02 Outwitted Read online

  "He's my kid. He needs me."

  "If he needs you so bad, where were you the past five years?"

  "Here and there. Mostly there." Clay shoved his hands in his pockets. "Can I borrow some money?"

  "Get out of here, Clay. Stay away from Aanders." Lon headed back toward his squad car.

  "No can do."

  Lon stopped and turned to face Clay. "One thing hasn't changed. You're still a loser."

  "When I finish an excavation job, I'll be rich. Then we'll see who she prefers." A challenging smirk parted Clay's lips.

  Trembling, Lon stepped back toward Clay. "You stay away from Nan. Do you hear me? You're not going to come between us again, no matter what I have to do."

  18

  Aanders cast a shadow over Sally as he hovered over the wicker chair and pointed his finger at her. "Now sit there and don't move. I'm going back to the mortuary to get my DVD so I can hook it up to Sadie's television."

  "Okay." Sally kicked off her sandals and resituated her legs in Jane's rocker. "Are we going to watch a movie?"

  "Yup. You better behave. If you don't, I'll tell Sadie."

  "I'll be good."

  As Aanders closed the screen door behind him, Sally ran to the door. "I want to watch the Chipmunk movie."

  "I'm not going to watch your stupid movie again," Aanders shouted from the end of the paved path. "We're going to watch what I pick this time."

  Sally pressed her nose against the screen watching Aanders jog across the mortuary lawn. Standing in place, she hopped from one foot to another trying to maintain her balance before hopping back across the kitchen floor.

  She opened the refrigerator door. "Do you want to eat?"

  Belly trotted over to her. The four hairs protruding from the end of his tail waved in unison as he sniffed the shelves and danced the butt-wagging rumba.

  Sally tugged a yellow China plate off the refrigerator shelf and placed it on the floor. She pushed Belly away.

  The dog's tongue smacked against the roof of his mouth while he attempted to spit out a piece of plastic wrap he had pulled off the top of the gravy-drenched pot roast. Sally put her fists on her hips and her nose two inches from Belly's snout. "You don't got no manners. Mom would make you stand in the corner until it got dark if she knew what you did."

  Drool dripped onto the floor as Belly whined and pawed at the plate.

  Sally broke off a piece of beef and held it out. Belly gulped it down. "Did you like it?" She broke off another chunk and continued feeding the dog until the beef disappeared and Belly slicked the plate clean. Swiping with disgust at the appreciative licks Belly bestowed across her nose, Sally yanked on a kitchen chair and pulled it over to the cupboard. She climbed up and placed the tongue-washed plate neatly on top a stack of matching plates.

  Sally followed Belly to the door. She sighed and leaned her cheek against the frame. As Belly nudged her hand, she said, "I'm tired of waiting. Aanders must have forgot."

  A family of five hurried past Cabin 14. Clothed in swimming suits and toting beach towels, two of the children ran ahead shouting instructions for the rest to hurry.

  "Can I come, too?" Sally ran after the children. "Wait for me. I'm going with you." Catching up to them, she noticed a man coming out of Cabin 12.

  Belly saw the man, too, and detoured over to Clay's cabin.

  "Get out of here you stupid mutt," Clay shouted as Belly lumbered up the steps.

  Belly plopped down at Clay's feet and rolled over.

  "I said get out of here. Don't piss on my shoes again." Clay stepped over Belly LaGossa and grumbled profanities at the dog. When Belly didn't budge, Clay picked his shoes off the porch and threw them into the cabin.

  Sally joined Belly and watched Clay drive out of the parking lot, hit a curb, back up, and drive over one of Jane's prized Hydrangea bushes before turning out onto the highway.

  Sally sat on the top step leaning into Belly's bulk. The warmth of his fur felt comforting against her arm. If only her mother would let her sit like this. Her dad used to let her cuddle, but her mother always seemed too busy. Her mom had to work and didn't have time for nonsense. Maybe her mother would change her mind the next time she saw her.

  Sally put her arm over Belly's back and pulled him closer. "I sure miss my dad." She tucked her face into Belly's orange bandana. "When do you think he'll come back?"

  She looked back toward Cabin 14. With elbows propped against her knees and her chin on her fists, her gaze darted from Cabin 14 to Clay's door and back to Cabin 14. "Aanders must have forgot."

  Inside Cabin 12, Sally looked up at the flashlight perched on the shelf above the fridge. She grunted and tugged at the chair. A high-pitched scrape pierced the summer air as she dragged the chair across the wooden planking.

  The stainless steel soup ladle lay on the rug where she had left it the day before. Pushing the braided rug into a wad behind the trap door, Sally coaxed the ring out of its hole. She tugged at the rusted iron. "Get off. You're too heavy," she said, pushing against Belly's right side. His skin shifted, but he didn't move. She pushed again.

  The wood creaked as she forced her foot into the opening and hefted with all the strength she could summon. The door wavered on its hinges and fell open with a thud.

  Belly retreated at the frightening sound. After sniffing valiantly to check for danger, he moseyed over to Sally whose head and shoulders had disappeared into the black hole.

  Reaching for the flashlight, Sally said, "You can go first if you want." She struggled with the flashlight button as the dog nudged her arm with his nose.

  Belly stretched his neck into the crawlspace opening. He rocked back and forth trying to gather courage to dive into the darkness. After a few more hesitant jerks, he took the plunge. Landing with a grunt, he circled back and put his paws up through the opening before disappearing under the floorboards.

  "Wait for me," Sally ordered. She waved the flashlight beam across the dirt floor. "You better wait. If you don't, I'm not coming down there." She dropped into the opening. Belly let out a muffled bark. Straining to see into the distance, Sally noticed a shaft of light radiate through the mesh air vent, casting a weak glow under the cabin.

  "Where are you?" Sally turned her head in the direction of Belly's panting.

  Dirt flew up between Belly's rear legs as he scrambled to rearrange the loose soil.

  When Sally passed the flashlight's beam in his direction, a haze of grit wafted toward her. "Quit that. I can't see." Two rapid sneezes followed her command.

  She propped the flashlight on a broken concrete block next to where Belly clawed at the soil. "Quit that." She pushed him sideways. As the silt settled, Sally crouched down next to Belly. A dark object protruded from the soil. She brushed at it. "It must be a secret treasure." She brushed at it again with the palm of her hand before tugging at the corner of the object. "I can't get it. It's stuck."

  Belly whined and raked his claw across the top of Sally's hand.

  "Quit that," she hollered. Her hand flew to her mouth. "We have to be quiet. Pirates might come back. Mom said they steal kids."

  Sally duck-walked in a crouch across the dirt floor. She reached for the flashlight. "Wait here. I need to get something." Fanning the flashlight's ray across floor, she made her way back to the trap door opening.

  Dirt sprayed out from between Belly's back legs as his front legs assaulted the lump in the ground.

  "Here, I found this." Sally held up a white plastic measuring cup before setting the flashlight on the ground. Leaning toward the dark lump, she scooped away the dirt Belly had dislodged.

  As her eyes readjusted to the darkness, she sat down and dragged her bare heel back and forth, widening the span of loose dirt with each swipe. Clack. Clack. The clicking sound repeated with each pass of her heel. She held her foot in mid air. "That must be the treasure."

  Belly stuck his nose on one of the items and snorted.

  Sally leaned closer and drew in a sharp breath while sta
ring at what she had uncovered. She brushed at the dirt until an ashen item rolled off to one side. "It's an old pirate."

  Tattered fabric flecked with mouse droppings clung to the skeleton's frame. Leg bones skewed at an unthinkable angle. Sally raised the flashlight and held the beam on the skeleton's head before pulling Belly close. "He's dead. See these bones? That means he's dead."

  Unseen vermin clinked tins together in the far corner of the crawlspace in their haste to flee the disruption. Sally dropped the flashlight and scampered back.

  Belly lumbered toward the corner barking in protest. He nudged the wooden beam with his nose as a mouse disappeared between two floor boards. Upset and ready to protect his find, Belly returned to the mound and dug frantically at the skeleton. Pelvic bones jutted through a hole in the fabric.

  "Quit that!" Dust swirled around Sally's face. She fanned the air, adding to the volume of dust she inhaled before pulling her shirt up around her nose and blinking away the scratchy residue.

  Sally brushed at the silt covering the skeleton's hair and lifted the tangle away from the skull. A shiny object glistened in the flashlight's beam. She reached for it. Following the length of chain with her fingers, she tugged to free it. It caught on a button. As she loosened the button, the fabric shifted and an object slid down inside the garment and plunked against the dirt floor.

  Sally sat back admiring the necklace while Belly sniffed with fervor. The detective's snout blew puffs of dust into the air. The young crosser held the silver charm and watched it cast a dancing glimmer across a floor beam as it mirrored the flashlight's ray.

  Belly's jaw snapped at the light as it arched across the wood.

  Sally coaxed gray silt off the tattered fabric and pushed the bottom of the shirt up against the skeleton's rib cage. A neatly-woven wad of straw, the former home of a family of voles, lay nestled in the rib cage. A small brown notebook splayed open against two rib bones.

  "Sally? Sally?"

  Wide eyes stared into the light coming through the mesh air vent at the far side of the crawl space. "It's Aanders," Sally whispered.

  Belly whined. As he opened his mouth to bark, Sally nudged him.

  "We have to be quiet. Aanders will tattle and I won't get to watch the movie." She held her finger to her lip and pulled Belly close. Her body bobbed in rhythm with Belly's heavy panting. When he protested with a whine, she pressed her finger against his snout.

  Aanders' voice faded as he walked toward the beach. "Sally?"

  Sally grunted as she grabbed Belly's rear legs and hoisted him through the trapdoor opening. "Wait a minute." She flipped the flashlight on and duck-walked back under the floor boards.

  Belly rotated his head in curiosity listening to the faint sound emanating from the black hole.

  Poking her head up through the hole, Sally held up a fist full of treasure. She raised the flap on her pocket and tucked the treasure inside.

  Belly pranced in place while Sally swung one leg up and pulled herself out of the hole. The trap door slammed shut with a thud as Sally ran to the screen door. Waiting for Belly to follow, she held her finger up with one final warning. "Don't tell no one about the treasure."

  Belly lumbered across the floor behind Sally, but stopped near the door. He sniffed Clay's shoes, raised his leg, and peed on them.

  19

  "Do you want to join us, Sadie?" Bernie Johnson picked up a wooden spoon and dipped it in the kettle Jane had moved to a back burner. "We're taking the pontoon for a ride." He dipped the spoon back in for a second sample of chili.

  "I'll go," Sally shouted, running up to Bernie.

  "You're not going anywhere," Sadie said. "You're staying here so I can keep an eye on you."

  "On me? Why would you need to keep an eye on me?" Bernie's curious expression deepened the furrows on his leathered face.

  Jane's gaze darted from Sadie to Bernie. "She doesn't. She misunderstood you. Sadie doesn't have time to join us, so it'll just be the two of us."

  "That's even better." Bernie lifted Jane's hand and held it to his lips.

  "I want to go." Sally dropped down onto the floor as the door closed behind Bernie. She slammed her fists against the floor in protest.

  "You're going with me to the hospital this afternoon." Jed reached for Sally.

  "I don't want to. It's boring. I want to go fishing with Jane and Bernie. Maybe we'll see his kids again."

  "Bernie doesn't have children," Sadie said. "I don't know what you think you heard, but Bernie doesn't have children. He checked the no children box on the dating website questionnaire. He also told Jane he didn't have kids."

  "But he does." Sally broke free of Jed's hold. She ran toward the inner room and slammed the door. She shouted, "I'm going to tell Jane you have a BA on her chair again."

  "I wish I had her energy," Sadie said "I'm tempted to put Belly's leash on her. Every time I turn around, she's gone."

  Sadie stood in front of the mirror and turned her head from side to side. "I don't like this new hair gel as much as the other one."

  "You mean it's not supposed to look like mange?" Jed bit back a smile.

  "It's not supposed to look all glumpy. It sticks together in big wads instead of fanning out like it's supposed to," Sadie said.

  "What color is it?"

  "Puce."

  "Puke?"

  "Puce," Sadie corrected. "It's a kind of bluish red with a hint of raspberry. Big Leon insisted it's supposed to be captivating and romantic."

  "Really?"

  Sadie walked over to the screen door and waved at Jane and Bernie as they boarded the pontoon. She held the door open for Aanders to enter the cabin.

  Aanders sniffed the air. "Chili?" He lifted the lid off the kettle and drew in a deep breath. "Who made it?"

  "Jane."

  "Did you taste it yet?"

  Sadie pulled out a chair and sat next to Jed. "No, but Bernie did and he's still alive."

  "Did she make up a recipe or follow the book?" Aanders' doubting eyes stared at Sadie.

  "She followed the recipe. Bernie bought her a new cookbook yesterday when they went to town."

  "Thank goodness." Aanders reached for the wooden spoon. He eased the hot mixture off the spoon with his teeth and closed his eyes. "That's really good."

  "You should tell Jane. She still feels bad about her latest fiasco." Sadie followed Aanders' lead and dipped a second spoon into the chili.

  "That wasn't Jane's fault. Sally put the cinnamon on the hamburgers," Jed said. "She tried to help. You know how she loves to imitate Jane."

  "Bernie doesn't know what happened. It wouldn't hurt to compliment Jane in front of Bernie."

  "Oh, oh."

  "What?" Sadie turned toward Aanders. When he didn't reply, she repeated, "What?"

  "I wasn't going to tell you, but yesterday, before Sally put cinnamon on the hamburgers, I caught her with Jane's spice jars spread all over the table. She said she wanted to play cooker lady."

  "She loves to pretend. As long as you put them back before Jane saw the mess, it's okay."

  Aanders turned his back to Sadie.

  "Spit it out, Aanders. What else happened?"

  "The lid was off Mr. Bakke's urn."

  "Oh, oh," Jed and Sadie uttered. Sadie hurried across the floor and peeked out the window toward the marina. Wooden rings slid across the curtain rod with ease as she pulled the panels tight.

  Sadie lifted the urn's lid and set it on the table. Three noses moved in unison followed by three sets of hunched shoulders while they leaned closer to the dark cavity and peered in.

  Sadie whispered, "Mr. Bakke? You okay in there?"

  They focused on the jar's interior.

  "Oh, oh." Once again in unison.

  "It smells like the leaf junk Mom's got in bowls in our apartment," Aanders said.

  "Yikes. The last time I visited with Mr. Bakke, the urn was less than a quarter full. Look at it now." Sadie tipped the jar and a poof of clove essence filled the air.
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  "Are the spices mostly on top?" Jed leaned closer.

  Sadie dabbed a finger into the jar and held it under her nose. "Smells like it. Hopefully she just dumped spices in and didn't shake it up. Maybe I can scoop them off and Jane will never know the difference."

  "What is that?" Jed pointed into the jar's cavity.

  Sadie squinted. "Looks like chunks of pepper corn."

  "No, I mean there." Jed jabbed his finger toward the right edge of the interior.

  Sadie put her face over the jar and reached in. She retrieved a green leaf coated with multi-colored powder flecks and held it between two fingers. "I think it's a bay leaf."

  "I'm sorry, Mr. Bakke," Sadie said with a sigh. "I hope you're not upset. Sally meant no harm."

  Sadie handed a spoon to Jed. "Let's do what we can, but be careful not to scoop out any gray ash."

  As Sadie wiped down the table, removing the last trace of spice, a horn tooted in the distance. Sadie shielded her eyes and focused on the marina. Jane and Bernie waved vigorously as they stepped off the pontoon.

  Before Jed replaced the urn's lid, he glanced in one more time. He squinted. "I still see something. My hand is too big. See if you can fish it out."

  Sadie slipped her slender hand in and gently felt around. "I don't feel anything."

  "It's over by the edge."

  She dabbed her fingers over the ashes until her fingernail struck an object. She edged it over to the center with her little finger. Lifting it from the urn, she tapped it gently against the rim to dislodge the ashes. "It's a bone. I don't think it belongs to Mr. Bakke. It doesn't look like it went through the crematory. It's too white."

  20

  Jed took a deep breath and let out an irritated sigh. "I'm not going to change my mind no matter what you say. I'm going back through the light. I want to find Celeste so she can tell me what happened."

  "There's no guarantee you'll find her," Sadie said. "She may have gone to the parallel world."

  "She didn't come to your cabin as a crosser, did she?"