After all the various investigators – local, state and federal – had left, T. J. Kowalski joined Rook and Mackenzie at the lake. “Quite a place,” he said, settling into one of the Adirondack chairs in front of the stone fireplace. “I’ve never seen a loon, you know.”
Mackenzie smiled. “You might hear one tonight.”
“If I can stand the bugs and the cold.”
Rook had built a fire and pulled his chair close to the flames. The night was chilly, but Bernadette had old wool blankets just for that purpose. Mackenzie had one opened up on her lap. But T.J. didn’t look that cold to her.
“Long day,” she said.
He shrugged. “Not for me. I took a nice plane ride north and talked to a few people. You and Rook are the ones who did the heavy lifting.” He didn’t smile, and in the light of the fire, his eyes were without humor. “Sorry I wasn’t here to back you two up.”
“If Jesse had managed to get away from here, you’d have kept his plane on the ground.”
“We had him,” T.J. acknowledged without pride. “Just not in time to save Harris Mayer or Cal Benton.”
Rook tossed another log on the fire. “They made their deal with the devil.”
T.J. nodded. “What about Judge Peacham?”
“Doctors are keeping her at the hospital overnight as a precaution,” Mackenzie said. “They’re watching for infection – the knife wound nicked muscle. She says we’re all welcome to stay here and toast marshmallows and listen to the loons.”
But another car arrived, Nate and Joe Delvecchio walking down to the fire.
T.J. gave a low whistle. “Guess the marshmallows and loons will have to wait.”
“Welcome to life as a federal agent, Mac,” Rook said with a hint of amusement.
She smiled at them both. “Fine with me.”
On Sunday, after she was released from the hospital, Bernadette insisted on sitting out on her screened porch. It was a warm afternoon, with almost no wind. Mackenzie joined her, trying not to hover because, even after two years of marriage, Bernadette Peacham was a woman accustomed to her own company.
“New Hampshire isn’t going to give up Jesse anytime soon,” she said, sounding more like a judge than an injured victim. “They’ll want to try him here – for Cal’s murder.” But the words seemed to hit her like a fresh wound, and she faltered, although only for a moment. “Chances are you’ll have to testify.”
“I don’t mind,” Mackenzie said.
“It won’t be easy to see him again, but at least you’ll know he can’t hurt anyone else.” Bernadette flopped back against her wicker chair, her face ashen just twenty-four hours after her encounter with Jesse – after learning that Cal was dead. “All these years, Mackenzie, and I had no idea that your father’s mishap wasn’t an accident. I feel like such a sap.”
“You and Dad tried to get rid of Jesse.”
“Your father tried to get rid of him. I can’t say I did much of anything.”
“But you never helped Jesse,” Mackenzie said. “Don’t beat yourself up, Beanie.”
She stared out at the lake. “I let people take advantage of me.”
“Don’t we all, at some point in our lives?”
She snorted. “I did repeatedly.”
Mackenzie almost smiled at her friend’s sudden drama. “There’s nothing wrong with giving someone a helping hand, Beanie. Most people you’ve helped – including me – appreciate it.”
“I’ve never…” She fought back obvious tears. “I’ve just never felt so damn alone.”
“You’re a brilliant and generous woman, Beanie, and you have good friends, people who care about you – people who don’t want anything from you.” Mackenzie smiled. “For example, Gus Winter.”
“He’s always been there, hasn’t he? For all of us. He and his brother would come out here to the lake as teenagers – Jill and I were friends.”
Bernadette drifted into silence, and out on the lake, Mackenzie could hear the familiar, eerie cry of a loon. She wondered if T.J. heard it. He and Rook had taken two of the kayaks out onto the lake, leaving her alone with Bernadette.
“The worst day of my life was when Harry and Jill died up on Cold Ridge,” she said. “It was such a freak thing. They’d never have gone up there if they’d known the weather would turn like that. How do you get over such a tragedy?” But she didn’t wait for Mackenzie to respond and stood up, moving to the screen and gazing out at the water and woods that had been home to Peachams for decades. “Well, I can tell you – you don’t.”