Page 266 of It Happened on the Lake

Harper leapt, hitting her full center. “Oof!” Marcia fell backward, Harper on top of her, knocking against the tripod holding the telescope upright. It wobbled but didn’t fall.

The loud knocking suddenly stopped as Harper and Marcia wrestled, the gun tumbling away. They rolled against the chaise as Harper heard a thunderous crash of shattering glass as Marcia got a handful of Harper’s hair and pulled her head back.

Harper swiped upward with the knife.

Marcia let go and in one swift motion, Harper flipped and pinned her stepmother to the floor.

“It’s over,” Harper said through clenched teeth as she glared down at her stepmother. “You fucking bitch, it’s over.” Then turned her head and shouted over her shoulder, “Up here! Rand, I’m up in the tower!”

“No!” Marcia reached out for the gun and grabbed it by the barrel. Then she swung upward.Bam!The pearl handle cracked against Harper’s skull. The knife, slick with blood, slipped from her hands and the world started to tilt.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs.

With a fresh burst of adrenaline, Marcia swept up the knife and onto her feet. Bloody and breathing hard, she stood over Harper, ready to cut her to ribbons. “You’ve been the bane of my existence,” she snarled, waggling the knife, taunting Harper. “But no more! No more!”

Frantic footsteps pounded up the final spiral stairs.

Harper’s fingers curled around one leg of the tripod. She managed to get to her knees, but as she tried to stand, Marcia sprang.

“Die!” Marcia ordered, slashing wildly with the blade.

With all her might, Harper swung the huge telescope and hit her stepmother midair. Then she let go.

The door burst open just as Marcia let out a hideous scream. She and the spiraling telescope flew through the open window and into the dark night.

Still on her knees, Harper heard the sickening crunch of breaking bones on the terrace far below.

She winced at the sound, darkness closing in.

Rand was at her side. On his knees. Gathering her into his arms.

There was a single, gurgling moan and then silence.

“Radio for an ambulance,” he said to someone—another person? Harper didn’t know. Couldn’t see.

“You’re gonna be okay,” he said to Harper, his breath warm against her cheek, his strong arms surrounding her. She almost laughed at how ridiculous it sounded. Being “okay” would be a long, if not impossible journey and she was fading. “You’re gonna be okay,” he repeated. “I’m here now.”

“About effing time,” she said before everything went black.

1965

Chapter 69

Beneath the broad brim of her hat, sweat trickled down the side of Olivia Dixon’s face. For once, she was alone, not even babysitting her granddaughter, Harper, though truth to tell, Harper was long past needing a sitter.

Olivia fanned herself a bit as she sipped her gin and tonic on the terrace. This summer was one of the hottest on record in Oregon, and boats were scattered on the lake. People swimming and waterskiing or just cruising along the shoreline on this beastly hot day, a rare summer day in Oregon where the temperature had soared to the triple digits.

She watched as hummingbirds and butterflies flitted through the flowers. There were honeybees as well, and she even caught sight of a hornet. She wondered if she would have to catch a few of the shiny creatures, but maybe not. Maybe today would be the last that she would need them. She crossed her fingers as the black wasp crawled over the rim of a terra-cotta pot. With its white skull-like head and white rings on its tail end, it looked deadly. Aggressive. Able to sting through some cloth. Their sting was painful, and they defended their nests vehemently. Small. Fierce. Fatal.

She and the hornets had so much in common.

More than anyone knew.

Marilyn, her gorgeous calico, was sunning herself near the back door while that stinker Diablo was slinking through the shrubbery, on the hunt, his long gray tail twitching in anticipation. “Don’t you dare,” Olivia warned him as he eyed a hummingbird with its shiny pink crown. Oh, that cat was a devil and appropriately named.

Another sip and she heard the sound of a Corvette’s engine.

So he was returning. And it was too hot of a day for him to have the top of the convertible down. Oh no, it would piss him off, but he’d have it up and the air conditioning blasting.

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