Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
King
Jim wakes Josie and me at the crack of dawn, but it isn’t because he’s made us breakfast. No, nothing is ever that simple or pleasant, is it? He wakes us with the beating of his fist upon the bedroom door as he shouts that something is amiss.
Isn’t it always?
No matter. As soon as Jim has revealed his current crisis, we’ll pop a dummy in his mouth, slap on a fresh nappy, and send him on his way. Things are never as bad as Jim first believes them to be.
We dress and open the door. Jim begins speaking before we’ve even said hello.
“Ice Pick is missing, and so is Blayne. No one’s seen them since last night.”
Okay, perhaps I misjudged. This is more concerning than he realizes. For once, he’s underreacting.
Josie and I share a look, but we both know we can’t tell him. Not yet. In the off chance that he hasn’t yet told Aven and Bennett the truth, we have to keep this quiet. Jim is the opposite of quiet.
“We don’t have time for this,” Jim says. His hands flail, and he paces the doorway. “We have the big reveal today, and that storm will be here by the afternoon. If we don’t get started on the last event, well, you remember what—”
I grip Jim’s shoulders and give him a shake. “Keep it together, man! We won’t start the blasted event until we find Ice Pick and see that he’s safe. He’s our friend, and we won’t let anything happen to him.”
“You were supposed to bond with the boys.” Josie shakes her head. “You need this time with them.”
“And he’ll have it,” someone says.
Ezra steps around Jim and enters the bedroom. Frankie isn’t far behind him.
“Grim and Rose plan to comb the lake’s edge near the house,” Ezra continues, addressing King. “They’ll walk the entire thing. Maverick and I will head into the east woods, and Frankie and Josie—"
“No,” Jim and I bark in unison.
“No,” I repeat. “She stays with me until the end.”
“How do we even know they’re still around here?” Josie asks. “They could be long gone by now.”
Frankie holds out a piece of paper. “Ice Pick left a note. He said he and Blayne were going for a walk. It doesn’t say when they set out, but they didn’t take a flashlight or anything. It had to have been this morning.”
I take the paper and read it, and it’s just as she says. Is this the big something Blayne planned? If so, it’ll be a blow to our entire Sinners family if something happens to Ice Pick. Everyone likes the big guy, myself included.
“Go with Bennett and Aven,” Josie says. “Take them fishing now, since later will be too stormy. There isn’t enough room in that boat anyway. I’ll be safe. I promise. You taught me how to take care of myself, didn’t you?”
Jim takes the paper from my hands and reads it. He crumples it up and throws it at the wall. “They’re right, King. Go with the boys. It’s our last hope, and we can’t risk it now.”
I look at the group, and I know when I’m beaten. Josie won’t be in those woods, though. Not with the snake still hiding in the grass.
“I’ll go,” I say, “on one condition.”
Bennett throws a line into the water. Aven just keeps sharpening his axe. I can’t be certain why he brought the thing out here when he said he wanted to fish. To intimidate me? If so, it’s working.
“So what do we do if we catch something?” Bennett asks.
Aven scoffs. “You see a doctor and hope it can be treated.”
The boys burst into a fit of raucous laughter that shakes the small rowboat, and I hold the sides to keep us steady. They were nervous about going fishing with Ice Pick missing, but Jim assured them he had it well in hand. We’ve been at it for a bit now, and they’ve settled in.
If only I could do the same.
“Quiet, lads. You’ll scare off all the fish with that giggling.”
“Sorry, Pops,” Bennett says.
“Yeah, Da. Didn’t know we couldn’t have a good time.”
A chill rises up my spine. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they already knew who I am to them. Perhaps that’s why Aven brought the axe after all.
“You boys . . . shouldn’t call me that. I haven’t earned that right.”
Aven raises the axe into the air and squints at the clouds in the distance as he studies the sharp edge. “Boys? I’d say we’ve earned the right to be called men.”
“And you’ve earned the right to be called Pops.” Bennett’s rod wiggles, and he grabs it before it falls into the lake. He snatches back on it, but the fish slips the hook. “Damn. I suck at this shit.”
With a chuckle, Aven lowers the axe to his lap. “Aye, you do much better once it’s been battered and fried. Or do you prefer to fuck it before they cook it?”
“Oh, fuck off, Aven.”
Bennett goes to stand, and Aven does the same. Before they can topple this vessel and send us all into the water, I reach up and grab a shirt in both hands. With very little effort, I snatch them both back to a sitting position.
“Aven, stop badgering your brother about his sexual proclivities lest we bring up your special green suit.” I release Aven’s shirt.
Bennett laughs, but I quickly silence him.
“As for you, if you want people to stop making a mockery of you, then you’d best stop making a mockery of yourself. Quit . . . playing with your food in such a public manner.”
Aven laughs again. “He means stop leaving the food for us to find after you’ve fucked it.”
Before another boat-rocking argument can break out, I push the oars into Aven’s hands and motion for Bennett to pull in his line. Maybe moving further down the lake will give them something else to focus on.
We move into more open water, and the lads see just how expansive my lake truly is.
I might have downplayed it just a touch.
It cuts a deep groove through western land and stretches for a few thousand acres.
Smaller branches shoot off and lead to a tucked-away beach here or a kill site there. All the little things a man could want.
And maybe all the little things a woman could want too.
Thick forests and native wildlife abound here, so I’m protected on all sides. For miles. It’s a special reserve Jim runs, and I decided it seemed a nice place to spend a few weeks a year. Away from everyone and everything.
Funny. Now I’ve brought everyone and everything here. All the important people and things, anyway.
Never would I have imagined I’d be on this lake with two of my boys. Josie’s to thank for this. Now I almost feel bad for making her stay back at the house while everyone else went in search of Ice Pick.
Before I can tear up at the thought of having this perfect final moment with my children before they slaughter me, an ear-shattering sound pierces my skull. Bennett and Aven cover their ears and look around.
I pull the radio from my pocket. “Jim, you’re pressing too many buttons at once.”
“Sorry, but we . . .”
Static cuts off his voice. We’ve rowed a bit too far out of range for these walkies. Not too far out for me to miss the strain in his voice, though. Something has happened.
We come around a small bend that feeds into a special cove I designed for lake trout to spawn—the perfect place to turn the fuck around.
Aven and Bennett could hear the panic in Jim’s voice too. We don’t need the rest of his sentence. We understand the gravity of this situation. They’re already getting us turned around, with Bennett giving Aven directions as he puts all his efforts into rowing.
We’ve only been gone an hour, maybe two at most. Surely that wasn’t enough time for something to go so horribly wrong. Jim’s just overreacting.
Static squelches again.
“ . . . sedan isn’t where—”
It’s a snippet of a sentence, but it’s enough.
“He took the bloody car,” I growl. “And if he took the car, that means he was at the house.”
Digging deep, Aven rows harder. We break out of the narrow inlet and through the cover of pine trees. It almost feels as if we slow when we skirt the edge of an open expanse, but it’s just a trick of the mind. Like that floating dock in the distance with—
“Josie!” I yell.
Forgetting where we are, I stand up and point, only to send the boat rocking back and forth. I remain upright because my muscles have never been stronger, since Josie keeps them so tense all the time. Like right now.
Aven and Bennett shield their eyes and look into the distance. They see it too; the figures are too far away to make out, but the auburn hair is unmistakable.
Blayne, Josie, and Ice Pick are on a floating dock in open water, and Blayne knows Josie cannot swim.
My eyes slide closed.
Oh, my beauty.
Aven slows his rowing, not wanting to spook the bastard.
I reach back and pat his leg. “Good lad.”
I needn’t say more. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s doing a damn good job. We want to approach low and slow. If he feels the least threatened, he’ll dump her into the water.
“What the fuck is Ice Pick doing?” Bennett says. “There’s no way he’s in on this, right?”
My head shakes in disbelief. He’s been loyal to his friend all this time, but to this extent?
“No,” I say. “Blayne was his friend, but we’re his family. He wouldn’t betray us, and we won’t betray him by believing less of him. He’s never given us reason to mistrust him. We won’t start now. He might be in as much danger as Josie. Until we know better, we’ll treat it as such.”
“Aye,” Aven says, and Bennett nods.
We continue in silence for what feels like an eternity. We finally draw close enough for Blayne to raise a bullhorn and demand we stop.
Aven is winded, huffing and puffing after working himself into a lather. I have the boys swap places. If Blayne pushes her into the water, I can swim to her faster than either of them can row all three of us there. I need to be ready to dive in should it come to that.
But it doesn’t. Blayne raises the bullhorn and speaks. He’s still far away, though, so he’s hard to make out.
“What did he say?” Aven asks.
Bennett shrugs. “Something about s’mores?”
I turn toward Blayne. “We can’t bloody hear you, you crispy-topped bellend!”
Blayne fiddles with the buttons, then raises the bullhorn again. Feedback squeals, and he lowers it once more.
I scrub my hands down my face. “Bennett, row us closer.”
“On it.” He puts the boat in motion again.