Page 101 of The Haunting of Paynes Hollow
“No, I’m sorry, because I’m an asshole. I kept talking about how Austin had a crush and how you two were friends, and that was a shitty thing to do, especially because I was saying it for me. If I said that, and you didn’t correct me, then my suspicions were wrong and my brother wasn’t a baby sociopath who terrorized you.”
I turn, slowly, still not looking at him. When I finally do lift my gaze, he’s staring out at the lake.
“I saw what he was,” he says. “My parents saw it. They pretended they didn’t, and if I said anything…” He rubs his mouth. “I learned not to say anything. Otherwise, I was being paranoid and jealous.”
“Jealous of Austin?” I say.
“When I was a kid, I was a straight-A student, responsible as hell,” he says, glancing over with a twisted smile. “Hard to believe now, huh? Then I hit my teens and acted out. Typical teen shit. Smoking weed, skipping school, don’t-give-a-shit attitude. My parents forgot the good kid I’d been, and suddenly I was demon spawn and Austin was their new angel, and if I said I caught him torturing a wounded squirrel, I was the lying monster. Then he died, and we all got stuck in our places. He’s the dead angel, and I’m still—”
He rubs his mouth. “This isn’t about me. Back then, Ididworry about Austin’s interest in you. I talked to him, and he blew me off. I didn’t see anything—I’d have stopped him if I did—but I didn’t look too hard either. When our parents said he was banned from your property, I laid into him. Told him if you weren’t interested, he needed to back the fuck off. We had a big fight, and he stormed off to his room, and I thought I’d won.”
He shoves his hands into his pockets. “I was too much of a dumbass to realized he’d climbed out the window, and I didn’t check on him because I was done with his shit. Sat on the porch, listened to tunes, smoked a joint and told myself I had it under control.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Because I’m an asshole?” He shakes his head and then lowers his voice. “Those animals you found this week. They reminded you of something he’d done, didn’t they.”
I tense.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he says. “You don’t need to confirm or deny. I’d caught him with small animals. You think he’s responsible this time, too. Whatever he is, however he got out there in the lake, he did it. Cut up the rabbit and the fox. Maybe even tried to frame you. Like when I caught him with the squirrel, and he told our parents that I did it.”
“I didn’t think… Not consciously… I don’t know.” I wrap myarms around myself. “But what we saw can’t be Austin. He’s buried, right?”
“I saw the casket lowered, so I don’t know how he’d get out, short of some zombie-movie scenario where he dug his way out. That sounds ridiculous but—”
Gravel crunches. Ben peers over. When Sheriff Smits’s truck appears, Ben curses.
“Just what we need,” he mutters.
“I’ll get rid of him.”
“And I’ll just try to keep my mouth shut.”
Smits ambles out of the truck as Josie exits the cottage. She stops and nods. He tips his hat but doesn’t speak to her.
“Can I help you, Sheriff?” I say.
He studies my expression and then shakes his head. “You’re not happy with me either. Can’t say I blame you. Last night, you told me you saw a man die, and I blew you off. Treated you like a kid getting all worked up over nothing.”
“It’s fine,” I say. “You were probably right anyway.” I give a small laugh and hope I sell it. “Probably?You were certainly right. What else could it have been? Actual drowned dead killing a cyclist?” From behind Smits’s shoulder, Ben gives me a look to say I’moverselling it.
Smits laughs obligingly. “Well, it still bothers me that I dismissed it so quickly. I’ve been looking on the wire for anything about a missing cyclist. Nothing yet, but if there’s a chance a lone traveler really is missing, it’ll take a while for it to be reported.”
“Okay…”
“I’m certain there’s a very simple explanation, and it probably involves your cousin. But still, what if this guy got caught up in your cousin’s plan and was actually injured? Accidentally drowned? What happens when someone comes looking for him? I can’t lie. I’d need to admit it was reported, but I dismissed it.”
“I’m happy to retract it.”Anything to get you moving on, Sheriff.
“I’d never do that. If it’s bothering me, that’s a sign I haven’t done my job properly.” He looks at Ben. “I’ll get a boat out, maybe the onewith sonar. Meanwhile, you and I are going to do what we should have done last night, Mr. Vandergriff. Take a better look around for any sign this was an actual camper—bike, gear, whatever.”
“We’ve looked,” I blurt, ignoring Ben’s side-eye. At Smits’s steady gaze, I realize that my lie implicates all of us—me, Ben, and Josie. “I mean…”
“Sam and I took a quick look,” Ben says. “But if you want to search more, go for it. I’m a little busy—”
“Protecting Sam? You seem to have done a one-eighty on that, boy. You finally realized she’s coming into a bit of cash, huh? Decided to go all white knight?”
Ben tenses and opens his mouth, but Josie cuts him off as she walks over. “I’ll go with you, sir.”
