Fumes came off him as he stirred. Someone this gross shouldn't be allowed in Nightingale Woods. "Yeah… yeah?" He wedged open his eyes. "Whatzu…"
"It's Molly," she whispered. "Kevin's estranged wife. I need to talk to you."
"Whadya… whatzabout?"
"About the fishing camp. It's very important."
He started to lever himself up, then fell back into the pillow.
"I wouldn't bother you if it weren't important. I'll just step outside while you put some clothes on. Oh, and you don't need to wake Larry."
"Do we hafta talk now?"
"I'm afraid so. Unless you want to make a terrible mistake." She hurried from the room, hoping he'd get up.
A few minutes later he stumbled out the front door. She put her fingers to her lips and gestured for him to follow. Sweeping her flashlight across the ground, she cut across the edge of the Common, then headed back toward Lilies of the Field. Before she got there, however, she turned into the woods and headed toward the lake.
The wind had picked up. She felt a storm brewing and hoped it didn't hit until she was done with this. He loomed next to her, a big, hulking shape.
"What's going on?"
"There's something you need to see."
"Couldn't I see it in the morning?"
"That'll be too late."
He swiped at a branch. "Shit. Does Kev know about this?"
"Kev doesn't want to know."
He stopped walking. "What do you mean by that?"
She kept her flashlight pointed at the ground. "I mean that he's not deliberately deceiving you. He's just ignored some things."
"Deceiving me? What the hell're you talking about?"
"I know you thought I was being silly today at lunch, but I was hoping you'd listen to me. Then we could have avoided this." She started walking again.
"Avoided what? You'd better tell me what's going on here, lady."
"I'll show you instead."
Eddie stumbled a few more times before they finally reached the water. The trees whipped in the wind, and she braced herself. "I hate being the one who has to show you this, but there's a… problem with the lake."
"What kind of problem?"
She slowly swept the flashlight beam along the edge of the water, just where it lapped the shore, until she found what she was looking for.
Dead fish floating in the water.
"What the hell…?"
She played the light over the silver bellies of the fish before turning the beam back onto the bank. "Eddie, I'm so sorry. I know you have your heart set on a fishing camp, but the fish in this lake are dying."
"Dying?"
"We have an environmental disaster going on. Toxins are leaking into the water from a secret underground chemical dump. It'll cost millions to fix the problem, and the town doesn't have the money. Since the local economy depends on tourists, there's a big cover-up going on, and no one will publicly admit there's a problem."
"Fuck." He grabbed the flashlight and shone it back on the floating fish. Then he snapped it off. "I can't believe Kev would do this to me!"
This was the most glaring loophole in her plan, and she tried to overcome it with dramatic presentation. "He's in denial, Eddie. Terrible, terrible denial. This was his childhood home, his last link with his parents, and he simply can't face the fact that the lake is dying, so he's convinced himself it isn't happening."
"How does he explain the damn dead fish!"
A very good question, and she gave it her best shot. "He stays away from the water. It's so sad. His denial is so deep that-" She gripped his arm and went into full Susan Lucci. "Oh, Eddie, I know it's not fair to ask you to do this, but do you think…? Could you just tell him you've changed your mind and not confront him about this? I swear he wasn't deliberately trying to deceive you, and it'll tear him apart if he thinks he's destroyed your friendship."
"Yeah, well, I'd say he has."
"He's not well, Eddie. It's a mental problem. As soon as we get back to Chicago, I'll make sure he gets psychotherapy."
"Shit." He sucked in his breath. "This is gonna blow the hell out of his passing game."
"I'll find a sports psychotherapist."
Eddie wasn't a complete fool, and he asked her about the underground dump. She expanded her story to include as many buzz words from Erin Brockovich as she could still remember and made up the rest. When she was done, she dug her fingernails into her palms and waited.
"You sure about all this?" he finally said.
"I wish I weren't."
He shuffled his feet and sighed. "Thanks, Maggie. I 'predate it. You're all right."
She slowly released the breath she'd been holding. "You, too, Eddie. You, too."
The storm hit just after Molly collapsed in bed, but she was so tired she barely heard it. It wasn't until the next morning when a series of thuds on the front steps awakened her that she forced open her eyes. She blinked and looked at her clock. It was after nine! She'd forgotten to set her alarm, and no one had awakened her. Who'd fixed breakfast?
"Molly!"
Uh-oh…
Roo scampered into the room, and then Kevin appeared looking like a gorgeous storm cloud. So much for hoping the loopholes in her plan wouldn't come back to haunt her. Eddie must have confronted Kevin after all, and now there was going to be hell to pay.
She sat up in bed. Maybe she could distract him. "Just let me brush my teeth, soldier boy, and then I'll take you to paradise."
"Molly…" His voice sounded a low warning note, the same note she'd heard on Nick at Nite when Desi confronted Lucy. Molly had some 'splainin' to do.
"I have to pee!" She jumped up, flew past him to the bathroom, and shut the door.
The flat of his hand smacked the panel. "Come out here!"
"In a minute. Did you want something?"
"Yeah, I want something, all right. I want an explanation!"
"Oh?" She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the worst.
"I want you to explain why there's a frickin' tuna in my lake!"
Chapter 23
It's true. Guys don't think the same way girls do, and this can lead to trouble. "When Guys Won't Listen" for Chik
Oh, boy… Molly stalled as long as she could-brushing her teeth, splashing water on her face, straightening her tank top, and retying the drawstring on her pajama bottoms. She half expected him to charge in after her, but apparently he didn't see the need, since the window had been painted shut and the only other way out was through him.
A bath was too much to hope for. Besides, it was way past time to face the music. She'd edged open the door and saw him leaning against the opposite wall ready to pounce. "Uh… what were you saying?"
He carved out the words with his teeth. "Would you care to explain why, when I walked down to the beach after breakfast this morning, I found a dead tuna floating in the lake?"
"A change in fish migration patterns?"
He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the front room. Another bad sign. At least in the bedroom she'd have had a fighting chance.
"I seriously doubt that migration patterns are going to change enough for a saltwater fish to end up in a freshwater lake!" He pushed her down onto the couch.
She should have gone back to the lake last night and fished out the fish, but she'd assumed they'd stay where they were until they sank. They probably would have if it hadn't been for the storm.
Okay, enough messing around. Time for some righteous indignation. "Really, Kevin, just because I happen to be brighter than you doesn't mean I know everything about fish."
Probably not her best strategy, because his words bristled with splinters. "Are you going to look me in the eye and tell me you don't know anything about how a tuna got in that lake?"
"Well…"
"Or that you don't know why Eddie Dillard came up to me this morning and told me he wasn't going to buy the campground after all?"