Sunset Over Misty Lake

by Margaret Standafer

  Karen gasped. “Cort, no! You can’t do that. You can’t spend more of your own money on my problem. Please don’t do that.”

  “First, it’s not your problem, it’s our problem. Second, and pardon me, but as you said, it’s my money. I’ll do with it as I see fit. There’s really nothing to discuss.”

  “But, but…” Karen sputtered. “Joe, tell him!”

  Joe put a hand on her arm. “Honey, let it go for now. It might not even come to that and if it does, we’ll worry about it then.”

  Karen dropped back in her seat with a huff.

  Joe spoke to everyone. “Jake will see what he can accomplish with the police, Cort will see what, if anything, he can accomplish with Dave. Thank you both. And thank you all for your support. Knowing you want to see this guy get what he deserves as much as Karen and I do means everything, but I think we’ve done all we can for now. How about we get some sleep and try to be patient until Jake and Cort see what they find?”

  Karen was pleased when this time there wasn’t any arguing because as the adrenaline started to wear off, she realized she was bone tired. Based on the yawns and stretches when one by one they all began moving, she wasn’t the only one.

  They headed upstairs as quietly as possible. Sam grabbed Claire, Joe and Karen, with the help of Jake, got their kids, but everything else, they all decided, could wait for another day.

  They said their goodbyes outside with more promises of help and support, whatever was needed. Karen was overwhelmed. On the drive home, and well into the night when despite the fact she was exhausted, sleep was elusive, she thanked her lucky stars for the people who surrounded her.

  With the extra work of the Fourth of July party past her and with the weight of keeping a secret from everyone lifted, Karen finally had the chance to get a taste of what her new life, life with three kids, was really like. As she was fond of telling anyone who asked, it was delicious! What had seemed nearly impossible before now seemed manageable. The laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, the late-night feedings, a toddler with boundless energy, and two babies who learned new things every day, meant her days were chock-full of activity but to Karen, it was perfect. And she and Joe had never been happier.

  She’d squeezed in a visit to her grandfather the day before and while the progress was slow, there was progress. As much as she wished it would go faster, she knew he was on schedule. One of Leonard’s friends had visited earlier in the week and had touched on Rose and Kate’s Fourth of July shenanigans, so her grandfather had demanded a detailed account from Karen. His belly laughs had been like music to her ears.

  It had been a week since they’d all gathered in Sean and Anna’s basement and so far, there hadn’t been any news from either Jake or Cort. No promising news, anyway. Cort had left a message for Dave but hadn’t heard anything. Jake was trying to find someone who knew someone in the Vegas PD, but again, nothing so far. It was frustrating, but Karen would take frustration any day over anguish.

  She was on the floor building a block tower with Dylan when Joe got home.

  “Hey, how was your tutoring session?”

  “First session since the break for the Fourth so the first fifteen minutes was more of a Mr. McCabe kinda sucks at volleyball session, but after that, it was fine. We actually got some chemistry done.”

  Karen giggled then blew him a kiss. “I think Mr. McCabe is awesome at volleyball.”

  “You’re biased, but thanks. Anyway, I have some news.”

  “Oh?”

  “I stopped to see Jake on my way home. He was finishing up a phone call with a cop he knows in Duluth. I’m not quite sure how it all worked, there was lots of ‘this guy knows this guy who knows this guy,’ but the end result was Jake has a name of a cop in Vegas.”

  “Really? What does Jake know about him? Does he think there’s a chance he’ll help?”

  “Details are sketchy right now, but Jake’s going to call him. Bud, I guess his name is. Bud’s in his sixties, has been a cop in Vegas for forty years, and from what I understand, there’s not much about his city he doesn’t know. Jake thinks it’s promising.”

  Karen took a deep breath. “Okay. Things are happening. That’s good.”

  “It is good. What’s bothering you?”

  Karen stacked a couple more blocks then stood. “They were all so eager to help, and that’s good, I appreciate it, but I’m afraid they’re going to take it too far. You heard them the other night, talking about going to Vegas, tracking down Joshua,” she flicked her wrist in annoyance, “or whatever his name is, one of them sitting at the bar and trying to get him to do to them what he did to me…it all sounds dangerous and I can’t stand the idea of anyone putting themselves in danger because of me.”

  “Most of that was just talk. They want to help, they so much want to help, that they were dreaming up all sorts of crazy stuff. Jake will keep them in line, you know that.”

  “They could do something without Jake’s knowledge. Without our knowledge, for that matter.”

  “They may be crazy, but they’re not stupid.”

  “No, not stupid, but loyal to a fault. I’m afraid that’s worse.”

  The old adage, ‘when it rains, it pours’ was accurate, Karen decided, because that evening Cort stopped by with news of his own.

  “Dave called me back. He was surprisingly cooperative.”

  “He’s going to help? How?” Karen asked. She pushed Cort into a chair at the kitchen table and poured him a glass of iced tea.

  “That’s still to be determined, but the fact that he’s talking to me is promising.”

  “Then how do we proceed? Do we have anything to take to the police?”

  “Right now, we don’t have much more than we had before, nothing concrete, anyway. He’s going to help us, or he wouldn’t have bothered calling back, but Dave does things on his own schedule. I’m fairly certain I’ll have to go back to Vegas and meet with him in person. He doesn’t much trust cell phones. Or landlines, or email, or probably the US Postal Service for that matter. Dave’s a bit paranoid.”

  “Then you’ll go all the way back to Vegas on the chance he’ll give us something we can use? Cort, I don’t want you to do that. You have far better ways to spend your time.”

  “I thought I explained the other night that this is important to me so there aren’t many better ways to spend my time, but I have to go back, regardless. We’re making some management changes and I’ll need to oversee installing a new team to run one of our operations. It will be a dual-purpose trip.”

  Joe turned to Karen. His forehead creased and his eyes did the side-to-side thing that she knew all too well. He was calculating and weighing options. She waited for his conclusion, but he surprised her when he turned to Cort.

  “I’m coming with you. How much room is on that plane of yours?”

  “Joe? Why? What do you think you’re going to do?”

  “I’ll figure that out when I get there, but something. I’m going to do something, Karen. I’m not going to sit back and let this bastard get away with what he did to you. I’m going to do everything in my power to see that he pays.” He paused a beat. “Legally, of course.”

  “I’d tell you that’s not a good idea,” Cort said, “but I know I’m not going to change your mind. There’s plenty room on the plane.”

  “From what Cort’s told us about Dave, he won’t talk to you. I don’t know what you think you’re going to accomplish.”

  Joe flung both his arms into the air in an exaggerated shrug. “Something. I won’t let Cort try to bring this guy down while I sit here at home and hope for the best. Surely you understand I can’t do that.”

  She closed her eyes and nodded. “I suppose I understand. That doesn’t mean I like it.”

  Joe kissed her before turning to Cort. “When do you think you’ll go?”

  Karen tuned out their conversation. There’d be no changing Joe’s mind, and she really did understand his feelings about waiting at home while
Cort went to Vegas, but she had a feeling of her own. An ominous one. Cort could use the excuse of having to go to Vegas for work. Joe could use the excuse that she was his wife and he needed to be there. What sort of excuses would the others dream up?

  Crazy images flashed through her mind of the entire McCabe clan, on horseback and sporting long, oilskin dusters and cowboy hats like something out of an old Hollywood Western, descending on Vegas to exact revenge. She didn’t know whether to laugh or shudder, but she found herself wondering if any of them knew how to ride a horse.

  Julia’s whimpers reached the kitchen and provided Karen an excuse to leave. She shook her head at her wild imagination as she walked to the twins’ room, but the visions of a gun-toting posse were hard to shake.

  “What do you think, Julia, is Mommy crazy?”

  Julia responded by smiling and kicking her feet hard enough to rattle the crib.

  “I have to take that as a yes.” Karen laughed as she scooped up her daughter and snuggled her tight.

  Two days later, that posse convened in her living room. Jake had news from Bud, and Cort, while vague, hinted he might have something more from Dave. Since Karen had grown tired of fielding phone calls and texts in an attempt to keep everyone up to date, she’d invited them all over to hear the news first-hand.

  While there was chatting and joking, and while four kids provided a welcome distraction, tension lurked beneath the surface. When Susan rushed in, breathless and apologizing for being late, the group was complete, and the questions started.

  “What did Bud have to say?” Riley asked.

  Susan turned to Riley. “Who’s Bud? Did I miss something?”

  “The cop in Vegas.”

  “Oh, yeah, I knew that. What did he say, Jake?”

  “That he’ll do what he can to help. I think I lucked out in contacting him instead of someone else in Vice. He was only too happy to tell me about his retirement date of September first he’s had circled on his calendar for two years. Oddly enough, that works in our favor. Bud let it slip that there’s something big they’ve been working on for a long time and it seems to be coming to a head. Given Bud’s upcoming retirement, he’s been mostly on the sidelines for this one, so he seemed eager to sink his teeth into our investigation. The biggest problem looks to be timing. I know we want to try to get after this as soon as possible before there’s a chance of the guy skipping town, but with most of the department’s resources tied up in whatever it is they’ve been working on, I don’t expect we’ll get much help outside of what Bud can give us. It’s um…well, it’s just that…”

  “You can say it, Jake,” Karen said. “It won’t be a priority. It’s okay, I get it.”

  “You need to understand. It’s not as if your case is unimportant, it’s just that if they’ve been working something for a long time and sense it coming to some sort of conclusion, that’s going to be topmost on their list. Without coming right out and saying anything, I got the feeling from Bud it’s got to do with widespread illegal gambling. Nothing new in Vegas, but still a very big deal in Vegas.”

  “So, we need to get him something he can work with, some sort of evidence. Cort, what’s the latest from Dave?” Frank asked.

  “As I told some of you already, I spoke with him a couple of days ago and he’s agreed to help. I’m not sure what Dave’s definition of help is in this situation, but I’ll push for as much as I can get. Then, what I haven’t yet told any of you, is that I got a rather cryptic message from him earlier today. It seems Joshua or Kellen or whatever we’re calling him, is back in town.”

  There were a few low growls and more than a few steely glares.

  “He’s back at work? Probably up to the same vile behavior?” Sam asked. “He has to be stopped.”

  “I’m heading to Vegas on Monday. Joe’s coming with me. I’ll meet with Dave and get whatever information I can for Jake to relay to the police. We’ll have to take it one step at a time. I’m sorry, I wish I could give you more.”

  “No, don’t apologize.” Sam shook her head. “You’re doing all you can. And then some.”

  “I want to come with you,” Jake said.

  “So do I,” Riley and Frank said simultaneously a half a moment later.

  “Now wait a minute,” Karen said. “You can’t all drop everything and run to Las Vegas. You have jobs, you have families, you have responsibilities. The fact that Joe and Cort are going gives me more than enough to worry about without factoring the rest of you into the equation.”

  Karen looked around the room. Shauna and Susan had their heads together. Before Karen could stop what she knew was coming, Shauna said, “Maybe we should all go. Those of us who can get away, that is. We might be of some help if we have to search for this guy or keep an eye on him. He might start to notice if it’s the same couple of people hanging around all the time. We could take turns.”

  “Oh, no. No way. It could be dangerous.” Karen heard her voice rising, but controlling it appeared beyond her ability. “There are so many things that could happen, that could go wrong. You have no idea what you’re getting into. Shauna, Susan, you both have businesses to run. What about that? You can’t just walk away.” She was nearly yelling now, and her hands were flying with every word. “Be serious. Think this through for a minute. You’re not cops. Jake already told you that you can’t act like one, Shauna. Besides, you probably don’t even know how to ride a horse.”

  With that, she fell back into the chair and threw her arm over her face. They were nuts. Every last one of them. She hadn’t a single doubt left.

  “Ride a horse?” Joe whispered as he lifted her arm away from her face and peeked at her.

  “Never mind,” she muttered. “Talk some sense into your family, Joe.”

  “Hah! You know as well as I do how likely that is.”

  Karen pushed herself up. They were all watching her, their faces set in determined frowns. Joe was right; there’d be no changing anyone’s mind. She wondered why she’d bothered. The amount of stubborn in the room was stratospheric. But she couldn’t quite give up.

  “It sounds like nothing is going to be accomplished overnight. It’s going to take time. Shauna, how do you walk away from Anchored so soon after you opened?” She aimed her eyes at Susan. “And the inn?”

  Both Shauna and Susan dropped a bit lower in their seats.

  “I guess I’ll have to figure that out,” Shauna mumbled.

  “I’m not sure…maybe between Molly and the girls…” Susan seemed even less confident than Shauna and Karen had to fight to hide her told-you-so smirk. Talk was easy, she thought to herself, but kept her mouth shut because no matter how misguided, she knew they had her best interests at heart.

  “One of us could go, Suze,” Cassie said.

  A look of resignation took up residence on Susan’s face. “I guess.”

  “You know Melody is out in Vegas now.” Cassie turned from Susan to the group. “A friend from our time at the Billingsley works at one of the fancy hotels in Vegas. I can’t remember which one, and I know it’s a long shot, but I could contact her and see if she can be of any help. Even if she doesn’t know him, she might know someone who does.”

  “We can’t keep involving more people!” A feeling of helplessness swamped Karen as it was all slipping further from her control by the minute.

  “Speaking of involving other people,” Cort began.

  Karen’s heart pounded. “What?”

  “I know I said I wouldn’t, but I contacted Opal and she—”

  “No! Cort, you promised not to involve her.”

  “We weren’t getting anywhere without her. I gave her every chance to walk away from the entire thing, but she was happy, no eager, to help. She filled in a few blanks for me. It seems she’s another person you’ve impacted. She wants to help.”

  Karen pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes.

  “Who’s Opal?” more than one voice asked.

  Karen let Cort explain, and while he
did so, went to the kitchen in search of the wine. While she knew there were bottles ready in the fridge, she double-checked. Finding them ready and thereby assured she could skip a round of nursing, she poured. She hadn’t had a drink in over a year.

  She sighed as she swallowed, hoping the small glassful would relax her and, since it’d been a year, maybe even get her drunk.

  Sam joined her in the kitchen, one hand holding Claire and the other an empty sippy cup.

  “Can we get a refill?” Sam asked.

  “Sure.”

  Sam filled the cup at the sink, then handed it to Claire who promptly started chugging.

  “She worked up a thirst trying to keep up with Dylan.”

  Karen closed her eyes and leaned back against the counter. “Hmmm.”

  “It’s going to be okay, you know.”

  Karen opened one eye. “How do you know that?”

  “Because Jake will make sure. He’s good at what he does.”

  “He doesn’t usually have to control his siblings. Crime in Misty Lake is no match for them when they put their minds to something.”

  “That may be true, but don’t sell him short. The combination of him always taking his job seriously and the fact that in this case his family is involved tells me that everyone is in good hands.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” Karen sighed and pushed herself away from the counter. “I just feel like everything is spiraling out of control. Out of my control, anyway. This was supposed to be something I handled, then it was supposed to be something that maybe Cort helped me with, but now it’s taken on a life of its own and become the focus of the entire McCabe family. I never wanted that.”