Page 49 of Bitter Falls

“She’s worried that this is going to fall wrong for Lanny. Look, Bon and Olly aren’t good people; everybody knows that. Problem is they’re telling consistent stories. And she hasn’t disclosed everything.”

“Meaning?”

“She was with somebody else at that party, man. She didn’t come alone. Some girlfriend or something. You need to get her to come clean before this goes bad. She can’t hold back if she wants them to believe her story over theirs. Hell, they turned themselves in. That earns them a listen, at least.”

I want to argue Lanny’s innocence, but fact is, I wasn’t there. Gwen and I entered this particular story after most of it happened, and though I believe the kid, I can’tknowwhat happened. He’s right. Having one of the Belldenes, of all people, turn themselves in? That’s a pretty strong statement.

“Okay,” I say. “I’ll talk to her.” I make sure not to glance back at Lanny, though I’m tempted. This can all wait until we’re home. In the rearview mirror I can see she’s still lying down, eyes shut. I can hear the tinny rattle of headphones from here. “Any other good news?”

“Well, I booked the pool for tomorrow like we agreed,” he says.

“Javi—okay, first of all, I never said I’ddoit...”

“You lost the bet, man. You owe me. You put on the gear and get in the water. Hey, if you’d won, you’d have definitely taken me up in one of those prop planes and barrel-rolled me until I puked.”

“I would,” I admit. “But given the circumstances with Lanny...maybe I’d better just go for cleaning the toilets. Option B.”

“You ever seen what these toilets look like? I get hill people and truckers in here. None of them have good aim off the range. But sure. Your choice.”

He’s trying hard to lighten the mood, even though the Lanny thing is serious. I appreciate that. “I will personally scrub that porcelain until it shines. You can’t make me a marine no matter how hard you try.”

Javier sounds like he’s suppressing a laugh when he replies. “Okay, okay, I know. Hey, I’ll be kind. I won’t even make you use a toothbrush to clean the place.”

“Better than boot camp.”

He lets a beat go by, and when he comes back, he’s serious. “You take care out there, my friend. And remember: you got people who care.”

“I know,” I tell him. “So do you. In case you were wondering.”

“I’m not the one in trouble. When I am, you’re my first call. Well, second. After Kez.”

“Fair enough.”

We sign off, and despite the worries, I do feel better. We aren’t hunted and alone.

Well, not alone anyway.

The road turns familiar. Norton’s the same sleepy place it always is, and then we’re past it on the road out to the lake. I glance over at the beach at Killing Rock as we pass it; someone’s made an effort to clean it up while we were gone. No debris that I can spot, though there’s a torn flutter of police tape still tied to a tree. It just reminds me that our troubles aren’t over.

And I’m going to have to have a serious conversation with Lanny, as soon as we’re inside.

As we pull to a stop in the driveway, my instincts wake up. I don’t even know why until I fix my gaze on Lanny’s bedroom window.

It’s open about three inches, and a little flutter of sheer curtain is ruffling.

Lanny’s yawning, and she and Connor are already bickering about who’s going to get the shower first when I say, “Quiet.”

I get their instant and baffled attention. “Uh, sorry?” Lanny says. “Did you just tell us to shut up—”

“Why is your window open?”

I’m looking at her in the rearview mirror, and I see the exact second guilt hits her. She knows what I’m talking about, but she says, “I don’t know! Maybe somebody broke in?”

“Without setting the alarm off.”

She doesn’t answer that. I’ve already figured it out: she cut her window out of the alarm system. That’s how she got out the other night, and I should have realized that and fixed it before we left.Dammit.We were too distracted. And too worried about her.

But I can see by her expression that sneaking out isn’t the whole story. I think about Javier’s call, the fact that she waswithsomeone at the party. And I say, “Who’s inside our house, Lanny?”

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