The Secrets of Lake Road - Karen Katchur Page 0,23

thought she might scream.

CHAPTER NINE

Jo walked through the colony, checking her phone every few minutes, searching for a signal. Slivers of moonlight sliced through branches of trees, lighting bits and pieces of the dirt road. She sidestepped potholes, the ones she could see, and kept walking.

The colony consisted of roughly thirty cabins. Most were named after birds that populated the area—Wren, Sparrow, Meadowlark. Gram caused a commotion with the lake association when she named her cabin, The Pop-Inn. Heil and a few other cabin owners claimed she had broken tradition and interfered with the continuity of the summer rental properties. Gram argued that she owned the cabin and could name it as she pleased.

Besides, Gram enjoyed the play on words—“popinjay” named after the bird, although not a local bird, “pop-in” visitors coming and going as they wished, and her favorite, “Pop’s” Inn, the idea that amused Pop immensely. But the most compelling reason Gram fought hard to name the cabin The Pop-Inn was to piss off Heil and let him know she couldn’t be controlled the way he manipulated the other members of the lake association, the community, and even the sheriff.

Gram had gotten her way.

Jo continued walking and searching for a signal, her thoughts on Caroline, regretting rushing out on her when Gram had walked into the kitchen. But Jo had found herself shying away from Caroline. Sometimes the way her daughter looked at her made her uncomfortable. It was as though her daughter could see through her, as though she could see straight through to Jo’s own guilty heart.

She kept moving, not having any luck getting a signal in the colony, so she decided to walk down by the lake. Across the parking lot, the first floor of the Pavilion was dark, but the second floor bar was lit up. Voices were hushed. Under the circumstances, it was a slow night for Eddie. Heil must be losing a whole lot of money. She checked her phone again and finally had a connection.

“Hello, Rose,” she said. “Sorry to call so late, but something’s come up and I’m going to need a couple days off.”

“Oh no, you need to give me more notice. Who am I supposed to get to cover for you this late?”

“I know. But this is important.” It’s Billy. They may have found his bones. But she couldn’t say this so instead she said, “My mother needs my help.”

Rose continued as if Jo hadn’t spoken. “I’ve got a full workload. People want to come home from their vacations to a clean house. And I’m already down two maids this week.”

“I wouldn’t normally ask.”

“Then don’t.” Rose was a fair boss, but she demanded a minimum of two weeks notice if you needed time off.

“But I only need a few days,” she said. “Can’t you make an exception this one time?”

“If I make an exception for you, then everyone else will expect the same kind of treatment.”

“I understand. I do. But just this one time. I swear, I won’t do it again. Rose?”

The other end was silent.

“Hello? Rose?” She shook her phone. “Can you hear me? Rose?”

The line was dead.

It wasn’t as though she liked cleaning houses—hers or other peoples’. Far from it. It was mindless, unrewarding, and more often than not, disgusting. But it was a job, and no one could fault her for that, not even Gram. She looked at her phone. She held it in front of her and continued walking, searching once again for a signal.

She wound her way around the dock, passing the fishing boats tied and tucked for the night. She was coming up on Hawkes’ cabin, Billy’s cabin, spelled after his last name rather than the bird, but it played into the theme of the other cabins just the same.

The closer she got to his place, the stronger the feeling in her gut told her to turn around. She shouldn’t be seen near his home. It was a stupid risk. But she was always drawn to do the very thing she shouldn’t, powerless to stop herself. Besides, the cabin was dark, and it appeared as though no one were home. Otherwise, she would’ve kept moving. But she allowed herself to linger and gaze at the place she had once known so well. It had been years since she had seen it. Even in the shadows, it looked taken care of, recently sided, a sign the Hawkes lived here year-round.

She took a small step forward.

There were countless times when she had scrambled up