The Secrets of Lake Road - Karen Katchur Page 0,50
a low, cool voice.
* * *
Eddie set two bottles of beer on the bar. “Don’t let the sheriff get to you. He’s just being a prick. He’s got a hard-on for Dee Dee, and he’s just making shit up to keep her happy.”
Jo nodded and reached for a beer. She was too shaken to talk, although she didn’t lie to the sheriff when she told him she didn’t know Billy had hurt his arm. But still, she had a sick feeling in her stomach because she knew how he might’ve hurt it.
Kevin kept his eyes on the bottle in front of him. His body was tense. “It doesn’t change anything,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Kevin sat at the bar the rest of the afternoon into early evening. He lost count of how many bottles of beer he’d had, but by the buzzing in his head and the slight sway of the room, it had been a lot. In the time it took to numb his brain, he convinced himself the fracture in the bone meant nothing. It could’ve happened in any number of ways.
Stimpy and his clowns had gone and come back, their search unsuccessful. They were settling in for the night. They whispered about picking up first thing in the morning. The sole watercraft left on the lake was the underwater recovery team, whittled down to three men, who were also packing it in now that the sun had set.
Jo had gotten off her stool and headed to the bathroom some time ago. She was in there forever or maybe she wasn’t. Time became a fuzzy thing. Earlier, after their run in with Sheriff Borg, she had grown increasingly quiet. She became distant, locked inside that place she went, shutting him out.
He turned to look at the bathroom door again. Maybe he should check on her. It seemed like a hard decision to make at the moment; he was unsure how it would play out. She might be appreciative for his concern or agitated with his smothering. He’d give her another five minutes.
Glass shattered behind the bar. Kevin came up out of his seat to find Eddie crouched over a broken mug. “You okay?” he asked.
Eddie waved him off. It was then Kevin noticed Sheila had walked inside with Nick, the drummer from one of the local bands. Heil must’ve hired them to play for the night.
“Hey, Kevin,” Sheila said, and kissed his cheek. She leaned over the bar. “Hey,” she said to Eddie, and reached for him. Eddie looked so damned happy, Kevin almost felt sorry for him, because he knew how Eddie felt. He knew how loving a woman could make you so happy one minute and then miserable the next.
The band carried in their equipment and began the process of setting up for the show. Kevin recognized one of the guys: Tony, the lead singer. He had been playing at the Pavilion for as long as Kevin could remember. In fact, when Kevin was playing guitar regularly, Tony used to let him play a song or two to warm up the crowd on the nights Eddie had worked as bar back.
Tony walked over to him, holding a guitar. He shook Kevin’s hand. “It’s been a long time. Do you still play?” he asked.
“Not much anymore,” Kevin said. He had tried to play in the months after Billy had drowned. He’d pick up a guitar, play a few chords, and end up putting the instrument down. At the time it had felt too hard, and he had wondered if he’d ever be able to play again.
Tonight Tony held out his guitar. “Warm us up,” he said.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Oh, come on, Kevin. What could it hurt?” Sheila nudged him. “Do it for old time’s sake.”
Maybe it was the alcohol that had loosened him and made him soft, but before he knew how it had happened, he was sitting on a stool on the small stage, tuning the acoustic guitar, warming up his rusty voice. He adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat. Here goes nothing.
He started to sing, and the music moved through him as it had in the past, the rhythm familiar and comforting. He moved back in time, swept further away with every pluck of the strings. The crowd, if you could call it a crowd, hushed and turned to listen. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the lyrics, singing an old Goo Goo Dolls song, “Iris,” the one song that reminded him of