“Yes. I got a couple of bass. I filleted them, and they’re in the sink.” He pointed toward the kitchen. “They put up quite the fight, too,” the coach continued and chuckled. “Let me get some clothes on, and I’ll be right back. Come in and sit down.”
He led the way out of the foyer into the main living area—a living room/dining room with a massive fieldstone fireplace dominating the wall on the right. The room was furnished with expensive-looking brass, glass, and leather furniture, but otherwise, the area was empty. There was no sign that Erik, or anyone else, had ever been in the room tonight.
“Can I get you a soda?” he asked.
“Sure. Lemon-lime if you have it,” Hannah answered.
“Not for me,” Mina said, holding up her prop.
“Coming right up. I rarely get much company out here. I didn’t even realize you kids knew where I was living.”
Was he saying Erik hadn’t been here? But that made no sense. And how could they ask?
“My dad mentioned you and Mrs. Snow were having problems, and you’d moved out to the lake,” Mina volunteered before Hannah could voice her thoughts. “I remembered where it was from the barbecue last summer.”
“That’s right. You were both here, weren’t you? I won’t be long.”
As soon as he was out of the room, Hannah was on her feet, heading to the kitchen to examine the fillets in the sink. They looked and smelled fresh, but they could’ve been caught earlier in the day or even yesterday. Something about what the coach had said nagged at her.
“What are you doing?” Mina whispered.
“What do you think I’m doing? Looking for Erik.”
“Well, I doubt he’s in the kitchen sink.”
“Very funny,” Hannah answered, glaring at Mina. “Why don’t you check out the closet and see if those boots are there?”
Ignoring the frown on Mina’s face as she reluctantly returned to the foyer, Hannah approached the far windows that looked out on the yard, stepping back suddenly when a large German shepherd jumped at the window. She screeched, bringing Mina to her side. Beyond the animal, the patio lights were on, illuminating the partially drained pool and the small cedar house, a replica of this one, which she knew held a hot tub and sauna. The gate leading down to the lake and the boathouse was closed.
“Looking for something?” Coach asked, making Hannah start guiltily. He entered the kitchen and within minutes came back with two glasses of clear soda and ice in his hands. He handed one to her and smiled.
“I was just checking out your dog. He’s big. I don’t remember seeing him at the barbecue. I’m not much of a dog person,” Hannah admitted.
“Then, I’ll wait until you’re gone to let Duke in. He’s a new acquisition. There’ve been some thefts in the area the last couple of months, and a man living alone can’t be too careful. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
Hannah hoped Mina’s brain was working because her own had taken a vacation.
“Maybe there are vagrants in the area,” Mina said. “My uncle Jim mentioned something like that to my dad.”
Certain she had that “deer in the headlights” look on her face, she choked on her mouthful of soda when Mina winked at her and turned back to Coach Snow. If there were drifters in the area, it was news to her.
“We were wondering what you’d think of a track and field booth at this year’s Christmas Fair,” Mina explained, going into great detail and fabricating all kinds of reasons why such a booth would be a good idea.
At the moment her cousin was thinking of eventually becoming an accountant, but Hannah decided she should reconsider that and go into acting.
“It could get the middle school kids interested in the track program,” Hannah offered, knowing she was expected to contribute to the conversation.
“That’s an excellent suggestion,” the coach exclaimed. “We’ll be losing a number of good runners in the spring, and it never hurts to get kids interested early.”
“Can I use your bathroom?” Hannah asked, finishing her soda. “We need to get going and it’s a long way home.”
The coach laughed good-naturedly. “You don’t have to explain it to me, Hannah. I’m a teacher, remember? It’s down the hall second door on the left.”
Nodding, Hannah hurried to her destination, opening each door along the way, looking for signs of Erik, and finding none. Slipping into the bathroom, she took out her cellphone and redialed Erik’s number. Voicemail. Just like all their other calls. Her anger boiled.
“Hi there, you’ve reached Erik. I can’t take your call right now, but you know what to do.” The beep sounded.
“Erik, I don’t know what kind of crazy game you’re playing tonight, but you can be damn sure that I’ll get even with you for this. You’ve made a fool of me and Mina. I’ll never forgive you for humiliating me this way, and I doubt she will either. I hope you’re having a good laugh because it’s the last one you’ll get at our expense. Liam won’t be happy when he hears about this either.”
She ended the call, did what she needed to do, and went right to the door where Mina waited, holding a manila envelope.
“Goodnight, Coach. Thanks for the soda.”
“My pleasure.” He smiled, opening the door. It had started to snow. “Cold out here. Drive carefully. I’ll see you on Monday. Indoor track practice. I don’t want anyone getting sick.”
Mina got into the car, and after executing a perfect three-point turn, drove down the laneway, and veered left onto the highway toward home, pulling over as soon as she was certain the coach couldn’t see them.
Hannah watched the side of the road on the off-chance that Erik had come back to the car and could explain all this.
“What do we do now?” Mina asked, her voice filled with resentment, any concern she’d felt gone beneath what had to be as embarrassing for her as it was for Hannah.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, both angry and worried. A few moments ago, she’d been furious, but now, considering the snow falling around them, it was harder to believe Erik had pranked them this way.
“Where did Erik go? It’s as if he vanished. I should’ve listened to you. This whole accusing the coach and getting me to drive him out here was some kind of sick joke, and I fell for it. I’ll bet one of his rich kid buddies has been watching in the woods to see how long we would wait. Maybe they were going to scare us, but we fooled them when we went up to the house. The good news is whoever put him up to this will get soaking wet. I hope they catch pneumonia. As it is, we’ll barely make it home on time.” Her voice was husky, no doubt from unshed tears. “And to make it worse, now that we’ve mentioned the idea of a Christmas booth to the coach, he’ll expect us to follow through with it.”
“I’m sorry, Mina. I don’t understand what happened. None of this makes sense. I’ve gotten to know Erik over the past few weeks, and he’s the last person I’d have expected to play a mean, practical joke like this. It’s way out of character for him. I thought he really liked you, and so did Liam.” She sighed. “It’s been really hard on him at Ivy Hills without Liam. Maybe he found a way to get accepted by the boys at the school, and this was some kind of silly initiation. We dropped him at the end of the driveway and just assumed he went up to the cottage because that’s what he wanted us to believe. I just can’t understand the point of doing something like this.”
She pulled out her cellphone and speed-dialed a number.
“Who are you calling?” Mina asked.
“Not Erik, that’s for sure, I dialed that number enough tonight,” Hannah grumbled. “Hi Mari. Is Erik home? I’ve tried calling his cell, but he’s not answering.”
“Sorry, Hannah. He’s not back yet. Mom’s none too happy about it either. It’s really miserable out there. As I told you earlier, he was supposed to meet Mina after school.” She chuckled. “Find your cousin, and you’ll find him. He’s got it bad. Hasn’t talked about anything but her and his crusade to catch whoever tried to kill Liam all week. If
he doesn’t lighten up, he’s going to get into trouble.” Mina sounded concerned, and Hannah decided discretion might be a good idea right now.
“That must be where he is,” she answered unwilling to worry her friend. “We got separated earlier tonight. Listen, when he comes in, do you want to tell him I’m sorry I missed him? It isn’t critical, but ask him to call me in the morning.”
“Sure,” Mari answered, her voice filled with worry. “You know, he and I have always been close, but when I think about him right now, I draw a blank.” She chuckled. “He must be blocking his thoughts from me.”
“No doubt, especially if he’s with Mina.” She ended the call.
“What was that about?” Mina asked, her brow furrowed with indignation.
“Mari thinks he’s with you. You know how they have that scary twin sixth sense thing going on? She can’t feel him and thinks he’s blocking her. Something doesn’t add up here. If it were anyone other than Erik…”
“Do you think he’s in trouble?” Mina asked. “Mr. Snow obviously hasn’t seen him, and he certainly didn’t act like a man recently accused of selling steroids to students and trying to murder someone.”
“Coach Snow was really friendly and relaxed tonight … Maybe even a little too relaxed, don’t you think? He can be cranky and short-tempered at times, but tonight he invited us in and he certainly wasn’t expecting company. Did you see any boots in his closet?”
“No, not that I had much time to look when you yelped. But, you’re right about one thing. Something about the coach’s friendliness was off. Maybe he wasn’t as alone as he said he was. He could’ve had someone upstairs he didn’t want us to know about, and I don’t mean Erik. He walked down that driveway. You know it and so do I, but what if the coach didn’t answer the door and he decided to snoop around? He could’ve fallen and hurt himself…” Mina’s lips trembled.
“Stop it. If he were hurt, Mari would know it. But something happened to him, I’m sure of it.”
Mina’s eyes filled with tears. “He’s not playing a trick on us, is he?”
“I don’t think so, Mina.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know, but we have to get home.”
Mina looked around. Lightening flashed around them and thunder roared.
“Wherever he is, I hope he’s dry and warm. Let’s hope this weather doesn’t get any worse. We’ve got little more than half-an-hour to get home.”
“We can’t just leave him here,” Mina cried.
“What choice do we have? We can’t even go to the police.” Hannah hung her head. “I’m sorry, Mina. Let’s hope he contacts Mari soon. She’ll know where he is and how to help him.”
At least Hannah hoped the twin connection worked that way.
* * * *
Liam awoke to the sound of the rooster’s crow. Even though he’d been home for two days, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. The light spilling in from his new en suite bathroom illuminated his bedroom. Bedroom? This wasn’t a bedroom. It was a miniature apartment his parents had created specifically for him—a home within a home. They’d taken his father’s office, the downstairs bathroom, four feet of space from the dining room and living room, and the two bedrooms with outside access, the ones attached to the back of the house, used by hired hands during planting and harvesting seasons years ago, and turned the entire rear of the house into a small, self-contained, handicap-accessible suite, with all the bells and whistles he needed for his rehabilitation. Dad claimed that once he was well again, it could serve as a bachelor pad if he needed one.
Larry, his physiotherapist, had helped them furnish the gym that was part of his therapy. Yesterday’s session, his first at home, had been a huge success, the best part coming when Liam had stood on his own for almost ten seconds. It wasn’t much, but it was longer than he’d stood under his own power in more than a month. There was a good chance he would get on the stationary bike later this week. The stronger his legs got, the sooner he would be able to start walking again. Larry had mentioned braces, but he hoped he wouldn’t need them. One wall of the exercise area was composed of glass patio doors that led out to a small veranda. He would find a way to get outside and enjoy the outdoors again—he had to. Being confined like this was hell.
Last night, after gorging himself on his first decent meal in a month—meatloaf drenched in ketchup—he’d been too tired to do anything else and had fallen asleep just after seven. He hadn’t even had the energy to phone Hannah. He hoped she wouldn’t be angry when he called later today. He glanced at the clock she’d given him in the hospital. It was just after six, too early to call even if he wanted to.
Sitting up, straining his abdominal muscles to accomplish the task, he pivoted, and leveraging himself off the bed, sat in his wheelchair. Moving through the wide doorway into the bathroom, he took care of his early morning needs, grateful he could finally do so on his own. After washing his hands, he propelled his wheelchair into the kitchen, surprised to see his mom on the phone so early on a Saturday morning.
“I’m sorry, Kit, but he isn’t here,” she said, her voice filled with concern. “I haven’t seen him since Wednesday evening when Jason picked him up at the hospital. He might’ve spoken to Liam yesterday. Wait. Liam just came into the kitchen. Maybe he knows something. Let me ask him.”
Cathy Howard covered the mouthpiece. “Did Erik mention going any place special last night? He didn’t come home, and his mother’s frantic.”
Liam shook his head and frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. I’m kind of out of the loop these days, but I’m sure he would’ve mentioned a sleepover or something like that. He was planning to see Mina Connors after school, and I was too tired to call Hannah last night, so I can’t tell you if those plans changed. He’s supposed to come over tomorrow after church. As far as I know, that still a go.”
His mother relayed the message, and from the look on her face, she didn’t think Mrs. Jenkins would draw much comfort from it. “Have you tried his phone?” Her forehead creased even more deeply at the answer. “Well, what about some of the other boys from the school? ... I see. Try calling Trudy. Maybe with the bad weather he crashed at the farm last night, but I’m surprised he didn’t call or message you. … I will. Since the accident a lot of the boys dropped by the hospital to see Liam. Maybe they all went out together and celebrated. If anyone calls, I’ll ask.” His mother looked at him apologetically and then chuckled. “I know you don’t mean that, Kit, but in your shoes I’d say the same thing. Keep me posted, please, and if there’s anything we can do...”
Liam’s scowl deepened. Mom had to stop tiptoeing around the elephant in the room. Thanks to Dr. Miller and those chats they’d had, he was trying to accept that his life wasn’t over and that he could still do a lot of the things he’d wanted to do. He wouldn’t be in this chair forever, and while somethings had changed, others hadn’t. Now, he needed his parents to see it that way, too.
The problem was Mom and Dad blamed themselves for his accident even though it hadn’t been their fault. He’d heard them arguing about it at the hospital when they thought he’d been asleep. The suite wasn’t the only change around here. The truck was gone, replaced by a wheelchair accessible van with an automatic transmission. Next spring, if he wasn’t walking yet, Dad would have hand controls installed so Liam could drive it himself. That wouldn’t happen. He’d stood yesterday and intended to be walking by Christmas. That was less than a month away.
The medical costs not covered by the insurance had decimated their savings, forcing Dad to sell some of the livestock and land, but one day Liam intended to repay every last cent they’d spent on his care and the renovations they’d had to do to the house. Converting everything for his needs had cost a small fortune, and while Dad maintained it would suit them well when they were old and gray, Liam knew how hard parting with those fifty acres of land had been. His family had owned this land since the American Revolution. The man who’
d taken away his future had also stolen his past, and for what? Erik had this dumb idea that it was all Coach Snow’s fault, but...
“Poor Kit. I’m sure she’s worried sick,” his mother said, bringing him back to the moment. “I can’t imagine how that boy could be so inconsiderate. It isn’t like him.”
Wheeling over to the counter, Liam poured himself a cup of coffee. Mom was right. Disappearing without a word or a note was completely out of character for Erik. Given the way he’d been looking under rocks and digging into his accident, this vanishing act was suspicious. Something was wrong, but that was the last thing Mom or Mrs. Jenkins needed to hear now.
“Doesn’t Mari know where he is?” he asked. “Those two have that spooky twin thing going on. Remember when she fell and broke her arm last summer? Erik was in agony, and we didn’t know why until we got home.”
His mother nodded and poured herself a cup of coffee.
“I was ready to take him to the hospital. If he’s hurt, she’ll know,” his mother conceded, “but according to Kit, Mari can’t sense him, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.” She shook her head. “Look at me making molehills into mountains again, but for the last month, I can’t seem to see anything but the dark side of things. I’m sorry, Liam. No doubt he spent the night with friends from school. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, but if you pulled a trick like that, I’d ground you for at least ten years.”
The door opened, and his father came into the kitchen from the barn where he’d finished the morning milking. Dad had aged considerably since the accident. Liam could only imagine what it had been like to find his only son lying broken on the road like that. He’d wanted to say something, but whenever he brought it up, Dad always changed the subject.
His father rubbed his hands together, blew on them, and then stepped over to the counter.
“Cold out there this morning. I think we’ll have snow again soon, and this time it’ll stick around for the holidays,” he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “You’re both up early.”
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