Page 106 of Passion at the Lake

“He obviously cared for you.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled. “I guess.”

The story intrigued me. “What was he going to the library for?”

She shrugged and made a circle in the air with her spoon. “He never let me go in with him. Just something he had to find out, he said.”

“So when he left—disappeared—you knew he left town and didn’t want to let on. And so when everybody in town came up with theories about him being killed, you couldn’t say anything?” I asked.

“Yep. That’s about the size of it. I had to keep quiet, even when they said my brother killed him.”

I took her hand in both of mine to ask the next question. “So what’s changed?”

She sighed and threw her head back onto the cushion again. “That spider left.”

Afraid I might have pushed too hard, I scooped the last of my ice cream instead of saying anything.

A few seconds later, resolve built in her face. “He told me he’d meet me in Baltimore on the twenty-eighth.”

Today was the thirtieth.

“He said to meet him at the Hilton by the water.”

“And that’s where you were?”

Her eyes went wet again. “Stayed there for two days,” she said dejectedly, shaking her head. “I was in the lobby, the restaurant, walking around the building. Everything. He wasn’t there. He didn’t come.” She let out a heavy breath. “There’s only one reason he’d stand me up like that and not call.” I took her in my arms and let her sob it out, and all the while she repeated to herself, “He’s dead. He has to be.” After a time she added, “He made me promise not to tell anybody.”

I nodded. “Good thing I’m a nobody.”

“You don’t understand. He said it would be dangerous—for him and for me if anybody found out.”

“Even after he left?”

She put her head in her hands. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

I touched her shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Remember, I’m a nobody on my way out of town, and I know how to keep a secret.”

“Don’t you see? Somebody killed him, and what if they think I know something, like about what he was doing?”

One thing was certain. I’d survived Kevin by having my two anonymous friends to confide in. I couldn’t walk away and leave her at the mercy of this unknown threat by herself.

“I’ll help you,” I said. My software jobs had always involved unraveling a problem through diligence, and this was another problem to be solved. Problem-solving was what I did better than any of the guys I competed against.

I stood. “Okay, so here’s how it goes. We have to get ahead of this and figure out who it is before he—”

“Or she,” Pris said.

“Or she has time to do anything else. Two heads are better than one. I’ll help you figure out what happened to him, but to start with, we didn’t have this conversation.” I pointed a finger at her. “Also, we have to do this without involving any of your brothers if you want to keep it from being all over town.”

“I thought you’re leaving?” she asked.

“And what kind of friend would I be if I took off when you needed me?” I asked. “I have to work until Saturday, so that’s when we’ll start.”

She wrapped me in a tight hug. “You’re the best.” She might be drunk, but the confirmation still felt good.

“We’ll figure this out with girl power.”

She laughed and wiped away a snot bubble.

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