Tainted Waters

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Sam splashed cold water on her face, patting it dry before leaving her brother's bathroom and joining Keegan in the living room.

"Kyle." She'd barely sat down but stood up as he entered the room that she and Keegan had been sitting in for the last hour. Banished to was more like it, but she didn't want to create any more friction between him and Shelley. They'd been given some food, but other than that they'd been ignored. The toughest part had been hearing DD beg to come and spend time with her. There had been nothing she could do about it though. Not without creating more issues. The thought of leaving crossed her mind, but she wanted some answers.

She smiled as she walked over to him and gave her brother a big hug. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed hard. She closed her eyes, loving the feeling of this connection. After a few long moments, he stepped back, catching her gaze for a brief second before finally looking away. With her hand still on his arm, she could feel the tension coiled within him, see the disappointment he was trying to hide in his face. About to ask him about it, she realized he was staring past her.

"This is Keegan. A friend. Kyle, my brother." She stepped out of the way so that the two of them could shake hands.

"Nice to meet you. Can I get you guys something to drink?"

"A beer." She turned to check with Keegan. He nodded. "Two would be nice, Kyle. Thanks."

After Kyle left, she moved over to stare out the window. There really wasn't anything to see—an open field, a bus stop across the road, a car passing every few minutes—but she didn't want to turn around yet. "You don't have to drink the beer if you don't want it. Sorry. I … Sorry."

She didn't know what it was, but she was feeling out of sorts, like she'd screwed up and had no idea even to what extent that was, at least not this time. Pressing her forehead against the cool pane, she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a warm, firm hand on her back.

"Hey. I just wanted to see if you're okay. You look weighed down."

Sam looked wearily at Keegan before stepping around him, only to catch her brother's raised eyebrow as he walked in at that moment. She quickly took two of the beers, offering one to Keegan, before again moving halfway across the room. He stayed by the window; her brother sat in an overstuffed armchair by the unlit gas fireplace. He seemed almost as stiff as the chair he was sitting in; she just wasn't sure why. Was it because she'd invited Keegan into his home? Because she invited herself into his home? Or she'd offended him, or more likely Shelley?

Sighing, she walked across the carpet and looked at a large painting of horse racing across a field. She turned. "Kyle, what do you know about the lake? Do you know any of the history of it? Who bought it and why?"

His eyes narrowed. "Care to tell me what's going on?"

She glanced at Keegan who shrugged, leaving it up to her. She walked back across the room to the corner bookshelf. Kyle's sports trophies, from his youth, covered the shelves.

"Uh …" She picked up one of his medals for third place in the eight-hundred-meter race, so long ago. "Remember when you used to run down the road out there. You'd run forever. You'd run and run and run. You usually only returned when you were hungry, or you got scared about something at the end of the lake. Did you ever meet that old guy?"

"No. He was long gone by that time. Dad used to talk about how spooked he had been as a child, going down there. He warned me to stay away."

"Why?"

"The guy used to carry a rifle around. He shot it off one time. Dad said it wasn't aimed at him, at least he didn't think, but he never went near there again."

"Do you remember his name?"

He shook his head. "Quit stalling, Sam."

She set back his medal and walked across the room. It made her sad that he'd given up all his sports. Now he just worked … and worked … and worked. "Okay, here it is. I get the feeling that there's something weird happening out there." At Keegan's look of surprise that she hadn't shared that someone had tried to abduct her, she rushed on, hoping Kyle wouldn't notice or that Keegan wouldn't decide he needed to tell him.

"I noticed that the road you used to run on is now closed. Is there some development going on out there or something?"

"I haven't heard of anything. I don't think so." He stared off into space for a minute. "You know, at one time there was some talk of putting in a resort or something like that. Because the lake is shallow, they were going to dredge it and make it motorboat compatible. You'd have to ask Mom; she'd know for sure."

"I didn't think she was having anything to do with it."

"I think she should sell."

Her eyes widened. "You mean the cabin?"

"Yeah, she never does anything with it. Neither do any of us. So why keep it? She could get a fair price for it."

Sam's eyes narrowed. "You want her to sell the lake lot that has been in Dad's family for almost a hundred years." She almost winced at the guilt that slammed into her. There was a time she'd wanted her mom to sell too. But not now. "Are you nuts? Forget it. I'll stop it."

"Of course you will. It's always about you."

She blew out a heavy breath. "Look, I just need some answers about the lake. Anything else you can tell me?"

"There was a pact made by the original four families, who bought at the lake, that there had to be a majority vote for any of them to do any type of development or to sell."

"Really? So none of them could build big houses or garages even?"

Kyle shook his head. "Nope. That's why all of them are still the same. Or at least I'm assuming they are."

"They are. They're all identical inside and ou—" She realized what she'd just admitted to.

"How often do you go out there?"

"Not too often. Just sometimes when I want peace and quiet and somewhere to play."

He zeroed in on her. "Do you take DD there?"