Page 13 of It Happened on the Lake

Aboard, surrounded by flames, Cynthia screamed horribly, her voice rising with the smoke and flames.

Harper thought she might be sick.

Stroke, stroke, stroke!

She knifed through the water. Hard. Fast. Toward the flames.

Closer.

Feeling the heat.

Smelling the smoke.

Watching Cynthia writhe, her face twisted in agony, her arms flailing as she tossed leather-bound albums into the water.

“Jump!” Harper screamed, treading water for a second. “Jump!”

Cynthia’s dress caught fire.

She didn’t notice. Just reached down and flung a thick album into the lake. What the—? “Cynthia, jump! Get out of the boat!” Harper yelled again.

But the woman ignored her and reached through the flames to grab a record jacket and send it skimming across the lake right at Harper.

She ducked. Jesus, was Cynthia aiming at her? The woman seemed blind to anything other than her mission.

Another record album shot across the surface.

Where were the police?

“For the love of God, Cynthia! Get out!” Harper screamed, panicked. “Jump!”

Wild-eyed, Cynthia tossed something glittering, a small statue—no, a trophy like the one Chase had earned in high school—into the water.

What was wrong with her?

Flames licked at Cynthia’s face and caught in her hair, singeing the gray strands.

“Jump!” Harper yelled again, her voice raw. “Cynthia! Get out of the damn boat!” What was wrong with the woman? Treading water less than ten yards away, Harper heard the shriek of sirens and caught a glimpse of red and blue lights slashing through the trees on the south shore.Finally. Oh God, please, hurry!

But it seemed too late.

Fire crawled up Cynthia’s robe.

She heard the sound of other motors, caught a glimpse of two boats approaching quickly, the men aboard yelling, motioning frantically for Harper to get out of the way.

Cynthia let out a soul-jarring scream.

A human torch, she picked up another leather-bound photo album.

“Get off the boat!” Harper screamed, looking for a way to get closer, to drag the crazed woman from the boat, but the flames were everywhere.

A man yelled, “I’ve got her!”

Harper heard a splash—the boater leaping into the water?—just as Cynthia hurled the album.

It skimmed fast across the surface.

What?

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