Lilies of the Field was too isolated for her to be able to see the men when they returned from town, but the campground was quiet enough that she knew she’d hear them. Sure enough, a little after one in the morning the sound of a car engine drifted through the window. As she straightened in the chair, she wished there weren’t so many loopholes in her plan, but it was the best she had.

She pulled on her sneakers, grabbed the flashlight she’d swiped from the house, and left Roo behind so she could set to work. Forty-five minutes later she let herself inside Lamb of God, where Eddie and Larry were spending the night. She’d checked it out earlier, right after the men had left for town, to see which bedroom was Eddie’s. Now it smelled like stale liquor.

Moving closer, she gazed down at the big, dumb, drunken lump under the covers. “Eddie?”

The lump didn’t move.

“Eddie,” she whispered again, hoping she didn’t wake up Larry, too, since it would be easier dealing with only one of them. “Eddie, wake up.”

Fumes came off him as he stirred. Someone this gross shouldn’t be allowed in Nightingale Woods. “Yeah … yeah?” He wedged open his eyes. “Whatzu …”

“It’s Molly,” she whispered. “Kevin’s estranged wife. I need to talk to you.”

“Whadya … whatzabout?”

“About the fishing camp. It’s very important.”

He started to lever himself up, then fell back into the pillow.

“I wouldn’t bother you if it weren’t important. I’ll just step outside while you put some clothes on. Oh, and you don’t need to wake Larry.”

“Do we hafta talk now?”

“I’m afraid so. Unless you want to make a terrible mistake.” She hurried from the room, hoping he’d get up.

A few minutes later he stumbled out the front door. She put her fingers to her lips and gestured for him to follow. Sweeping her flashlight across the ground, she cut across the edge of the Common, then headed back toward Lilies of the Field. Before she got there, however, she turned into the woods and headed toward the lake.

The wind had picked up. She felt a storm brewing and hoped it didn’t hit until she was done with this. He loomed next to her, a big, hulking shape.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s something you need to see.”

“Couldn’t I see it in the morning?”

“That’ll be too late.”

He swiped at a branch. “Shit. Does Kev know about this?”

“Kev doesn’t want to know.”

He stopped walking. “What do you mean by that?”

She kept her flashlight pointed at the ground. “I mean that he’s not deliberately deceiving you. He’s just ignored some things.”

“Deceiving me? What the hell’re you talking about?”