"Their word against his?"
Carl nodded. “Something like that."
The vision of changing the resort's name back to its original name brought a smile to Carl. Swanson's Resort had a nice flair. His smile was short-lived when he pictured the Witt sisters’ mother wrapping his grandfather around her little finger with sexual favors. His poor, pitiful grandfather. No one would ever know what guiles the whore had used to seduce him. Carl spent a lot of time imagining what his grandfather had endured.
Carl scanned Paul's profile as his friend stared vacantly out the window and drummed his thumb against the desk. Carl had learned to tolerate Paul's mood swings and knew when to keep his mouth shut. Paul's business partner had been buried earlier in the day. Paul had served as one of the pallbearers.
The funeral for all three members of the Fossum family was the largest funeral in Pinecone Landing in over a decade and was held in the high school gymnasium to accommodate the massive crowd. The school's parking lot filled to capacity. Carl and several deputies had directed traffic to an outer lot behind the school's property to handle the overflow.
Paul's secretary rapped lightly on the door and reminded him she was leaving early for an appointment. “You sure you're going to be okay?” she inquired, poking her head through the opening.
"I'm fine. Thanks for covering for me this morning.” As she lingered in the doorway, Paul shooed her away with a flick of his fingers.
"I put a couple messages in your mail slot. One's from an out-of-state client who hadn't heard about Richard's death.” Her voice trailing off down the hall, she added, “See you in the morning.” A click of the latch signaled she had left the building.
Staring into his lap, Paul sighed. “That was really gruesome."
"The funeral?"
An annoyed glare darkened Paul's expression. “What else would I be talking about?"
"The accident?"
Spreading his hands as if to explain what should have been apparent, Paul said, “I wasn't there. How could I talk about the accident?"
"Well I was there. And believe me, it was gruesome. I'll never forget it. I've seen some pretty bad wrecks, but this was by far the worst.” Carl removed his cap and rested his head against the back of the sofa. “Dispatch got the call from a guy who came upon the accident. Angie couldn't locate anyone to take the call, so I took it."
Paul swiveled his chair and stared out the window.
"The first thing I saw was Richard impaled on that fence post. It had gone clean through his gut. Then I saw his wife. Her head went through the windshield and I'm guessing she died on impact."
Carl could see Paul's head over the back of the leather chair rotating back and forth. He waited for Paul to comment. Getting no reaction, Carl said, “When I opened the back door, I found their kid leaning against the seat with his eyes open. It looked like he was looking at his dad. There wasn't a scratch on him. I took his earphones out of his ears and tried to get him to talk before I realized he was dead."
Paul swiveled back toward Carl. “What did you find at the scene?"
"I'm guessing he swerved to avoid a deer. You know how many deer wander in and out of that area.” Carl breathed deeply trying to erase the memories. “The sheriff agreed. He didn't see any reason to investigate further."
Carl raised his eyes to meet Paul's gaze. “Has Lon talked to you?"
"About what?"
"About the fact that it might not be an accident."
"No. But I thought you told him to drop that idea.” Agitation tinged Paul's voice.
"I did. I just wondered if you heard any more about it. Lon's as crazy as Nan 's ex-husband. You can sure tell they're related."
"Lon has no right to spread rumors,” Paul scowled. “Who else has he told?"
"No one, as far as I know."
"I'm counting on you to put a stop to it, Carl. Losing my partner is more than I can handle."
Paul drummed his fingers on the desk. “What about the car? What about Richard's belongings? He'd been in the office earlier that day and I wonder if he had any business papers with him."
"It was the usual stuff. I saw a purse and a shopping bag on the floor next to Richard's wife. The kid must have been at a movie, because there was popcorn all over the back seat.” Carl shifted in place before adding, “I think one of the deputies pulled a briefcase from under the front seat."
"Where is it?"
"Richard's sister has it. I sent all that stuff with her."
"Is Richard's sister staying at the Fossums’ house?” Paul said. “I need to go through his briefcase to see if there's anything I need to take care of."
"She'll be out of town for at least a week. Then she'll be back to finalize their affairs. She left right after the funeral."
The phone rang and Carl watched Paul put the receiver to his ear.
Paul swiveled the desk chair placing a barrier between the two men. He stared out the window. “It was devastating, wasn't it? It took a lot out of me, too.” Listening before he answered, Paul said, “I'm okay. You don't need to worry.” He shifted the receiver as his thumb drummed against the armrest. “I understand. You get a good night's sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."
" Nan?"
"Yeah,” Paul said quietly. “She's too tired to see me. The funeral took a lot out of her and she wants to be with Aanders tonight."
"She shouldn't work so hard. She needs to quit taking care of everything by herself.” Carl sneered as he added, “That old runt she hired can't be much help. Speaking of Nan,” Carl said sitting forward, “you still interested in buying the mortuary land when I win the lawsuit?"
"Of course. We'll need to form another partnership as soon as that happens."
"I don't think so.” Noticing a slight lilt in Paul's voice, Carl realized the man appreciated the change of topic. “We never did anything with the old partnership, and if all goes well, I might not need your money."
"Or you might. I've got a few marketing ideas. That place could be a goldmine if you promoted it."
"I offered you the land outright. We don't need a partnership for that,” Carl said.
"I don't plan to form a partnership for that. We already have a deal in writing for the land the mortuary sits on. I intend to see you keep your end of the bargain. Just as soon as the judge declares you the new owner, that property is mine."
Carl pushed against his knees for leverage and stood up. “There's got to be other land out there. Why waste good lake-front property on a mortuary?"
Carl put his hand on the doorknob. “What I don't understand is why you're using that land to get Nan to marry you. You've got all those other women hot on your trail. Why give everything up to get married?"
"It's part of the game. I'm like you, Carl. I always get what I want.” Paul rose and joined Carl. “What makes you think I intend to give anything up? After you evict the Witt sisters and Nan finds out I bought the mortuary land, she'll fall into my sweet little trap."
" Nan 's not an idiot. She'll catch on eventually."
"That'll take a few years. And then I might be the one needing fresh air. At that point, I'll make sure she wants out as much as me.” Paul's smile carried an edge of deceit.
13
When crossers arrived at Cabin 14, they possessed a state of strength to help them through their thirty-day journey. It was to their benefit to make their declaration early, because their strength dwindled with each passing day. A crosser became a crosser lost if they were unable to cross back over through someone else's light. Crossers lost faded into oblivion. Rodney's lack of interest in his thirty-day time span concerned Sadie. He obviously had no intention of making a declaration.
As the crossers gathered around the kitchen table for their nightly round table session, Sadie noticed Rodney plop down on the recliner and grab the remote control. He aimed and clicked, paging from channel to channel with rapid progression.