by Tim Myers
He shook his head. “No, thanks. That woman doesn’t like me, and she’s not afraid who knows it.”
I wanted to tell him he was being paranoid, but it just happened he was right. Eve had expressed a dislike for Markum and his way of life since the day I moved into River’s Edge. Still, the candleshop was mine to run, and if I wanted Markum there, that was all that counted.
“Come on in,” I said. “She won’t bite.”
“Listen, I don’t want to cause any friction between you two. What I’ve got can wait.”
I held the door open. “She needs to accept you, Markum; you’re a part of River’s Edge.”
He walked inside, though it was obvious he was reluctant to do it.
Eve stared at us both frostily, as if we’d brought a legion of germs in with us. “Sorry I took so long,” I said. “Markum and I need to talk.”
She refused to even acknowledge his presence. “I’m taking my dinner break now if you can spare me.”
Since there wasn’t a single soul in the candleshop besides the three of us, that didn’t look to be a problem. “That’s fine,” I said.
She grabbed her jacket and was gone in a heartbeat.
Markum grinned after the door closed behind her. “You’re right, there’s no tension there.”
“What exactly does she have against you?” I asked.
“She doesn’t approve of my lifestyle.”
I put my coat behind the counter and asked, “Why not? I’m surprised she even knows what you do.”
Markum laughed. “That’s what bugs her so much. She doesn’t have a clue how I make my living. All she knows is that I don’t make or sell anything, and that I have a lot of free time. The rest is in her imagination.”
“So do you think she’d approve if she knew more about your line of work?”
“Are you kidding? She’d probably try to have me evicted.”
“She wouldn’t have a prayer, not as long as I’m in charge.”
“Harrison, you know what I do isn’t exactly accepted by the population at large.”
“Do you steal things from their rightful owners?” I asked. “Do you cheat the innocent, or rob the rich? In other words, can you stand to look yourself in the mirror when you get up every morning?”
Markum pondered my question for nearly a minute, then said, “I never looked at it that way, but I follow a code of ethics in what I do, though it’s nothing that formal. I don’t cheat anybody who didn’t acquire what they got illegally or immorally, and I’m more interested in restitution than pure profit.”
“So we don’t have a problem,” I said, patting his shoulder.
The big man smiled broadly. “You’re good company, you know that? If my Russian deal ever goes through, I’m going to do my best to convince you to come along.”
“You never know, I might just take you up on it” I said. “Now what’s next?”
He frowned, then said, “I’m not sure. I wanted to discuss some kind of strategy with you before I go muddying up your trail. Have you had any luck on your own?”
I told him about speaking with Runion and his secretary. Markum whistled when he heard the news that Jeanie was going to keep an eye on things for us in the developer’s office. “How did you manage that Harrison? She barely gave me the time of day when I was Acre.”
“I’m not sure,” I said, “But I think it had something to do with the way her boss was trying to manipulate me.
There’s got to be more to it than that What else have you been up to?”
“I got Cyrus’s sister to agree to come back to Micah’s Ridge. He has two guards patrolling his grounds now. It’s the only way I could think to get past tan.”
“My, you’ve been busy, haven’t you? Anything else I should know about?”
“No, that’s about it Wait a second, there is one more flung.” I pulled the excised newspaper clipping out of my wallet and handed it to him. ‘This is the article Becka cut out of her newspaper.”
He studied it a moment, then said, “I wonder why she cut out this article about Hank Klein’s donation to the Firefighter’s League.” I took the clipping back from him and was surprised to see Klein’s name mentioned in his own newspaper. I flipped it over and gave it back to him. “I didn’t even notice that. How about this woman’s body found in Larkspur Lake?”
“We should ask Morton about it”
“I already did,” I admitted reluctantly.
“So what did he say?”
“He told me the coroner ruled it an accident, but that’s no proof. He thinks Becka killed herself, too, and we know that’s not true.”
He studied the article a few moments. “Harrison, the circumstances are too different, even though both women died around water. What else do you have?”
I pointed to the snippet about illegal dumping. “I’m willing to admit it could be about this. Don’t you think it’s too big a coincidence, given the fact that we found an envelope from Washington in her purse and a photo of a barrel in her room?”
“It’s a possibility, but coincidences happen in life. “What do we really have?”
Suddenly I felt like the dumping was where we should focus and not on the drowning. The article and the envelope have to be tied together. That picture edge we pulled from her dresser mirror is another piece of it, too.”
“Do you think Becka stumbled across something she shouldn’t have?”
I nodded. “It’s another possibility we have to consider.”
“I don’t know,” Markum said. “For all we know, that letter was something entirely unrelated, and the photograph might have been of her ex-boyfriend, the one she wanted to get rid of.”
“So why was the tear left behind?”
“Maybe she got so mad she tore it off the mirror and left that corner by accident. We don’t even know it’s a barrel; it could be some kind of outdoor chair for all we can tell.”
“My gut is telling me we’ve already got the answer, if we could just find the right way to look at it,” I said.
A customer came in and said, “Excuse me, I’m looking for a present for my mother. She’s in her early seventies and she’s looking for a new hobby.”
“You’ve come to the right place,” I told him, then looked at Markum and added, “If you’ll hang around a minute, we can talk more about this.”
He glanced at his watch, then said, “I need to make some phone calls. We’ll discuss it later.”
After Markum was gone, I asked the customer what kinds of things his mother liked. “She’s a fabulous baker, but she’s looking for something else to do with her time.” He patted his stomach and said, “If I don’t find something else for her to do, she’s going to kill me with cookies.”
“Does that mean she has a lot of cookie cutters?” I asked.
“You wouldn’t believe her collection,” he said. “She can’t stop buying them. Mother claims the shapes are what she loves.”
“Then I’ve got just the thing for her.” I walked over to the aisle with tinted sheet-wax kits and grabbed a few colors. “You should have her try these. She can use her cookie cutters to cut out shapes in the wax. Hang on a second.” I’d been experimenting with one-page pamphlets for the store to try to generate some extra business. I grabbed the one I’d written about making specialty candles with cookie cutters and handed him one.
He looked at the brochure, then asked, “What do they look like, though?”
“Let’s see what I’ve got in my classroom.” We walked to the back of the store, and after a few minutes of searching the cabinets, I came up with a-red honeycombed candle in the shape of a playing-card-club I’d made practicing for a lesson with Mrs. Jorgenson.
He nodded. “This sounds perfect I’ll buy this, too, so I can give Mother an example of what she should be shooting for.” He looked embarrassed for a moment when he asked, “It is for sale, isn’t it?’
“If you see it here, it’s for sale. The only thing we need to haggle over is
the price.”
As I rang up his purchases, he said, “Can she come by if she’s having trouble?”
“I give free advice, but if she’s interested, we also teach candlemaking classes here at the store.”
“That sounds great,” he said. “I’m glad I stopped in.”
I handed him his change. “Me, too. Let me know how she likes candlemaking.”
“Oh, I will.” He took a few steps toward the door, then asked, “Is the owner here today? I’d like to tell her what a good job you’re doing.”
“I’m the owner myself,” I said, “And I appreciate the compliment.”
“I complain when the service is bad, so I fed it’s my duty to praise where it’s merited. Good day.”
Goodness help me if I didn’t reply, “Good day to you, sir.”
After he was gone, I fielded a few telephone calls, waited on half a dozen of our regular customers and had a generally good time operating my candleshop.
I was running the reports from the register, happy with the afternoon’s events, when the front door opened. I’d forgotten to lock it, and a customer right now would throw off my report and cause me an extra half hour of work.
When I saw the look of dogged determination on Erin Lane’s face, I was suddenly sorry it wasn’t a customer after all.
Chapter 12
“That look can’t be good for me,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“We’re going out on the river,” she said. I felt a wave of dread chill me. “I’m not interested, but thanks for asking.”
“Harrison Black, don’t you realize the only way you get over being thrown off a horse is to climb right back up on one?”
I pretended to look around. “If you’ve got a horse, I’m willing to ride it, but I’m not going kayaking again.”
“You’re being unreasonable, Harrison.”
“I think it makes perfect sense,” I said. I’m not getting back in that kayak, and that’s final.”
“If you won’t kayak, how about taking a canoe out with me? It’s not the same as paddling alone.”
I’m not sure I’m even willing to do that,” I said, remembering the sound of the dull thud on the hull as it hit Becka’s body.
“If I bring a canoe here, will you go for a ride with me? It doesn’t have to be long. I just want you back on the water. Please, Harrison? It’s important to me.”
“Why?” I asked, sincerely interested in her concern. “Why do you care if I ever paddle again?”
“Because it’s my life, and we’re getting to be friends. I don’t want this to come between us.”
I tore the tape off the report and laid it on my till. “Erin, this doesn’t have anything to do with you. Can’t you understand how I feel?”
“Of course I can. I can’t even imagine how horrible the experience must have been for you, but I also know how much you love being out on the water. Come on, Harrison, ten minutes, that’s all I’m asking for.”
“I don’t know,” I said, still unsure about how I felt.
“Tell you what, you do this for me, and if you don’t enjoy yourself, I’ll never ask you to go back on the water again.”
I. thought about it a few seconds, then said, “Fine, I’ll try it. The next time I have some free time, I’ll go with you.”
She smiled broadly. “I was hoping you’d say that I have a canoe on the back of my truck. We can be in the water in five minutes.”
“Hey, you set me up,” I said. I gestured to the report and the till full of money. “I can’t leave right now, honest I have to balance my books, make the deposit and get something to eat another time, okay?”
She looked stubborn. “If I let you weasel out of this Bow, I’ll never get you out on the water again. Take your lime, do what you need to do, and then we’ll go paddling.”
“You’re not going to give up until I do this, are you?”
She stood firm. “I’m glad you’re finally getting the picture.”
I shoved the till and the report under the counter, “Then let’s get this over with.”
“Harrison, it’s not a trip to the auditor. We’ll have fun, you’ll see.”
“I’m not making any promises,” I said. “Let’s go.”
She started to say something else, then obviously thought better of it. “That sounds great.”
Her truck was in the front lot and I noticed she’d parked the vehicle as close to the steps that led to the water as she could.
As Erin took the bungee-cord fasteners off the canoe, I said, “You really came prepared. What if I’d said no?”
“Then I’d have just had to try again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.”
I laughed despite the fist of dread growing in my gut. “Then I’m glad I said yes. Do you need a hand with that?”
She said, “Sure, that would be great. Grab this end and we’ll put it in the water.”
After we got the canoe down, she retrieved one of the blue streamlined vests from the front and said, “Put this on.”
“Do you actually wear a life preserver yourself? I didn’t think you would, after all the time you spent on the water.”
“I always wear one, and you should, too. Accidents happen every day.” As she strapped hers on, she said, “I never go out without one, and neither should you.”
“Okay, I get it” After we had our life jackets on, she handed me a paddle and asked, “Do you mind riding the front? I’m used to being in back.”
“No problem, I’m not bad with the kayak, but a canoe is a completely different kind of boat, isn’t it?”
She held her paddle up in the air and said, “It’s going to be odd with just one blade, but you’ll get used to it. Keep your paddle on the right side of the boat. If we need to correct, I’ll do it from where I’m sitting. Are you ready?”
I sighed, then said, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Come on, this is going to be fun.”
“If you say so,” I said as I stepped into the boat.
It didn’t take long for us to get into a rhythm with our paddling. I’d expected the canoe to be awkward compared to my kayak, but we cut through the water nearly as easily as I did alone. No doubt having an expert like Erin in back helped. I kept scanning the water as we went upstream, searching for anything that might be a body floating around us. There was nothing, though; the water’s surface was a flat plane as we cut through it. We hadn’t had a drop of rain since Becka’s death, and the pristine surface of the water was beautiful. As we paddled on, I started trusting the water again and looked, toward the banks around us. The side with River’s Edge was soon overgrown and wild, with only the river walk beside the edge to show that we weren’t a thousand miles from civilization. As much as I loved Cyrus’s walking path, it did spoil the illusion that we were somewhere deep in the wilderness. We paddled in silence, the only noises coming from the movement of our paddles and the birds chirping from their perches near the edge of 4he Gunpowder.
I was lost in my thoughts when Erin asked, “How are you doing?”
“Better than I expected,” I said
“Are you ready to head back? I promised I wouldn’t keep you out long.”
I considered going back, and to my surprise, I found that I wasn’t ready, at least not yet. “Let’s keep going. There’s a cove up ahead you’ve got to see.” I swear I could feel her smiling behind me.
By the time we got back to River’s Edge, I was feeling easy and free on the water again. We pulled the canoe out and carried it to her truck.
As Erin secured it, I said, “Thanks, I needed to do that.”
“I was glad for the company. We make a good team on the water, Harrison.”
“With you in back, I can’t imagine you being a part | of a bad one.”
She shook her head as she secured the last bungee. “Don’t kid yourself. I take groups white-water rafting and; canoeing, and you’d be amazed how many people want to coast through the rapids when it’s the exac
t time they should be paddling the hardest I don’t know how they get| the impression they’re on a ride at Disney World. You tog ally should come white water rafting with me sometime.”
“Baby steps for now, okay? I’m still going to have to get used to being on the Gunpowder again.”
“Maybe we should have gone somewhere else the first time you got back into the water,” she said.
“No, this was perfect” I stepped forward and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Thank you.”
She smiled brightly. “You’re welcome. Now I’ve got to get out of here. We stayed out on the water longer than I thought we would, and I’ve got a group coming by the shop to watch a white-water rafting video.”‘
“Sorry to keep you so long” I said.
“Are you kidding? I had a blast. See you soon, Harrison.”
After she was gone, I walked over to the steps that led down to the water and sat. My shoulders were sore from paddling, but it had felt grand being on the water again. It wasn’t fair to the Gunpowder to blame the river for what had happened.
“Becka,” I said softly to myself. “What happened to you?”
“Were you talking to me?” I heard a voice say behind me.
I turned around, and Jeanie, Runion’s assistant, was standing there studying me.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were there.”
She said, “I just got here. The water’s really beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It’s a million-dollar view,” I said.
She shuddered. “Don’t say that, please.”
“Why not?”
Jeanie sat beside me. “It’s Runion’s favorite expression.” She looked out onto the water and added, “You can’t put a price tag on this. At least you shouldn’t be able to.”
“You’re right. So, do you have something for me already?”
She shook her head. “No, I haven’t had a chance to do any digging. I was just curious about your setup out here, so I thought I’d stop by.” She glanced back at the darkened stores and said, “I’m too late, aren’t I?”
