Chapter 25
THE TRUCKS ARE BACK THE NEXT DAY. I WAKE UP TO THE SOUNDS OF diesel engines and the shouts of the cops, but I’m determined to start my morning runs again, so I slip into running gear.
Sunny is walking toward Alex’s office as I head down the stairs. She turns, phone in hand.
“My father told me that a reporter stopped you in town.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell them anything?” She arches an eyebrow.
“No, Sunny. I didn’t tell her anything.” I remove my running shoes from the closet, drop to the floor to pull them on.
“I just put out a press release about you and Dad.” Her lips twist into a grimace like she’s tasted something rotten.
“Be prepared to get contacted by reporters who want to know more about your charming story. So, the less you say the better. And keep what you do say upbeat and positive, okay? My father has been very kind and patient with you, so you owe him.”
“I wouldn’t say anything to hurt him, Sunny.
And I really have no inclination to talk about my private business, not with reporters, and not with you either.
You go your way, and I’ll go mine. Keep your reprimands to yourself.
I don’t need them.” With that, I head out the door and slam it behind me.
Outside, the sun is shining, but the air is cold.
I stretch and try to shut out the noises emanating from the lakeside.
It seems as though they’re closer now. More toward the center of the lake, away from the swamp.
I stretch my quads as I stand in the middle of the road, where I can get a better view.
Fewer trucks are here this morning. And one van has DIVE TEAM printed on its side, so they are headed into the open water today, into the depths.
They certainly are determined to do a thorough job.
I remember the crowds that attended Simon’s post-funeral get-together.
Apparently, he was popular among the people of the town, so I’m sure there’s a lot of pressure on the police to solve his murder.
I start running in the other direction. My muscles warm and I feel a sense of lightness I haven’t felt in a while.
I’ve missed my runs. I turn along the bend in the road and I start down the backstretch where the Thompsons’ house sits, and I wonder about Aubrey.
Hopefully, she’s back by now. Besides their big house, there’s not much but trees on this side of the lake.
Clouds cover the sun, and the air turns gray. In the distance, over the water, I hear voices, trucks, and the sound of a motorboat. But it’s hard to see through the trees here.
My skin begins to crawl, as if I’m being followed, as if someone lurks in the woods and is watching me.
I pick up the pace. This is the loneliest spot in the loop.
The Thompsons’ house is up ahead. I can just see their mailbox, dead vines trailing from it.
Dale has probably already left for work, so the house is most likely empty.
But I still feel someone’s eyes on me and just as I pass the Thompsons’ driveway, I dart into their yard and circle around the house. I’m breathing heavily and wonder if I’m being paranoid. But I did hear something like the snapping of twigs or brush nearby.
There’s a shed in the back of the Thompsons’ house, and I head toward it.
Tall, weedy grass wets my ankles as I sprint across the yard.
I near the shed, turn the corner, and hide behind it.
I’m breathing heavily, pulling mucky, dank air into my lungs.
Despite the cold, I’m sweating. I listen.
I don’t hear anything now, just the sound of my own labored breath.
Maybe I was hearing things, letting my anxiety get the better of me.
It was probably just a deer. I rest my back against the shed wall, then glance down at the ground.
There’s a patch of dirt that looks recently turned over, disturbed, as if someone buried something here.
I scrape at the earth with the heel of my running shoe, but I don’t see anything.
Then I hear another sound. A door shutting. I peer around the corner of the shed just in time to see Jeffrey disappear into Dale’s house. What the hell? Was he following me? Is he looking for me? Why is he going through Dale’s back door?
I thought that Dale suspected Jeffrey in Simon’s death.
It certainly sounded that way when I talked to him.
But maybe Dale doesn’t know that Jeffrey is in his house.
Maybe Jeffrey is behind more than Simon’s death.
Maybe he is somehow involved in Aubrey’s disappearance as well.
My heart is hammering so loud, I’m afraid he’ll hear it all the way inside the Thompsons’ home.
I wait, catch my breath, then peek around the corner again.
The coast looks clear, so I sprint for the road, my feet sliding in the mud as I near the house.
I turn the corner and run headlong into Jeffrey with enough force that I fall backward on my behind.
I crab-walk away from him, but he stands still, blinking his eyes as if he doesn’t know what to make of me.
“What are you doing here?” he asks finally.
“Um, I was out for a run and I …”
“You shouldn’t be back here.”
“What are you doing here?”
Jeffrey wipes his red, runny nose with his jacket sleeve. Slight acne scars cover his hollow cheeks, and his lank, dark hair falls across his forehead. “Checking on Dale’s house. He asked me to.”
“Why?”
“There’s a lot of strange people around here lately.”
“The cops?”
Jeffrey nods. “And other people from town. Reporters. You should be careful.” His dark eyes meet mine for a second, then flicker away as if he’d broken some kind of social taboo.
I’m still sitting on the ground, the cold, wet earth penetrating my sweatpants. It doesn’t occur to Jeffrey to help me up. In fact, he steps away from me while I push myself to my feet.
“You need to get going,” he says.
“Right. Going.” I sprint to the road and try to concentrate on my gait, keeping good form and breathing deeply and evenly.
My mind is awhirl with the disturbed dirt behind the shed.
Maybe there’s a good reason that Dale doesn’t want the cops to search his place.
Do I tell the cops what I saw? But maybe it’s nothing.
I have no idea what to do. And Jeffrey helping Dale.
Really? But he seemed to go through the back door with ease.
It was either left unlocked, which would seem strange with how paranoid everyone is right now, or maybe Jeffrey had a key.
When I get back to the other side of the lake, I notice that the cops have commandeered Noah’s dock.
Two men stand there, hands on hips, and watch as the dive boat floats in the middle of the lake.
Noah stands in his yard, watching. He smiles when he sees me and raises his coffee mug as if in salute.
I walk over to him. “Hi. Looks like they’re diving today.” I try to keep my voice calm, settled. I don’t know what to do with what just happened over at Dale’s. Do I tell Noah about my run-in with Jeffrey? I don’t know what I should confide in anybody around here.
“Yeah. They’ve been out on the lake for a little while. Two guys just went into the water. Hey, you okay? You look a little pale, shaky.”
“Yeah. I haven’t run for a while, and I pushed myself a little bit.” I bend over and stretch my calves, then straighten. “Noah?” His gaze is on the motorboat.
“What? Sorry.”
“Did you tell anyone that I’m Alex’s daughter.”
He turns his attention to me, his eyes on mine. “No. I told you I wouldn’t.”
“Someone did. A reporter cornered me in town yesterday and knew who I was. She wanted the whole story.”
“It wasn’t me. I told you I’d keep it secret. I keep my word. Alex probably told a few people. He’s not very discreet. He was planning to let everyone know at some point anyway, wasn’t he? That’s not the kind of thing you can keep quiet forever.”
“Yes, I suppose so. In fact, Sunny just put out a press release about it. Alex told her to. He thinks it might make for some good news. I guess it’s not important.”
“Don’t let it get to you. You might get a little attention for a while, but it’ll calm down. Besides”—he lifts his mug toward the lake—“the bigger news might just be what they find in the lake.”
“You think the murder weapon is really in there?” My mind flips back to the Thompsons’ shed.
“We’ll find out. The killer hit Simon with something.”
“I wonder if they’ll search the houses and grounds.”
“Probably can’t get a warrant. There has to be cause, and I don’t think they’ve found enough yet.”
“Isn’t the lake private property?”
“Actually, no. State owns it and the trees and shoreline up to the road. We own the land on the other side of the road.”
“That’s why they can search there without a warrant.”
“Yup.”
We stand together and watch the activity. The divers bob up from the dark water and talk to the men in the boat. They seem excited, but haven’t brought anything up with them, not that I can see anyway.
“I probably should get back to work,” Noah says. “I’m headed back to Boston later. I’ll be there a couple of days. Be back here on the weekend. Maybe we could have dinner?”
I hesitate. I’m still trying to negotiate my new life. Dinner with a new man? Then I think about Ben and his office manager. “That sounds great.”
Noah nods, turns, and heads back to his house.
I stand alone. Wondering what the divers were talking about.
Wondering if they found something that might help them with this case.
Wondering if I should tell Detective Bellman about the dirt behind Dale’s shed.
And wondering if I should’ve been so quick to accept Noah’s dinner invitation.