“But they didn’t stay on for too long,” she said. “Wouldn’t want to blow the whole deal on a fuck.”

He frowned. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage...”

“Just tell me one thing,” she said. “Was Roy in on it?”

“Darling, what are you getting at here? What crazy talk is this?”

“Drop the accent and tell me the truth. Was Roy in on it? Setting up my sister and trying to con her out of investment money?”

He stood tall and unsmiling in front of her. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sure you do,” Jo said. “He had to have known. The bastard, parking you here to take complete advantage of us. Of his family! I want you out of here. Tonight. Get your shit together and clear out!”

He stepped toward her. “I don’t know what has you all worked up but let’s calm down and just talk it through.”

“I want you out!”

“Why? Because of Corky?” Finally, the accent was gone. He took another step toward her and gone was the princely fellow. “Roy found Corky. I usually work alone but she’s a little addictive and Roy likes to share his good fortune. Roy said you’d probably be fine with this idea but I could tell in ten minutes that wouldn’t happen. You’re too wrapped up in old Roy and your sister has you jumping through hoops. Tell me something—did Roy ever suggest to you a little doubling up? Maybe adding another person to your entertainment? Because you and Corky...there’s a thought I could get into.”

In spite of everything that was happening—her husband setting up her sister, this bastard conning them, catching him just seconds before it all fell apart—she blushed at the thought of a three-way! Perceptive, that made him laugh. Charming Ivan’s warm and inviting eyes turned sinister. Suddenly she was frightened.

“Did Roy tell you that my father is a judge? I bet you have a record twenty miles long. When I tell the judge you were set up to rob us, he won’t sleep until he finds you and locks you up.”

“I don’t think so, sweetheart.” He reached for her, grabbed and pulled her hard against him. He laughed as she pushed against him, fought against him, cried out for him to let her go. Her mind raced, what could he do to her? Beat her? Rape her? Drown her and say she fell?

“Stop it! Let me go! Don’t you dare touch me! Stop! Help!” she shrieked.

He turned her around, a hand plastered over her mouth, and fell on top of her on the bed. His hand suffocating her and his long body pressing her down, she couldn’t get out a sound.

“Always a little awkward when you get found out,” he said, evil laughter in his voice. “Doesn’t happen often, but there’s always a risk. It’s the risk that makes it fun.” She bit his little finger and he howled in pain. “You bloody viper!” He drew back his hand and slapped her across the face so hard she wondered if he’d broken her jaw. He began choking her.

Then there was a loud thunk and he fell on her.

She pushed and struggled to get out from under his limp, heavy weight, her vision slightly blurred from the blow and her fight. She blinked several times to clear her vision. Louise was standing at the end of the bed holding an oar.

“Oh, God,” Jo said.

Lou’s face was angry and Jo realized she was angry with her.

“What did you do?” Louise spat out.

“What did I do? I found him out, that’s what I did! While you were in the shower I saw Corky follow him up here and I spied! He had no accent, Lou! It was all a con and Roy had to have been in on it. He was trying to con you out of money!”

“You don’t know what you heard,” Lou said.

“I know exactly what I heard, and I confronted him, told him to get out tonight! I told him the judge would track him down and lock him up and he attacked me! I wouldn’t lie to you!”

“You told me I was foolish!” Lou hurled.

“Turns out we both were! I foolishly believed Roy and we both fell for Ivan’s bullshit story.” She rolled him over. “Maybe we should tie him up...”

“Don’t be ridiculous, he can’t hurt both of us. Call the police or something.”

“Um...Lou?”

“What?”

“He couldn’t be... Come here. Help me find his pulse...”

The oar dropped and the two of them searched his neck, wrist, pressed ears against his chest, listening for a heartbeat.

“I can’t tell,” Jo said. “My own heart is beating so hard...”

“I think he’s dead. Can you feel his breath?”

Jo leaned her cheek up to his nose. “I can’t feel his breath but he smells like a distillery. Call the police. Or an ambulance. Or something...”

“What if they don’t believe us?” Lou said.

“He was attacking me. You saved my life. Look at my face—he hit me!”

Lou squinted at her. “You only have a little pink slap mark.”

“Oh, God. We’ll leave him. Put that oar back on the wall. Corky will find him. It can be her problem.”

“Was he really planning to rob me?”

Jo bit her lip and nodded. “He told Corky to go get drunk and stay out of sight so he could work his magic.”

“I can’t believe it,” Lou said. Then she let out a bitter laugh. “I guess it wasn’t possible someone actually wanted me.” And then there were tears running down her cheeks.

“Don’t be stupid—that’s not what this is about! The only reason it was you is because he knows I don’t have anything! Roy would’ve told him that. Damn Roy—he’d sell his mother.” She looked around. “Lou, we’re sitting here with a dead man.”

“I killed him,” Lou said. “I’m probably going to rot in jail. We spent three weeks with him—no one will believe he suddenly attacked you and I saved your life by hitting him from behind.”

“Maybe we can get rid of him. We can throw him in the lake and everyone will think he fell.”

“So our kids can swim around his dead body?”

“Oh, my God, what are we going to do?” Jo started to panic.

“Can we get him to his car?” Lou asked.

“Down the stairs? We’ll probably all be dead after that. Why?”

“Corky’s getting drunk and staying out of sight in her room. The girls are either across the lake or in the loft. If we can get him in his car maybe we can drive over to Winslett Lake and drive him right in—there’s that drop-off. And it’s five minutes away. There’s never anyone around there.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jo said. “What if we get caught?”

“Is it worse than murder?”

“I don’t know. We have to decide right now. Before Corky comes looking for us or something. We either call the police and take our chances or bury him and tell Corky he left her here.”

“What about his stuff?”

Lou looked around. There was one small suitcase. Corky had bags but it seemed as though Ivan kept going to the trunk of that Lincoln when he wanted something. Anything. Food, gifts, treats, clothing. “He’s probably all packed so he can make a fast getaway.”

Jo shuddered. “He said it was awkward when he got found out.” She swallowed. “He didn’t know the half.”

“Go see if there’s anyone outside. Hurry up.”

“You sure about this?”

“I can’t change anything,” Lou said. “He was going to rob me and rape my sister but I don’t have any evidence of that.”

Jo took a breath. “I think we have to do this.”

“I think he moved!”

They both stood stone-still for a long moment, watching him.

“He didn’t move,” Jo said. She poked him. “I think he’s getting cold.”

“Okay. Okay.”

Jo scampered down the stairs and looked around. The light was on in the loft, where the younger girls were probably watching a movie. The older girls had gone across the lake in the boat to that cove where the secret teenage parties happened—and they knew they had to be home by eleven or else. The light shone from the room Corky was using—staying out of sight and getting drunk like a good girl.

Jo ran back into the boathouse loft. “No one around. Did he move?”

“Not at all. Oh, my God, what have I done?”

“Try not to think about it,” Jo said.

Lou reached into Ivan’s pants pocket and got his keys. She moved his car closer to the boathouse along the path used for the boat launch. They wrestled him down the stairs with great difficulty but then managed to get him into the front seat of the car.

Jo began to fasten the seat belt.

“Are you kidding me?” Lou asked.

“You don’t want him bobbing around, do you?”

“I guess not. Follow me. I might have to drive around or circle the lake or something if I see people.”

“Okay. And then when they catch us we can ask to share a cell.”

“Oh, God, let’s get this over with!” Lou said.

Jo snatched the keys. “I’ll do it.” She pushed Lou out of the way and got in the driver’s seat. She pulled out of the property and onto the road slowly, casting furtive glances over at Ivan. To a passerby he might look like a passenger, maybe a sleeping passenger. If a police officer pulled her over, she would say he was drunk. He certainly smelled it. But in all their years at Lake Waseka when had they ever been pulled over or even seen a car pulled over by police?

Jo drove so slowly she was crawling. Lou was close behind her and Jo tried to pick up speed, but it was so hard. Her hands were shaking. When she got to Winslett Lake she drove along the dirt road that circled the lake. There was not so much as a light anywhere—no fires, nothing in the few cabin windows, no headlights. She stopped the car, cut her lights and just stared at the lake. There were No Swimming signs. It was very deep about six feet from shore. She knew she was going to have to go in with the car but she dare not leave any sign that she’d been there. She couldn’t afford to lose a shoe; she didn’t have a purse.