"Yeah," he says. "I think I remember him. Wait, what's that article about?"
"A boy who drowned in the lake."
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dean looks as if the words physically struck him. He blinks hard, trying to bring himself back into reality; he narrows his eyes at me.
“Drowned?” he asks. “What happened? Who is that?”
“The article doesn't provide much information. It says that, at the family's request, no name or personal information was to be distributed. From what I read, incidents like this weren't sensationalized or even really brought to the attention of the public very often. The park didn't want the bad press. As long as it seemed to be nothing more than an accident, it was often just skipped over. One bit of information they did release, though, was the date the drowning happened.”
Dean looks at the article and his jaw goes hard as he sees the date. I get up and head for the front of the cabin. Getting my backpack, I stuff a few things into it, then put my gun around my waist.
"Where are you going?" Dean asks.
"I'll be back," I tell him.
"No," he shakes his head. "Absolutely not. You aren't going out there alone."
"I'll be fine," I insist. “I need to go. Elsie's life might depend on it.”
“Then I'm going with you,” he says.
“No,” I tell him. “You cannot come with me. Dean, listen to me. You cannot go out there.”
“What's going on?” Sam asks, coming into the cabin.
“I have to go check something,” I say. “I have all the supplies I need. My flashlight. My gun. My walkie-talkie. I have everything. I'll be back.”
“You can't go alone,” Sam frowns.
“Yes, I can. Dean needs to stay here. Xavier can't be out there in the dark. He'll get lost. I need you to be here and be ready if I call you,” I say.
“And if I say no?”
“Then I go without your help,” I say.
Sam takes a deep breath to calm the frustration boiling under the surface. “Are you sure, Emma? This can’t be safe.”
“Sometimes what's safe and what's right aren't the same thing,” I say. “I shouldn't be gone too long. Stay close to the walkie-talkie and be ready to head out.”
He looks irritated, but I can't let it stop me. I kiss him, wave at the other two, and step out into the darkness.
“Wait,” calls Sam, following me out the front door.
I snap my head around. “You’re not going to stop me!”
“I know. I just want to say I love you. Be safe.” He kisses me and heads back inside.
“I love you too.”
It takes me a second to really orient myself and remember how to get down to the main campground. Everything around me is unbelievably still and quiet. I can hear every crunch of my feet on the ground and every breath in and out of my lungs.
I try to ignore those sounds and listen to what's going on around me. My eyes adjust to the darkness as I walk. I don't want to turn on my flashlight unless I absolutely have to. I don't want anybody to see me before I want to reveal myself.
The haunting images won't leave my mind. The deeper I walk into the woods and the more unnerving my surroundings get, the more I try to think about the photo of Dean and me together. So many years before we even met each other, we were still pulled to one another. Something put us together that day.
And it makes me even more confident in what I know about my cousin. I know who he is. I know his heart. I know he's not capable of these things.
In the thickest part of the trees, I reach into my bag for my flashlight and find one of the cameras Xavier brought with him. I recognize it’s for night vision and send up a quick thanks to the universe. The screen still produces some glow, so I don't want to use it too much, but it allows me to see what's around me displayed in shades of green and black.
I keep going until I see the break in the trees ahead. I put the camera away as I approach the mouth of the path, then step out into the campground. It's a clear night, and there's enough moonlight for me to see the abandoned cabins and empty fire pits spread out across the space in front of me. I walk down the path toward the lake.
In the older pictures, there's a pier. It stretches out into the water and welcomes visitors to take one of the boats off the rack on the beach and paddle out into the lake. That was the one thing that was dismantled of the campground. Support beams still stick up out of the water, but the rest is gone.
And in its place is a dark figure standing waist-deep in the water.
Around me, the sound of the water washing up on the shore and the rustle of the wind through the trees is punctuated by soft singing drifting in from the lake. It's the sound that was captured on Elsie's camera in the moments before she went missing.
I walk slowly toward the edge of the water and watch the figure sway slowly back and forth, sweeping her fingertips through the surface of the water as she sings. Suddenly, she pauses. I don't know if I've made an inadvertent sound or if she can just sense I'm there, but she turns around.
The moonlight isn't strong enough for me to see the exact look in her eyes, but I can see her small smile.
"Agent Griffin," she says. "How nice for you to come to visit us."
"Hello, Laura," I say. “How are you doing tonight?”
“Wonderful,” she says. “Why shouldn't I be? It's almost time for the wedding.”
I nod slowly. “Your son's wedding?”
“Of course,” she nods. “I've been waiting so long. I didn't think it would ever happen.”
“Until
