The Waiting: A Supernatural Thriller (24 page)

“Sure, let’s troll for a bit, see if we can catch lunch,”
he said, and started the motor.

18

That evening, Evan was dozing when the phone rang.

He had kicked back in a chair beside the sofa
on which Shaun had fallen asleep for his afternoon nap. They’d caught enough fish for lunch, and after returning to the island, he fried a batch of fillets, along with sliced potatoes and mushrooms. Shaun ate an amazing two helpings, and was only outdone by Selena, who managed three. They spent the afternoon lazing in the shade, the sun traveling in a slow arc almost directly overhead. The pines whispered gentle secrets to one another, and a sense of peace settled over him. It was a welcome contrast to the earlier horror of the morning. Whenever he began to hear Becky’s sickening moan, he remembered Selena’s comforting words. Becky must have been disturbed before she came to the house; there were no other possibilities. He held on to the thought until Selena departed in the old canoe, a sense of sadness washing over him as he watched her paddle out of sight.

He hadn’t meant to
fall asleep in the chair, and only realized it when his cell woke him, its buzzing dance bringing it dangerously close to the edge of the kitchen table. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and shaking the feeling that his head had been filled with lead while he slept, Evan picked up the phone, not bothering to see who the caller was.

“Hello?”

“Evan?”

“Yea
h.”

“Hey
, Evan, this is Justin Baker over at
Dachlund
.”

For
several seconds he stood in place, wavering with the unsteadiness of waking. It took Justin asking him if he was there to sink home whom he was speaking with.

“Yeah, Justin, hey
, how are you?”

“Good, good. Say, I guess I’m a little confused here. Refresh me on which
article you’re talking about.”

“The one Jason sent over to you, about the
clock, the grandfather clock.”

“It’s not ringi
ng any bells, no pun intended.”

Evan laughed. “It’s the one about the clockmaker and his wife, how their deaths were mysterious and this clock is one of the few remaining relics from their l
ife.”

“You know, I’m not seeing it here, Evan. I haven’t gotten anything from Jason since the last time you did that opinion piece on special education, which was excellent
, by the way, really well received.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Evan said, frowning as he sat at the table. “So you
’re sure nothing about a clock came through?”

“Nope, but it sounds interesting. Why don’t you zip me an overview of your idea, what kind of spread you had in mind
, that type of thing, and I’ll let you know if it’s something we’d want to print.”

He
was silent for a time, processing what Justin said. “That sounds great, I’ll do that.”

“You still
have my email?”

“Sure do.”

“Good. Well, looking forward to it, Evan. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Yeah,
absolutely,” Evan said, and ended the call.

He stared at the blank screen of his phone for over a minute before turning it back on again. Hitting Jason’s number, he went through all of the scenarios that would explain the email he’d gotten the day before that didn’t involve his best friend lying to him. He came up with nothing.

“You have an uncanny way of calling when I’m taking a shit,” Jason said.

“Why did you lie to me?” Evan said, anger
suddenly rushing through him and venting in his voice.

“What?”

“You heard me, Jase, why did you send me that email saying Justin wasn’t interested in the article when you never even sent it to him? I just got off the phone with him, so don’t try to bullshit me.”

The quiet on the other end of the line broke with Jason’s sigh, a deep
, deflating sound that could’ve been something breathing out for the last time.

“I’m sorry, man
. Let me say that right off the bat, I didn’t mean to mislead you.”

“You sure have a funny way of being honest then
.”

“I know, I know
. Listen, hear me out. This is hard enough for me to talk about, let alone jump right into, and it wouldn’t have boded well for what I wanted to do for you and Shaun.”

“You’re making zero sense, Jase.”

“Okay, fuck. You had to go and want to write about that fucking clock, didn’t you?”

A familiar shiver ra
n through him. “What about the clock?”

“It has nothing to do with the clock
. It’s my grandparents, they—”

“What happened?” Evan asked, the blistering an
ger becoming more of a flicker.

“They died over a decade ago, and that’s what I wasn’t completely honest with you about. I wanted to help you two, I wanted to get you back on your feet again, man. If I’d told you, you might not hav
e wanted to bring Shaun there.”

Evan’s mouth
was dry, the saliva gone, replaced with sand. “What happened to them?”

“That’s just it, I don’t know
. No one knows for sure. I told you they died within a matter of months of one another, when they actually died on the same day.”

A building apprehension overcame him
, a missing piece of something about to drop into place, and he didn’t want to hear it. He pulled the phone away from his ear and almost ended the call, but instead pressed it back to his head.

“They don’t know if it was foul play or not,” Jason continued. “They never found my grandma, it was like she got erased from the face of the
earth. A fisherman found my grandpa in the lake. He’d drowned, but the police didn’t know whether or not he’d had any help doing it. They brought up all kinds of theories: my grandpa killed my grandma and then drowned himself, my grandma killed my grandpa and then left the country. It was all horseshit. Neither one could’ve done that to the other. They were married for over forty years, you don’t do that to someone you love.”

Oh, you’d be surprised what people do to the ones they love, Jase, you wouldn’t even believe it.

Evan shook his head, his stomach rearranging itself into his chest as he remembered the outline of the floating man. “What do you think happened?”

“I have no fucking idea
. Maybe somebody boated in and killed them. But there wasn’t anything missing from the house, no sign of forced entry, nothing. My grandparents had lived in Mill River for almost all their lives, people loved them. No one local would want to hurt them.”

The strange looks from some of the people when he’d mentioned where they were staying
started to make sense—the Fin, that place of secrets, the cursed island. He could almost hear them whispering amongst one another, their voices growing more and more quiet as the years passed but never forgetting.

“Why the hell didn’t anyone say anything about it to me in town?” Evan asked. “And why didn’t Jacob tell me
, since he was such a good friend of your dad’s.”

Jason laughed with no humor. “Jacob wasn’t
only a good friend of my dad’s, he was best friends with my grandfather after Dad passed away. I actually thought he might say something to you, but he’s like everyone else up there, close lipped about anything that might mar the image of the perfect tourist town. They prefer to talk behind backs. You should’ve seen the looks we’d get when we stayed there.”

Evan placed his forehead in his free hand. “Holy shit, Jase, you should’ve told
me.”

“I know, I know, but I thought you’d refuse to bring Shaun there
, even though it happened years and years ago. I thought you’d turn down my help.”

“I don’t need your
fucking
help!” Evan said. “You think I need my hand held? I’ve suffered more than you’ll ever know in your perfect little world, brother. You should focus more on your fucking expense account and less on us.”

S
ilence fell over the line, not only Jason’s end but Evan’s also. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Jason spoke first.

“Yeah
, well, I just wanted to help.”

It was Evan’s turn to sigh. “I know, man, I’m sorry
. We appreciate all you’ve done for us. It’s—”

Evan almost
told him about everything that had happened, the things he’d seen, or not seen, Becky. But a dam lodged in his throat, blocking it like something physical.

A hair
.

“It’s been a challenge
, and I think you’re right about slowing down to adjust. We need this, I need this. I’m sorry.”

“Me too. When you started talking about the clock in the basement
, I knew you’d be asking questions around town and what happened with my grandparents would come up for sure. That’s why I tried to throw you off.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this when it happened? I knew you were upset and everything, but I had no idea something like this was going on.”

“We were in the middle of college, man. We were young, and I was scared and ashamed. My dad was already gone, and my mom wasn’t the most supportive. I’m just lucky I had Lisa and Lily to focus on. I didn’t know what to think back then, and I still don’t now. I tried to glaze over it, tried to go on vacations up there with the family after a while, but it wasn’t right anymore. I couldn’t feel good there.”

Something didn’t let you feel good here, my friend.

Evan let the gap in conversation stretch. He didn’t know what else to say. The sense of betrayal had given way to unease, and something else. Even though it sickened him, he recognized it for what it was: intrigue.

“I’m glad you got ahold of Justin
. The clock story sounds good, he’ll print it.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry, I really am, Jase. I didn’t mean it
—”

“Save it, you so
und like a whiny little bitch.”

Evan couldn’t help but laugh.
“So I have your blessing to write it.”

“Yeah, make it good
. Maybe I’ll put a bug in Justin’s ear about finding a full-time position for you there.”

Evan smiled. “Thanks
, Jase. You’re my brother, you know that?”

“Sure do.
I only want the best for you guys.”

“I know.”

“Good. Give Shaun a hug for me, and try not to call when I’m taking a shit, okay?”

They both laughed and hung u
p. Evan sat staring at the wall, through it. The slight glow of knowing his and Jason’s friendship was still strong paled in comparison to the numerous questions that grew from the new knowledge. He stood and made his way to the windows overlooking the dock and the lake beyond. He half expected to see the floating form of a body there. Instead, the water rippled and the pine boughs bent, while the wind chimes tinkled in tones that didn’t sound pretty anymore.

Shaun
stirred on the couch, and Evan went to him. Sitting beside him, he stroked his son’s hair as he opened his eyes.

“Hi
, honey, good sleep?”

Shaun smiled and yawned, stretching his arms over his head.

“Let’s get you up and do some exercises.”

For the next hour
they worked on balancing and range-of-motion routines. The strength in Shaun’s arms surprised him at one point, and he actually lost his grip on his small wrists. This brought about a shocked look on Shaun’s face before he erupted in a series of excited shrieks. Evan clapped his hands over his ears in mock dismay, which only caused him to yell louder.

“You’re getting too strong, son,”
he said, once Shaun became calm again. “Can you say ‘strong’?”

“Strog.”

Evan smiled and reached for the iPad to run through some flash cards, but he stopped. Putting his hands on Shaun’s, he looked into his son’s eyes.

“Do you like i
t here, Shaun? Should we stay?”

“Stay?”

“Yes, do you want to stay? We’ll leave if you say so, right now, buddy. You tell me. Give me a sign.”

He
put a palm against the boy’s cheek and waited. Shaun’s eyes roamed across his face for some guidance.

“Stay?” Shaun repeated.

Evan dropped his hand into his own lap and nodded.

“Let’s go down to the lake.”

~

They watched the sun set behind the trees, its burning orange coalescing into a deep red, and then
it was a purple bruise hidden behind a wispy crop of clouds. A floatplane roared into view near dark, its flashing wings close enough to see lines of rivets in its aluminum hide. Evan watched Shaun’s face turned toward the whirring prop, and for a moment he imagined that the truck had not slid through the stop sign. He imagined the white line of scar evaporating, leaving smooth, unblemished skin and an undamaged brain beneath it. He watched the wonder in Shaun’s features catching the last light of the day, and when he turned his head to issue an excited yell, Evan almost expected full sentences of questions to come out of his mouth instead.