Oh, sure, just give the Draytons a road map to Destiny while youre at it. And for what? A place in the corner of the town cemetery? A charity case funeral? The smallest stone they can get away with? She snorted. I'm fine here. Let them think we both got out.
"That's what I thought you'd want." I pushed to my feet. "I brought you something. No, don't worry, it's not flowers. I always wondered why we leave flowers, whether the person liked them or not. When my cousin died, I used to leave magazines at her grave. She loved magazines. Seventeen, Cosmo when she could sneak it past her mom... They made me stop leaving them, saying it was littering the cemetery, but I think they just figured it was kind of weird."
Huh, really? Go figure.
"Yes, 'normal' and I have never been on close terms, as you probably figured out long ago. But I did bring something for you."
I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the photo of Sammi and Destiny I'd taken from her room. I knelt and started laying it on the ground faceup, then turned it over, facing her, and put a stone on top. I stood and brushed off my jeans.
"So... I guess I just wanted to let you know how it all worked out."
Fine. Just don't expect me to say thank you.
I didn't.
Chapter Fifty-one
A week later, I was tearing across the south field on a newly repaired ATV. I'd never used the south field. The former owners had rented it to a misguided city transplant with dreams of organic tomatoes, who'd plowed the field only to learn that the soil wouldn't grow anything less hardy than potatoes.
When I'd moved in, I'd had dreams of a native wild life meadow, but without the time or funds to cultivate the field, I'd settled for the north meadow as my picnic spot, leaving this five-acre plot a rough and rutted field choked with saplings. For ATVs, though, it was perfect.
I was ripping around the corner, sailing over a hillock, when Jack waved me in. He'd come back from Detroit with me, but now, with one ATV running and the other almost there, I suspected he'd be on his way before the weekend crowds arrived.
I raced the ATV over the ruts, hitting the brakes a few feet from Jack, then veering fast when I realized it wouldn't stop in time... and he wasn't getting out of the way.
"I think the brakes need adjusting," I said as I got off.
"Think the driver needs to slow down."
I grinned as I pulled off my helmet. "Never."
He motioned for me to follow him back to the lodge.
"Did Quinn call?"
Another head shake. Quinn had left
that same evening we had to head home, but he was keeping an eye on the case, letting me know how it unfolded.
Jack had helped me cobble together a story to explain how my "quiet evening resting at a motel" left four people dead and me holding a flash drive full of case-breaking details. That had surprised me - Jack helping me square things with Quinn - but when I'd joked about it, he'd only shrugged it off. If Quinn suspected there was more to the story, he didn't press.
Before we'd parted, we'd made plans for a few days in Toronto or Montreal. No date set yet - weekends were out for me, and weekdays were tough for him - but we'd work something out. And if we couldn't do it in the next month, I was going to take the bigger plunge and invite him here for a weekend instead. No more stalling. I wanted this and I was going to make it happen.
Now if only I could take as decisive an action with the Evelyn question. That one I still hadn't decided yet, and time was running out.
"So what's up?" I asked.
"Someone to see you."
"Oh, shit." I raked my hand through my hair and whacked the dust from my jeans. "Do I look pre sentable?"
"Don't think she'll care."
I squinted against the midday sun, seeing two figures on the porch. But it was just Emma and Owen, watching us. Emma was smiling. Even Owen looked impatient, as if waiting for me to get there.
"Okay," I said. "Let me repeat. What's going on?"
Jack motioned me to the other side of the building, where he'd left my truck after a run into town. I noticed a tall, narrow cardboard box propped against the lodge wall.