Page 134 of This Heart Of Mine (Chicago Stars 5)

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 ‘preciate it. You’re all right.”

She slowly released the breath she’d been holding. “You, too, Eddie. You, too.”

---