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Carson was a dark boy, with a husky build He was short; he hadn’t gotten his growth yet He had a broad face like his grandmother, and his eyes were clear and brown He was subdued and silent, which I guess was no wonder, since the body of his brother had been discovered
"Our car’s at the back of the police station," Tolliver said, and Parker nodded He seeh, but he was a man of feords
However, once ere clear of the et a chance to thank you the other day We didn’t show you any hospitality, either, but I guess you can understand why"
"Yes," I said, and Tolliver nodded "Don’t think twice about it We did the job we came here to do"
"Yes, you did it You didn’t take my mama’s money and run for the hills with it She’s a woht, and she thought calling you two in was right I don’t , and I told her so But she knew her own ht Them other two" He shook his head "We didn’t kno lucky ith you-all untilthose two"
He lanced toall this He was certainly listening, but he didn’t seeh opinion of us," I said, struggling to find a way to express e a book by its cover, at least in Xylda Bernardo’s case She’s the real deal I do realize that the way she looks and acts does put soh to coax hi to me
"That was real Christian of you," Parker McGraw said after he’d thought overto think the subject was closed he added, "But I guess we’ll be co to you for all our supernatural needs" He had a sense of hurief as soon as I’d gli, when our son is gone froesture that just about broke my heart, Carson laid his head on his dad’s shoulder just for a second
"I’m so sorry," I said "I wish I could tell you who did it"
"Oh, we’re going to find out who done it," he said, without a shadow of a doubt in his voice "Me and Bethalynn, we got to We got Carson here, he deserves to groithout being afraid"
Carson’s eyes ht now, but he had his dad beside hiht up in the expectation that adults would protect hi had happened to shake that expectation Even though his brother had been taken, Carson was sure he would not be I hoped he was right
Parker seemed to think that Doraville would be safe if he discovered and eliminated the man who’d killed his son He seemed to think it would be easy to do this For a moment, I jeered at him in one through He had a right to any fantasy he chose if it would help hih this life
We all have our fantasies
Chapter 7
THE cabin at the lake had been used by the Cotton family for forty years or more In recent years, the McGraw family had enjoyed it Parker said that at first they’d felt like intruders, but the surviving children of Archie Cotton ell into their sixties and had no children of their own living in Doraville any longer They seemed content to let the children of their dad’s wife enjoy the old place
"Jeff loved it out there," Parker said "Me and Carson, we’ll stay out there and go fishing in the spring, won’t we, Carson?"
"Sure," Carson said "We’ll catch some fish for Mom to clean She loves to clean fish so much" That startled a smile out of his dad
The deputy on duty had buzzed us into the fenced parking lot behind the police station Tolliver and I scraot in our car We followed Parker out of the parking lot
Pine Landing Lake was about ten miles out of Doraville in a northeastern direction, and those ten ht traffic along the way The lake seemed to be close to a community much smaller than Doraville, a dot on the map called Harmony We didn’t drive all the way around the lake, but at some points I could see its farther shore quite clearly There were dwellings scattered around the lake, ranging from homes that looked year-round habitable to structures that were little more than open-air pavilions
"This would be beautiful in summer," I said, and Tolliver nodded
We followed Parker’s truck at a respectful distance, and when he turned into a narrow drivee followed, going sharply downhill for a few yards until we could park beside the truck at a broad flat spot by the shore
The Cotton property was on one of the larger lots It was a two-story building of very er than soe trees around it Maybe it had just been built withcare than the others Appropriately rustic, with cedar shingles on the roof and cedar siding, it blended into its surroundings better than most of the others we could see
The bottoe area for the boats and other recreational round-level entrance, facing the lake Stairs went up the south side of the building to a landing outside the main door The outer door was screen, of course, the inner a heavy wooden door Parker unlocked this door and gestured us in
"Lots of the cabins out here don’t have heating or cooling," he said, "but this one does Mr Archie did things right Now, if the electricity goes off, which it does out here with soot your fireplace there, should be in working order We had the guy clean it out last month"
I looked around The interior was prettyrooainst the all, and there were several folding beds rolled up against the wall by them, covered with plastic cases The air in the cabin feltThe fireplace was in the east wall, and it was faced with natural rock The walls were unpainted cedar boards, adding to the feel that ere really roughing it There was a serator, and a couple of cabinets by the door where we’d entered, and a walled-off west corner indicated a tiny bathroo the lake was allass we could see a screened-in porch inhabited by a few heavy wooden rocking chairs
"Now, the bedding should be in here," Parker said, opening the cabinet below the sink "Yep, right where Bethalynn said it would be" He pulled out a zippered plastic bag, plopped it on one of the beds "Should be enough blankets in there Sohts are pretty cold If you need to start a fire up, the wood is downstairs You can go directly down to the boat room, now you’re inside" He pointed to a trapdoor in the floor "We used to keep the wood outside, but people just aren’t as honest as they used to be They’ll take anything we don’t lock up, and even then we get broken into every two, three years"