Page 40 of It Happened on the Lake

“So you’re an empty nester.”

“Right.”

A heavy-set nurse in a crisp white uniform stepped into the room. Her hair was gray, her smile cheerful. “Paperwork,” she said, placing some forms on the side table before glancing at Levi through wire-rimmed glasses. Her practiced smile faltered. “It’s not visiting hours.”

“Just leaving,” Levi said, backing to the door. He lifted a hand toward Harper. “Good seeing you.”

“You, too,” she responded.

He figured they both were lying.

Chapter 11

“I’ll pick you up and give you a ride home!” Beth insisted from the other end of the phone line.

“You don’t have to,” Harper said. She was seated on the edge of her hospital bed and ready to leave. “I can call a taxi, or Marcia can probably take me.”

“The step-monster? Forget it! It’s no big deal for me to swing by. Besides, I can’t wait to see you! I didn’t even know when you were coming back here, and then I heard from Craig about what happened last night. For the love of God, Harper, what were you thinking? What wasshethinking?” Beth asked, obviously meaning Cynthia Hunt. “So don’t argue, I’m coming and I’ll drive you back to the island. I would love to see it again! And to catch up. It’s been too, too long.”

“Okay,” Harper agreed.

“Good! I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

“Okay, but give me half an hour, okay. I need to check on Dad.”

“He’s at the hospital?”

“Unfortunately, yeah. He had a heart attack. It’s one of the reasons I’m back.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. Is he gonna be okay?”

“I hope so.” Harper crossed the fingers of her free hand as she explained what she knew, which wasn’t much, but she had heard from Marcia that Bruce had suffered a “mild heart attack,” whatever that meant.

“Me, too. I’ll see you in a bit. Kisses!” Beth signed off with her signature farewell, which usually included blowing a kiss.

Harper had already signed all the release papers, so she headed down to the cardiac unit. Harper’s return to Almsville had been prompted by her coming of age according to her grandmother’s will, but she’d also recently been concerned for her father’s health. Bruce Reed had always been a strong, virile man but just last summer had experienced some vague health issue that he’d told her was not a concern. Even Marcia had dismissed his case of dizziness as no real problem. But just two days ago she’d received the call from Marcia that Dad was in the hospital recovering from the slight heart attack.

So she’d packed up her car and driven north, leaving keys to her home with a neighbor until she decided if this was a permanent move. “Unlikely,” she told herself as she took the elevator down a floor.

She braced herself at the door to his room, then stepped inside.

Bruce Reed lay on the hospital bed, his head propped by pillows. His color was off, his skin wan beneath three days’ worth of graying beard shadow, and he was hooked to an IV and several monitors. He didn’t seem to notice her as he stared up at a television poised high on the far wall. The sound was muted, inaudible, a golf tournament playing on the screen.

“Hey, Dad,” she said and walked up to the bed, her fingers on the rail. “How’re you?”

“Still kicking,” he said softly and to prove his point moved his foot beneath the sheets. “How ’bout you?” He pressed a button to move the head of the bed up slightly. Eyeing her up and down, he said, “I heard you were some kind of hero last night.”

“Hardly.” She stepped to the bed and brushed her lips across his grizzled cheek.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Been better.”

His lips twisted into a bit of smile. “Me, too.” Then his eyes turned dark. “But Cynthia . . .” With an almost imperceptible shake of his head, he whispered, “She’s been out of whack for a while now. Ever since . . .” His voice trailed off, but Harper knew where he was going because the path always led to the night Chase Hunt vanished.

“Where’s Marcia?” she asked. “I thought she’d be here.”

“In the hospital chapel, I think, praying for me and my sins.” He actually smiled, a bit of a twinkle visible in his eyes. “That might take a while. Or maybe she’s asking about last rites.”

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