Pine Lake

by Amanda Stevens

  Mona said in a stilted voice, “I was just doing some housekeeping. As for voices, I had a podcast on in the background.” The plausible explanation flowed from her lips as she took in Olive’s distressed demeanor. “You really do look shaken. Are you okay?”

  “Too much caffeine and not enough sleep,” Olive said with a shrug. “But now that I’m here, do you have a minute?”

  “Of course.” Mona pulled the door closed. “I was just on my way out. Do you mind if we walk and talk?”

  “That’s...fine.”

  They went down the steps together. The building was silent except for their footfalls, but Olive could have sworn someone remained in the office. She had to resist the urge to glance over her shoulder.

  As if sensing her disquiet, Mona took her arm. “What’s wrong? You still seem upset.”

  “I can’t stop thinking about what happened to Jamie Butaud.”

  Mona sighed. “Nor can I. The whole town is on edge. It’s all anyone can talk about.”

  “Can you blame them?” Olive cast an uneasy glance down the hallway. “Another murder, another killer out there roaming free.” Or inside the school building.

  Stop it!

  Speculation was one thing, but now she was allowing her imagination to run amok. She and Mona Sutton had been friends and colleagues for years. Nothing had changed between them except for Jack King’s innuendos.

  But that noise in Mona’s office. The male voice. Her flustered demeanor and reluctance to allow Olive a glimpse inside...

  “It’s very unsettling,” Mona said.

  “Very.” Olive ran a hand up and down her chilled arm. “Speaking of unsettling—have you noticed how quiet the building is today? Where is everyone?”

  “People are around. I bumped into Beth Driscoll earlier. She was downstairs in the science lab.”

  “How did she seem?” Olive asked carefully.

  Mona’s brows lifted. “That’s an odd question. She seemed fine. On edge like the rest of us, but coping. Why would you be concerned about Beth?”

  Because Jack planted the outrageous notion in my head that you had an affair with her husband when he was still a student, giving you both a motive for Anna’s murder.

  Olive cleared her throat. “I’m concerned about all the staff. As you said, everyone is on edge.”

  Mona lowered her voice as she leaned in. “Just between you and me, you’ve every right to be concerned about Beth Driscoll. It’s hardly a secret that she was hoping to be appointed principal. Being passed over must have been a slap in the face. That kind of resentment doesn’t go away overnight.”

  “I had no idea,” Olive said, her stomach churning at the thought of conflict in the ranks even before school started.

  “Oh, come on,” Mona chided. “You must have heard all the grumbling when the announcement was made. Beth even threatened to tender her resignation.”

  “I knew there would be hard feelings, but I didn’t realize the extent of the dissension. Maybe I didn’t want to.”

  “I wouldn’t have brought it up, but you asked about Beth.” Mona gave her a brief smile. “Anyway, it’s settled business. You’re the new principal and it’s time for everyone to accept your promotion and move on.”

  Olive thought that everyone had accepted her. The meeting on Tuesday had gone more smoothly than she could have hoped and when she and Beth had spoken at the dock, the science teacher had seemed eager to discuss the coming school year. Had her magnanimous congratulations disguised a simmering resentment? What else might Beth Driscoll be hiding?

  “Olive?”

  She jumped as her gaze and attention darted back to Mona.

  “You really are jittery today, aren’t you?”

  She smoothed a hand down her pants leg. “Sorry.”

  Mona gave her a curious evaluation. “You said you haven’t been sleeping well. What else is going on with you?”

  Olive paused. “I keep thinking about our last conversation. What you said about Anna Grayson’s penchant for secrets and your suspicion that she may have accessed your records.”

  “It was only a suspicion. I never had any real proof.”

  “For the sake of argument, let’s say she did. Do you think it’s possible she found something in your files that led to her death?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “A secret,” Olive said. “One so dire that someone was willing to kill to keep it quiet.”

  Mona frowned. “You know I can’t talk about the content of my files.”

  “Even if it could help bring a killer to justice?”

  “Even then.” A moment passed before she continued. “Aren’t you forgetting something? A man was tried, convicted and is now serving life in prison for Anna Grayson’s murder.”

  “What if they got the wrong man?”

  Mona’s tone turned mildly reproachful. “You think Wayne Foukes is innocent? Despite his criminal record? Despite his lack of an alibi? Despite Anna’s ring being found in his possession?”

  “Yes, despite all that. I’ve always had my doubts.”

  “Really? Because it seems to me those doubts only surfaced when Jack King came back to town.”

  “That’s not true,” Olive defended. “I do have a mind of my own, you know.”

  Mona’s expression grew troubled. “A word to the wise?”

  “Of course.”

  “Watch yourself, Olive. You’ve got a lot at stake and this year will be difficult enough without all these outside distractions. I know you have a tendency to jump into causes with both feet, but you need to be careful with Jack King. He’s been gone from Pine Lake for a very long time. How much do any of us really know about him anymore?”

  “How much do we really know about each other?” Olive countered.

  That seemed to give Mona pause. She looked as if she wanted to argue, but then she acquiesced with a shrug. “You have a point. But I can’t help worrying about his influence on you, especially considering his background. Do you know anything about his life in Houston? About the outfit he works for?”

  Very little, Olive realized. “He’s in private security.”

  “The Blackthorn Agency is more than a private security firm. It’s a worldwide operation with a reputation that’s questionable at best. The owner, Ezra Blackthorn, is rumored to be ex-CIA. His employees, including Jack, are former military and law enforcement officers with seemingly one thing in common—they’re all basically misfits and malcontents.”

  Olive stared at her in shock. “How can you possibly know that?”

  Another pause. “I saw Tommy Driscoll earlier. He seems to know quite a lot about the Blackthorn Agency.”

  “As if I would trust his word about anything,” Olive said coolly. She couldn’t resist turning to glance behind her. They were out of sight of Mona’s office, but she wondered again about that male voice, angry and muted. About Mona’s unkempt appearance. “Where did you see him?”

  “He was here looking for Beth.”

  Olive searched her face for a telltale twitch or flinch. Nothing in Mona’s deportment gave her away and yet Olive could have sworn she saw something dark swirling in the woman’s eyes. “I thought you said Beth is downstairs working in the science lab.”

  “She was there earlier, but she must have skipped out after I bumped into her. Tommy couldn’t find her. She wasn’t answering her phone and with everything that’s happened, I guess he got worried. Anyway, we talked for a bit and Jack’s name came up. Apparently, the sheriff’s office has been looking into his background.”

  “Why?”

  “Why? Because a young woman was murdered on the night of his return.”

  Olive was outraged. “But Jack didn’t even know Jamie Butaud. And he’s the one who discovered the body, for
crying out loud.”

  “I’m sure the background check is just routine,” Mona said with a placating smile.

  But Olive was far from pacified. “What else did Tommy say? Tell me the truth. Is Jack a suspect? Is that the reason for your concern?”

  Mona looked offended by the question. “Our friendship is the reason for my concern. And I don’t need Tommy Driscoll or anyone else to tell me that Jack King is a dangerous man.”

  * * *

  BETH DRISCOLL STOOD on the old lake bridge staring down into the water. Sunlight shimmered in her dark hair as a mild breeze billowed the skirt of her yellow dress. On first glance, her stance seemed casual, but as Jack closed the distance between them, he was struck by the intensity of her focus and the way her hands gripped the iron railing so tightly her knuckles had whitened. She seemed a million miles away, completely unaware of his presence. The day was already hot and humid, but he couldn’t dispel a sudden chill as he moved up beside her.

  “Beth?”

  She turned slowly as if taking her time to come back from wherever her mind had wandered. “Jack?” She dropped her hands from the guardrail, tucking them into the pockets of her dress as she gave him a tentative smile. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing.” He couldn’t help but notice the dark circles beneath her eyes and the deep furrows in her brow—physical manifestations of a deeply distressed woman. “Are you okay?”

  A veil dropped over her expression. “Yes, why?”

  He shrugged. “You seemed pretty tense when I came up just now.”

  “Oh, I was just daydreaming. Don’t tell anyone you saw me, okay? I’m playing hooky.” Her tone was light, but something hard glinted in her eyes.

  “Your secret is safe with me.” The breeze stirred her perfume, a light, floral fragrance with a darker trace of musk. The dichotomy of the notes seemed symbolic of two disparate personalities, and Jack was struck once again by the notion of a night and day Beth Driscoll.

  “I always liked coming to this bridge.” She swept her gaze along the railing where the remnant of a crime scene tape fluttered in the breeze. “I know that must sound a little insensitive considering everything that’s happened, but my memories of this place aren’t all bad. We had some good times here, didn’t we? All those parties. The midnight swims.”

  “We had some good times,” he agreed.

  She tucked back her hair as she gave him a curious appraisal. “So what brings you here this morning?”

  He lowered his gaze to the deck as an image came back to him—Olive with glazed eyes and a blank expression kneeling on the floorboards, searching and searching along the planks.

  “I thought I’d have a look around,” he said. “Someone was on the bridge last night. I spotted a flashlight beam moving around in the dark. I think whoever was up here was looking for something.”

  Beth glanced at him in alarm. “Did you see who it was?”

  “No, I never got a good look.”

  Was that relief that flashed in her eyes?

  “What do you think they were looking for?” she asked worriedly.

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

  She put a hand on the guardrail as if steadying herself against the subtle sway of the truss. Did she know who had been here the night before? Or did she at least suspect?

  Jack studied her features, taking note of those shadowed eyes and the wasted lines of her body beneath the thin cotton of her dress. As if all too aware of his scrutiny, she folded her arms and shivered. “Whatever they were looking for, do you think it had something to do with Jamie Butaud’s murder?”

  “I don’t know,” he said truthfully. “But it’s been my experience that even with the best-laid plans, something always gets overlooked. Something always gets left behind.”

  She shook her head. “You really don’t give up, do you?”

  “To the contrary, some might say I have a habit of giving up too easily.”

  A frown flitted. “I find that hard to believe. You seem dedicated to a fault.”

  “To a fault, huh?” He rested his forearms on the guardrail as he gazed down into the water. The sun was hot on his back, but an indefinable chill still gripped him. Beth Driscoll had triggered an alarm, but Jack didn’t yet know why. “If I were as committed as you seem to think, I wouldn’t have left town the way I did. I would have stayed and fought to clear my name. I would have done everything in my power to make sure justice was served.”

  “You’re too hard on yourself. No one can fault you for leaving Pine Lake. Some days I wonder why any of us stayed.”

  Jack straightened. “Why did you stay?”

  “The obvious reason. I was in love. Or thought I was. Back then, Tommy Driscoll was my whole world.”

  “And now?”

  She was silent for a long moment. “Let’s just say, Jamie’s death has brought back a lot of painful memories. For all of us, I suspect. And now here you are in Pine Lake and it’s a little too easy to dwell on what might have been.”

  What caused that glint in her eyes? Jack wondered. What secrets lurked behind her reluctant smile? “You’re young,” he said. “Why dwell on what might have been when you have your whole life ahead of you? You can still leave Pine Lake. You can do whatever you want.”

  Her smile turned wan. “You make it sound so easy, but I’m not brave enough to start over. It’s easier to accept what I have and pretend it’s enough.”

  The fatalistic note might have stirred Jack’s sympathy if not for that strange gleam in her eyes. He still couldn’t dismiss the notion that there was more to Beth Driscoll than he’d ever considered. She seemed both deeper and darker than the girl he remembered from high school. He was starting to wonder if his devotion to Anna had blinded him to the complicated nature of those around him. Including Anna.

  “Beth?”

  She turned.

  “I need to ask you something.” He watched her carefully as she nodded. “Where were you the night Anna was murdered?”

  She looked stunned. “What? Jack. You can’t be serious.”

  “We all left the stadium together after the game. I took Anna home early because she said she didn’t feel well. Tommy ended up at Nathan’s house, but where were you? Why weren’t the two of you together that night?”

  She ran a finger along the railing. “We had a fight. I don’t remember what it was about. Probably a girl. There were a lot of those fights.” She glanced at him coyly. “There were a lot of those girls.”

  “And yet you stayed with him.”

  “He always came back to me.”

  “Did you ever fight about Anna?”

  Her voice sharpened. “Why would we fight about Anna?”

  “You knew about them, didn’t you?”

  She looked on the verge of denial. Emotions warred in her eyes before her lips thinned and she turned away with a sigh. “I didn’t know, but I suspected.”

  “What aroused your suspicion?” Jack asked.

  “I could always tell.” Her eyes closed briefly. “With Anna, it was the little things. The way he looked at her. The way she wouldn’t look at him.”

  “You didn’t confront them?”

  “No.” She shrugged. “I guess I didn’t want my worst fears confirmed. I thought Tommy was the love of my life and Anna was my best friend. My best friend. I confided in her about the pregnancy, about my decision to keep the baby, everything.” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “I was angry with her. You’ve no idea. I felt betrayed. So helpless and small. I just wanted to curl up somewhere and die. I wanted her to die, too, but I didn’t kill her. I swear it.” She drew a shaky breath. “God, Jack. Say something. Please. Don’t just stand there staring at me like that.”

  “I’m s
till trying to put it all together,” he said slowly.

  She ran fingers through her ruffled hair. “Put what together? I told you everything. But now you doubt me. I can see it in your eyes.”

  Jack took a moment before he answered. “Why did you try so hard to convince me of Anna’s faithfulness when we spoke on the dock yesterday? Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”

  She flung out her hands in supplication. “I didn’t want to hurt you. What purpose would that truth serve after all these years? And maybe a part of me still wanted to deny it.”

  “You should have told me, Beth. This was information I needed a long time ago.”

  Her eyes flashed with subtle defiance. “Why? Because their betrayal gave me a motive for Anna’s murder? It gave you one, too, Jack. Did you consider that?”

  “Are you saying you kept silent to protect me?”

  “Think about it for a minute. In all those months of persecution, the sheriff could never come up with a reason you’d wanted Anna dead. You had means and opportunity, but no motive.”

  “Your silence didn’t just protect me, though, did it, Beth? Or you, for that matter. It kept hidden a link between Tommy and Anna.”

  She said nothing to that.

  “Did he ever tell you where he was that night?” Jack pressed.

  “You said yourself he was at Nathan’s.”

  “According to Nathan, Tommy left at some point, supposedly to meet a woman, possibly a teacher. Did you suspect that relationship, too?”

  She didn’t rise to his bait. She remained cool and almost unnaturally calm. “I wouldn’t put too much stock in what Nathan Bolt says. He and Tommy had a falling out years ago and Nathan has been vindictive ever since. Even before that really. Remember how obnoxious and competitive he was in school? Especially with you. He couldn’t stand that you had it all—looks, brains, athleticism. He had to trade exclusively on his intellect, and his grades didn’t always reflect how smart he claimed to be.”

  “Are you suggesting he killed Anna to get back at me?”

  “You lost all those scholarships, didn’t you? You became the town pariah. You think Nathan didn’t secretly enjoy every minute of your misery? He wasn’t a good person. Not then, not now. Anna couldn’t stand him.”