The Wildman (19 page)

Someone
must have seen
something
.

Someone
must know more th
an they’ve told.

And what if … what if that someone is the one who cut Jimmy’s throat and threw him into the lake to make it look like an accident?

Jeff had been told by the authorities that the cut on Jimmy’s throat hadn’t been what killed him, but he had never believed it.

It was a knife wound!

Jeff couldn’t stop trembling as he looked out at the dark water and, narrowing his eyes, tried to imagine what had happened here thirty-five years ago.

“
Come on, Jimmy,” he whispered. “If you’re still here, tell me … Tell me how you died.”

He jumped and let out a shrill squeal that hurt his throat when a hand clamped down on his shoulder from behind.

“
Jesus!
” Evan shouted, stepping back quickly as Jeff wheeled around with his clenched fists raised.

“Fuck
you!
” Jeff yelled. “What the
fuck
are you
doing,
sneaking up on me like that?”

Evan shrugged innocently as he waved his hands in front of himself.

“I was—shit! I was looking for you,” he said in a high, tight voice. “I was gonna tell you the burger’s are getting cold.”

Jeff’s pulse was pounding so fast the steady
thump-thump-thump
made his
neck and wrists ache. It took him a long time to catch his breath, but even then, chills raced up and down his back.

“
What are you doing out here, anyway?” Evan asked. “It sounded like you were talking to someone. Did you actually get a cell phone signal?”

“
No, I—ah, I …” Jeff let his voice drift off as he raised his hand so Evan could see his cell phone. “There’s no signal out here.”

“
I didn’t think so, Evan said. “You’d better come back before you food’s ice cold … or before Mike gobbles it all.”

“
He’d do that, wouldn’t he?” Jeff said, trying to inject a note of humor into the situation if only to dispel the nervousness winding inside him.

Before Evan turned to leave, though, he caught Jeff by the elbow.

“
You were thinking about Jimmy, weren’t you?” he said.

Jeff’s throat closed off, and he couldn’t say a word, but he nodded.

“
I know.” Evan said. “It’s a real bummer what happened, isn’t it?”

He shivered, and Jeff had the impression it wasn’t just from the cold. Still, all he could do was nod.

“
Cell phone service is real spotty out here,” Evan said, sounding as if he was purposely changing the subject to something more pleasant. “It works better in the day time, for some reason.”

Jeff nodded and then managed to say, “So when all these people you’re selling houses to are living out here, are they going to have service?”

“
We’re trying to get the phone companies to put a relay tower close to the lake,” Evan said. “The nearest one is more than fifty mile south of here.” He laughed lightly. “Can’t very well get people to move out here unless we provide all the benefits of modern civilization—cell phones, satellite TV, shopping malls.”

Jeff could tell Evan was trying to make light of the situation, as if talking about Jimmy had upset him, too, but they had more immediate concerns, like what would they do if they couldn’t get the boat started in the morning? Besides basics like food, shelter, and water, Jeff, for one, had a job to go back to. He couldn’t very well not show up for work, and the other guys had obligations and responsibilities.

Evan turned and started walking toward the dining hall, but Jeff stayed where he was for a while longer, staring out at the lake. He was embarrassed that Evan had been able to sneak up on him from behind like that without him catching even a hint he was there until he tapped him on the shoulder. And he couldn’t help but wonder if Evan had done it on purpose to scare him.

Does he have some reason he doesn’t want me wandering around here alone?

The wind was whistling in the trees overhead, and the lake was so churned up whitecaps appeared on the waves close to shore. It seemed like a hell of a storm was coming, and Jeff wondered if they’d get off the island tomorrow even if the motor
boat
was
working. He chuckled, thinking how it was going to be a long, long time bef
ore civilization ever came to Sheep’s Head Island.

As he followed Evan back to the dining hall, Jeff could imagine all too easily that the Indian demon their counselor had told them about might still lurk out here in the
forest.

Maybe,
he thought
that’s what I should be afraid of.

* * *

The rain picked up again shortly after Jeff got inside and was sitting down to a meal of cold hamburgers, potato chips, pickles, and beer. At least the beer was cold, but Jeff wished someone had thought to bring some wine or cider to mull over the fire.

Now
that
wo
uld drive away the cold.

As rain pelted the windows, a high-pitched, whistling wind blew through cracks in the window frames, sounding like someone playing the flute. The rest of the guys were filling the time after the meal gabbing about things that didn’t hold Jeff’s interest for long. After a while, he moved closer to Evan and, whispering to him, said, “So, what are we gonna do?”

Evan arched his eyebrows and said, “Do about what?”

“
The boat. The engine’s dead, right?” Jeff rubbed his hands nervously together. “The way it conked out, it sounded to me like it might have given up the ghost for good.”

“
Given up the ghost,” Evan repeated with a sly smile. “N
ow
there’s
an expression I haven’t heard in a while.”

“
I’m serious, man.” Jeff turned to face him directly and nailed him with a harsh stare. “How much of this did you think through? Do you have a backup plan for if the engine’s fucked? Did you make arrangements for someone to maybe check on us to make sure we’re all right out here?”

Evan stared back in silence at him for a long time. He was sitting at an angle to the fire, and the harsh firelight lit up one side of his face and cast the other side into shadow that highlighted the lines on his face, especially around his eyes.

“
Don’t worry,” he said at last. “We’ll be all right. Even if we have to row the fucker over and back a few times. Christ, if we have to, we could swim back to the mainland.”

“
In this weather? I doubt it.” Jeff anger flared, and he pointed at Evan, jabbing his forefinger into his chest as he said,
“
You’re
r
esponsible here. Are you saying you don’t have a backup?”

Evan scowled as he swatted Jeff’s hand away from him. Clenching his fist, he was ready to throw a punch if Jeff pressed him much more.

“
I said don’t fucking worry about it.” His voice was low and even with just a hint of a tremor. “I’ve got it covered. You don’t have to worry about how we’re going to get off the island, okay?”

“
So you have a spare boat somewhere, or what?”

Evan visibly relaxed as he leaned forward and, placing his hand on Jeff’s shoulder, pulled him close.

“
Just relax. We’re here to have a good time. Don’t fuck it up. We’ll deal with all that shit in the morning.”

Jeff still wasn’t satisfied, but he knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Evan right now, so he backed off and rejoined his friends around the fire. It took him a while to calm down, and he kept casting wary glances at Evan, but before long, Jeff relaxed enough to join in with the conversation.

“
How about you?” Tyler asked, turning to Jeff with a look of hopeful expectation on his face.

Jeff shrugged and said, “What about me? What are you talking about?”

“
The question under discussion is, what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done in your life,” Tyler said.

Jeff was taken aback by that, and he looked from face to face.

“
Ole’ Mike, here, says probably the worst thing he ever did was not come out of the closet sooner, right Mike?”

“
Especially to my parent,” Mike said, nodding. He looked like he was blushing, or maybe it was from the glow of the firelight. “Abso-fuckin’-lutely. Even back when we were campers here, I knew or at least was pretty sure I was different. I wasn’t interested in girls the way the rest of you were. And my life overall would have been a helluva lot better, things would have go
ne a lot smoother, if I’d had the courage to let everyone know who I was … Who I
am.
”

“Hear, hear,” T
yler said, raising his beer bottle. “I’ll drink to that.”

They all clinked bottles and then took long gulps.

“
Yeah,” Jeff said. “I agree, but seriously, even when we were kids, you knew?”

Mike was still slugging down beer, but he nodded.

Fred cleared his throat and said, “Well … you know I’m not anti-gay or anything. Honest, I’m not. But you, like, you didn’t have the hots for any of us, did you?”

Mike hesitated for a moment, then he leaned close to Fred and ran the back of his fingers across Fred’s cheek. “Only for you, Freddie boy,” he said in a low, lascivious voice, “and I’ve been hoping and praying all weekend I’d be able to get into your pants.”

“
Cut the shit,” Fred said as he batted Mike’s hand away. Smiling weakly, he looked at the other guys for support.

“
I’m just screwing with you,” Mike said. “I’ve been with my boyfriend for over ten years, now, and we couldn’t be happier.”

“
I’m glad for you,” Jeff said, and he meant it. He had been so miserable following his divorce that he was glad to hear about any couple—straight or gay—dedicated to each other and happy together.

“
How about you, Jeff?” Tyler said, turning to him and leaning forward. “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

“
You mean besides cheat on my taxes and beat up Girl Scouts when I see them out and about, delivering their cookies?”

That didn’t get the laugh he expected, and he realized that while he’d been talking to Evan, the others had been having a rather serious discussion. He took another swig of beer so he could compose himself.

“
Well,” he said thoughtfully, “probably the worst thing I did was cheat on my wife.”

“
Come on. You gotta do better than that,” Tyler said. “I mean—any of us who are married, we’ve all been tempted, right?”

“Tempted, sure,” Mike said. “But there’s a big step between
thinking
about doing something and actually
doing
it.”

“
Plus,” Fred said, “you told us you couldn’t say if you had screwed any of your Hollywood starlet clients.”

“
What’s a lawyer do if not screw people?” Tyler said.

“
Sure.” Jeff nodded his agreement. “Everyone’s probably be
en
tempted
, but this was right after our son was born, and … I dunno … I just always
felt guilty about doing it. That’s all.”

Jeff noticed that everyone, even Evan, seemed engaged in the discussion now … Everyone, that was, except Fred. He was leaning back with a beer in one hand and staring at some hazy, middle distance. A curious expression of worry and maybe trepidation was frozen on his face. The corners of his mouth were twisted downward as though he wanted to say something but was struggling to hold it back.

What if he saw what happened to Jimmy? … Is that’s what bugging him?

The thought sprang into Jeff’s mind unbidden but strong enough to make him jump. Once the idea was planted, it quickly took hold.

Is that possible? … Where was Fred during the baseball game? … Had he ever told them?

Now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember seeing Fred at the game. He’d always assumed he was, but Fred was such a lousy player no one ever wanted him on their team. Whenever they played one tent against another, Jeff’s tent lost sometimes—even with Mike on their team—and it was usually because of something Fred did or didn’t do.

What if on that particular day they had made it clear to Fred that he wasn’t wanted or needed on the ball field? What if he had wandered away from the game? What if he ended up down by the lake when Jimmy was there?

Jeff’s reading of Fred this weekend was that he was a mild mannered, withdrawn person. He might even consider him uptight, and it certainly was possible he was holding something back. All weekend, Fred hadn’t said much about anything of real substance, as if he wanted to keep things on a superficial level. And he definitely was keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself. It seemed unlikely he would have had anything to do with Jimmy’s death, but he might hav
e
seen
s
omething.

Studying him now and trying to guess what he was thinking, Jeff thought he sure looked like he had something important to say but just couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Jeff wondered if anyone else was picking up on Fred’s obvious nervousness, or was he jumping to wrong conclusions again because of things he’d been thinking about earlier.