Down By The Water

by Cruise, Anna

  He leaned toward me, the smile still on his lips. “Maybe we should go check on them. Make sure they didn't just invent a new reason for Jorgenson to show up.”

  “Maybe,” I said reluctantly. I didn't want to leave the secluded spot he'd found for us. I wanted to sit there with him and pretend again. Pretend that everything was okay and normal, even if only for a few minutes.

  “Or maybe we should let them fend for themselves a little while longer,” he murmured, lowering his head further. His mouth was an inch away from mine and I could feel his breath on my skin, could smell the peppermint gum I didn't know he'd been chewing.

  “I like that idea better.”

  His lips met mine and I felt the thrill run through me as he kissed me.

  “Me, too.”

  FORTY THREE

  The living room was empty when Ty and I returned to the house.

  “Not sure if this is a good thing or not,” Ty commented, peering into the living room. Louder, he said, “Dad?”

  There was no response.

  “Where do you think he is?” I asked. “And where do you think my dad is?”

  He made his way down the hallway and into the dining room. I followed him and found another empty room. “No idea,” he said. He called for his dad again.

  The kitchen door swung open and Sheila Reilly appeared, an unwrapped stick of butter in her hand. “Everything okay?” she asked, her brow creased with concern.

  “Yeah,” Ty said. “Just wondering if Dad was around.”

  Sheila shook her head. “He went to pick up your sister. Camp ended today. Remember?”

  Ty frowned and it was clear that he hadn't remembered this at all. “Oh. That's right.” He hesitated. “Anyone else around?”

  Her frown deepened. “Are you talking about Jenna? I haven't seen her in...” She thought for a minute. “I don't think I've seen her since we had dinner together that one night.”

  I felt my cheeks redden a little. I was glad she didn't know how my sister had been spending her time.

  “No one else?” Ty asked.

  She looked at him. “Who else do you expect to be in this house?”

  So she hadn't seen my dad.

  “No one,” Ty said quickly. He turned to me. “You wan to go for a swim?”

  I stared blankly at him. No, I didn't want to go swimming. I wanted to figure out where the hell my dad had gone. In his state of mind, he very well could have high-tailed it to Sheriff Jorgenson's office and started demanding answers.

  He widened his eyes at me and nodded his head ever so slightly.

  “Uh. Sure. That sounds great.”

  Sheila disappeared back into the kitchen. “Dinner will be early tonight,” she called. “We're having salisbury steak. Your sister's favorite.”

  Ty made a retching sound and shook his head. “Not her favorite,” he said under his breath.

  “We need to find my dad,” I told him. “Not swim.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Duh. Where do you think he went?”

  I made a face. “Jorgenson.”

  Ty nodded. “Yeah, that was my first thought, too.” He stood there, thinking. “Okay. I'll head over to the sheriff's office. See if I can do damage control.”

  “I'm coming with you,” I said quickly.

  He shook his head. “No. The last thing we need is to have you around Jorgenson. Not with your dad all bent and you being the way you are.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  He suppressed a smile. “Nothing.”

  “What?” I demanded.

  “You're a little quick-tempered.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Not a criticism. Just fact.”

  I started to protest but stopped. He was right. I was a total hot-head. And I knew what would happen if I saw Jorgenson again.

  “So what am I supposed to do? Just hang out and do nothing?”

  “Uh, pretty much.”

  I sighed. I didn't like waiting and I didn't like doing nothing.

  “You could go to the pool,” he suggested.

  I rolled my eyes. “No. I'm not gonna go sit at the pool while you fight my battles for me.”

  “You're not coming with.” His voice was firm.

  “I know,” I said, my voice just as tight. “I'm going to find my sister.”

  FORTY FOUR

  We left the house at the same time. Ty got in his truck and headed toward the sheriff's office and I planted myself in the driver's seat of Kyle's car and headed toward the auto shop. I wasn't sure what compromising position I'd find my sister in but I was pretty sure she'd be there.

  Ten minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot. And saw a hand-written note attached to the door.

  I stepped out of the car and walked toward the entrance of the shop, the words on the note coming into focus as I approached.

  Out to lunch. Back at 1:00.

  I peered through the door, searching for the clock I knew was mounted on the wall. It was 1:15. I reached out and pulled on the door handle. It was locked.

  Irritated, I fished my phone out of my purse and called my sister. It rang four times before rolling over to her voicemail. I ended the call and tried again. Voicemail.

  I tapped my foot impatiently and swore. I knew where she was. More likely than not, she was in the back room of the shop, screwing Sven's brains out. She was in countdown mode, too, and I knew what she was thinking. Get everything she could before her reason for hanging around Pelican Lake disappeared.

  “Well, well, well.”

  The voice startled me and I turned around.

  Caroline stood at the curb, a pair of car keys dangling from her hand. Her black hair was pulled into a low pony-tail and sunglasses shaded her exotic-looking eyes.

  Her lips curved into a smile. “Still having car trouble?”

  “I could ask the same thing.”

  She nodded her head in the direction of a cherry red Jeep parked next to my borrowed car. Somehow, I hadn't noticed she'd pulled up.

  “Time for an oil change,” she said.

  “Shouldn't you be at work?”

  “It's Wednesday,” she replied. “I work the morning shift. My job isn't a full-time gig. Yet.”

  “Oh.” I pointed at the sign. “Looks like he's out to lunch.”

  She lifted her sunglasses and read the note taped to the door. “Well, shit.”

  “Does he close up shop often?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual.

  Caroline slipped her sunglasses back over her eyes. “No idea. I come here once every few months.”

  She wasn't going to be any help. “Okay.” I started to walk away, furious with my sister and irritated with the girl standing next to me.

  “Jorgenson knows,” she said.

  I turned around. “Excuse me?”

  She had one hand on her hip, the other clutching a pair of keys. “He knows.”

  I felt a knot form in my stomach. “Knows what?”

  “Knows that you're snooping around.”

  I took a step toward her and her grip on her keys tightened. “What did you tell him?”

  “I didn't tell him anything,” she said. “But he was asking me questions yesterday after you left.”

  “What kind of questions?”

  She adjusted her purse on her shoulder. “Like why you were at the office. What you were looking for.”

  I stared at her. “How did he know I was there?”

  She shrugged. “I don't know. Someone must have said something.”

  “Someone like you?”

  She smirked, shaking her head. “I didn't say a word.”

  “Bullshit,” I muttered.

  She hiked her purse up on her shoulder again. “I could care less about you. I was doing Ty a favor. That was it.”

  “I'll bet.”

  “You can think what you want,” she said. “I did it for Ty.”

  I had no doubt she was telling the truth about that. But I wasn't convinced she didn't have something to do
with telling the sheriff.

  She twirled the keys in her hand. “So, is your car almost ready?”

  I almost laughed. I knew what she was really asking: when the hell would I be leaving.

  “Yep,” I told her. “Should be ready tomorrow.”

  A small smile of satisfaction crossed her face. “Good.”

  I couldn't resist saying it. “And then you'll have Ty all to yourself again.”

  “I don't have him.” The keys stilled in her hand. “Yet. But I will.”

  FORTY FIVE

  Caroline peeled out of the parking lot and I got back into my borrowed car and called Ty. He answered on the first ring.

  “Hey.”

  “You find my dad?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  Ty sighed. “I drove straight to the county building. Stopped by the sheriff's office. Your dad wasn't there.”

  “Did you ask about him? About my dad?”

  He snorted. “Uh. No. Didn't think you wanted me announcing he was in town. Especially if he decided to just go back home.”

  He had a good point. “And how was Jorgenson? Did he wonder why you were there?”

  “Nah.”

  I turned the AC dial up a notch and repositioned the vent. “No?”

  “He's used to seeing me around there.”

  I bit my lip and said nothing. Of course he would be. If he and Caroline had dated while she was working there, he was probably at the building a lot. Picking her up for lunch or after work, just dropping in to see her. I could picture him bringing in a bouquet of flowers or a sweet note, just to brighten her day. Because he struck me as that kind of guy. I knew he was that kind of guy. Thoughtful. Sweet. Devoted.

  And it made my stomach churn to think of him being that way with someone else.

  With her.

  “You still there?” he asked.

  “Yeah, yeah.” I forced the images out of my mind. “I'm still here.”

  “No,” he said. “I mean there. At Sven's.”

  “Oh. Yeah, I'm still here. But Jenna isn't.”

  “What? Where is she?”

  I leaned my head back on the headrest. “No idea. Neither of them are here, actually. There's a sign on the door. Out to lunch. But they were due back a half an hour ago. At least according to the note.”

  “Did you go around back?”

  “What?”

  Ty chuckled. “The back door. It isn't just an office. If you know what I mean...”

  I rolled my eyes. “Good God. No, I didn't. But I will now.”

  “Okay.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “I'm gonna head back to the house. Call me after you talk to her?”

  I was puzzled. “Why?”

  “Just so I know you're okay.”

  I swallowed a swoon-induced sigh. Further proof, right there, that he was thoughtful and sweet and a guy I absolutely did not want to say goodbye to.

  “I will,” I promised.

  “I'll be waiting.”

  The phone clicked and the line went dead. I shoved my phone back in my purse, then thought better of it and pulled it out again. I stared at my list of contacts, my finger hovering over Jenna's name. I'd already left her one voicemail. Maybe a text would get her attention, especially if she was in mid-who knew what with Sven.

  I tapped the screen.

  Where are you?

  I waited.

  Nothing.

  I made a face at the screen, like it was the phone's fault she wasn't picking up. I squeezed the phone, set my jaw and walked around the building. The side was a gravel lot and I slid before I got my footing. My feet felt a hundred times better but I winced when I dug my sandal into the ground, trying to keep my balance. The reminder was there, the cuts that had scabbed over but would burst open if pushed too far. I stepped around the corner and saw a door right in the center of the building. I walked up to it and leaned my ear against the warm metal, listening for sounds that I didn't want to hear.

  But it was quiet.

  Before I could talk myself out of it, I pounded on the door and waited for one of them to answer in some state of undress.

  But the door stayed shut and no one came out, grabbing onto their underwear, breathing heavily.

  I made the same face at the door as I'd made at the phone and walked back around the building.

  Just as Jenna and Sven were pulling up in an old pick-up truck. Fully clothed.

  Sven killed the engine and Jenna hopped out of the cab. “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you,” I answered. “Where the hell have you been?”

  She held up a white paper bag. “Getting lunch. Sorta like the note on the door said...”

  “I called and texted you,” I said.

  She glanced at Sven, who'd gotten out of the truck, too. “I left it inside. We were gone for like fifteen minutes. What the hell's the matter with you?”

  I glanced at Sven. “You wanna excuse us for a minute?”

  He held up his hands like he wanted no part of it and kept walking toward the building and garage. He disappeared inside.

  “What the hell has gotten into you?” Jenna asked, clearly annoyed.

  “Why don't you ask Dad?” I said, not bothering to hide my irritation either.

  Her cheeks colored. “Is he here?”

  “Oh, he's here,” I said. “I told you not to call him.”

  She leaned back against the front of the truck. “I know.”

  “So why did you, Jenna?” I asked. “Jesus. I told you I didn't want him or Mom here.”

  “Mom didn't come, did she?” she asked, her voice flooded with disbelief.

  “No.”

  “Thank God,” she said. “Look, I told you. I just thought you needed some help.”

  “And I told you I didn't.”

  “So what?” she asked, waving a hand in the air. “You're just going to spin your wheels here and let Jorgenson jerk you around?”

  She had no idea. She didn't know that he'd come snooping around with more questions. That I'd been asking questions of my own. I might have hinted to her that I was going to do that but I'd never told her what had happened. What I'd found and what remained elusive.

  “No,” I said. “I'm leaving tomorrow. So I don't need Dad here. But he's here. Because you called him.”

  She was fidgeting with her hands and I knew she was wishing she had a cigarette to light up and puff away on, exhaling her nervousness and anxiety.

  “Okay. So then it's no big deal he's here.”

  “It is a big deal, Jenna.”

  “Why?” she asked, clearly exasperated.

  Because I wanted to protect him. Because I wanted to protect him from the haunting memories of the past and the threat Jorgenson presented here and now. But I didn't tell her this.

  “Because I wanted to handle this myself and now I can't!”

  She gave me a dismissive look. “You weren't handling anything.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Really?” she asked, raising her eyebrows over her sunglasses. “What exactly were you doing? What have you been handling?”

  I looked away. I wasn't going to get into it there. Spill about the file and my conversations with Cheryl and how Ty's dad had pretty much confirmed that Jorgenson's master plan was to find me guilty of hurting Annie and killing my sister.

  “Dad has always been the one person who's backed you up, right?” she said. “He never questioned, he never asked, he never needed to. He knew you didn't do anything. And any time anyone has suggested otherwise, he's shouted them down. Loudly.” She shrugged and re-gripped the paper bag with the sandwich. “I just thought if anyone could dig you out of this, he could. And would. Because that's what he does. And you didn't seem like you were doing anything other than worrying about what Jorgenson and everyone else thought about you.”

  I thought about what she'd said. I wanted to be mad at her. I wanted to scream at her and tell her she was wrong. But part of what she was
saying was right. I talked a good game, listening to Ty and talking to Cheryl, but what had I really accomplished? Nothing. Maybe I did need my father to swoop in and fix things. Maybe I hadn't been strong enough to do it on my own and maybe that's what I was really pissed about.

  Jenna brushed at her hair. If possible, it was even more of a mess than before. “I'm sorry, Lily. I was just trying to help.”

  I had no choice to believe her. “I know.”

  “But he's here now and he's not going to leave,” Jenna said. “You know that.”

  “I know,” I said again. “And I already told him I was leaving tomorrow, that the car would be ready.”

  “So he should be happy then, right?”

  “I guess,” I said. “He and Ty's dad kind of got into it and I haven't seen him since.”

  She made a face. “Probably out for a walk to cool off. You know how he is.”

  I nodded. She was probably right. He'd always found a way to calm himself down before he could say or do something he regretted. Jenna and I were both the opposite. He'd preached his way, but it had never taken with either of us.

  “Can I go inside now?” Jenna asked. She held up the bag. “I'm starving.”

  I had nothing left to say. “Yeah. Fine.”

  “You want half?” she said. “I'll share.”

  “No, I'm fine,” I said. “I'm gonna go back to Lake Land.”

  Jenna smiled at me. “Good. Because that means I can get one more tune-up with Sven before I have to go.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for that image.”

  She strolled past me, the sandwich bag over her shoulder. “You better just hope we don't do it in the backseat of your car.”

  FORTY SIX

  I didn't call Ty.

  He was waiting on the front porch of the house, sitting on the top step, his phone in his hand. He looked up when I pulled the car into the driveway, a frown flitting across his face before he broke into a smile.

  “I thought you were gonna call,” he said as I slammed the car door shut and made my way toward him.

  “I know.” I stopped on the lower step. With him seated and me standing, we were almost at eye level with each other.