Murder at the Lakeside Library

by Holly Danvers

  “Not really. He was born on the west coast, and he never really got the salty sea out of his veins,” Rain admitted. “To him, this lake wasn’t the same … Anyhow, I just want you to know that I’m sorry. I feel like we missed so much.”

  “No need to apologize. Life does that to the best of us, I was busy with Nick, too. It seems like we kept missing each other. Every time I was up here, you guys weren’t and vice versa. Besides, I could’ve tried and visited you down in Milwaukee, and I didn’t. Let’s just agree, we’re both happy to be spending time together again, and we’ll make a stronger effort not to let life get in the way again. Deal?”

  “Deal.” Rain reached out and they fist-bumped, extended their hands like an explosion and then laughed aloud like two of Julia’s teenage students.

  The boat drifted slowly across the water, led by the slow current, as the two sunbathed. After a while, Rain noticed that they’d drifted clear into one of the many hidden coves, and soon she’d have to either anchor the pontoon, or navigate their way out before they hit shore.

  “How about pointing me in the direction of the Browns’ cottage? I’d like to see where Thornton’s been living the last few months. Wouldn’t you?”

  Julia reached for the suntan lotion on the floor and tucked it back into her bag. “Umm,” Julia stood up, steadied her stance, and then looked both east and west before pointing right. “Hug the shoreline and head that way.” She sat down on the bench seat before Rain stepped in front of the controls and hit the throttle.

  The two traveled along the edge of Pine Lake, admiring each residence as they toured. They watched as folks gathered lakeside, drinks in hand, throwing a frisbee, or sunbathing upon their docks. Every now and then they’d see a few kids with fishing poles in hand.

  “I love that house,” Julia said, pointing out a weathered gray McMansion set back a few hundred feet from shore. “Look how much frontage they have,” she added in a dreamy tone. “They keep the landscaping so nice, don’t they?”

  Rain noticed a woman in a large straw hat tending a nearby flower garden along the side of the house. “Yeah, that sure is a beautiful property.” She also noted the flowering baskets that hung from the porch were similar to the ones Marge had purchased earlier in the day at the market. The lawn leading to shore looked as green and plush as emerald Ireland.

  “Oh, wait. Here’s the one you were looking for.” Julia pointed three estates down from the McMansion to a large, but modest in comparison, two-story home that sat back from the shore about seventy-five feet. “That’s the Browns’ house. I remember it well, we used to have waterski club meetings there. Remember?”

  “I don’t remember that?”

  “Oh, it must’ve been before you joined the club then,” Julia squinted her eyes for confirmation. “Yeah, that’s definitely the one. I remember the tree swing that hangs out over the water, see it?” She pointed to a tire swing that did just that and sat idly waiting for its next guest.

  Rain backed off the throttle to the slowest trolling speed to take it all in. “What road is the house on, do you know?” It was hard to catch her bearings, to define land and subdivision from the water side.

  Julia pointed to the small peninsula that jutted out to the next house. “I know that’s Bark Lane that comes right here to the point, so it must be the road parallel to it. I’m not sure what the name of that street is, though.”

  “Oh, okay. No worries, I think I know where that is.”

  “Rain, look!”

  Rain turned her attention to where Julia was now pointing. The fishing boat with the bright red Lund decal bobbed idly, attached to the dock adjacent to the Browns’ property.

  “Looks like your friend Frankie and Thornton were neighbors before he died.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The smell of chicken searing on the grill wafted in the air and, for the first time in a long time, Rain was hungry. Even with the chaos of the last few days, things seemed to be finally settling and as she gazed out across her deck at Julia, Nick, Jace, Marge, and even her new furry friend, Rex—she felt blessed. Rain couldn’t believe how completely familiar this group of people already felt to her. It was as if time had slipped backward, and she and Julia had picked up where they had left off during their teenage years. In a mere few hours together, the two were connecting again like long-lost family members.

  Before the arrival of her dinner guests, Nick had assisted Rain in resurrecting an old patio table out of storage, to place upon the deck for the summer. She knew the moment she’d seen him put the table in place, she could foresee many meals would happen beneath that umbrella. After a thorough wipe down, the table was brought back to its original glory.

  “Do we have enough room?” Rain asked as she handed Julia a stack of napkins.

  Julia ducked her head from beneath the umbrella, her pink hair now gleaming in the sunlight. “Plenty of room,” she said. “And if we don’t, we’ll squeeze in tighter,” she winked and smiled before returning to the table to arrange the plates and cutlery.

  Rain looked toward the grill and noticed Jace was standing in front of it and was flipping the chicken, while Nick chatted with him and uncorked a bottle of wine. It was as if each of them had stepped into roles in a production; each already knowing his or her own part. If it hadn’t been for the murder of Thornton Hughes, Rain would’ve thought them all the perfect dining companions for a normal dinner party. She leaned over the deck railing to find Marge taking Rex out to do his business beside a tree and noticed the grass had been cut. Why hadn’t she taken note of that earlier? Had her parents hired a landscaper for the summer? Who had cut it while she and Julia had been out on the pontoon?

  Since everyone seemed to have a job to do, Rain suddenly felt out of sorts, despite the dinner taking place at her own home. She shoved her hands deep into her denim shorts pockets and looked out onto the lake. She watched as a flock of gulls squeaked over an abandoned bellied up fish atop the water. They each fought for it, until one gull won and flew off protectively with its dinner.

  Nick seemed to catch on to her awkwardness, walked over, and handed her a glass of white wine. “Looks like you could use this,” he said before nudging her playfully.

  Rain willingly accepted the glass and took a sip, “Thank you, Nick.”

  “How you holdin’ up? You all right? It’s only day two for you in the Northwoods, and so much has happened.”

  Rain turned to him. “Despite everything, I’m more than all right. I didn’t realize how I’d been socially isolating myself since Max’s death. This feels surprisingly normal, and to be honest, I haven’t felt that in a long while, so thank you for coming over to barbeque with me.” She lifted the glass in cheers before taking a sip.

  “That’s good to hear, Rain. We sure are happy that you’ve decided to come up for the summer. I know, for one, Julia really missed you.” The two turned their focus on his wife who was bustling about. Julia was uncovering a large cobb salad that she’d brought from home. They watched as she added a vinaigrette, tossed it with tongs and placed the salad in the center of the table.

  “Yeah. I’ve missed her, too.”

  “You’re welcome, by the way.” Nick’s attention left his wife and he turned, bobbing his head and pointing a finger past the deck railing.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “I really thought you would’ve noticed when we were bringing the table up. But in all fairness, I guess you’ve had a lot to contend with since you arrived. I’m sure you’re a bit overwhelmed.” Nick rubbed at his arm absently before readjusting the ballcap on his head.

  Rain had absolutely no idea what Nick was talking about. She wondered if her forehead mirrored his and was wrinkled in concentration. She noticed lately in the mirror how her thirties seemed to be taking its toll on her usual flawless face, and stress was now showing itself in deep waves.

  “The grass?” Nick questioned with raised eyebrows.

  “You?” Rain pointed in his direction an
d then touched her fingers to her lips.

  “Yeah, while you and Julia were out to lunch, I took care of it. It was getting long; I hope you don’t mind. Landscaping is a bit of my thing, it sort of relaxes me.”

  “Oh, my goodness, can I repay you somehow?”

  Nick chuckled. “That’s what neighbors do. They help each other!” He playfully jabbed her with an elbow. “Plus, Julia said you bought her lunch. Really, it’s the least I could do to help you.”

  Rain was not accustomed to this. Back in the city, of course people were friendly, but cutting an acreage for their neighbor would be unheard of. Neighbors would be too busy for that sort of thing. Or find something better to do.

  “How can I thank you?”

  “You just did.” Nick grinned and then tapped his wife playfully on the backside as she rushed past them.

  “Well, I might just have to hire you for the entire summer. If you’re up for it.” Rain smiled and then a surge of smoke caught her attention. “Can you excuse me for just one second,” she held a finger in the air. “It looks like Jace might need a plate for the chicken pretty soon.” Rain turned from Nick and headed over to Jace who was waving a plume of smoke away from the grill with one hand.

  “I better not burn supper; I’ll never hear the end of it from my sister. Nor will I be invited back. I guess, I shouldn’t’ve taken over from you. You were doing quite fine on your own before I got involved.” Jace grinned wider when Rain reached closer to his side. The hint of his cologne was quickly replaced by the smell of smoke.

  Rain pinched the bridge of her nose and smirked. “I may have overdone it with the olive oil, you think? Too much in the marinade causes the chicken to burn?”

  “I don’t know what you bathed this chicken in, but I near ate it raw. It smells amazing! What is it? No one warned me you were a trained chef?” Jace’s light eyebrows danced jokingly, and Rain was happy to see the officer letting his official guard down and enjoying the makeshift gathering.

  “Just homemade pesto I threw together.”

  Jace’s eyes narrowed.

  “You don’t know what’s in pesto?”

  “Uh uh”

  “Basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese …” Rain was ticking each item off on her fingers when she noticed Jace smiling down at her.

  His grin widened.

  “Oh.” Rain elbowed him jokingly, “You do know what’s in pesto! You stinker!” She then remembered back to her youth how Jace had always had a bit of a teasing side. She’d long since forgotten, as she hadn’t spent as much time with him when they were kids. He was a few years older than Julia and was far more interested in “older girls” at the time, to give either one of them the time of day.

  “Uh, yeah. We do eat stuff other than crawfish and walleye around here. I for one have a very mature palate.” Jace plucked at his faded Abercrombie T-shirt and gave it a shake as if he needed to cool down from the hot grill. He then shifted his weight and his smile faded. “Just to let you know, I left your grandfather’s book inside the house on the kitchen island.” His head nodded in the direction of the cabin.

  The conversation was thrust so quickly back to the murder that Rain had to steady herself by resting a hand beside the side burner on the grill.

  Was he uncomfortable with the teasing? Or was he flirting and stopped? The ease and banter between them had felt so natural, Rain almost didn’t want it to end. She hadn’t had fun like that since Max …

  “I thought you wanted it back, so … I put a rush on it,” he said, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Thank you, I appreciate that very much. My grandfather Luis’s work is very important to our family. His book is irreplaceable, because it’s long out of print.” Rain took a sip of wine and held the fruity liquid in her mouth for a moment before swallowing. “The publisher went out of business years ago,” She added, fluttering her hand in order to wave off a new plume of smoke that floated in front of her.

  “I could understand that, which is why I took it from evidence. They’re finished with it anyway.” Jace picked up a beer from the nearby cooler, popped the top, and took a sip.

  “Did they find anything of value? Fingerprints? Anything helpful?”

  “A partial to Thornton was all we could lift. Unfortunately, the pollen from the air dusted the book— therefore prints proved inconclusive.” He said as he began to peel away the label on the beer.

  “Oh.”

  “In your case though, it’s good news, right? It allowed me to return your book. Otherwise, your grandfather’s novel would’ve sat in evidence for who knows how long.” Jace took another sip of his beer and then set it down beside the side burner on the grill and flipped the chicken. “You ever read it?”

  “No, I haven’t yet. I wasn’t interested in his writing when I was younger. I only liked to trade Nancy Drew books with Julia back then.” Rain chuckled, gesturing a hand toward his sister. “And because my grandfather’s books were always kept up here, and didn’t leave the safety of the library, I never had a chance. But now that you’ve returned it, I’m pretty sure I’ll be digging into it real soon. Do you like to read?”

  “Nah, not much time for that. I work out in the morning before work,” Jace lifted his bicep and hardened his muscle and then dropped his arm as if embarrassed he’d shown off too much. “After work, I’m too tired. I’d rather watch something mindless on TV, catch up on sports, or go fishing.” He shrugged before lifting the beer to his lips. He then set it back down and wiped the condensation from the beer off his hands onto his shorts.

  “I can understand that.” Rain ran her finger along the top of the wineglass, making an ethereal sound. She then took another sip.

  “By the way, the chicken is done,” Jace said, centering them both back in the present as he turned the knob and shut the grill top to keep it warm.

  “I’ll go grab a plate,” Rain said. Grateful for the diversion, she rushed into the house in search of a platter.

  * * *

  The group gathered around the table, shared a delicious home-cooked meal, and talked casually about nothing of importance until Julia turned to Jace. “Anything new on the investigation front? I speak for all of us when I say, I think we’d all like an update. Yes?” Julia’s eyes bounced around those at the table, looking for an agreeable nod. “Care to share?”

  Jace took a bite of his chicken and slowly chewed, taking his time, before dodging his sister and turning his attention instead to Rain. “This is delicious. Best pesto chicken I’ve ever had.” He lifted his palm in the air as if he was taking an oath. “Hands down, I swear. Thanks for the invite.” He smiled, causing deep dimples to form on either side of his face.

  Rain smiled in response but felt an uncomfortable stillness hovering around the table. Everyone gathered could tell that Jace was avoiding his sister’s line of questioning, but Julia persisted.

  “I think you owe us something, Jace. Cheese Whiz, it happened only a few hundred yards from here.” Julia flung a hand in the direction of the outhouse. They collectively lifted their eyes in the direction of the yellow tape that still flapped in the breeze.

  Jace raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.

  “Come on,” Julia pushed. “Don’t you think we have the right to know why the guy was bludgeoned to death over there? Do you have any leads or what?” She placed her hands firmly on the table and leaned toward her brother expectantly.

  Jace cleared his throat. “It’s not really something I’m supposed to be talking about. You know better than that, Julia.” His eyes warned as he lasered in on his sister. The whole table felt the vibration of the table from his leg shaking in agitation beneath it, and he caused a slight tremor to the deck floor next to Rain.

  Julia didn’t heed the warning. “We heard that Thornton was planning on tearing down the campground and putting up a condo complex, and that had a lot of people upset. Myself included.” Julia set her fork down and turned a thumb to her chest. “I guess that makes me a suspect.�
�� She swirled the wine in her glass and then lifted it to her lips. Her eyes danced toward Rain, and her smile widened.

  Marge nodded her head in agreement. “I’m sure Jace and the entire police department have their hands full with this investigation. I imagine the suspect list is long—real long. You may as well just get in line,” she said before leaning down to pat Rex on the head. Rain plucked a dog treat from the Tupperware on the table, and then discreetly handed one to Marge in case the owner wanted to share with her dog.

  All eyes turned toward Marge when Jace asked, “What do you mean, get in line?” Jace wiped his mouth with a napkin and then took a sip of beer before leaning his elbows on the table and tenting his fingers and waiting for the older woman to explain further.

  Marge finger tapped the tabletop. “He thought he would just move to Pine Lake and become a Laker? It doesn’t work that way. You don’t just rent a house on the lake and think you’re part of us.” She lifted her chin with indignation. “There are generations here. History! That shouldn’t just get wiped away!”

  Rain was surprised by the older woman’s response and pressed, “Because he rented a house you mean? And didn’t own?”

  Marge’s expression pinched. “It was wrong of Thornton to think he could come up here and try and buy up all the property around the lake.” She lassoed a finger in the air. “The campground and these homes have been here for generations!” She pounded a fist on the table, shocking them all. “That man was trying to buy up half the lake! And he probably wouldn’t have stopped until he succeeded.” Rex barked at his owner’s elevated voice, and she looked at the dog and uttered, “Tsk Rexy!”

  “Well, if anyone looks like a suspect, I guess add me to the list, too,” Rain said. “A dead man is found on my property, I’m sure that makes me trump you two as a suspect.”

  Julia held up a hand to interrupt her. “In your defense, Rain, I saw your car pull into the driveway and you walked immediately to the pier, where I talked to you for the first time. There was no blood on your shirt. The only stain I noticed on your T-shirt was coffee from your drive up to the Northwoods. I wouldn’t worry about it, I’m your alibi … and it’s tight.” She winked. “Besides, I saw your face when you saw Thornton for the first time, and it was obvious to me you didn’t know the guy! And lastly, you barely had enough time to shower and change. Certainly not enough time to commit a murder,” she drawled dramatically.