The Secrets of Lake Road - Karen Katchur Page 0,91
on the beach, apparently drinking. It had been late at night under a full moon. After his friends had gone home, Billy must’ve gone swimming alone. No one had seen him after that night. He was reported missing the next day. Five days later they found his body near the floating pier in the middle of the lake. She didn’t bring up the recent discovery of his missing bones found by the recovery team while they were searching for Patricia’s daughter. The fact that they had found sixteen-year-old bones and not her little girl’s body was far from comforting.
Patricia listened quietly, her brow furrowed. “It doesn’t make sense. He was good in the water. He knew the lake better than anyone.”
Dee Dee snorted. “It never made sense to me, either. Kevin said he was the last one to see Billy. That he had left him alone on the beach, thinking he was going home too. But I think Kevin is covering up for somebody. I think Jo was on the beach with Billy and she was the last one to see him alive. I think she has something to do with him drowning.”
Patricia shook her head. “I don’t think Jo would’ve hurt Billy. She loved him.”
“Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. I don’t know and I don’t care. But what I do know is that she’s hiding something. She knows more about that night than she’s saying.”
“Was there an investigation?”
“They ruled it an accidental drowning even though he cracked his skull. And after lying on the bottom of the lake for five days, his body was torn apart by the snappers. They couldn’t find any evidence to prove otherwise.” Until they found the bones from his forearm, but again, it wasn’t the right time to share this information.
Patricia suddenly looked horrified.
Dee Dee realized the insensitivity of her comment, forgetting Patricia’s daughter hadn’t been found, and it was coming up on six days. “Pattie,” she said, and stopped. It was the harsh truth, and she wouldn’t apologize for it. Patricia needed to hear it, not only about Billy, but what to expect if there was anything left of her daughter to find. But she couldn’t bring herself to tell her that, and neither of them spoke for some time.
Patricia was the first to break the silence. “When did he drown?” she asked.
“You don’t know?”
“I only heard about it yesterday.”
“Jesus,” Dee Dee said, thinking after all this time. “July 1997,” she said.
She looked surprised. “But I was here that summer. How could I not have known about it?”
“It happened the same night your parents dragged you out of here. I was babysitting, and they stormed into the cabin, fighting. You left that morning, and I never heard from you again.”
“I remember,” she said. “It was awful. My parents fought so often that summer.” She covered her mouth and appeared to be thinking. After a few moments of silence she said, “And he drowned that same night?”
“Yes,” Dee Dee said.
Patricia disappeared inside her own thoughts once again. She shook her head. “No,” she said. “That’s not right. They weren’t on the beach.”
“What are you talking about?” Dee Dee clasped Patricia’s hand.
Patricia held on tight. “They’re lying.”
She looked into Patricia’s eyes. “What are you saying? Who is lying?”
“They are,” she said. “They weren’t on the beach. They were on the pier.”
“Who was on the pier?”
“I saw them.”
“Who?” Dee Dee asked. “Who did you see?”
“You know how you can see the pier when the moon is bright?” Patricia said.
“Yes.” It was true. You could see the floating pier clearly under the light of a full moon. “Who did you see on the pier that night?”
“Billy. He wasn’t on the beach.”
Dee Dee grabbed Patricia’s arms, wanting to shake her to get the answers out of her quicker. “Was anyone with him?”
Patricia flinched. “You’re hurting me.”
“Sorry,” she said, and patted Patricia’s arms where her hands had been. More gently, she asked, “Was anyone else on the pier with him?”
“Jo.”
“I knew it,” she said. “I knew she was lying.” She stood, knocking the chair over. “That bitch.” She turned toward the counter, not sure what to do with the new information. Jo wasn’t on the beach after all. She was on the pier with Billy, right where his body had been found. “And you’re certain it was Jo?” She had to ask one more time. It’s not like Patricia was of sound state of mind, going through her own personal hell.