Tainted Waters

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sam went through a restless night on Keegan's couch. She'd only stayed because he'd been grilling her about what she'd really been looking for. He hadn't believed her story, that she was just making sure there were no mice in the trap under the sink. And they'd spent a good part of the night camped in the trees, in case someone came back.

Then, it had turned dark and she'd had a few beers, so he wouldn't let her walk to her place alone. To top it off, he'd been looking out his window every five minutes. He was sure the guy would return. It had been near dawn before she'd fallen into a hard sleep. Looking at his heavily lidded eyes, she was sure he'd done the same thing. They were now hiking back to her cabin. He didn't trust it was safe for her to go alone.

"You're not very light on your feet, are you?"

He moved closer until he was almost walking on her heels. "What?"

It was as they were passing Mrs. MacNeil's that Sam turned and made a beeline for the cabin. She pulled the key out of her pocket, trying to figure out how to distract Keegan so she could put it back in its hiding place, and opened the door.

"Oh, no." A shiver like none other slammed through Sam's body, shaking her to the core. The place had been ransacked. And they'd been sleeping only a few hundred feet away. "Okay. Let's get out of here."

"We have to report it."

"And how are we going to say we found it? We were snooping ourselves when someone came and ransacked the place? Oh yeah, and, by the way, he was wearing a black baseball cap and he had a great, no let me correct that, a verrrryyyyyy gooooooddddd body."

"We don't even know it was him. Why would he come back and rip the place apart? If he was looking for something, why not the first time he was here?" She glared at him as he grabbed her arm and pulled her outside. She jerked out of his grasp.

"Maybe it wasn't him, but that doesn't mean I want to stick around and see if he comes back."

"Just let me look around and see if I can tell what they took. You watch for vehicles."

The mulish look on his face let her know he didn't like the plan, but he wasn't going to stop her. She waited until he was in place, watching the driveway, then she kicked off her shoes and entered. Books from the shelves were strewn about, some of them even ripped in half. Newspapers had been taken from the neat stack of recycling and were torn up, shredded. The couch had been flipped, the lamp overturned, and the stuffing had been ripped out of the pillows. The place looked like a bunch of wild animals had been locked in and had gone berserk, looking for food or a way out. The scene brought tears to her eyes. It just wasn't right. Mrs. MacNeil never hurt anyone.

She stepped forward carefully, trying to avoid any broken glass. She lifted some of the debris off the floor to see if there was anything under it. It sounded super noisy to her every time she moved. Every few seconds, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure that no one was there.

It didn't make sense. All she could think was don't let it be one of her children.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. This isn't worth it. Let's go."

With one last look around, she reluctantly walked out the door, locking it behind her. Not caring that he saw her, she opened the panel under the deck and slid the spare key onto the hidden nail. Obviously, someone had their own set. That thought made her nervous. She only knew of a handful of people who had the key to the place.

"Your place or mine?"

It was too much to take in. She couldn't respond. She just headed off through the trees to the path. He followed, but they continued on in silence, accompanied by the shrill tweets and chirps of birds as they headed to her family's cabin. When they reached the endpoint of the lake, the path swung back toward the pond, allowing them a clear view for a short while. It made her think of her phone. It had vibrated earlier when they'd left Keegan's and were walking along the lake. Curious who called, she pulled it out. There were a missed call and a text. They were from DD.

M :( u

Sam knew that to mean Shelley was mad at her. Listening to her message, she understood why. Taking a chance that DD still had the cell phone, she quickly dialed her brother's number.

"Asaaaaaaam. Asaaaaammmmmm. Aaaaaasssssaaaaaaaaaammmmmm." DD started blubbering out stuff that Sam couldn't understand.

"Ssssshhhh. Stop. Ssshhhh. I need you to stop." Sam repeated this a few more times, speaking softly. DD finally sniveled, showing she was calmer.

"You sound funny. What's up?"

"Cold."

"You're cold … oh you have a cold." Oh no. No wonder Shelley has a bee in her butt.

"Mom's mad. Said your fault. I can't see you." She started to cry, a loud wailing sound. Sam winced, sure that it would make things worse.

"Calm down or your mom will come and then we can't talk. Okay?"

"Okay, AnSam. I love you."

"Oh DD." Tears flooded her eyes. "I love you too. Now don't worry about your mom, I'll talk to her. But first, you have to get better. We can't see each other right now because then I'd get sick and you know I'm a baby when I'm ill."

She giggled. Sam took a deep breath as she blinked back tears. "Once you're better, then we can hang out, that's all your mom meant. She loves you and worries about you. You be good for her okay?"

"Okay, AnSam."

"I'll see you soon."

"'k, AnSam."

She clicked off, stuffed her phone in her pocket before pressing her hands in prayer form over her mouth and nose. Please don't let Shelley do this. Please make her better. She knew it was just a cold, but DD never had much of an immune system. Even a little sniffle was something major to her.

"Are you okay?"

Gasping, she spun around, stepping back at the same time. She'd forgotten about Keegan.

"Fine. Fine."

"You don't look it. I take it that was DD? Is she okay?"

"Yes. No. She has a cold. My fault."

"Oh, I didn't realize you had a cold."

"I don't, but I brought her here swimming. The water is freezing. She probably got chilled."

"I'm no expert, but I've heard that you have to have bacteria to catch a cold. She might have gotten hypothermia from the water but not sick."

She didn't know whether or not to believe him, but really didn't want to think about it right now. Later, she'd figure out how to get back in Shelley's good books. Turning, she marched off toward her cabin. She knew she'd set a good pace but didn't really care if he could keep up or not; she needed to burn off some energy. Several minutes later they arrived. He was right behind her.

"It's nice out. Let's sit here." She pointed to one of the two old chairs on her deck. "I have lemonade."

"Great."

After unlocking her door, she grabbed two glasses and filled them, before heading back outside.

"Did you find anything missing?"

"It was kind of hard, considering the mess but I think so. Last night, her mail was on her table. There was an envelope from a lawyer. I didn't pull the paper out to read but it had been opened. It wasn't there. I couldn't find it. I didn't look under all that mess, but it was no longer on the table. It doesn't mean that it wasn't there, but it wasn't in the open anymore and I didn't see it on the floor amongst the papers and books."

He leaned forward. "Do you remember the name of the law firm?"

She pursed her lips as she stared off into space, trying to recall it. "No … there's something … hmmm … it's gone. I might recognize it if I ever saw it again."

"Okay. Anything else you remember that might be missing?"

Yeah, there were a few things. What do I share with you though?

"I noticed that her picture was missing."

"Her picture?"

"Yeah, one she had inside her door, just to the left. Actually, hers might be to the right. It was in a slightly different place."

His eyebrows drew together. "I feel I should know what you're talking about, but I don't."

Sam got up and, stepping through the door, took down the two pictures. She handed them to Keegan.

"You should have a set in your cabin, too."

Keegan shook his head. "I don't think I've ever seen these before. They aren't in my cabin, maybe I saw them in Mrs. MacNeil's but I don't remember them. Who are these people?"

Sam kneeled down beside his chair, reaching over his arm, she pointed at the black and white one first.

"This is a picture of the original four owners of the land around the lake. They bought it back in 1914. This guy, I can never remember his name, this is Mr. Grant, Mr. MacNeil, and my great-grandpa, Mr. Overton. Wait, I'm not sure those are the right names."

"Did these guys sell out?"

She shook her head. "No, the land has never sold. At least, not outside of the family. It's been passed down or I think in one case it sold from the grandfather to a son or son-in-law. I don't know, I never really paid much attention to it. It was just summer cottages for the families although they really haven't been used much in the last …" There was a hitch in her voice. She swallowed a few times. "Twenty years." Not since her dad had died. She pushed herself to her feet and walked to the edge of the deck and leaned on the railing, looking out over the water. A loon made its haunting but beautiful sound.

"And this other photo? You know everyone in it?" He came to stand beside her, resting his arms on the rail, clasping the picture in his hands, clearly visible to her.

There were about thirty people in the picture, many she'd known at one time in her life but hadn't seen since she was a kid. "It's my dad's generation of the four families who'd originally bought the land. Minus the family at the end."

"And these were missing from Mrs. MacNeil's?"

Sam thought back to when she'd arrived at her place. Everything had seemed as it always did, crowded, bulging at the seams but welcoming. She hadn't really looked at the pictures but for some reason, she was sure they'd been there.

"I think so. I know they used to be. As teens, Cathy and I used to spend a lot of time with her. Maybe they were taken down over the years, but I don't think so. Why would they be gone?"

"And why aren't they up at my place? If, as you say, each of the cabins has them?"

"I don't know. I guess I can't really talk about the house at the end of the lake. We spent no time there. I'm not sure anyone has in fifty years. So, if the pictures are missing from your place and Cora's, what's the significance of them?"

"You said you've never been down to the far end. How come? You spent lots of time in these three."

Sam brushed her hand over her hair, only to realize it was escaping its confines. She took a moment to finger comb her hair and put it back in its ponytail.

"You never leave your hair down."

She froze. Her hands stopped winding the elastic around her mane for a second before finishing it. She walked back to her chair and sat down.

"There was some feud or something between that family from the north end and Peterson. I think they were in love with the same woman. No, that's not right; it was Mr. MacNeil and that guy, who kept to himself. I think they were both in love with Eta, Cora's mother-in-law. Mr. MacNeil was successful and married her. That guy didn't have much to do with anyone after that. I guess. I really don't remember the story."

"Can I borrow your bathroom?"

"Sure. You know where it is." She pointed over to a tall skinny shack in the bush.

After Keegan had gone to the outhouse, Sam stared off into space. Could there be a connection? Could that old unrequited love be behind the mess at Cora's? Had that guy wanted something back?

She laughed when she realized how crazy that sounded. The man had to have died about forty or fifty years ago. He'd been a bit older than the rest of the original group that had bought the land.

The sound of a vehicle had her bounding off the deck, zipping around the corner and halfway to the road when a dark green car pulled into her driveway. The feeling of a steady, ice-cold waterfall drizzling down her back stopped her. Her gaze connected with the big hulk of a man who had stepped out before she could even move. Black shirt and ball cap. Her mind screamed at her: Run! She spun around but only made it a few steps before she was tackled.

"Keeg—" she croaked out before the man stuffed something in her mouth and yanked her wrists behind her back. Her wrists were quickly bound with something strong and hard. The man got off her before yanking her to her feet and shoving her toward the car. If she got there, she knew she was finished. She stumbled which loosened his tight grip. At that moment, she used her momentum to jerk away. Five steps later, she was taken down again.

"Oomph." She struggled so the guy just pressed down hard on her shoulders, sending pain shooting through her body. Immobilized, but not willing to give up, she started gagging, trying to force the cloth out of her mouth. Her saliva seemed to have dried up, the material was sticking to her tongue and cheeks. It wasn't moving, at least not without help. When that didn't work, she started tossing her head from side to side, grunting and moaning. With a last-ditch effort, she twisted and turned her body. The pain was instant as the guy slammed her down, before dragging her to her feet.

"I was told you wouldn't be a problem. He owes me."