Wild & Hexy (34 page)

‘‘No r’grets.’’ Jeremy’s glasses were askew and he clumsily straightened them. ‘‘We’re good.’’

‘‘No,
you’re
good.’’ She felt awful. ‘‘Too good for the likes of me.’’

‘‘Don’ say that, Annie. Don’ put yourself down. You’re amazin’.’’

‘‘So are you.’’ Her throat was thick with sadness and she had to clear it before she could go on.

‘‘Talked to Jenkins.’’

She nodded. ‘‘I knew you would. You’re a conscientious guy.’’

‘‘How ’bout hot? Am I hot?’’

‘‘And hot. Very hot. To top it all off, you’re even a magician.’’

He frowned and stared at the ground. ‘‘Nope.’’

‘‘Yes, you are. You’re a terrific magician. I don’t know how you do those tricks.’’

He shoved his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. ‘‘Me, neither.’’

‘‘Oh, come on. Of course you do. Maybe not now, when your brain is fried, but when you’re sober, you know.’’

Sean walked toward them. ‘‘Here’s the coffee. Want me to stick around for a while?’’

‘‘No, that’s okay.’’ Annie took the steaming mug. She’d let it cool a bit before giving it to Jeremy. ‘‘I have things under control. Thanks, Sean.’’

‘‘I’ll be back to check on you two in a little while. Take care of the big guy, Annie.’’

‘‘I’ll do my best.’’ She was afraid her best wasn’t all that great, but she vowed to stay with Jeremy until he could navigate without bumping into things.

‘‘I mean it, Annie,’’ Jeremy said.

She glanced at him. ‘‘Mean what?’’

‘‘I don’ unnerstan’ the magic. It jus’ happens.’’

‘‘But I thought Ambrose taught you how to do it.’’

‘‘Ambrose.’’ Jeremy scowled. ‘‘Slime bucket.’’

Annie decided there was no point in arguing with anything Jeremy said at the moment. He wouldn’t remember it later, anyway. She blew on the coffee and tested it. In the chill of the night air it had cooled quickly. ‘‘Here, drink this.’’

Jeremy took the mug, but instead of drinking the coffee he gazed into the murky brew as if deep in thought.

She couldn’t imagine how deep his thoughts could be when his brain was pickled. She put a hand on his knee. ‘‘Jeremy? You need to drink that, sweetie.’’

He glanced up, and for a moment his intelligence shone through his drunken stupor. ‘‘Didn’ think of that. Should’ve.’’

‘‘What?’’

‘‘Ambrose. Magic. Monsters.’’

‘‘I don’t understand.’’

‘‘Thas okay.’’ He gave her a loopy smile. ‘‘You’re so pretty. Let’s go to the lake. Look for monsters.’’

‘‘You’re in no condition to do that.’’

‘‘Oh. Can I have cream?’’

‘‘Uh, sure. I should have asked.’’ Funny that they’d shared so much and yet she didn’t know how he liked his coffee. ‘‘Stay there. I’ll be right back.’’ She stood and hurried over to Madeline. ‘‘I need cream for Jeremy’s coffee, please.’’

Madeline reached behind her and came up with a plastic bucket full of creamers. ‘‘I have to keep them back here. Otherwise the kids will grab them and drink them straight from the packet.’’

‘‘Thanks.’’ Annie took several and walked back to where she’d left Jeremy. But he was gone.

While Annie was getting Jeremy the cream he didn’t need, he stood. He was a little shaky, but this was important. He slipped quietly through the crowd. When he’d almost made it, Donald Jenkins stopped him. Jenkins had a bottle of beer in his hand, and he took a swig. ‘‘You sure there’s no monster in that lake, Dunstan?’’

Jeremy wasn’t sure, not anymore. If Ambrose could make magic, then there could be a monster. ‘‘I gotta go.’’

‘‘Go where?’’ Jenkins’s eyes narrowed. ‘‘I’ve been thinking about what you told me, that it was a fake, but I have the feeling there’s something more to it.’’

‘‘Nope. Nothin’ more. ’Scuse me. Gotta take a leak.’’ Then Jeremy turned and made his way as quickly as his foggy brain would allow toward Click-or -Treat. Yeah, he was somewhat trashed, but not so much that he couldn’t do what he had to. He had a magic word, and he intended to use it.

Getting the kayak out of the storage shed and onto the roof of his Suzuki turned out to be tougher than he’d thought. He dropped it a couple of times but finally got it tied down. Good thing he usually left his keys under the seat of his car. He wasn’t up to climbing the stairs to his apartment to get them.

Driving to the lake wasn’t much of a challenge. With everyone at the wedding, there was no traffic, and he’d made the trip so many times he could get there blindfolded. This trip felt a bit like that until he remembered to turn on the headlights.

The dented orange cones weren’t across the road down to the lake anymore, thank God. He didn’t feel like getting out to move them. He didn’t bother to park straight, either. Nobody else would be parking there, anyway.

He was eager to get this done, eager to try and prove that there was a monster in the lake, after all. Annie would be so happy. He didn’t know if having a monster there would make a difference so far as hanging out with him was concerned, but logically she’d be in Big Knob a lot more while she worked on the story for the
Trib
.

She was hot for him. That was a plus, he reminded himself as he pulled the kayak off the top of the car. He bonked himself on the head, but it didn’t hurt too bad. That was the good thing about being toasted. Stuff didn’t hurt.

He remembered his life jacket at the last minute. He had to take off his tux jacket to get it on. Once he’d managed to shove his arms through the armholes of the life jacket, buckling it was way too much trouble, so he didn’t.

Finally he launched the kayak and climbed in. No need to bother with the kayak skirt, either. Too much work for what would be a quick trip.

Paddling wasn’t all that easy, either. He kept slapping the water, splashing himself and laughing. He’d never splashed Annie with the paddle. If she went kayaking with him in the summer, they could have fun doing that. Nothing like a splash fight on a hot day.

When he was somewhere in the middle of the lake, he stopped paddling. This was it. The big test. He filled his lungs with air and shouted,
‘‘Abracadabra,’’
as loud as he could.

Nothing happened. He shouted it again. Still nothing. Shit. This had to work. It always had before. He stood up in the kayak.
‘‘Abracadabra!’’
he called across the water.

Standing in the kayak wasn’t the brightest idea he’d had, especially because he wasn’t very steady to begin with. The kayak started wobbling, and he tried to sit down again before it was too late. No good. The kayak flipped and he hit the cold water, losing his glasses as he went under.

He got his head above water, but the life jacket got tangled up and was more trouble than it was worth, so he got rid of it. But then he realized his arms were sort of tired. So he’d just hang on to the kayak, except he couldn’t find it. Treading water, he felt the weight of the tux like an anchor dragging him down.

He should take it off, but it wasn’t his. It was rented, and there would be hell to pay if he didn’t return it in good condition. The stupid thing was dry clean only. What was up with that? All clothes should be washable. He wondered how he’d explain the water stains on the tux.

God, he was tired. Too many beers and too little food. Not enough sleep. A wave slapped him in the face and he swallowed water. Damn. He really was drunk. And he didn’t think he could swim to shore, either. He wasn’t quite sure which direction it was, anyway. Things were not looking good.

Annie combed the crowd looking for Jeremy, but no one had seen him. She couldn’t believe he would take off. He was the best man at Bruce’s wedding, and what could be more important than celebrating his good friend’s special day?

She knew the answer. She was more important. Sorting out their differences would loom huge in Jeremy’s mind, especially when he’d had enough to drink that he wasn’t thinking straight.

But he’d been babbling about Ambrose and magic. And monsters. She had a bad feeling he might have gone to the lake in an effort to prove or disprove the presence of a lake monster. But he was too drunk to be anywhere near water.

She could check out her theory fairly quickly. Without telling anyone, she quietly left the celebration on the square and walked over to Click-or-Treat. Her peach-colored heels, dyed to match the hideous color of the dress, weren’t the greatest for making good progress, but she walked as fast as she could.

No lights shone from the upstairs windows. She went around back to see if his Suzuki was still parked there. Gone. He was at the lake. She just knew it. But she could be wrong, and there was no reason to interrupt the wedding celebration . . . yet.

She’d left her car over by the church, and the keys were under the seat, a habit everyone had in this crime-free town. Rather than walk back along the square where she might be seen, she cut across the back alley behind the stores on Fifth in order to get to the church.

It was dark back there, and she stumbled over rocks and weeds. The peach heels would be ruined, but she didn’t give a damn. She’d never wear them or the dress again, anyway.

She got into her car with a sense of urgency, started the motor and drove to the lake road. As she turned down it, her car’s headlights picked out two vehicles. One was Jeremy’s Suzuki, parked at a crazy angle in the lot. The other was Donald Jenkins’s truck, with the boat trailer backed up to the water.

Rolling down her window, she heard the soft putt-putt of Jenkins’s motorboat. Both men were on the lake looking for a monster. Jeremy wanted to find it for her, but Jenkins wanted to kill it.

Annie reached for her purse to pull out her cell phone and remembered that she’d left her purse with everyone else’s at the church. No one had wanted to carry purses to the reception. She was stuck out here by the lake in a peach matron-of-honor dress, high heels, and no cell phone. Ducky.

She climbed out of the car, leaving it running with the headlights on. As she did, the scent of a spa mudpack drifted toward her. Her heart began to hammer.
It’s out there.
She peered out over the lake but could see nothing.

The headlights of her car reached only to the edge of the water, and beyond that she couldn’t see worth shit. If anything, the headlights made the lake seem darker, so she went back and shut off the motor and the lights. The moon wasn’t up yet and no lights shone from the Lowells’ house because they were still at the reception.

The sound of Jenkins’s motorboat grew fainter, so he must be cruising on the far side of the lake. But the waves were lapping here, which meant something was out there swimming, something big. Where was Jeremy? She thought of calling out to him, but if the monster was close by, she didn’t want to startle it into doing something that would endanger him.

Where was the damn moon? Then, as if she’d beckoned it, the moon topped the trees and washed the surface of the lake with light. What the moonlight revealed nearly made her pass out.

The lake monster swam toward the shore with something in its mouth. As it drew closer, she could make out what it was. With growing horror, Annie recognized a limp form wearing tux pants, shirt and vest. Jeremy. She screamed, an involuntary sound that carried across the lake like an emergency siren.

Jenkins’s boat revved up and roared across the lake. The monster swam faster in Annie’s direction.

‘‘Don’t hurt him!’’ Annie cried out. ‘‘Please don’t hurt him!’’ Yet for all she knew, he was already dead.

If he was, she might as well be dead, too. Dear God, he couldn’t be dead. Not Jeremy.

‘‘I’ve got it handled!’’ Donald Jenkins cut the motor and his boat bobbed several yards away from the swimming creature. ‘‘I’m gonna shoot that son of a bitch!’’

That was fine with Annie if the monster had killed Jeremy. Science be damned if that thing had destroyed the gentle soul of Jeremy Dunstan, the man she loved. But Annie didn’t choose to stand by and trust Jenkins to take care of things.

Keeping her eye on the monster, she leaned down and picked up a rock the size of her fist. She’d always had excellent aim thanks to her softball practice, and a well-thrown rock could do damage. Look at David and Goliath.

She forced herself not to think about Jeremy’s apparently lifeless body dangling from the jaws of this prehistoric aberration. She clung to the hope that he was still alive. She had to believe that killing the creature, or at least stunning it, would allow her to rescue him.

In order to zero in on her target, she was forced to look into the monster’s luminous eyes, and as she did, she paused in confusion. There was no menace in that gaze. There was only . . . caring. Was that possible? Could this reptilian thing be rescuing Jeremy instead of devouring him?

She had a split second to decide. Jenkins had taken aim and was ready to fire. She could throw the rock at the monster’s head or she could throw it at Jenkins’s arm and ruin his shot. If she chose to save the creature and she’d guessed wrong, she could be putting Jeremy in even more danger, assuming he was still alive.

Taking a deep breath, she wound up and let the rock fly. Jenkins cried out, and his gun splashed harmlessly into the lake. Gunless, he fired off a barrage of swear words and threats of lawsuits.

Annie ignored him as the lake monster swam toward her, its eyes focused in her direction. About ten yards out, it paused to tread water.

‘‘I’m trusting you,’’ Annie said. ‘‘Don’t let me down.’’ She held her breath as the monster came nearer, and nearer still.

When it was almost at the shoreline, it lowered its head and deposited Jeremy gently on the sand. Annie rushed forward and fell to her knees. He was breathing! She lifted his head into her lap as hot tears of gratitude ran down her face.