“Would you be willing to go back into the cabin and see if you sense anything more?”
“No,” Jenny said. “Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m going to let my son set foot in that place again.”
“I understand,” Agent Shirley said with what struck Cork as sincerity. “But it might help us know who put that poor girl down in that dark place.”
“You believe Waaboo, Agent Shirley?” Cork said.
“Please, call me Danette. And I’ve seen stranger things.”
“I’ll go,” Waaboo said.
Agent Shirley looked at Jenny. “All right?”
Jenny’s face was stone, but she said, “Not without me. And I’d like my husband there, too.”
“That’s fine,” Agent Shirley said.
“I’ll get him,” Cork said.
He walked to where Daniel was still being questioned by a couple of agents, one from BCA and one from the FBI, both of whom looked to Cork as if they’d only just turned old enough to shave.
“Excuse me,” he said. “Agent Shirley needs Officer English.”
“Shirley?” the FBI agent said.
“She’s BIA-MMU,” the BCA agent told him. “We’re pretty much finished here anyway. Go ahead, English.”
Agent Shirley introduced herself to Daniel and explained what they were about to do. Daniel gave his okay.
“Are you ready, Waaboo?” Agent Shirley asked.
The little boy nodded.
Jenny took her son’s hand and they stepped inside.
Rainy, Annie, and Maria sat under an umbrella on the deck of the Four Seasons hotel, which overlooked Iron Lake. The surface of the lake was mirror-still, reflecting a sky that was a soft cornflower blue. The day was already warm and on the humid side.
“This reminds me of a lake in Guatemala,” Maria said.
“Atitlán?” Annie said. “But we need a few volcanoes.”
“The water is so blue, so inviting.”
“The air reminds me of Guatemala, too,” Annie said. “I’ll be sweating bullets pretty soon.”
“Will you go back right after the wedding?” Rainy asked.
Annie caught Maria’s eye and looked away quickly, studying the lake. “I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do.”
“We’d love to have you stay as long as you’d like,” Rainy said. “Both of you.”
“Thank you,” Maria said. But Annie was silent.
“I would like to go back to that place,” Maria said. “Where we were yesterday? What do you call it?”
“Spirit Crossing,” Rainy said.
“Yes. I would like to help there, if I can.”
“I’m sure any help you give would be welcome. I’ve been there many times with Belle and Stephen. Things have turned ugly more than once.”
“Maria knows what it’s like to fight the tyranny of bullies,” Annie said, smiling.
Maria put a hand over Annie’s. “In my experience, we stand firm against the bullies only if we link arms. The more arms, the better.”
The waiter brought them the coffees and scones they’d ordered. Annie and Maria were on an outing to find a suitable gift for Stephen and Belle’s upcoming wedding. They’d brought with them from Guatemala a brightly embroidered huipil blouse for Belle and a traditional shirt of handwoven corte fabric for Stephen. But they wanted to find something to give as a combined wedding present—a serving dish or piece of pottery, perhaps. Also, Cork had called and filled them in on what was going on at Paavola’s cabin and they’d hoped to distract themselves from dwelling too much on that tragic situation.
Still, like a powerful magnet, the discovery of Olivia Hamilton’s body at the cabin pulled their talk in that direction eventually.
“It is a terrible thing,” Maria said. “I am sorry for the grief of her parents.”
“I can’t help thinking that although it’s terrible, to know nothing forever may be worse,” Annie said. “I think about all those still missing in Guatemala.”
“Or the family of Crystal Two Knives here,” Rainy said.
Annie felt a prickle on her neck, the sense that someone was standing behind her. She turned, but no one was there.
“What is it?” Maria said.
