Spirit Lake

by Vickie McKeehan

  Van’s lips curved wider and he moved closer to swing an arm over her shoulder. “Yes, I’ll do it because you’re growing on me, little sister, truly growing on me.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  “Good. Want something to drink?” Without waiting for an answer, he went over to a small refrigerator and pulled out two Cokes. “I like the way you’re including Allie and Daniel in the wedding. Nova is over the moon with the idea you two might become closer.”

  “I’d like that.” She popped the top on the can, guzzling the liquid, quenching her dry throat. After a few more sips, she zeroed in on something that had been bugging her. “Why is it you never come into the chocolate shop? Ever.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “I’m usually at work. And you’re not open on weekends.”

  Sensing there was more to it than odd hours, she pressed. “So, you weren’t just avoiding me?”

  “We’ve been over this before.”

  “But let’s clear the air. Okay? Now and going forward. I’m not here for any other purpose than to have you for a big brother. That’s it. Let the kids come into the shop with Paloma. Bring them in yourself to buy them a chocolate soda. Stop making between us feel so awkward.”

  “You’re right. I’ll try harder to stop being such a cog in the wheel.”

  She gave him a hug. “You realize you’ll have to wear a suit, a nice black one with a silky tie and dress shoes.”

  “A suit? You didn’t mention there were conditions.”

  “You’ll realize I’m sneaky like that. Just ask Lando. And here’s a thought. Get Nova to help you pick out the new duds.” She ran her fingers across the threadbare, no longer white T-shirt. “Because you have seriously questionable taste in clothing.”

  He looked insulted. “What’s wrong with my work-around-the-house clothes? I’ve had this same shirt since I was twenty.”

  “And as great as it looked then, I’m simply suggesting you let Nova steer you into the proper decade.”

  “Aren’t you funny?”

  She thought of Leia and Lando and their bickering back and forth routine. “Hey, I’m just trying out my pesky, annoying, little sister side. What do you think?”

  “I think I preferred being an only child.”

  Back home, Radley greeted her at the door. “How’d your day go?”

  She dropped her keys into a bowl for that purpose and hung her purse on one of the pegs as the dogs crowded around her legs. “It was good. Yours?”

  “It went by super-fast, but then ended on a strange note. Sam Wells dropped off this bottle of wine about an hour ago on his way home.” He pointed to a bottle of cabernet on the bench.

  “The dogs went crazy while he was here. I didn’t let him in, of course. He stood out on the stoop. But I couldn’t half hear what he was saying because Rufus and Rolo were kicking up such a fuss.”

  “Weird. And Sam thinks we’ll drink this stuff? I don’t think so.”

  “Really? He claimed it’s a peace offering.”

  “Then you take it.”

  “But it’s a two-hundred-dollar bottle of wine. I looked it up online.”

  “Still weird, Radley. I need to get dinner started. Any problem with Rolo taking his pills?”

  “None. That one is a little sweetheart.” Rufus nudged Radley’s leg as a reminder. “Not that this one isn’t. Are you serious about me taking the wine?”

  “Yep. It’s all yours. Who do you have in mind to share it with? I sense a lovely brunette on the horizon.”

  “There’s this neighbor I’ve had my eye on. This summer she’s invited me to supper a couple of times.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “I think I’ll reciprocate tonight.”

  “Wasn’t she at the bar on Saturday night?”

  “Good eye. Yes. I always invite her to that, too. But last Saturday was the first time she took me up on the offer.”

  “You’re obviously breaking down her resistance. Better hurry home then. Thanks for watching the furry kids all day.”

  “No problem. I love doing it. I also cleaned your oven.”

  “You did what?”

  “I baked a frozen pizza and noticed your oven needed cleaning, so I did it.”

  “My God, you’re an angel sent down from heaven. By any chance, do you do windows?”

  Radley grinned. “I could but I didn’t want to overstep.”

  “I’m kidding. Thanks for everything.” She snapped her fingers to get the dogs’ attention. “Come on, mutts. Let’s go fix daddy some supper.”

  The dogs trailed Gemma into the kitchen.

  “I’m going home and taking the vino now,” Radley shouted as he grabbed the laptop bag he’d brought.

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Gemma yelled over her shoulder. “Enjoy your evening.”

  After the front door slammed closed, Gemma got busy with dinner. Filling a pot with water for the BLT pasta salad she intended to make, she hunted down the bag of bowties hiding somewhere in the pantry.

  While the water heated, she went out to the small patch of loose-leaf lettuce she’d grown and cut what she needed, then plucked enough cherry tomatoes right off the vine for two people.

  Back inside, she dumped the pasta in the water and cooked the bacon to a crisp so it would chop better.

  By the time Lando came in the front door at seven, she had a nice bowl of pasta ready with real bacon and creamy, homemade ranch dressing.

  Before he could make it to the kitchen though he was rushed by what sounded like a herd of paws trotting over the hardwood floor.

  “How’d your day go?” she asked.

  Bending down to ruffle fur and rub ears, he made sure each dog got the same amount of attention before unstrapping his gun. “Not bad since we found more dirt on Sam.”

  “So I heard.”

  “Would’ve been even better if I knew more about the bones they found out on the highway, but I do know they weren’t from the girl at the B Street Pier. Tuttle says they’ve been out there too long.”

  “How about if they’re left over from Charlene Wofford? You know, Sam’s first love. Maybe she didn’t die in that accident. Think about it. Charlene. The name even starts with the letter C. It might explain Sam’s obsession with girls in that age range and why he seems to seek out women with names beginning with C. Whatever happened to that list of missing girls you’d generated?”

  “I’m still going over each name line by line, calculating if the timeframe fits, and then sending out inquiries to the various authorities where they were last seen. It’s a slow process and I’ve been kinda busy lately.”

  “None of them were from this area, were they?”

  “None that I’ve come across yet.”

  “So how was Suzanne’s first day?”

  “Rocky. She claims she’s filing for divorce this time, no giving him a tenth chance and no change of heart.”

  “You’re kidding? This might be a new side to Suzanne I’ve never seen before. Should I be concerned about this little crush she has on you?”

  “Get real. The woman is ten years older than me.”

  “So? Her age doesn’t mean she likes you any less. Just remember though, I’m all-seeing, all-knowing, so cheat at your own risk.”

  He swung her in for a kiss. “All-seeing, all-knowing, huh? Why would I cheat when I have the most beautiful woman in the world right here?”

  “You be sure to remember that when Suzanne wants you to come over and fix stuff.”

  He chuckled. “You really think she’ll follow through this time? Because I’m not convinced.”

  Gemma touched the medallion that hung around her neck. “This time, she’s fed up. I see her life moving forward without Buddy.”

  They sat down to dinner, dividing the salad between them. After devouring the meal, they cleaned up the dishes together, washing and drying the pots and pans.

  Gemma dried her hands on a dish towel. “Are you too tired to go for a walk on the beach? Because I f
eel like getting out and clearing my head. We could take the dogs out for some exercise, bring a ball. I’ll carry Rolo when he gets tired.”

  “Never too tired for a walk on the beach.”

  She scooped up the Westie, fastened the leash to the Lab’s collar, and grabbed Mr. Sock Monkey. Rufus went to find his favorite tennis ball.

  “Somebody’s ready to play,” Lando noted. “We don’t do this often enough, do we?”

  “I wonder why. We lead busy lives. We’re hard workers, don’t sleep in until noon every day. We sure don’t play enough.”

  “We’ll make time to do that on our honeymoon.”

  The minute they stepped outside, they realized the night was made for lovers. The summer sky, painted in layers of scarlet and orange, was tipped golden as clouds lazily drifted eastward.

  Rufus pulled on the leash, eager to reach the sand. Maybe because Lando had been teasing him with the ball. Once they reached the shoreline, fetch began for real. Rufus and Rolo took turns dashing and darting in the surf after the ball. Rufus won the first round, but when Rolo went after the sock monkey, all bets were off.

  “Uh-oh, tonight Rufus will share anything except his sock monkey.” She watched as a tug of war ensued until both decided to bring it back together. Rufus had hold of one floppy leg while Rolo chomped down on a tiny piece of arm.

  “Good work, guys. You guys are such a good team.”

  But the praise only went so far before they had two wet, smelly, tuckered-out dogs that refused to budge for another round of fetch.

  But the dogs didn’t seem to mind walking if they could sniff and explore every piece of driftwood or rock they passed. When Rolo had trouble in the sand, Gemma bundled the ball of fluff up to her chest.

  “I think this one’s adjusting really well.”

  Lando wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Why wouldn’t he? We spoil him rotten.”

  “Good point.” Gemma abruptly stopped walking, which forced Lando to do the same. She looked out over the water and saw a yacht moored in the harbor across from Lando’s house. “Would you look at that? Isn’t that Sam sitting on the deck of that boat over there?”

  Lando squinted into the setting sun. “Yeah. That’s him.”

  From the deck, Sam waved at them with a big grin on his face as if he’d already won.

  Later that night as Gemma got ready for bed, she’d brushed her teeth, and slathered cream on her face while Lando leaned back on the headboard, bare-chested, but glued to ESPN. He seemed to hang on every word as the sports announcer yakked it up about baseball scores from the night’s games.

  She was about to crawl into bed beside him when she heard banging on the front door. “What now?”

  “I’ll get it,” Lando said without bothering to move from his comfy spot.

  “That’s okay, slugger, you keep listening for the Giants’ score.” She grabbed her robe and tried to calm down the dogs having a fit as she walked out to the entryway. She stared through the peephole and saw Radley.

  After she turned the locks and opened the door back, she found the drummer downright distraught and fearful. “What’s wrong with you?”

  Radley shoved the bottle of wine into her hands, this time the seal had been broken and it was uncorked. “I opened this tonight at dinner out on the patio like I planned. The lighting was pretty poor but Rebecca, that’s my neighbor, noticed a white, chalky substance clinging to the bottom of her glass. Sure enough, there are little crystals that didn’t dissolve. I think you need to find out what’s in that bottle.”

  Gemma dragged him into the foyer. “Oh, my God. I was riding such a high I didn’t catch that it was tainted.”

  “Yes, but you did tell me it was weird that Sam brought it over. You even said you didn’t intend to drink it.”

  “But I pawned it off on you. I’m so sorry.”

  “What’s going on out here?” Lando asked, now wearing his jeans but still shirtless. “What are you doing here, Radley?”

  Gemma held up the wine bottle and went into the details. “Looks like Sam tried one last-ditch effort to make sure we went away for good.”

  “I wished you guys had told me. I could’ve used Sam’s prints. You didn’t drink any of this stuff, did you?”

  Radley shook his head. “No, but I came close. I brought our glasses too without rinsing them out. I thought you could run some tests on them or something.”

  “Or something,” Lando muttered. “I don’t think Sam understands just how much trouble he’s actually in. The case just keeps building against him.”

  “And he’s out enjoying his yacht,” Gemma grumbled. “If you ask me, he’s insane to try something like this again.” She disappeared into the kitchen to get a paper bag for the evidence.

  “I understand the tendency to think he’s nuts, but as long as he knows right from wrong, he’s viable in a court of law.”

  She reappeared with a grocery bag and a pair of rubber gloves she used to carefully set the glasses and bottle down into it. “I’m sure he is. But I’m talking about his early foray into killing. Just because a girl breaks up with you doesn’t give you a reason to turn into the Internet Killer.”

  Radley let out a gasp. “Be glad the Internet Killer is more successful online than he is up close and personal. Otherwise, we would all be dead by now.”

  24

  Lando carried that unsettling notion with him throughout the night. Unable to sleep, he got up early, tiptoeing out of the bedroom trying not to wake Gemma. Even the dogs were still sacked out. He made a pot of coffee, poured dog chow into two bowls, then checked his emails, expecting to find one from Rob Coley at the FBI.

  Rob didn’t disappoint, sending him confirmation for a face to face meeting later that morning to go over the boxes of evidence.

  When Lando heard Gemma stirring, he got up to start breakfast. He’d just broken eggs into a bowl to scramble when his phone rang. It wasn’t even six-thirty yet.

  Gemma followed the dogs into the kitchen where they headed directly for the food and noted Lando’s facial reactions. She could tell by the look on his face that whoever he was talking to, it meant bad news.

  While filling up a mug with coffee, she hoped it wasn’t about finding another body. She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

  “That was Suzanne. Buddy Swinton died this morning around four-thirty.”

  “Wow, something else I didn’t see coming,” she muttered as she enjoyed that first sip of soothing bliss.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Is Suzanne okay?”

  “She’s dealing with it. The doctors told her they think Buddy suffered heart failure due to acute alcohol toxicity. He slid off the wagon and binge-drank himself into a coma and never regained consciousness.”

  “How sad. Suzanne just can’t seem to catch a break, can she?”

  “I guess not. She’ll have bills piling up. I don’t think they had medical insurance until she got the job at the station.”

  “But it kicked in, right?”

  He dumped the eggs into a serving dish and brought them over to the table. “Yeah, I don’t think there’s a waiting period like some companies have.”

  “What will you do with that wine bottle and the glasses?”

  “Drop it by the lab on my way to work. Then later, I have a conference call with a federal prosecutor and then a friend of mine from the FBI is coming here to talk about the wire fraud charges. I thought you could do me a favor.”

  “Name it.”

  “I need you to bug Arlo’s phone carrier for his records. The Stokelys used one of those discounted home services for their landline.” He shoved a notepad toward her. “Here’s the name of the person you need to ask for and her number. I’ve asked. I even got a warrant, but I’ve heard nothing back. I’m getting worried they blew me off.”

  “They can’t do that.”

  “No, but they can stall, and it seems they are. Not the first time it’s happened, but with this particular ca
rrier they’re notorious for slow responses. I don’t care how you get the records out of them, you can even use the warrant as a threat, I just need that vital piece of the puzzle. Today if possible.”

  “I’ll insist they fax the information to you. Did you even sleep last night?”

  “Nope. I kept seeing Sam laughing at us from that big boat. I need to get going. I have a lot to do today if I want to wipe that smile off his face.”

  She took his chin, pressed her lips to his. “Now do me a favor. Stay safe out there.”

  After he left, she called the number and spent twenty minutes getting the runaround, but when she did finally get to talk to a person, she charmed the information out of the rep without having to threaten anyone.

  But instead of sending the stuff to Lando’s office as Gemma had requested, she was dismayed to hear the fax machine in the study start ringing and then burping out paper. After retrieving the documents, she started reading over the phone numbers until she came to the dates around the time Arlo died. All were local numbers with a 707 area code, but one stood out from the rest. The one incoming call around ten-thirty that night.

  She punched in the number and waited.

  “This is the Deering residence.”

  “I’m sorry to call so early,” Gemma said, pulling the first name she could think of out of her brain. “Is John there?”

  “You mean Joel?”

  “Yes. Yes. Of course. Joel. I’m sorry. Is he there?”

  “No, he’s left for work already. May I take a message?”

  “No. I’ll catch him there…at work. Thanks.”

  She hung up having no idea who Joel Deering was. But she decided to ask the only person in town who knew pretty much everyone. Lydia. She threw on a pair of jeans and a top and grabbed the dogs. She took a bottle of water with her in case the kids got thirsty. “Come on, guys, we’re going to visit grandma.”

  White wispy clouds floated overhead as she started out. It never occurred to Gemma during the walk that Lydia might have an overnight visitor staying at her house. But when she spotted a strange car parked in the driveway, it became apparent she couldn’t just go up and ring the doorbell. It was one thing to keep Lydia’s secret in the vault, quite another to intrude on her time with her boyfriend. Was Paul Eddington Lydia’s boyfriend? She’d need to get used to that.