Dark Realms (10 page)

I let out a long sigh and stood up. I lifted
the white beach dress over my head and dove into the cool
water.

“See,” said Nathan when I popped my head
back out. “It’s not so bad.”

I wiped some water away from my eyes and
smiled. “Yeah, I guess not.” It also didn’t hurt that we were on
the other side of the lake from where the girl had been found. For
some reason, that comforted me quite a bit.

A small fishing boat was trolling towards us
and I strained to see who was driving it, half expecting the
sheriff who’d been making eyes at my mom earlier. Even today in her
bikini, she’d caught the attention of a couple fishermen we’d
passed by on the lake. Heck, I couldn’t deny the fact that she
looked pretty fit for someone reaching forty.

“Hey,” shouted Nathan at the young man who
stopped his boat next to ours. “How’s it going?”

The dark-haired guy looked about our age,
maybe a little older. He was wearing black sunglasses and
blue-and-white striped swim trunks. “Pretty good. Nice boat!” he
hollered back.

Nathan smiled. “It’s not ours, but
thanks.”

The stranger removed his sunglasses and
returned the smile. “I’m Duncan. You guys vacationing out
here?”

“No,” answered mom. “We’re renting a cabin
on the other side of the lake.”

He nodded. “There are more than enough
cabins available on this lake, that’s for sure.”

“Really? Why is that?” I asked.

He stared at me for a minute and then said,
“I just meant that some of these cabins are only seasonal homes, so
many of the owners rent them out during the year when they’re not
in use.”

“Oh,” I replied.

“I’m Anne, but the way,” said mom. “And
those two in the water are Nikki and Nathan.”

“Nice meeting you all.”

“You too,” replied Nathan.

“
Do you live on the lake
then, Duncan?” she asked.

He nodded. “I live with my dad on the north
side of the lake. He owns the boat repair shop over there, and our
place is right next to it.”

“Cool,” said Nathan. “I suppose you get to
see a lot of nice boats coming through there.”

“
Definitely, my dad’s is
the only repair shop nearby, so he’s pretty busy, even with my
help. Because the lake is so big and there’s money on it, we
definitely get some nice little yachts coming in for
repairs.”

I swam back over to our boat and climbed up
the steps while Nathan and Duncan continued talking boats. As mom
handed me a towel, I noticed Duncan stealing glances my way. When
our eyes suddenly met, he quickly looked away.

“So, what do you guys do for fun here, other
than fishing?” asked Nathan.

Duncan cleared his throat. “Actually, the
town is having their annual end of summer barbeque this weekend at
Turtle Beach. It’s on the northern side of the lake, too. I’m sure
they’ll have tons of food and games. Then, at night they’ll launch
the fireworks. They do it every year.”

“We’d better not miss that shindig,” smiled
my mom.

He nodded. “It’s a pretty big deal. Almost
everyone in town will be there.”

“Will you be there?” I blurted out
unexpectedly. I surprised everyone, even myself.

Duncan stared at me for a moment and smiled.
“I wasn’t planning on it, but it’s starting to sound more
interesting.”

I could feel my face burning and it wasn’t
from the sun. “I, um... I just think it would be nice for Nathan to
have someone to hang out with. He gets so bored, sometimes… ”

“She’s right,” replied Nathan, grinning
widely at me, as if he knew I was back-peddling. “I need a friend.
I’m just so bored out of my mind now that we’re in a new town and I
have no friends to raise hell with.”

He laughed. “I don’t know
much about raising hell, but if you’re bored, you should stop by
the shop later today. We just took in this mint Bluewater yacht
that is
incredible
. I might even know someone with the keys who could give you
a private tour.”

“Sweet! I might have to take you up on
that,” said Nathan, his face brightening.

Just then, a couple flew by us on a pair of
jet-skis and Duncan turned to watch them, giving me another
opportunity to check him out. I had to admit that he was not only
cute, but had nicely-sculpted pecs and arms. It was obvious that he
worked his muscles when he wasn’t working on boats. Before I had a
chance to look away he turned back around and caught me staring. I
immediately looked away, hoping my face wasn’t as red as Nathan’s
trunks.

“What’s wrong, Nikki?” asked mom, an amused
expression on her face. “You feeling a little flushed?”

“No,” I answered, a little too sharply.

“Oh. Okay.”

“Your face
is
a little red,” said
Nathan, pointing to his cheek. He grinned. “Better use some
sunscreen.”

I shot him an angry look and he turned away,
chuckling.

“
I suppose I should get
back to the marina. By the way, you ladies are invited, too, of
course,” said Duncan.

I looked up. “Okay.”

“Thanks,” said mom, “but maybe another time.
I have too much to do this afternoon.”

“No problem. I’ll be around the shop all
evening. Hope to see you there,” said Duncan, his eyes drifting
back to me again. Then he started the engine and was gone.

“That’s cool,” said Nathan as he got back on
the boat after Duncan left. “Now I can check out some nice boats
while Nikki checks out Duncan.”

“Very funny.”

He smiled. “Come on, I saw the way you were
drooling over him!”

“I was not!” I retorted, scowling at him. “I
was just checking his boat out.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Right!
Since when do you have an interest in boats?”

“I always have.”

My mom smiled and added her two cents.
“Actually, I also noticed that you were checking out more than the
boat.”

“Whatever. You guys are seeing things.
Anyway, you both should talk, what, about that redhead in the
parking lot yesterday, and… Sheriff White Strips?”

My mom looked confused.
“Sheriff
White Strips?”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah, Caleb. His teeth were
whiter than your pasty skin, mom. Bleached white.”

She snorted. “You’re funny.”

“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” replied Nathan as
he started the engine. He grabbed his bottle of water and took a
swig. “I say we go back to the cabin now, I’m starving.”

“Sounds good,” she replied. “I’ve got plenty
to do.”

Nathan set his water in the cup-holder,
turned on the engine, and we started back across the lake. A few
seconds later, he grinned like a little kid and told us to hold
on.

I grabbed the handle next to my seat right
as he punched it down and we took off across the lake. I squealed
in delight as we sped over the calm waters, the wind practically
blowing my hair dry as we flew. Soon, we were near our neck of the
woods and I pulled my beach-dress back over my bathing suit. As we
slowed down, I noticed a middle-aged woman sitting on her dock,
fishing. She smiled and raised her hand in greeting.

“Must be our neighbor,” said mom, waving
back. “Ernie mentioned that she was recently widowed. I think he
said her name was Abigail. Very nice woman, I guess. Maybe it would
be a good idea if I stopped by later and said hello.”

I stared at the woman and nodded. “I would.
She’s probably sad and lonely.”

She nodded. “I’m sure.”

Nathan docked the boat near the end of the
dock and we helped him secure it to the posts.

“That should be good enough for now,” he
said, testing the ropes. “I’ll leave it out here in case we want to
take it out again, later.”

I stood up and looked down into the brown
water. “So, um, it must be pretty deep, right here.”

“
Yeah,” replied Nathan,
grabbing his shirt from the boat. “That’s why they built the dock
this distance from the shore. It’s safer for the boat if the lake
ever gets low.”

The water was so murky looking and I
wondered if there were any more dead bodies below. I imagined
someone’s dead eyes staring up at me from below the surface and
started to feel sick to my stomach.

“I’ll meet you guys on shore,” I said,
getting up quickly.

“Are you okay?” called my mom.

“Just a little too much sun,” I shouted back
as I raced towards the cabin, feeling dizzy and anxious. As I
passed the area where the body was found, I averted my eyes and
tried not to panic any worse than I already was. When I made it to
the cabin’s porch, I closed my eyes and took a couple deep
breaths.

“Hey,” said my brother as he climbed the
steps a minute later.

I smiled weakly.

He stared at me with concern. “You’re really
freaked out about that girl, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah. Aren’t you?”

He sighed. “I’m trying to forget about it.
She made a huge mistake when she started drinking that night, and
hopefully her friends have learned from it. But I’m not going to
dwell on it, and neither should you. Heck, you didn’t even see the
girl, I discovered her. I should be the one freaking out about
it.”

I nodded. “I know. It’s just so…
creepy.”

He put an arm around my shoulder. “It is,
but you have to let it go. Or mom will send you to a shrink, which,
actually, she should have done a long time ago.”

I pushed him away. “Ha-ha.”

She met us on the porch and took out her
keys. “Whew, it’s getting hot out here. Thank goodness for air
conditioning.”

“Summer’s almost over,
mom. Then you’ll be complaining about the cold. In fact, I’ve read
that it gets
very
cold here,” I said.

“That’s when the fireplace will come in
handy,” she replied.

Nathan put the boat keys on one of the end
tables. “Nikki, go get dressed and we’ll drive into town to check
it out. I need to start looking for a job, too.”

“Okay,” I replied. I’d worked at a boutique
back home and my savings was starting to dwindle. I wanted my own
car soon so I didn’t have to rely on Nathan all the time.

“Then we’ll go check out your boyfriend’s
boat repair shop,” he said with a smirk.

“You’re just full of jokes today.”

Just then, mom, who’d been checking her
voicemail, started smiling. She hung up the phone and stared at us.
“Guess who asked me to dinner?”

I groaned. “Sheriff Snaggletooth?”

She frowned. “That’s not fair, Nikki. Like I
said before, he seems like a very nice man.”

“You going for it?” asked Nathan, with a
shit-eating grin.

She tapped her fingers on the banister. “Oh,
I don’t know. I’m not looking for anything right now, obviously,
but it never hurts to get in good with a town’s sheriff. Maybe I’ll
just invite him over to our house tonight for dinner. Can you pick
up a couple of steaks in town, Nathan?”

He nodded. “But if you
want wine, you’ll have to get
that
yourself.”

She snorted. “That’s the last thing I need,
to get tipsy in front of the town’s sheriff.”

Nathan smiled wickedly. “It might be fun. He
can handcuff you if you get too out of hand.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, I never thought of
that.”

“You’re sick,” I said, climbing the
staircase. “Both of you.”

“Oh, Nikki, I can’t wait until the love bug
nips you in the butt. I am going to tease the crap out of you,” she
said.

“Don’t hold your breath. That’s not
happening anytime soon,” I said.

“We’ll see,” she said.

“Be ready in thirty minutes, twerp,” called
Nathan. “We’ll go cruising.”

Chapter Five

I took a quick shower and changed into a
dark blue halter sundress and white sandals. I pulled my hair into
a loose up-do and applied a smidgeon of lip gloss.

“You look pretty,” smiled mom as I entered
the kitchen, looking for Nathan.

I looked down at my dress and shrugged. “Oh,
it was one of the few things already unpacked.”

She gave me a knowing smile and kissed the
top of my head. “Don’t break too many hearts in town.”

“Ha-ha, mom. Very funny,” I said, although I
did feel sort of pretty in the new dress. It also wouldn’t hurt to
make a good impression on any kids who were hanging out in
town.

Nathan was polishing up his Mustang when I
found him outside. The red paint gleamed in the sun when he was
finished.

“Now I’ll definitely be a
chic magnet,” he teased, flexing his muscles. “Don’t take offense
if I ask you to duck down when the
ladies
are scoping me
out.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right.”

“You’ll see.”

I got into the car and we took our time
driving back into town.

“Hear from Deanna yet today?” I asked.

He grimaced. “Yeah. She called freaking out,
again. I just don’t know what to do about her. I mean, the more I
think about it, the more I realize that I’m tired of the drama.
Then I look at this town we’ve moved to and I think about all of
the possibilities.”

I smiled. “You mean all of the chicks?”

“Hell yeah,” he laughed.

I shook my head at my brother, who was so
predictable.

“Okay, keep your eyes peeled for something
interesting,” said Nathan, brushing his bangs away from his eyes.
“Both of us need jobs.”

As we entered the town I pointed right away
to a diner called ‘Ruth’s.’ “Let’s stop in there and see if they’re
hiring.”

“Good idea. I’m hungry again, anyway.”

We were seated by a frazzled-looking
waitress who appeared to be one of only two working. It was only
three in the afternoon, but the place was packed.

“You wouldn’t be hiring, would you?” I asked
the other waitress, Amy, a blond with light blue eyes and an easy
smile.