She frowned when I was finished. “I know those two boneheads. Annoying, but harmless. Nonetheless, they shouldn't have been there. You see them again, feel free to call me or the police. Wouldn't be the first time they've been called to pick those two up.”
“They hang out here?”
“No, not here,” she said, shaking her head. “Harvey would chase them away. But we'd see them in town, just hanging around, doing nothing. Pretty sure the local police are on a first name basis with them.” Her eyes fluttered again. “No, Harvey wouldn't let them stick around here. He took care of that kind of stuff.”
Her gaze moved back to the window and she let out another sigh. This one sounded more like a sob. “All that kind of stuff.”
FOURTEEN
Wayne Hackerman was staring me down.
I'd said goodbye to Delilah and started back up the hill toward the cabin. I had my head down, lost in thought, thinking about my conversation with her. I heard footsteps at the top of the hill and looked up. Hackerman was there, shuffling his way directly toward me.
“Delilah down there?” he growled as he reached me.
I hadn't intended to say anything to him, just hoped to pass by him in silence. “Yes. She's in her office.”
“Good,” he said. He adjusted his sunglasses. “Need to file a formal complaint with her about your husband assaulting me.”
“You know she's not the police, right?”
“Oh, I'll be talking to them, too, little lady,” he told me emphatically. “I got plenty to say to them. Don't you worry.”
I brushed past him. “Well, make sure you let them know that there are lots of people who saw you grab Jake first. Don't forget that part.”
He grunted and halted to a stop. “I think a lotta people need to get their eyes fixed, little lady.”
Every time he said little lady, it was like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. I knew Jake had been forced into the altercation with Hackerman, but I wouldn't have blamed him if he'd swung first. Because Hackerman's big mouth was pretty impossible to ignore.
“I also plan to tell them that his little wife would do just about anything to win the medallion hunt,” he said.
I stopped and turned to face him. “What?”
His mouth twisted into a smug smile. “You heard me.”
“Yeah, but it didn't make any sense.”
“Yeah, it did,” he said. His grin widened, his coffee-stained teeth yellow in contrast to his semi-tanned skin. “Made sense to me.”
“Explain it to me then.”
He pulled a roll of mints from his pocket and popped one in his mouth. He sucked on it. “You wanted that medallion.”
I shrugged. “So?”
“So I think you would've done anything to get it,” he said. He leaned closer to me. “Anything.”
“I just followed the clues,” I said, leaning back from his breath, which smelled like mint and cheap beer. I wondered if he'd knocked back one already that morning or if he simply sucked on mints instead of brushing his teeth. “It actually wasn't that hard. I was kind of surprised you hadn't found it sooner. I mean, being the defending champion and all. For the last two years or whatever.”
“Six!” he snapped. “Last six years!”
I knew that. I'd just wanted to see him freak out a little. And it was a pleasure to watch.
He crunched the mint between his teeth. “Yeah, well, I don't know. I'm having a hard believing you just followed the clues to find it. I smell something rotten.”
I sniffed. “Maybe you need a shower.”
“Ha. Pretty funny, little lady. But I think you know what I mean. I think you took matters into your own hands.”
My head was starting to hurt. “What exactly are you talking about?”
“You found the medallion,” he said. “And you found Harvey. Seems a bit too coincidental to me.”
“The medallion was on Harvey. It was sort of hard to not find both.”
He smiled. “Huh. Maybe you tried to blackmail Harvey into telling you where it was and things went awry.”
“Things went awry?” I asked, hardly believing what he was suggesting. “What are you talking about?”
“Yeah. Awry,” he repeated. Askew. Wrong.”
“I know what the word means,” I said, irritated. “But we never even met Harvey.”
“So you say.”
“Because it's the truth.”
“So you say,” he repeated, staring down at me through his sunglasses.
I hated that he was getting to me, but he was. It was like his insanity was contagious and he was spreading it all over me. It was making me ill. And angry.
“The only reason I wanted that medallion was to beat you,” I said, pointing at him. “Because you're an obnoxious pig. We never met Harvey and we certainly wouldn't have hurt him over a stupid camp medallion.”
He grinned again, like an ugly fox. “Didn't seem like a stupid medallion yesterday.”
I started to scream something at him, but caught myself. I wasn't going to let him upset me any more than he already had. No way was I going to let a guy like Wayne Hackerman get the better of me. Call it competitive instincts or call it human pride, but I was going to do my best to be the bigger person in this situation.
“I think the only person who really cared about that medallion was you,” I said calmly. “What with your winning streak and all. So if anyone had a reason to blackmail Harvey for the location—because they couldn't figure out the simple clues—it was you.” I frowned. “Maybe I need to share that with the sheriff.”
His grin dissolved and his mouth dropped open.
“And maybe you attacked my husband last night because you were afraid he knew something,” I continued, just trying to think of the most inane things I could say to him. “Maybe you panicked and thought the gig was up and that's why you went after him.” I paused. “Gosh, I need to get back to my cabin so I can call the sheriff and share my thoughts with him.”
His fat cheeks glowed pink. “That's absurd! And your husband didn't see nothing. There was nothing to see.” His confidence was completely shattered. “You weren't even here the last time I saw Harvey!”
“Whatever,” I said, satisfied I had the upper hand. “I think I'll still share my thoughts with the sheriff.” I waved a hand at him. “See you later.”
I started walking away, then stopped. “And Wayne?”
“What?” he growled.
“Tell your wife and her boobs to stay away from my husband,” I said. “She ogles him one more time and I'll tear her tube top off and shove it down her throat.”
So much for being the bigger person.
FIFTEEN
Jake and I tried to remove ourselves from the crazy for a little while.
He was up when I got back to the cabin and, after I filled him in on my conversation with Delilah, we put on our swimsuits and spent the better part of the morning and afternoon lying around the pool, reading and talking. We were both keenly aware of the sheriff's vehicles coming and going on the trail, but we did our best to ignore them and concentrate on one another. We talked about what we were reading and the news and anything else that came to mind. I'd even managed a call to the kids and Jake hadn't frowned or reprimanded me. Instead, he'd waited impatiently for his chance to talk to each of them, teasing and joking separately with all four.
“Thought we shouldn't be focused on the kids,” I said lightly after hanging up.
“We shouldn't be,” he said. “But that doesn't mean we should ignore them, either.”
I chuckled and picked up my book.
“I can't believe Grace sprained her ankle,” he said, shaking his head. “You think she's okay, right?”
“It's the fourth time she's done it,” I reminded him. “She'll be fine.”
“And Emily? She said she might be going to a bonfire tomorrow night. I think there might be boys there.”
“I would hope there'd be boys there.”