Page 41 of The Woman By the Lake

Unfortunately, Kimmy kept talking.

“Then there were those two numnuts, Ezra and Carrie, who murdered poor Brittanie out at the Good Times Motel. It’s The Blue Mountain now. It’s cute. So cute, I’d consider a stay-cay there. It needed fixing up, and Britt dying flushed out the Crystal Killer. Both good things, but again, I wouldn’t want Brittanie dying in such an ugly way for us to get a nicer motel in town. Though, her sacrifice probably saved a lot of other girls, ’cause Richard Sandusky wasn’t going to stop.”

I’d heard of Richard Sandusky aka the Crystal Killer. I’d also heard he’d been caught. I even knew it happened in Washington State.

I hadn’t heard it had anything to do with Misted Pines.

Boy, I hadn’t done enough research before I’d moved.

And Riggs sure left a lot out when he was telling his story last night.

A lot.

“But that was a while ago,” Kimmy continued. “And don’t get me wrong. I don’t want more of our girls getting dead. But you can’t deny, it made things interesting and brought in the lookie-loos. Now, even the coven has stopped getting new members.”

Dot/Maggie was now putting my plate in front of me.

I stared at her, probably like prey stuck in a predator’s mouth.

I knew this was true when her eyes went from me, to Kimmy, back to me. She gave a short shake of her head, which wasn’t much movement, but it spoke volumes, and those volumes said not to put much stock in what Kimmy said.

But still.

Dot/Maggie moved away, and now that I was in for a penny against my will, I might as well go for the pound.

So I asked, “Coven?”

She was finishing the last of her drink, but she barely swallowed when she said, “Yeah. The women wronged. I don’t recommend watching the videos,” she advised. “I’ll just say, they got a knack for revenge that’s original, if entirely pornographic.”

Eek!

She went on, “But that whole thing going viral brought in like-minded ladies, and they all took over a subdivision. They don’t cause any problems, though. Least, not after they expelled Ellen from their numbers after the crap she pulled at the town meeting.”

I reached for one half of my sliced patty melt, noting that Dot/Maggie had managed to dredge up a small bowl of cut cantaloupe and honeydew, the first I liked okay, the second I didn’t, but A for effort.

And I did this having hit my limit.

Yes, I needed to do the work I clearly didn’t do in learning more about where I’d decided to land to sort my head out.

And yes, there were some words I needed to have with Riggs, because we’d spent hours together last night in what more and more seemed to turn into an impromptu date, but in the end he made it clear it absolutely wasn’t (which hurt enormously, and thus was incredibly disappointing, at the same time I was glad he obviously wasn’t attracted to me, because even though it sounded like he was out of town a lot, I had enough going on, I didn’t need an entanglement with my neighbor that might turn awkward).

And he hadn’t shared any of this.

And he should have, mostly because I’d asked.

Therefore, I urged Kimmy, “Tell me about your shop. Do you carry those beanies there?”

She straightened and declared, “Sure do. After lunch, we’ll walk over, and I’ll show you.”

I did not want to own a fur-trimmed beanie that looked like a riff on a Santa hat.

I did want her to stop talking about dead girls, serial killers, revenge porn and ghosts that might or might not haunt the cabin I was living in.

So as she launched into the vision behind her patriotic summer campaign, I listened and adjusted my plans for that day.

Those being, after buying a Santa beanie I’d never wear, I was going to sit in my car, get on my phone and learn about Misted Pines.

Belatedly.

---