Page 71 of Love Me Fearless

She groans, and I feel like crowing from the roof.

“I take it that’s a yes?”

“We’ll see.”

The Knotty Pineis at the south end of town a few blocks off Main Street. It’s dark inside, with knotted wood paneling on the walls that display trophy shots of handsome rainbow trout, making the place feel like a cozy fishing lodge. Rock music thumps low from overhead speakers, barely audible over the din of laughter and conversations and the crack of billiard balls from the back tables.

Zach is already at the bar, his hair still wet, as if he showered right before heading here. I drop onto the stool next to him just as the bartender brings a beer in an iced pint glass.

He turns to me, and I point at Zach’s beer. “I’ll have one of those.”

With a nod, he spins away.

“Man, I haven’t been here in ages.” At a slow scan of the walls, I’m not surprised to see faces I recognize. My high school English teacher. My old boss from my first-ever job. Ava’s dad is in several, his dark eyes twinkling. I wonder if he ever smiles like that around people, or if he reserves that side of himself for fish.

The bartender delivers my beer. I nod in thanks.

Zach and I tap rims and I take a long swallow. The beer is ice cold and the bitter hops zing across my tongue. “I heard Marin’s service was today.”

“Yeah. Everett and I were there.” Zach drags his thumb down hisglass, making a long stripe in the condensation. “You guys were friends in high school, right?”

“Yeah. He’s a super good guy. An amazing dad, too.”

Zach nods. “And a wicked smart interrogator. I’m learning a lot from him.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” I say. “Do you think it’s possible that Marin’s killer attended her funeral?”

Zach sips from his beer. “We’re certainly cross-checking that guest list.”

“I saw Troy today.” I spin my beer on the coaster while filling Zach in on my conversation with the troubled kid.

“I hate that he feels responsible,” Zach says with a grimace when I finish. “Marin was keeping secrets from him and everyone around her. Why?”

“Maybe the creep told her she had to.”

“Like he was manipulative.” Zach shakes his head. “I lost a friend when I was their age. A predator lured her into a trap, and she paid for it with her life.”

“That sounds awful. I’m sorry.”

“I wish there was some way to better protect our most vulnerable. Kids like Marin, and my friend Terrilynn, and…looks like maybe the person you found yesterday.”

I give him a tense glance. “You got an ID?”

He uses his peripheral vision to check either side of us, like he’s afraid someone’s listening in.

“Let’s go out back,” he says.

We migrate past the two rowdy games of pool and push through the back door.

Outside, the evening air feels thick and still, like the dusk is a weighted blanket. Beyond the empty wood patio, a rectangular sandpit set up for horseshoes I remember is carved into the thick grass.

I step off the porch and pick up the two blue horseshoes. “Added challenge. You can’t set down your beer.”

“I like it,” Zach says with a grin.

I toss my first shoe but I’m rusty, and it taps the stake and bounces out of points range. My second toss lands just short but good enough for one point.

Zach takes his turn, not landing either shoe anywhere near the stake.

---