun.”
“Really?” Annie asked me, clearly wanting to know if I was willing to put our investigation on hold while she cooked outdoors.
I nodded in agreement as I echoed, “Really.” Since we were fresh out of ideas, it might be a nice experience to share.
“Let’s do it, then. What sounds good to you, Aunt Della?” she asked.
“Oh, whatever you’d like to make would be delightful.”
“I do my best. How about you, Pat?”
I thought about all of my sister’s specialties, and then I finally came up with something I knew would be a hit. “You haven’t made ribs in a while.”
“I make them every week at the Iron,” she reminded me.
“Maybe so, but usually they’re all gone by the time I get around to eating,” I replied. “I haven’t had one of your ribs for months.”
“Poor thing. I hadn’t realized that you’d been so deprived.”
“Well, now you know,” I said with a grin.
“Ribs it is. Della, do you have any charcoal on hand?”
“No, and I’m afraid that I’m out of firewood as well, though Davis has offered some to me if I’m ever in need.”
“Tell you what. Why don’t I make enough food for all four of us?” Annie suggested. “We’ll cook the food with charcoal and then eat by the campfire.”
“It sounds wonderful to me. Shall I go to the store for you?” Della volunteered.
“We’ll be happy to do that ourselves,” I replied before Annie could answer. While we were out shopping, maybe we could get in a little more sleuthing along the way. If nothing else, we could discuss what the next day might bring, since it appeared that the active part of our investigation was over for the moment. That was the problem with everything that Della had told us so far. There was no way to prove or disprove that everything that had happened to her hadn’t been just one string of coincidences.
“Would you like some help cleaning up before we go?” my sister asked.
“Would you mind? I don’t really need any, but I’d love the company.”
I was about to suggest to Annie that we didn’t have that much time, but she answered before I had a chance to comment. “It would be fun, wouldn’t it, Pat?”
“Sure,” I said, knowing from my twin sister’s tone of voice that the fight was over before the bell had even rung.
As we worked at clearing the table, Annie asked her, “Tell us what it was like growing up with Mom.”
“She was the sweetest sister I could have ever asked for,” Della said.
I knew for a fact that Mom, though normally tranquil, could still have a temper. “Come on, she wasn’t all sunshine and light. You must have fought about a few things.”
“Just Gregory Nance,” she said promptly.
“Was he a high school sweetheart, by any chance?” Annie asked her.
“More like grade school,” Della answered with a laugh. “I was two years older than your mother, and Greg was in class with her. She had a crush on him, but he set his sights for me instead. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, when Greg asked your mother if I had a boyfriend, and if not, did he have a chance? We didn’t speak for three weeks, until Greg got a crush on another girl, Linda Perkins, and it all blew over. Other than that, she was my best friend growing up. We used to laugh about the oddest things that no one else found even remotely amusing.”
It sounded as though she was describing Annie and me. I wasn’t sure if it made me happy or sad, since Mom had died with a rift between them. I couldn’t imagine turning my back on Annie, no matter what the circumstances. Then again, we’d shared a womb at the same time, so maybe we were different. Then again, maybe not.
“Excuse me,” I said, suddenly not wanting to have anything to do with this particular conversation. “I need a little fresh air.”
I walked out onto the front porch and sat on the top step.
In less than a minute, Annie came out and joined me. In a soft voice, she asked, “Pat, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
She sat down beside me anyway. “Don’t lie to me, little brother. What’s wrong?”
“Annie, promise me that won’t ever happen to us,” I said, the words just spilling out of me. “I couldn’t bear the thought of not having you around.”
“I swear,” she said as she put an arm around me. “Like it or not, you’re going to have me around forever, Pat. I can’t imagine my life without you in it, and I know that you feel the same way about me.”
“I’m sure that’s what Mom and Della thought at one time, too.”
To her credit, Annie didn’t answer right away. “Yes, no doubt you’re right, but we’re not like that, and you know it.”
“Because we’re twins?” I asked her.
“That, and because our lives are so intertwined that I can’t conceive of any circumstances that would split us up like that. Face it, Pat. We’re stuck with each other, whether we like it or not.”
I hugged her awkwardly for a moment, and then, to my surprise, I felt a tear trickling down my cheek. “Thanks. I needed that.”
“You know, we don’t have to talk about the past if it makes you so uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s fine. Really. I just started imagining my life without you in it. It was a gray and dreary place indeed.”
“That’s because I spread sunshine wherever I go,” she said with a laugh. Annie stood and reached down to take my hand. “Now let’s go back inside. I’m sure Della is worried that we’ve taken off on her.”
“We can’t do that, can we?” I suddenly didn’t want to be in Gateway Lake, no matter how selfish that might make me. My sister and I were putting our lives in danger for a woman who was practically a stranger to us. She hadn’t been a stranger to Mom, though. They’d shared their earlier lives together, and something, my father, had torn them apart.
Then again, if nothing else, we owed it to our late mother to figure out what was happening and try to stop it if we could.
“I don’t really need to answer that, do I?” Annie asked.
“No, I understand why we’re here.” As we walked back inside, I said, “Sorry about that. I don’t know what got into me.”
“It’s okay. You’re entitled to show a little emotion every now and then. Just don’t make a habit of it, okay?”
I laughed at her as I saluted. “I’ll do my best.”
“That’s better,” she said. “Now let’s go finish cleaning up so we can make another big mess.”
“That’s the story of our lives, isn’t it?”
CHAPTER 12: ANNIE
“This is going to be fun, Pat.”
“That’s because you love cooking,” my brother said to me. “What am I supposed to be doing while you’re making magic with cast iron?”
“First of all, thanks for the compliment, and secondly, you can tend the fire and keep me company. Once we have the coals going, I can do a quick seasoning on the Dutch oven, and then we’ll be ready to cook. This is going to take the rest of the afternoon and evening, I’m afraid.”
“Well, we really didn’t have any plans going forward anyway, so why not enjoy the water view? How can Della afford to live on the lake like this?”
“She told me last night that she got the place at a foreclosure sale,” I said.
“When did that conversation happen?” he asked me.
“We were upstairs getting ready for bed when I was wondering the same thing. Evidently the place was falling apart, but she dug in and turned it into something pretty wonderful. It must be great living on the water like this.”
“Need I remind you that you live on a body of water yourself?” Pat asked.
“That’s a pond, not a lake,” I said. “It’s completely different.”
“Completely, or just a little?” he asked me with a grin.
“Completely,” I confirmed. “The pond is tiny, but it’s all mine. On the other hand, the lake is really a large span of water, but she shares it with countless other people. All kinds of interesting things happen here.”
“I don’t know. I kind of like your place better,” he said.
“Coming from a city boy like you, that’s a real compliment. You’re not sorry I got the cabin in the woods and you’re stuck in town, are you?”
“Are you kidding? I’d go crazy living out in the sticks like you do.”