Page 23 of It Happened on the Lake

She moored the canoe at the public dock.

Using her flashlight sparingly for quick bursts of illumination, she jogged on a path that cut through the tall firs and past the now-closed snack shack. The gates were locked, but she scaled the fence easily, dropping onto the cracked asphalt of the parking area.

Then she ran.

Skirting the lamplight, she dashed to the fork in the street where Southway Road wound sharply up the hill while Trail’s End edged along the shoreline. She ran past Old Man Sievers’s place where the chain-link fence was plastered with handwritten signs warning off trespassers.

Through the mesh, she spied Sievers’s dog, a huge German Shepherd that usually patrolled the yard. Tonight the beast was lying on the porch, a furry shadow in the golden glow of the exterior light. His ears pricked up as she passed, and his eyes followed her. Silent.

Don’t bark! For God’s sake . . .

Hackles raised, the dog growled once and kept his wary eyes on her as she ran past to the edge of the Watkins’ yard, noting that Rand’s Jeep was parked in the drive.

So it was true, he was back for a short leave.

Rumored to soon be shipped to Vietnam.

Rand was Chase’s best friend. And he’d been drafted into the army soon after he’d turned eighteen.

Just as Chase would now be, since his college deferment was no longer. At that thought, she nearly stumbled. Chase had talked about going to Canada before. Would he? Abandon the boat in the lake to cover his tracks and then hitchhike or take a bus north to the border? Would he do that and not tell her? Leave her alone and . . . no, no, no! Not now!

Stop it!

There had to be another reason, and she just had to find him. That was all. But with each step, she felt a deeper fear, a darkness gnawing inside.

Whatever had happened tonight, it wasn’t good.

She spied Chase’s car parked at the side of the driveway.

Relief washed over her. He was home.

So why hadn’t he met her?

Heart hammering, she crossed the small yard. On the porch, she eased along the floorboards to the window of Chase’s room where she tapped softly on the glass.

Please be inside.

Please, please, please be okay.

Nothing.

She tried again with another series of taps—slightly louder this time.

Suddenly a shadow loomed on the other side of the glass.

Chase!

Her heart leapt for a second.

But no—

His brother, Levi, stood on the other side of the window.

Chapter 6

Harper’s heart nose-dived.

Levi fiddled the window latch, and even in the shadowy night she noted how much the brothers resembled each other.

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