02 Outwitted Read online

  "I know where you're going with this." Sadie shook her head in disapproval. "You want to believe Celeste didn't go to the parallel world so you can justify going back through the light."

  "So?" Jed crossed his arms over his chest.

  "It's not like you to back down from a challenge. I've known you all your life. You've always done what's right."

  "What's your point?"

  "You're a care-giver, Jed. Celeste doesn't need your help anymore. Those in the parallel world do. Two options are open to you. Either go back through the tunnel of light and take your chance, or opt for the parallel world where you can do some good."

  When Jed didn't meet her gaze, Sadie raised her voice. "I still believe you were held back to solve Celeste's disappearance. What if you go back through the light and never find her. You'll never know what happened. Can you live with that? Maybe if you concentrate on solving her disappearance before you go, you'll realize it's not necessary to go back through the light."

  "I told you, I'm not going to the parallel world. Who decided to name it the parallel world, anyway? It spooks me. It's like I'm going to take off in a shape ship with a bunch of aliens and end up on another planet."

  Aanders leaned into the table. "If you go, you can help kids who are scared. Some don't have their moms with them."

  "That's not what I've chosen to do. It's my decision and mine alone. I'm willing to take my chances."

  Exasperation filled Sadie. Stubborn crossers stirred the kettle of challenge, yet Sadie understood Jed's argument. His need to make sense of Celeste's disappearance weighed heavy. Jed had worked tirelessly to find clues to Celeste's disappearance and had watched sorrow take a toll on his parents. Now, they grieved the loss of two children.

  Sighing deeply, Sadie said, "That's right. It's your decision, but it's my job to help you make the best declaration you can make. I believe going to the parallel world is by far a better choice. You'll gain nothing by finding Celeste after the fact. Trust me. You've got to solve her disappearance before you leave or you'll regret it."

  21

  "Don't look at him. It will only encourage him," Judge Kimmer whispered to his sister.

  "Who?" Etta looked back over her shoulder.

  "I said don't look. It's Clay Harren. He's standing by Cabin 12." Kimmer kept his head bowed, but peered out under the brim of his straw hat.

  "When did Clay get back? I thought his ex-wife told him he couldn't come back." Etta cast her line into the bay and stared at the ripples surrounding the bobber. "She should get the cops to run him out of town again."

  When Clay waved in his direction, Kimmer kept his head down. He picked at the tangle in his reel and let out a stream of expletives that made murky water drinkable in comparison. Satisfied after a test cast, he clicked the locking mechanism into place. "Clay booked the cabin for a whole year."

  "Now I know Sadie's lost her mind. I've been telling people for years, but they ignore me," Etta said. "A sane Sadie would never let Clay set foot on her property."

  He peeked toward Cabin 12. "Maybe she didn't know about it."

  "I can't believe it. That old witch sticks her nose in everything. I think she's got a radar implant in her brain."

  Kimmer braced as the boat slid against the dock. The dock boy threw him a rope and Kimmer pulled tight until the craft settled against the mooring. "Fill it up, son."

  "Okay, Judge." A Cheshire grin lit the dock boy's face as he unscrewed the gas cap. "Do you want some bait, too?"

  "Is it the same price as last time?" Kimmer grabbed a dock post, placed his foot on a boat seat, wheezed, and stepped up onto the wooden planking. As his foot left the seat, the boat rocked wildly. Etta let out a scream and grasped the side of the boat.

  The dock boy glanced back toward Cabin 14. "Same price as last time." He dipped a small mesh net into the live-bait tank and scooped a net of wriggling minnows. "Does this look like enough?"

  "Plenty." Kimmer dabbed his handkerchief over his forehead. "Damn hot today, isn't it?" He raised his chin to peer above two men bent over the bait tank and looked toward Clay's cabin. Clay no longer stood near Cabin 12.

  "I'll be right back," Kimmer shouted, waving in Etta's direction. He climbed the four wooden steps leading to the paved path, glanced at Sadie's cabin before veering off toward Cabin 12. He circled to the back side of the cabin, making sure Sadie's radar wouldn't detect his presence. Hearing no sounds coming from Clay's cabin, he opened the screen door.

  "Good grief." Kimmer grimaced at the putrid odor permeating the humid air. He dabbed at the back of his neck with his handkerchief. His mother had always taken such pride in making this cabin a fun place for their family to visit. How could his mother have been so stupid to fall for Sadie's devious ways and sell her their family cabin? His mother would spin in her casket if she saw this rat's nest. A smile seized the corner of his mouth. Maybe you got what you deserved, Mommy dear.

  He kicked at the clothing strewn across the floor; the toe of his shoe clinked against a beer bottle, causing it to skitter across the floor. "What a pigsty."

  Kimmer peeked around the corner. The trap door lay wide open against a clump of braided rug. He looked back toward the screen door. As he stepped closer to the rectangular opening, the trap door slammed shut. His hand flew to his chest. He swung around. "Who's there?" The words caught in his throat. Swallowing to keep caustic acid from rising higher, he repeated, "Who's there?"

  Belly pawed at the screen door, his jowls fluffed and a muffled bark erupted from his lips.

  Scurrying across the floor, Kimmer's foot caught in an arc of bunched rug. He looked back at the trap door and then at the dog. It must be the heat. Dehydration had caused him to hallucinate in the past. That must be the case. He needed water. He needed fresh air.

  Sitting on the porch step, Kimmer drew in long, deep breaths. He placed his palm against his chest. He counted the rapids beats. "One. Two. Three."

  Belly's puce neckerchief flapped wildly as he danced in place at Kimmer's side.

  "Damn," Kimmer mumbled and pushed Belly away. "You're getting slime all over me."

  The dog plopped down, placed his snout in Kimmer's crotch and snorted.

  Kimmer groaned, "Now look what you did." He removed his handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his zipper. Placing his meaty palm on the railing, he pulled until he rose to a standing position.

  The dock boy waved at Kimmer and shouted, "Your boat's ready."

  Kimmer waved back in acknowledgement. Standing at an angle to the steps, he eased down one step at a time until he placed his triple E boat shoes on the ground.

  Etta squinted against the sun, watching Kimmer approach the dock. She stared at his crotch. "What did you do? Piss in your pants?" As Kimmer placed one foot in the boat she ranted, "Be more careful this time. Last time you darn near capsized the boat."

  "Oh yeah? If I recall, you came close to triggering a tsunami when you got in. In case you haven't noticed, you're no Tinker Bell either."

  Kimmer looked toward Sadie's cabin. Seeing no sign of the despicable, meddling lunatic, he reached in his live well and pulled out a six-pack of beer. He set it on the dock. "Take it before Sadie sees it."

  The dock boy also looked toward Cabin 14 before nonchalantly walking over to the cans. He inserted his fingers through the plastic loops, glanced over his shoulder one more time, and leaned over the dock. He eased the cans into the water and watched as they settled to the bottom. "Thanks again, Judge. It's a pleasure doing business."

  A sharp sigh erupted behind Kimmer. The judge flinched as Etta's eyes bore into him. "Hurry up. I don't have all day. Where did you go? Did you go up to the lodge?"

  Kimmer untied the mooring rope. Just what he needed. More aggravation. He had wanted to tell Clay to stay away from him when they frequented the same public areas, but Clay wasn't in his cabin. He couldn't risk having Sadie see them. It had been Etta who insisted they fish in Sadie's bay. He did his sister a favor and all she'd done the
whole time was harp. He had no choice but to keep tabs on Etta. She had recently moved back to town after the death of her husband. She'd been married to the only person Kimmer ever confided in and he needed to know if their secret had slipped out on his brother-in-law's death bed.

  "What's taking so long?" Etta reeled in her line and glared at Kimmer. "I'm sick of sitting here. I haven't had a single nibble."

  "Pipe down. I'm going as fast as I can." Kimmer turned the key and the motor sputtered before spinning over. He eased the boat toward the end of the dock.

  "Hey Kimmer. Where you going?" Clay Harren stood at the end of the dock.

  Kimmer shielded his eyes from the sun and looked in the direction of the voice. "What are you doing?" Judge Kimmer peered through tiny slits, trying to focus against the glare.

  "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm squirt peeing the Star Spangled Banner." Clay swayed as he turned to look at Kimmer. "Want to join me?"

  "Put that back in your pants right now," Kimmer uttered with a gasp, steeling against the revolting sight.

  "I'm not done, yet."

  Etta bellowed, "What's he doing?"

  "I'm taking a leak," Clay said.

  "He's what?" Etta's screech escalated into a choking spasm as she turned to stare in Clay's direction.

  "Oh hi, Oinketta," Clay shouted and waved with his free hand. "I didn't know you liked to fish." Clay wavered as he zipped his pants. "Catch any?"

  Etta stood and the boat rocked wildly. "What did you call me?" Her caterwaul echoed over the lake.

  "Oinketta. That's your name, isn't it? That's what Sadie calls you."

  Etta's fleshy nose bobbed as her nostrils flared. In words distinctively detached from one another, she said, "My name is Etta. Not Oinketta."

  Clay pointed at Etta. "Oh, I get it." He rolled his head back on his shoulders and let out a belly laugh.

  "You get what, you sorry sack of shit." Etta stepped forward.

  "Sit down before you tip us over." Kimmer grabbed the sides of the boat. When Clay came closer, Kimmer growled, "Get out of here, Clay."

  Clay dabbed at the tears in his eyes before leaning on a mooring post. "You have to admit Sadie's one honest broad. She calls them like she sees them."

  "Clay!" Judge Kimmer motioned frantically for Clay to move away from the boat.

  Clay's grin turned dark and his head sank back on his shoulders. "I don't like my cabin. I want another one."

  "There's nothing wrong with your cabin." Kimmer glanced at Etta out of the corner of his eye.

  "I want a nicer one. One with a lock. Somebody's been messing with my stuff. There are broken knives all over the floor."

  "How would you ever know? It's probably because you stepped on them."

  "I don't eat on the floor."

  "You could have fooled me. I stopped to see you and it looked like a tornado went through there."

  "That's exactly what I mean. Somebody's been in there. There's dolls and toys and junk all over the place." Clay's elbow slipped off the mooring post.

  "In your cabin?"

  "Yeah. Right by the big hole in the floor."

  Kimmer glanced sideways at his sister again.

  Clay's eyebrows met in the middle as he frowned. "I came home the other night and there was a big hole in my floor."

  Kimmer ignored Etta's pout of impatience. He remembered Etta's husband complaining how one morning she woke up in a pissy mood and it had lasted for twenty years. Now he had to put up with it.

  A young couple strolled nearby on the beach. The man nodded in Kimmer's direction.

  "Hey, Dan," Clay shouted. "Come on over and talk with us."

  "Not now," Kimmer whispered, looking toward Cabin 14.

  "Why not?" Clay looked from Dan to Kimmer. It'll just take a minute."

  "We can't right now," Dan said. "We've got to get the baby back to the cabin. Maybe later."

  Wiping his brow with his damp handkerchief, Kimmer started the motor.

  Clay looked toward Kimmer. "Did you know Dan hired me to do an excavation job? I'm going to meet with him tomorrow to find out exactly what it is."

  22

  "What's Belly got in his pocket?" Sally crouched down and looked under the dog.

  Jed and Sadie stared at the young crosser.

  "Right there." Sally pointed at Belly's lone testicle.

  Jed let out a laugh.

  "It's empty," Sadie said. "Some dogs have big pockets but don't keep anything in them."

  "Why?"

  "It's too hard to reach."

  Sally clomped across the floor in a pair of Sadie's black and white polka-dot heels. A large smear of purple lipstick adorned her lips.

  Sadie parted the curtain as a motor quieted and a pontoon glided silently toward the dock. A Great Dane puppy bounded off the pontoon. Sadie watched his massive paws splash along the water's edge while he nipped at pencil waves teasing the shore.

  "Since when do dogs have pockets?" Jane looked up from her magazine. "Do I need to know what you're talking about?"

  "Not really."

  "Did Jed have any luck at the hospital today? Has he found anyone on the brink?" Jane dog-eared a page corner before closing the recipe magazine.

  Jed hooked his feet through the support rungs on the chair.

  "When I walked through ICU at the hospital, I heard the doctor recommend life support be pulled from a patient. It sounded like they'd wait until his family arrived. Possibly tomorrow."

  "Is he the man Lon hoped to question?" Sadie watched Belly plop down on the braided rug before rolling on his back.

  "I think so. I saw Lon leaving the nurses' station when I arrived."

  "What are you talking about? Question who?"

  "I was responding to Jed's question. He told me about a patient who isn't expected to make it."

  "That's a shame. Is it anybody we know?"

  "Not unless you've been hanging around the guys running the meth lab that blew up."

  Sally leaned against Jed's leg. "Are you going dancing with Bernie and Jane?"

  Jed lifted her up onto his lap. "I don't think so. I think you and I will stay home and rest up for tomorrow."

  "I don't want to go back to the hospital. It's no fun."

  Jed removed a napkin from the holder and dabbed at Sally's lips. When she tried to turn away, he said, "Hold still. You want to look beautiful like Sadie, don't you?"

  She pursed her lips and let him dab at the smears.

  Sadie turned toward her sister. "Did you enjoy your pontoon ride with Bernie? You've been spending a lot of time with him."

  A delighted grin spread over Jane's face. She tucked her hands in her apron pockets and shrugged her shoulders toward her ears. "He's absolutely wonderful. I never thought I'd feel like this again. He listens when I talk about Mr. Bakke and encourages me to tell him everything. There's no jealousy whatsoever. He even talks to Mr. Bakke's ashes, bless his soul."

  Sadie patted her sister's hand. "I can tell you've been around Bernie. You sound just like him. I'm happy for you, but you need to be realistic. Just because he added a week to his stay doesn't mean he's going to be around forever."

  "I wouldn't be so sure." Jane grinned.

  "Don't tell me he's thinking about moving up from Minneapolis?" A chill ran down Sadie's arm causing goose flesh to prickle along the surface. Vulnerability and Jane went hand in hand. Jumping heart first into another relationship could produce devastating consequences.

  "He's hinted at it." Jane plopped down into her chair. "Can you imagine anyone thinking enough about me to relocate?" She fluffed both sides of her bob as a kittenish grin formed. "Bernie thinks I'm sexy."

  "My mom is sexy," Sally said. "That's what her friend tells her when my dad's not home. I sure miss my dad."

  Jed brushed his lips across Sally's forehead "I know you do. I'm sure he misses you too."

  "By the way," Jane said, "you think you pulled a fast one on me, but you didn't. Nan asked me to help her at the mortua
ry and guess what I found. Mr. Bakke's robe. Right where you hid it."

  "I didn't hide it, Aanders did."

  "Baloney. I know you hid it. How many times do I have to tell you I don't want Jed sitting on our chairs with a bare ass?"

  Sally giggled. "He always sits with a BA."

  "Hello, Mr. Bakke." Aanders entered the cabin and patted the urn. He took a chair next to Jed. "Did you hear thunder last night, Sadie?"

  "That was thunder? I thought Jane and Belly had another one of their snore fests. I thought my bed would levitate there was so much racket going on."

  "It was thunder," Sally gushed, wide eyed, as she glanced from Aanders to Sadie. "The spooky kind. I crawled into bed with Sadie in case she got scared."

  "You did?"

  "Yup. I put my arm around you so you wouldn't cry."

  "Thank you, Sally." Sadie raised Sally's chin with her index finger. "Did you by any chance put Clay's billfold on my pillow last night?"

  "Clay's billfold?" Jane scrunched her face in bewilderment. "What are you talking about? Why would I have Clay's billfold?"

  "I was talking to Sally, not you. I woke up with Clay's billfold next to my nose this morning."

  "What? How could that be?"

  Sally stubbed the toe of her sandal against Jed's leg.

  "Sally. Answer Sadie. Did you put Clay's billfold on her pillow?" Jed placed his nose against Sally's ear. "What did I tell you about taking people's property without permission?"

  "Actually, I'm relieved Sally put it there. I thought I had too much to drink at the Fertile Turtle. Clay was there and kept pestering me to buy him a drink. You know, his usual mooch fest."

  "What does the Fertile Turtle have to do with Clay's billfold? I don't have a clue what you're talking about." Jane huffed in frustration and tossed her dishtowel on the counter.

  "It appears Sally visited Clay during the night and took his billfold. She left it on my pillow. I'm relieved because I thought I'd brought Clay home with me."

  "Dreamer," Jane said, through a sly grin. "Who'd pay you for you-know-what?"

  "Lots of guys. Just because you're…"