Murder at the Lakeside Library

by Holly Danvers

  “Okay, I’ll order some fried shrimp on the side because I’ve been craving them all winter long,” Julia laughed and then put her hand beside her mouth, “Don’t tell Nick, but his shrimp recipe doesn’t hold a candle to theirs. I’m not sure what spices they use, but it’s impossible to replicate it, despite my husband’s best efforts.”

  The waitress came to take their orders and after her departure Rain said, “I saw Marge at the market today and invited her to the barbeque. I also suggested she come by tomorrow to work in the library. If you’re not around or have other plans, it’s no worry.” Rain waved a hand airily. “I wanted to invite her, so she can have her trunk back. I felt bad we hadn’t unloaded those books for her yet. Today, the poor woman had to put a flowerpot into her backseat because she had no room.”

  “I can come and help, too. That should be no problem at all. I’ll have to double check with Nick first, but I’m sure I can make it work.”

  “Listen, I’m sorry I was hesitant at first to reopen the library. I hope you know, it’s nothing personal. It’s just that I’ve been going through some stuff—”

  Julia interrupted her by tapping her gently on the hand. “I know, sweetie. I can’t even imagine what you’ve been going through … how hard it’s been for you to lose Max. He was so young … such a shock.” She slowly shook her head.

  Rain wasn’t sure if she was ready to unload all the hefty feelings she’d been carrying regarding her deceased husband. She’d lugged the weight around so long now that she’d grown somewhat accustomed to it. The blame she felt toward Max gave her an excuse not to move forward. And if she moved forward, he would be gone for good. She was happy for the interruption when the waitress delivered their iced teas and then quickly retreated. It gave her the opportunity to change the subject.

  “So … you want to fill me in on the workings of the library? Do you know what system my mother has in place thus far? I feel like you’re far more well-equipped than I am to open it up to the public as you’ve seen the drill, I’m sure, countless times. Please tell me she’s not still using that ole’ log book that I found on the shelf?”

  Julia laughed, “Did you really find that ole’ relic? No, Willow upgraded from the log book, but still kept it pretty simple. She just used an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of who borrowed books. She’d look over the spreadsheet from time to time to see if anyone hadn’t returned materials after around a four-week period and send them a letter in the mail as a nice warning instead of issuing citations. Keep in mind that most that frequent the library are locals, Lakers mostly, so it’s a pretty simple system. Unless the list of library patrons grows by leaps and bounds, we could probably just keep the same system in place. Although an upgrade in internet would be nice as sometimes people like to use a public Wi-Fi, especially while out on the deck. And besides, I think an email for a warning would be much more efficient than snail mail, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, my parents weren’t big on Wi-Fi back in the day, but times are definitely changing. I agree, a stronger signal may be in order.” Rain nodded as she toyed with her straw in the iced tea.

  “I’m pretty sure Willow left a laptop with the Excel spreadsheet on the desktop back at the library. Have you found the computer yet?”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen one on the side table by the door, but I didn’t give it much thought. To be honest, I didn’t even power it up. I’m sure it’ll be fine, though.”

  “I think Willow bought a new one last summer. I agree, it should power up, no problem.”

  A lull fell between them and Rain began to fidget in her seat.

  “What’s wrong? It seems your mind has already left our library meeting. Is there something else you want to talk about? You’re obviously restless.”

  Rain leaned in toward the table, resting her weight on her elbow and then looked over both shoulders to see if anyone was within hearing distance before asking, “Do you happen to know where the Browns live on the lake?”

  “Yeah, why?” Julia leaned in closer and mirrored her stance.

  “Apparently Thornton had been renting their place before he passed, and I was just wondering if you wouldn’t mind pointing out the house to me before we head back home?”

  “Sure, I’d be happy to show you. We can boat over there after lunch.” Julia sipped through her straw and then turned pensive. “May I ask why, though?”

  “I have something bothering me, that I can’t seem to let go of.” Rain admitted after she took a sip of her tea.

  The two leaned back when the waitress came with a tray and set the salads in front of them. “Shrimp will be out in just a sec,” she said and turned quickly on her heel, causing her long red ponytail to bob up and down.

  “Thanks,” they said in unison, and then chuckled, as if they hadn’t been apart for years. Any awkwardness Rain initially felt reconnecting with Julia had melted away.

  After the waitress was out of earshot they continued with their conversation.

  “What is it, Rain? You look distraught.” Julia smoothed the paper napkin on her lap and waited.

  “It’s nothing, I’m sorry. We’re here to discuss library business and instead my brain keeps getting sidetracked. Let me refocus here …”

  “Don’t worry about the library right now. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up about that. Spill it. I can see you’re upset.

  A long pause ensued between them and Julia patiently waited for Rain to continue.

  “Have you ever felt so disillusioned by life, that everything you’d had lined up, and everything you counted on your entire life, just burst like a bubble? And you’re left wondering how you missed the clues? How you missed the truth of everything, right before your very eyes? But you’re too damn afraid to take off the rose-colored glasses for fear your life would shatter into a million pieces? That’s how I feel.” Rain said with conviction.

  Julia nodded sympathetically and held her gaze but allowed Rain to steer the conversation.

  Rain shrugged her shoulders. “I’m beginning to think it’s possible my mother might have been tangled up with Thornton in some sordid affair, and it’s really not sitting right with me. I want to know. I need to know. It’s eating me alive.” Rain balled her fists and clenched them atop the table.

  Julia didn’t speak, it was as if she didn’t want to break the spell, and merely waited for Rain to continue.

  “I wanna share something with you, that I probably shouldn’t but …”

  Julia leaned closer and reached for her hand and gave it a quick squeeze of encouragement before letting go. “Tell me. I know it’s been a long time since we’ve confided in each other, but I’m your friend, Rain, and I’m here for you. What’s going on?”

  Rain saw the sincerity in her friend’s eyes and felt safe to share. “Max had an affair before he died. Before the motorcycle accident.”

  There, she’d said it.

  “Oh.” Julia sank back in her seat. “I had no idea. Your mother never mentioned anything to me. That’s why this is doubly hard for you, isn’t it? The possibility of your mother … with another man …” Julia bit at her straw nervously. “You don’t have room in your heart for that kind of behavior. You’re wounded.”

  Rain’s eyes filled and she nodded.

  “Oh, my dear friend, I can imagine how you must feel. I’m so sorry,” Julia said with a tone of deep sympathy. She reached out and rubbed Rain gently on the arm. “Honestly, I don’t know what to say … I wish I had the right words.”

  “You don’t have to say anything. Thank you for letting me unload. I’m carrying all this around and it’s driving me nuts. My mother doesn’t understand how I can be grieving Max and angry at him at the same time. How could he do that to me? While we were trying to have a baby together! My emotions are all over the place. Sometimes I feel like I’m on the tilt-a-whirl desperate to get off.”

  Julia nodded slowly. “I see.”

  “But knowing that my own mother could be capable of doing the same
thing to my dad? I mean, it’s just too much.” Rain blew a breath out slowly like a blowfish. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have dumped this on you over lunch. This is a terrible lunch conversation.” Rain waved a hand toward her salad. “Please go ahead and eat.”

  Julia lifted her fork and said, “So, because Willow knew what you were going through, you don’t understand how she could make the same mistake as Max. Is that right?” Julia took a bite of her salad and slowly chewed. “Am I fully understanding what’s bothering you?”

  “Exactly.” Rain pushed the salad away, suddenly not very hungry.

  “Have you asked your mother? Maybe we’re creating things that flat out just aren’t true. You can’t let town gossip be your guide.” Julia said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

  “It’s not just gossip … I don’t think. I mean, even you noticed them together.” Rain held her breath and reached for her necklace and toyed with it. “It seems my mother has taken over the master suite at the cabin.”

  Julia sat straighter at this news. “What do you mean?”

  “I didn’t find my father’s jacket. And the rest of his clothing I found hanging in the spare room closet. It’s as if he’s taken up his own room which is strange because all my life my parents have shared one. It’s just weird, that’s all. To me it seems their relationship is in deeper water than I thought.” Rain sulked.

  The waitress arrived to place the shrimp between them on the table. “Something wrong with your salad?” she asked, pointing to the plate.

  “No, it’s perfect. It’s just that, suddenly, I’m not very hungry,” Rain admitted. “Would you mind boxing it for me?”

  “Sure,” the waitress said. “I’ll bring you a box with the check.”

  “That would be great, thanks.”

  This seemed to prompt Julia to hurry and finish her lunch, knowing she was now eating alone. They sat in companionable silence as Rain watched the boats and wave runners skate across the lake. She noticed the deckhand and the waitress talking several times and wondered if they were in a relationship. After a sip of iced tea, she turned back to face the dock. Something she overheard caught her attention.

  “Hey Frankie! Wait up! You forgot to shut the tackle box and my prize lure is in there!”

  A flicker of adrenaline surged through her. “It’s him!”

  “Him? Him who?”

  Rain turned to Julia. “Do you know that man?” She inconspicuously pointed out the older gentleman approaching the restaurant, with another man lagging a few feet behind. Frankie’s wide shoulders almost took up the entire width of the dock. His bulging arms and solid build looked as if he could’ve been quite an athlete back in his day.

  A look of confusion washed across Julia’s face and she set down her fork. “No, why? Should I?”

  “I overheard someone at the market say that Thornton was accusing Frankie of something.”

  The question that burned through Rain’s mind:

  What exactly was Thornton accusing him of?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rain studied the man called Frankie and his cohort who leaned a casual elbow against the outside tiki bar. They were each nursing a beer and throwing their heads back in collective laughter.

  “Maybe we should go and get a drink? You think?” Julia suggested. “See what they’re laughing about.”

  “Should we?” Rain chewed on the inside of her cheek while not taking her eyes off the two men. “They’re probably just talking nonsense, but after what I overheard at the local market, I’d be curious to see if one of them brought up the recently deceased. Wouldn’t you? I mean, how many Frankies can there be around this lake? He seems older to me than I’d expected.” Rain squinted her eyes to see if she could get a better determination of the man’s age.

  Before Rain and Julia had a chance to make their move over to the outdoor tiki bar, the waitress arrived at the men’s side with what looked like a takeout bag and handed it to one of them. Rain watched as the two men then slammed the remainder of their beers in one fluid motion, abandoned the empties upon the bar, and ambled back down the pier toward their fishing boat.

  “Crud, so much for that plan.” Rain turned to Julia and threw up her hands. “Looks like they’re leaving. Not much we can do now.”

  “Bag up your stuff, let’s follow them.” Julia said, taking one last bite of her salad before ditching her fork and tossing her napkin on top of what little remained of her lunch.

  Rain liked her friend’s idea and was totally on board. “Here, let me buy.” She reached into her clutch and plucked out more than enough money to pay for lunch and a generous tip. She slid the money beneath the iced tea glass, so it wouldn’t blow away.

  “Nonsense. Let me at least pay for mine,” Julia attempted to hand Rain a twenty-dollar bill, but Rain held a firm stance by holding up her palm in defense. “Next time, you can buy. Quick, let’s just get a move on.”

  Rain abandoned her uneaten salad, not waiting for a takeout box, and the two hurried from their table. They quickly navigated their way back down to the dock and reboarded the pontoon. Rain wanted to be sure her boat was out on the open water and not hung up on someone trying to navigate their way in. The last thing she wanted was to lose a visual of Frankie and his friend.

  While waiting for their turn to depart the dock, Rain followed the two men with her eyes and observed them boarding a fishing boat with a flashy red Lund decal reflecting on the side. Frankie and his friend were bustling around the boat, moving fishing poles and adjusting their gear in order to get situated before their departure. To Rain, they seemed completely oblivious to the fact that were under surveillance by a couple of thirtysomething women. The two men finally settled in and shared a bag of French fries, while they, too, seemingly waited their turn to pull away from the restaurant’s dock.

  Rain unmoored the pontoon to a spot where they could inconspicuously float. She cut the engine, and then lifted the sundress off her head to expose her bikini in order to make it look as if they’d stopped merely to sunbathe. Julia noted and followed suit. This gave them a perfectly good reason for the pontoon to bob idly in the water. As soon as she noticed the Lund pulling away from the dock and planing out atop the water, she flicked the ignition on and hit the throttle in full pursuit.

  The Lund fishing boat was clipping along at a decent speed, creating a large wake behind them. A wave runner, outside the appropriate lake rules, attempted to squeeze between the Lund’s wake and the front of the pontoon, giving Rain no other choice than to back off the throttle. Then a sailboat came between them, causing her to cut the engine completely. She threw up her hands in frustration and shook her head in disgust as the pontoon bobbed along idly, being pushed back by each oncoming wave.

  “See what I mean about the lake traffic getting to be a little too much?” Julia asked. “This is borderline ridiculous! It was never like this when we were kids. We practically had this lake to ourselves! Remember? Not anymore. Pine Lake has officially become a hotspot. And I for one am not exactly happy about that,” she added, adamantly tapping a finger to her chest.

  “I can’t be-lie-ve we lost them! Ugh!” Rain slapped her palm to her forehead. She then reached under the seat, plucked a beach towel from her bag, and wrapped the towel around her middle before slumping down in the captain’s chair.

  “Oh well, at least we know Frankie owns a fishing boat, right?” Julia asked defeatedly. “At least it’s something to go on.”

  “Yeah, and it’s a Lund. Maybe we’ll be lucky and there won’t be fifty more of them today on the lake just like it.” Rain rolled her eyes.

  “Actually, the red decal on the side is ‘extra,’” Julia said throwing her fingers up in air quotes. “My dad had an estimate once to put on that added bling when he bought his new boat and declined because of the cost of it. That’s an expensive boat.” Julia wrapped the beach towel tighter to her midriff to cover her one-piece swimsuit. “Besides, what are the chances we’d hear them talking
about Thornton anyway? Pretty slim, to be honest. I doubt they were throwing back beers talking about the guy’s murder in public. Especially, if there was any hint of guilt on their part. Do you?”

  Rain’s shoulders fell. “Yeah, I suppose. So far, it’s the only lead I have; I was hoping to poke the dragon for more.” She didn’t add that it was the only lead away from her own parents’ potential involvement. She kept silent on that little tidbit.

  “Hey, at least we’re getting some sun.” Julia smiled and then reached for her suntan lotion and began to apply it to her legs and the tops of her feet. “Want some?”

  “Nah, I usually only burn once, then tan the rest of the summer. I’ll take my chances,” Rain said, turning her face toward the sun and closing her eyes to block it.

  “Suit yourself,” Julia said.

  The breeze off the water felt refreshing and Rain breathed it in. “Wow, I forgot how much I love being out here. It’s gorgeous on the lake today.”

  “Me too, friend. Me too. No place I’d rather be than out here on this lake with you!” Julia’s tone carried a smile. “I’ve missed you, Rain, seems like forever since we’ve done this.”

  “Julia?”

  “Yeah?” Julia was covering the bench seat with her towel and then rested on top of it. She turned then, shielding her eyes from the sun, in order to face Rain.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Julia sat up and leaned on one elbow, “For what?”

  “For letting our friendship slide. For not coming up here as much. For letting my life with Max get in the way.” Rain sighed. “I never should’ve done that. It wasn’t right.”

  “Nonsense! Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, we’re here now, aren’t we?” Her friend grinned. “I can imagine how you’d miss this, though; we grew up here.” Julia shaded her eyes with her hand and then dug around until she reached her hat and placed it firmly on her head. “I get the feeling Max didn’t like coming up north, did he? Not a fan of the Northwoods in general? Or just here on Pine Lake?”