smelled the tobacco and cheap after-shave.
“I’ll tell you this much, Mr. Lambert. Maybe you and your wife made this whole thing up; maybe you didn’t. I can’t be sure. Maybe it’s something you city folks like to do to entertain yourselves way out here in the sticks with us ignorant country folk…”
Oh we’re going there again, are we? Patrick thought.
“But what I can tell you, Mr. Lambert, is that us country folk have jail cells that are just as uncomfortable as the ones you got in that big city of yours, and you’re about one more wrong word away from finding yourself spending the night there instead of headin’ on home with your wife and kids.”
Patrick stayed quiet. He was angry but not stupid. The sheriff continued.
“Now, my suggestion is to go back inside, pack your things, and wait for Norm to come back with your kids. Once that’s done, I suggest you do exactly as you said, and get the fuck out of here.”
Patrick took a step back and swallowed his rage. He waited until the sheriff had walked back to his cruiser, out of earshot, before saying, “You got it, dickhead.”
He guided Amy through the front door then slammed it.
31
“Where are they, Lorraine?” Amy asked.
All three sat around Lorraine’s kitchen table, each with a mug of tea.
“They should be back soon. Like I said, the ice cream parlor is a bit out of the way. That’s why I wanted Norm to drop me at home first.”
“And he’s got no cell phone?” Patrick said.
Lorraine gave an apologetic shake of the head. “Sorry. We may be the only couple on the East Coast now without one.”
“Fuck,” Patrick said, to which he immediately followed with: “Sorry.”
“That’s okay, Patrick,” Lorraine said. “Given the circumstances, I would say ‘fuck’ sums things up rather well.”
Patrick forced a quick smile.
Lorraine sipped her tea and added, “To tell the truth, I’m more than a little unsettled myself. The thought of having horrible men like that roaming around our community isn’t sitting too well with me. Perhaps Norm and I will leave with you tonight—stay away from the lake for awhile until those men are put in jail.”
Patrick nodded hard. “Not a bad idea at all, Lorraine. Although I wouldn’t hold my breath about those men being put in jail. That sheriff is about as useful as a mesh condom.”
“I’ll tell you what’s strange,” Lorraine said. “I’m nearly certain I saw the Blockers only a couple of days ago.”
“What do you mean?” Patrick asked.
Lorraine’s face scrunched with uncertainty. “I thought I spotted them taking a stroll around the lake. They were a good distance away, but if I had to bet, I’d say it was Maury and Lois.”
“And when was this?” Patrick asked.
“The day before you arrived maybe?”
“Is it possible they’ve since packed up and headed back for the winter?”
“It’s possible…” Lorraine began tracing a finger along the rim of her teacup, her mind elsewhere.
Amy asked her, “What is it?”
Lorraine’s eyes flicked up from their trance. “Just remembering something.” Her brow furrowed as she tried recalling events. “I can remember driving back here with Norm a few years ago, a couple of days before Thanksgiving. I’d forgotten a picture album we were planning to show the family. Took me all summer to put the darn thing together and I went and forgot it.” She paused, the furrow in her brow etching deeper, the culprit now mystery instead of recollection. “But the Blockers were still here; they hadn’t left yet. I distinctly remember Norm making mention of it now. He’d said he’d spotted them on their front porch. He wondered if they’d chosen to stay put for the holidays that year.”
Patrick and Amy said nothing, their silence prompting Lorraine to elaborate.
“Some folks around here do that. They’re year-rounders. They don’t mind the cold.”
Patrick went to speak, but as if reading his mind, Lorraine spoke and answered his question. “Except the Blockers aren’t year-rounders. They do leave for the winter season. I know that for a fact. I guess that year Norm spotted them they’d gotten a late start, or, as Norm wondered, they decided to stay put for the holidays.” She shrugged. “Maybe they had family coming to see them. Had their holiday at the cabin.”
Patrick stood from the kitchen table and began to pace. “Okay then, having said that, what are all the possibilities we’re looking at here? I mean, to be brutally honest, I only see two. Either that douche bag sheriff was right and the