Chapter 18
She’d hoped to bring up the subject of Tarkin’s visit in private, but Elizabeth had invited Arthur and Hannah back to the house and all of them invaded at once, sun-flushed and sweating and smelling of bug spray. George Conover’s ashes had been scattered among the rocks and wildflowers of Cameron Mountain, and now it was time for lunch. Out came a buffet of cold cuts and French cheeses and potato salad that Brooke had bought from the deli in town. Arthur Fox opened bottles of chardonnay, and even the usually reclusive Kit pitched in, setting out plates and silverware and wineglasses. It might have been George’s final send-off, but life went on and they might as well enjoy a decent lunch. How obscenely normal it seemed to Susan, watching them fill their plates with food.
She couldn’t stomach the thought of cold meat, so she took only a few carrot and celery sticks, just to satisfy Ethan that she was eating. She had nothing to contribute to the conversation, so she merely sat and listened to them talk about how much George had loved the view from that mountain, and how pleased he’d be that they’d all been there to honor him. Susan kept glancing at the clock, wondering when the hell the neighbors would leave so she could ask about Reuben Tarkin and his cryptic comment, but Arthur and Hannah seemed to have planted themselves here for the afternoon. Then Brooke asked if anyone wanted coffee, and Hannah said “Yes, please,” and Susan couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Who is Reuben Tarkin?” she said.
She might as well have tossed a bomb into the room. Arthur, in the middle of a sentence, abruptly went silent. So did the others, as they all turned to look at Susan.
It was Kit who broke the spell. “Isn’t that the old guy across the lake?” he asked, but no one seemed to hear him; they were all focused on Susan.
“Why are you asking about that man?” Elizabeth said.
“He came to see me this morning. While you were all out.”
“Wait. He came here ?” Colin set down his glass with a loud thud. “Of all the fucking nerve.”
Brooke touched her husband’s arm. “Colin.”
“How many times has he been warned to stay away from us? After all the trouble he’s caused?”
“What has he done?” asked Susan.
Ethan said, “The man’s just a troublemaker. He’s been harassing our family for years.” He looked at Colin. “Remember the summer he left the bag of rotting fish on our deck?”
“Damn right I remember,” said Colin. “And Dad kept letting him get away with that stuff.” He rose from his chair and went to the window to glare across the pond. “That was just one of the incidents.”
“And he stalked Anna,” said Elizabeth. “Frightened her so much she quit with no notice. Just packed up and left overnight.”
“Who’s Anna?” Susan asked.
“Kit’s nanny. A sweet girl from Mexico. Reuben was obsessed with her. Followed her into town, kept harassing her on our dock. Even brought her flowers. He was old enough to be her father, but he had some insane notion that she was romantically interested in him.”
“In Reuben ?” Hannah laughed. “That’s delusional!”
“One night, he showed up at the door with a baseball bat,” said Elizabeth. “Colin and I were out of town, but George told us the man scared Anna so badly she quit on the spot. Brooke helped her pack, and George drove her to the airport. He called her a week later, trying to get her to return, but she refused.”
“And that’s our madman across the pond,” said Colin. “I don’t know why Dad didn’t call the police that night. If I’d been here—”
“You would’ve made things worse,” said Elizabeth.
Susan looked around the table. “And that’s what the man’s angry about?”
“Oh, he’s angry about more than Anna,” said Colin. “It’s the same old story, the have-nots against the haves. Look at the state of the shack he lives in. And here we are, in Moonview. It’s sheer envy.”
“But he made it sound like you did something to him.”
“To him ?”
“He said, ‘Tell them I haven’t forgotten what they did.’ What does that mean?”
“We’ve never done anything to him. He’s just a crazy old man.”
“He’s always been that way,” said Hannah. “He used to harass my parents too. And Arthur, didn’t he leave a dead raccoon on your doorstep?”
“You remember that?”
“I was eight years old, and it made a big impression on me. Plus, there was that horrible business about his father, and what he did.”
Susan frowned at Hannah. “What did he do?”
“It happened way back, before Colin and Ethan were even born. Reuben’s father went bonkers one day and killed these people on Main Street. I remember the other kids talking about it.” Hannah looked at Arthur. “How many people died?”
“That was a long time ago,” Arthur said. “Let’s not bring up that subject, okay?”
“Please, can we all stop talking about Reuben Tarkin?” said Elizabeth. “I’m tired of hearing about him.”
“I agree,” said Arthur. “He’s just a sad reminder that the locals always consider us outsiders, no matter how many summers we spend here. We’re forced to get along because we need them to fix our houses, keep up the roads.”
“And they need our money,” said Colin.
Susan’s cell phone rang, and conversation instantly ceased. Susan looked at the name displayed on her screen and felt her breath catch.
It was Jo Thibodeau. Zoe. There’s news about Zoe.
Her hand was trembling as she answered: “Hello?”
“Are you home right now, Susan?” said Jo.
“Yes. Why? What’s happened?”
“I need to come by and collect a swab of your mouth. I’ll be right over.”
“Wait, a swab? You mean for DNA?”
“Yes.”
She felt Ethan reach out to grasp her arm. Felt everyone at the table watching her. “Why?” Her voice rose, shrill with fear. “Have you found her?”
“No,” said Jo. “But we have found something else.”