Summit Lake Read online

  “You obviously disagree.”

  “Completely. Becca was killed by someone she knew.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know. I’m right on the edge here, but I don’t have the resources I need. Usually, I’d talk to the family to get a picture of her life. Get some personal insight into this girl. Find out who her friends were, who she dated. But there’s no chance of talking to the family.”

  “How about her friends?”

  “I don’t know who her friends were. I don’t have access to any of her e-mails, and her Facebook account is off-line. Subpoenaed by the DA and completely out of my reach. I could head to DC and start poking around GWU until someone tells me something useful, but I get the feeling from Detective Madison’s visit that going to DC to poke around won’t be an option for me.”

  “So what’s your plan?”

  Kelsey took a deep breath. “You and I go to Millie’s and get that journal.”

  Rae laughed. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  “That’s what you think, though. Right? Millie has that journal?”

  “The thought’s crossed my mind, but I don’t know this for certain.”

  “So let’s find out. I need to know about Becca’s life. Then I can piece things together and come up with a theory of who killed her. I can’t talk to her family and don’t have the time to track down her friends. Right now, Becca’s journal is my only hope. Otherwise, I lose the story.” Kelsey stared at Rae, moved a little closer to her. “I need your help on this.”

  Rae shook her head and looked at the ceiling as she thought. “Okay. But if Millie somehow has the journal, and has kept it this long from the police, she’s certainly not about to hand it over to us.”

  “Not a chance. So what’s the plan?”

  Rae smiled. “I don’t have a plan. This was your idea.”

  “Stop it. You know we’re on the same page.”

  Rae slowly nodded. “We are.”

  “So,” Kelsey said. “How do we get our hands on that journal?”

  “We get creative.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Becca Eckersley

  Yellowstone National Park

  May 19, 2011

  Nine months before her death

  The senator’s call, which woke Jack and Becca early Thursday morning, didn’t save their lives—they weren’t that dramatic—but it damn well changed them. The chirping phone was an unnatural sound that morning, interrupting the quiet and stillness that took precedence at Yellowstone. Jack rolled over, pushing Becca’s arm off his chest as he sat up and searched his bag for the phone. He didn’t recognize the number.

  “Hello?”

  “Jack?” a man asked in a cool Southern drawl.

  “Yes?” Jack sat up in his tent, cleared his throat, and pushed the static-filled cell phone to his ear.

  “Jack, it’s Senator Milt Ward. I worked with you last year through an internship program at GWU.”

  Jack straightened his back. “Yes, sir. How are you?”

  “In need of a young voice. As you know, I’m making a run next November and I need some help on my campaign.”

  “Sir? I’m not sure I heard you.”

  “I’m offering you a job, son. You’ll be putting words in my mouth as one of my speechwriters.”

  There was dead air for a few seconds, then the senator said, “Son, you still there?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I just offered you a job, Jack.”

  “Yes, sir. I’d be honored.”

  “Good. I’ll let you talk to my campaign manager; she’ll get you caught up on how things run here. And I’d like to meet tomorrow for dinner.”

  “Ah, sir. I’m out west at the moment and not exactly able to get back by tomorrow. I’m in Yellowstone Park with no way out for a few days.”

  “Next week work for you?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ll give you Shirley Wilson’s number; she’ll arrange for you to get back here.”

  “I drove out here, sir. Once I get out of the park it’ll take a couple of days to get back to DC.”

  “Shirley will set things up. I’ll have my plane meet you, it’ll be much faster than driving and we need to meet sooner than later. See you in a few days.”

  “Senator, I, uh . . . you should probably know about . . .” Jack paused, not sure if he should offer so much. Becca sat up now, listening to Jack’s end of the conversation. “I had some . . .” Jack searched for an appropriate word, “issues at school before I left.” There was no reply from the other end, so Jack kept talking. “With a stolen test.”

  “I’ve heard Professor Morton is a ballbuster, son. I’d have stolen that test, too, given the opportunity.” The senator laughed. “You’ve been vetted, Jack. I know more about you than you know about yourself. And there’s nothing I don’t like. Stealing a test to pass a class you couldn’t otherwise handle is one thing. Stealing a test and not using it is quite another.”

  “How do you know I didn’t use it?”

  “Got ears in the right places, Jack. Take this number down.”

  Jack scribbled the number of Senator Ward’s campaign manager on his hand.

  “See you next week, son.”

  Jack closed his cell phone and looked at Becca. “Did that just happen?”

  “Tell me!”

  “Senator Ward. From my internship last summer.”

  “Yeah?”

  “He’s running for president.”

  “And?”

  “He wants me to write for him.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Kelsey Castle

  Summit Lake

  March 14, 2012

  Day 10

  She ate a banana as she walked down Maple Street. It was a cloudless morning with a hint of warmth in the air and the smell of spring all around. Kelsey needed to warn Commander Ferguson of the trouble that was heading his way. She turned on Minnehaha Avenue, walked up the steps and into the old police building. There was no one manning the front so she walked straight to the commander’s office. She found him on his knees behind his desk, rummaging through the bottom drawer. A large cardboard box sat on top of the desk.

  “Commander?”

  He popped his head over the top of his desk. “Miss Castle, good morning.”

  “Sorry to drop by unannounced, but I need to talk to you.”

  He waved her over. “Come here a minute and help me off this bad knee.”

  Kelsey hurried around the desk and helped him stand.

  “What are you doing?” She noticed now the office was in disarray. Papers were scattered behind the desk, and nails poked from bare walls where pictures once hung. As she continued to look around, she understood. “Are you cleaning out your office?”

  The commander smiled. “It’s time.”

  “Because of Madison?”

  “Because of a lot of things.”

  “He came to my suite at the Winchester late last night to tell me to go back to Miami. He saw my research material, some of which had the Summit Lake seal on it.”

  The commander smiled again and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter how he found out. And truthfully”—he pointed around his office—“my leaving isn’t even a result of that. Retirement was inevitable. I hung in here as long as I could, but now I’ve gotta go. I was hoping to stick around long enough to figure out what happened to the Eckersley girl, but that isn’t in the cards for me.”

  “So Madison is pushing you out?”

  “Please. A kid who shaves three times a week doesn’t have the authority to push me anywhere. The district attorney, however, does. His office asked me to take a leave, and I’m happy to.”

  “I feel awful, Commander.”

  “Young lady, don’t blame yourself for my problems. The writing’s been on the wall for some time, I’m finally getting around to reading it.” He threw some more items into the stuffed box on his desk. “But do me a favor, will you?”

  “Anyth
ing.”

  “Don’t let them run you outta here like they did me. I’ve got politics and pensions to worry about. You follow a different set of rules. I know how close you are to breaking this case, so don’t stop until you’ve got it wrapped, hear me?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Commander Ferguson smiled. He looked around his office. “Well, I think that does it. Everything else can stay; I’ll leave it to the guys to decide what to do with the rest of this junk.”

  “Who’s taking your spot?”

  “The Summit Lake Police Department will be in good hands, whomever they give it to. Help me out to my car?”

  “Of course.”

  Kelsey carried a box outside and dropped it into the back of Ferguson’s pickup.

  The commander wiped his hands, looked up at the aging brick building where he spent his entire career. “That’s a wrap.”

  “Where are you off to?” Kelsey asked.

  “I’ve worked forty-three years and never took a sick day. I know it’s hard to believe looking at me, but it’s true. I’m going to relax a while.”

  “Where?”

  “God only knows. But I’m ready, that’s for sure.” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a package of cigarettes. “Do me a favor?” he said, handing Kelsey the pack.

  Kelsey raised her eyebrows as she took it.

  “Throw these away for me.”

  “Sure,” Kelsey said.

  He climbed into the pickup and pulled the door shut. His left elbow hung through the open window. “Be careful, Miss Castle. Madison’s out for you, so get your work done quickly and then get outta here.” He handed Kelsey a card. “My cell number. Call if you need anything. All you’re looking for is one or two more pieces to fall into place. Everything will come together then.” He started the truck and put it into gear. “Good luck.”

  Kelsey waved as he drove down the street and turned onto Maple. The diesel engine rumbled for a few seconds until it faded and he was gone.

  CHAPTER 25

  Becca Eckersley

  George Washington University

  August 4, 2011

  Six months before her death

  On a steamy day in early August, three months since their Yellowstone adventure, Becca moved into her new apartment in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood just west of the GW Law campus. It was, coincidentally, the same neighborhood where Jack settled earlier in the summer, and the two-block walk between their residences was easy to cover.

  Law school orientation for 1L students started August 16. Classes began the 22nd, which gave them two weeks before Becca’s schedule got crazy. Jack was already working long hours on Milt Ward’s campaign but was granted the weekend to get Becca settled. He traveled intermittently, but the next two weeks would see him in DC, and the heavy lifting would not begin until late fall as they prepared for the Iowa caucus in January.

  After breakfast and a tour of the law school campus, Becca’s parents left Saturday morning. With their arms around each other, Jack and Becca waved as the Eckersleys drove away. Holding hands, they walked back through campus and imagined the coming year.

  “You’ll be in there a lot,” Jack said, pointing to the law library.

  “It’s gonna be weird studying without you. I’ve been so used to you at the desk across from me. I’ll either have to go it alone or find another guy to study with.”

  Jack smiled. “I think you’re a loner.”

  “I guess I won’t have time for boyfriends. I received the 1L curriculum in the mail and it looks intense.”

  “I’ll take your word for it. The thought of studying long hours is too much for me to handle right now.”

  “That’s because you got booted from Harvard, and now you’re a hotshot speechwriter three months removed from the last time you’ll ever take a written exam.”

  “Speechwriter, yes. Hotshot, far from it. More like rookie peon at the beck and call of Bill Myers, who writes almost everything himself. Except occasionally when he rewrites what I’ve written.”

  “You’re making a salary and you have some job security—is anyone in his party even a legitimate opponent in the primaries?”

  “Not at the moment. But so goes Iowa in January, so goes the rest of the campaign. And Iowa has produced some sleepers over the years. But if Ward wins the nomination, I’ll be working around the clock on the way to the election next November. So we’ll both be busy. I’ll just be getting paid for my work, rather than the other way around.”

  Becca grabbed his arm as they walked away from the law library. “Don’t rub it in.” They headed off campus, toward Foggy Bottom. “Let’s stop at the 19th for a beer,” she said. “Like the old days.”

  Jack shook his head. “Let’s find somewhere else. We need a new place, you and me. The 19th reminds me of college.”

  They walked down Providence and found a bar called O’Reilly’s. They sat at a tall pub table by the window, ordered Guinness, and started their own tradition. The two weeks leading to the start of law school were special for Becca Eckersley. It was the first time, other than their brief rendezvous in Yellowstone Park, that she openly displayed her love for Jack. During her senior year, they walked together without holding hands, and kissed good-bye only in the abandoned hallways of campus buildings when both were sure they were alone. But after a summer of only seeing each other occasionally with Jack working on Senator Ward’s campaign and Becca in North Carolina, their reunion represented a different time in their lives. They met for dinner without worry of being spotted, and stayed overnight without sneaking home the next morning.

  On the Sunday before law school started—the unofficial end of summer—they sat at the window table in O’Reilly’s for the fourth time in two weeks. They decided it was, indeed, their new place. The food was good, and Becca was learning to tolerate the Guinness. The music was pop and Top 40 at a volume that allowed conversation. A few undergrads were present, but mostly young professionals filled the booths and spent time at the bar.

  Their pizza was delivered—green pepper and olives—and they dug in.

  “I was thinking about our living arrangements,” Becca said as she bit into a piece of pizza. She wore a sleeveless white blouse that showed off her tanned, toned arms.

  Becca’s eyes reflected a seductive essence that Jack noticed immediately. “Yes?” he said.

  “It seems silly to have two places when you stay at my apartment every night.”

  Jack chewed his pizza. “What are you trying to say, Eckersley?”

  “We should live together.”

  “Not a chance.”

  Becca opened her mouth in feigned surprise. “Why?”

  “Let’s see, where should I start? First, we both have twelve-month leases we can’t get out of. And you should know that I’m not even the lawyer here. Second, this whole thing”—Jack pointed to himself and then the pizza and then Becca—“it’s great. Going out to eat, staying up late and sleeping in. But school starts tomorrow, and soon you’ll be studying like mad. I’ll have to start working again, and when that happens we’ll both be happy to have a place by ourselves.” He looked up as if thinking of a final point. “Oh, yeah. Then there’s that whole thing about your father and how he would rip the heart out of my chest if we lived together, so that’s kind of a deterrent.”

  Becca took a sip of beer. “Okay. We’ll keep our own places for now and talk again next year before we sign any leases.”

  “Deal.”

  They finished their pizza and beer and walked back to Becca’s. Inside, Becca headed to the bedroom to change while Jack opened his MacBook and checked e-mails. There were a few from his bosses, asking Jack to draft something for the next week. He read the specifics and then checked the upcoming travel schedule.

  “I’ve got to fly to California next week with Ward. Leaving Tuesday and coming back Friday.” He was reading the itinerary from the screen, not looking at Becca, who walked out of the bedroom. When he got no answer he finally
looked up. She was posed in the doorway of the bedroom, wearing nothing but her bikini bottoms. The bedroom light reflected off her toned thighs and smooth, olive skin.

  “I just talked to my father,” she said, holding her pose. “And he agrees with you about the living-together thing. And he added that he would prefer you not be in my apartment past ten o’clock on school nights, which this is.” She turned around and sauntered into the bedroom. “Lock the door on your way out.”

  Jack shook his head, the image of her naked body burned in his mind. He wasn’t sure if it was Southern girls in general who always found a way to get what they wanted, or Becca Eckersley in particular. Either way, he closed his laptop and walked quickly into her room where she had removed her bikini bottoms and he pretended to be startled.

  “My father asked you to leave.”

  “Point taken,” Jack said.

  “Oh,” Becca said, standing naked by the bed. “Was I making a point?”

  Jack walked to her and put his hands on her slim waist. He kissed her as she unbuttoned his shirt. They fell onto the bed.

  CHAPTER 26

  Kelsey Castle

  Summit Lake

  March 14, 2012

  Day 10

  She didn’t risk being picked up in front of the Winchester for fear that Detective Madison was watching from the shadows and would follow them. She was being paranoid, she knew. She also knew paranoia kept her out of trouble.

  Kelsey pulled her leather coat closed as she walked out the back door of the Winchester and along a side street that led to the banks of Summit Lake. The sun was almost gone and the sky was a dying blue. As it sunk behind the mountains, the sun streaked thin clouds plum-purple and offered a pink glow to the lake. She pulled out her cell phone while she walked and tried Penn Courtney. It had been over a week since she arrived in Summit Lake, two since she took the Eckersley story. Penn answered on the first ring, and as Kelsey walked she brought him up to date on the most recent developments. He was not happy about the trouble she was getting herself into, but Kelsey knew the lure of a cover-up and the idea of Events beating everyone else to the Eckersley story was enough to placate him for the time being.