Page 31 of Lake Hollow Curses

So much has changed. He’s gone from the first person I felt I could lean on in my life, to the person I need to get away from.

It’s ripping my heart out.

“Come back to my place with me? We can finish that trashy show, get wings, and have some fun in the hammock?” His half smile and wink only make me question myself. But how? How is he the monster?

Don’t be naive, Rem. Jeezus, get a grip.

“I shouldn’t. I need to get sleep.” I’ve never said no to him.

His face falls as he reaches a hand out to me. “Honey, I may be emotionally stunted but there is clearly something going on between us. Please tell me what’s going on.”

Like a reminder, not that I needed one, a yard sign is stuck in the grass only a foot from us. My gaze locks on the pictures of the victims. Cal notices what has my attention. “They put those everywhere.”

“It must be hard to see Sara on those.” There isn’t a way to take that back, I just blurted it out. “You don’t like talking about the past, being reminded must be… must be difficult.”

“It won’t do any good. The signs, digging up the past.”

“Why is that?” I just need to get back to the cabin, dusk is fast becoming pitch black. The fact I’m not willing to be alone with him under the cover of night anymore is hard to reconcile.

He shrugs, rubbing his thumb over his bottom lip. “It doesn’t matter.” He tries to get me to take his hand again. “Come with me?”

“I-I-”

Like a savior in a dented silver Prius, Grady pulls up next to us. His timing is impeccable.

“Hop in… both of you. I think we all need to talk.”

Any other time I’d balk at getting inside that rattle trap or most vehicles, but the alternative is standing here floundering to come up with a good exit.

Cal agrees to follow in his truck. The look of longing on his face as I pull open the passenger door of Grady’s borrowed car makes me feel rotten. Just another degree of despair.

Grady texts Wilder and Charlie to meet us at his cabin. I can’t have everything talked about in front of Cal, no one else knows about the pages or about the picture. What the hell do I do? Pacing back and forth in Grady’s dimly lit cabin kitchen, Cal keeps trying to catch my eye.

“They should be here in a few minutes.” Grady pockets his phone. “It’s high time that we discuss everything.”

No, no, no. I don’t allow myself time to second guess it, I grab Cal’s hand and tug him into the bathroom. There is no resistance, but Grady’s confusion causes me to call out, “Just give us a minute.”

Cal asks, “Are you finally going to tell me?”

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and ask him, as level toned as I can, “Why would you have a picture of a drowning girl in your shorts pocket?”

I open one eye, to see him gaping at me with his mouth wide open. “In my… wait, what the fuck.” He steps back from me. “Oh my God.” He shakes his head at me. “You found that when you put the note in my pocket, didn’t you? I was doing the morning walk through at the Funpark and found it stuck under something, I was going to throw it away, but I forgot to.”

My heart slows as I realize that all I ever needed to do was ask. But there’s still the fear over the letter, over the pages of Katie’s journal. Then his face contorts as he realizes that I was suspecting him of being involved in the drownings. “You… you thought I might be responsible…”

I’m not totally convinced he wasn’t, but his explanation of the picture gives me enough to tip the scales towards innocent. “It didn’t look good, you have to admit that.”

“The only thing I’m guilty of is not staying on top of my laundry or throwing that damn picture away.” His eyes are sad as he slumps back against the wall of the small bathroom. “I thought we were past the point in our relationship where we kept things from each other. Why couldn’t you just ask me about it?”

Something tells me all our relationships are about to be tested when we tell each other what we know or believe. Grady seemed intent on getting it all out in the open, but this could be the worst idea. What if this shows our hands to the killer?

Stop. I need to stop being so freaking paranoid. I know these four. I can trust them.

“I’m sorry. I am, but…” Rubbing his arm, I continue, “My default is to shut down. Trusting anyone other than myself is hard sometimes.”

When we return to the living room area of the cabin, Grady, Wilder, and Charlie are in the middle of a debate. “Dumb as hell. You can’t just do that,” Grady finishes saying.

Turning to us, Wilder says, “Grady thinks we need to share with one another all the information we have about the drownings. I don’t necessarily agree that it’s wise, but.” He gives him an irritated look while his face twists. “The time for secrets is over.”

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