Chapter 23

It was two o’clock now, and Hayden ran downstairs to put the pot roast in the oven. He’d thrown it together the previous night while Tommy had gathered up all the painting equipment and washed it in the bathtub. Hayden had thrown the curtains and linens in the washer and dryer prior to them finishing the second coat, and Tommy assisted with hanging them. Hayden couldn’t help but grin; it was funny watching such a big man hang curtains.

“Is it uneven? What?” Tommy had kept glancing back and forth between the curtains and his employer. He stepped off the little stepladder and walked to where Hayden was standing. They were even, and the look on Hayden’s face had Tommy scratching his head.

Now, as Tommy leaned over the tub, once again cleaning the paint rollers and brushes, Hayden popped his head in and asked, “Think you can stay for dinner? There’s plenty and the least I can do is feed you.”

“You’re paying me, right? Besides, I don’t want to impose.” Actually, he did want to impose. He was curious about Hayden—about a lot of things as of late—and he hadn’t had a homemade meal in a good while.

“Yes, I am paying you, but you’re going above and beyond the call of duty on such short notice. Come on, you’ll love Amanda and Terri, and it’ll give them a chance to thank you for the work you did too.” Hayden knew he was reaching, but he couldn’t help himself.

He really liked Tommy’s company. After their walk the previous evening, he felt a bit of kinship with him, not to mention that he was easy on the eyes. The ladies would enjoy his company as well, and pick his brain, and he figured the more the merrier. He was also nervous about his ex-boss coming and staying here. He loved Terri, thought the world of her, but she intimidated him a little. Amanda would be a hoot and a half she always was.

“Sure. I’ll stay. But we need to get a move on in the second room. I left the ceiling fan on high and turned the box fan all the way up to dry the walls. It turned out great, by the way. You have a good eye for color.” Tommy slung the brushes and rollers until they were dry.

“Thanks! Malcolm always said that too. I’m ready whenever you are.”

With that, Hayden ducked out of the bathroom and went back downstairs. Tommy chuckled to himself as he gathered the equipment up before he followed him down.

The downstairs bedroom was smaller and thankfully had been painted white. It made their job easier as Hayden had picked a cream color with light-blue accents for. Again, they dodged each other as they worked, taking care not to trip over the furniture that was covered with tarps.

Before too long, they stood back and looked at their work, satisfied. The smell coming out of the oven made Tommy’s stomach rumble, and Hayden’s proximity to him made his skin hum. He looked over at the blonde-haired man and considered him for the briefest of seconds before repeating the cleanup process.

Meanwhile, Hayden uncovered everything and started moving furniture into place. There had already been curtains in this room, and they hadn’t looked too bad, so Hayden had left them up. When Tommy returned, he helped him assemble the bed frame and slide the mattress on top before they walked the dresser into the corner. Tommy put the bedside table down and placed the lamp on it.

“Looks great,” Hayden said as he brushed at paint that had dried on his work shirt.

“Yeah, it does.”

“I’m going to finish getting dinner ready. They should be here any moment. Why don’t you finish cleaning up and then we’ll eat as…” He stopped with a knock at the door. “That’s them.”

“I’ll take care of things here,” Tommy said, shooing him away. He watched Hayden disappear down the hallway, gathered the rest of the stuff to clean and went back upstairs.

* * * * * * * *

Hayden answered the door and saw two beautiful blonde-headed women standing there with smiles on their faces. Amanda and Terri both had baskets in their hands and hugged him as they stepped inside. They’d both come straight from the office; Amanda had changed into blue jeans and a sweatshirt but Terri still had on her black skirt and heels.

“Oh my god, this house is gorgeous!” Terri exclaimed.

“Yeah, it is. Hayden! Good job!” agreed Amanda.

“Thanks so much. Come in, come in! Let me put these down on the table. How was your trip?”

“Oh, it was great. It’s really pretty up here,” Terri said.

Amanda rolled her eyes and smiled. “She kept commenting on serial killers in rural areas and the likelihood of us hitting a deer on our way up here.”

“Hush. I did not. Hayden, honey, you look great. How you are doing?”

“Good. As you can see, most of the house is torn apart so I have a lot of work to keep me busy. Are you guys hungry?”

“Starving,” Amanda replied. “We haven’t eaten since lunch.”

“Well, come on in. Dinner is ready. I have a guy here helping me work. I hired him the other day, and he’s going to be joining us. Is that okay?”

“Honey, open up one of those bottles of red and everything will be just fine,” Terri said. Hayden and Amanda both laughed as the women followed him to the counter with their baskets.

* * * * * * * *

As Tommy flung the rollers and the brushes dry for the last time, his cell phone rang in his pocket. He set the tools down and quickly dried his hands before reaching into his pocket for the cheap flip phone his mother insisted he carry at all times. He frowned at the number; it was Suzie’s. She never called anymore, not since they broke up.

With concern, he answered, “Hey, Suz, what’s up?”

“Hey. You’re working on that house near the lake, aren’t you?”

He rolled his eyes; this girl was almost as bad as Rose down at the post office. “Yeah. Why?”

“Tommy, there’s some really strange shit happening out there. I don’t know what, exactly, but rumor around town is someone is killing people, drowning them near the lake. So far, it’s been three people. The guy seems pretty fucked up too. Just be careful, huh?”

Tommy could hear plates clattering and people talking in the background. She must have dodged her boss and decided to call him from the backroom of the restaurant. Her boss hated her employees using their phones at work. It bothered him that Suzie sounded so worried. He’d been so busy with his own work, and then coming over here to help Hayden, that he hadn’t heard a thing about people dying.

“When did all this happen?”

“Over the past two nights. Just keep an eye out for yourself and Hayden. Do you have your gun with you?”

“Yeah. Of course. You too, huh?”

“Oh, trust me, I’m sleeping with my door locked tonight.”

“Good,” Tommy replied.

“Shit. I gotta go. Take care, Tommy,” Suzie said before disconnecting.

He frowned down at the phone. Something about the sound of her voice raised his hackles. She was freaked out. His pistol was underneath the front seat of his truck and, as he heard talking and laughter from downstairs, he worried.

* * * * * * * *

Hayden was putting the food on the table when Tommy walked in. Terri and Amanda both turned their attention to him and offered polite hellos. They were shocked at the size of him but were a bit hesitant to say anything more. He smiled at them and said hello back, his deep voice resounding in the sparsely furnished kitchen. The hardwood floors, bare walls, and tall ceilings made every noise echo.

Hayden passed things around the table so they could themselves. “Would you like a glass of wine, Tommy?”

“Yeah, that would be great. I’ll get it, don’t get up.” He walked behind them, to the counter where the merlot sat breathing.

Terri and Amanda both looked at Hayden, and Terri mouthed he’s huge. She took a hand and brought it up and down, simulating stabbing something.

Hayden laughed and shook his head. He’s fine. Trust me, Hayden mouthed back.

Terri cleared her throat for them to be quiet as Tommy came back to the table.

“So, what do you ladies do?” he asked.

“We’re lawyers,” they both replied, almost in unison.

“Ah…” There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “What are five hundred lawyers at the bottom of a lake called?” He looked over at Hayden and winked. Both women stared at Tommy, struck silent, and Hayden snickered, having heard the joke before. When they didn’t reply, Tommy leaned in real close, and in a low menacing voice, said, “A good start.”

Amanda jumped in her seat and Terri looked like she was going to throw her wine glass at him while Hayden and Tommy both burst into laughter. Hayden loved how Tommy’s laugh rolled like thunder.

The two women looked at each other and shook their heads. From that point on, dinner went just fine. They made small talk and laughed, telling old stories and talking shop. The wine flowed pretty easily as Terri raised her glass and offered a toast. “To friends old and new, and to Hayden for making such a wonderful meal.”

“Hear, hear,” Tommy said, leaning back in his chair, full and happy.

Hayden smiled, his chest tight. He really had missed his friends and was happy to have made a new one.

They drank and talked the night away with Tommy occasionally looking out the window into the darkened evening. Hayden noticed but waited until Amanda and Terri were discussing a case before he leaned over and asked, “What is it?”

Tommy gave him a lopsided little smile. “I’ll tell you about it in a bit.” He moved his head away quickly, indicating whatever he had to say could wait until they were alone.

When they finished, everyone got up at once and made it a group effort to clean the kitchen. Tommy asked the ladies if they needed anything brought inside.

“That would be amazing of you,” Terri said and handed him her keys. “There are three bags in the trunk, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Did you two drive together?”

“Yeah,” Amanda said as she dried the dishes.

“Gotcha.” With that, Tommy walked outside.

“All right, give,” Amanda said, whirling Hayden around and causing him to slop a little soapy water on the floor.

“Give what?” Hayden asked, confused.

Terri smirked, hand on her hip. “Don’t ‘give what’ us, we do this for a living.”

“Wha…oh. Oh!” Hayden shook his head, denying the implied. “No.”

Amanda’s eyebrows arched. “Oh, come on.”

“Really, there’s nothing. He’s straight. I think. Really.” Hayden continued to wash. His face was bright red; he could feel the heat rising.

“You think? You’re getting rusty, Hayden. He’s been looking at you all night.” Terri took a pot from Amanda. “Where does this go?”

Hayden pointed to the cabinet under the counter. “Nah. You think?” The disbelief in his voice was tinged with a little bit of curiosity.

“Yeah. I mean, I didn’t see it at first on account of him being kind of scary-looking. But his eyes soften when they look at you. Cop or Marine?”

“Army ranger, actually.”

“Nice,” Amanda said. The three of them got quiet as Tommy stumbled in lugging all three suitcases.

Terri walked over to give him a hand and grabbed the smallest one. “You’re a dear.”

Hayden looked at Amanda and whispered, “Even if that’s true, I’m not ready—

Amanda put a hand up and leaned in closer. “It’s been a year, honey. Malcolm wouldn’t want you living the rest of your life in a monastery.” She winked at him as he turned his head back to his work. He finished, handing the last plate off to her, and dried his hands.

“Hey, Hayden, who’s sleeping where?” Tommy asked as he peeked around the corner causing Hayden to jump a bit. Amanda snickered.

“Oh, yeah. Come pick out the room you’re staying—” Hayden was interrupted by Terri’s shout from upstairs.

“I’ll take the room up here.”

Hayden looked at Amanda, who laughed. “Never mind, I’ll show you to your room,” he said.

While the ladies put their things away and Terri changed, Hayden and Tommy pulled out the couch and arranged the living room to give everyone a place to sit. Tommy switched from wine to the bottle of beer Hayden had bought from the fridge and sat in a big chair.

“They seem really nice,” he commented.

“Oh, they’re great. We all used to work together. Amanda is an ADA and Terri is her boss.”

“Ah. Cool.” Tommy took a drink. “Look, Hayden, I got a phone call from my Suzie, yeah, the waitress? She said there’s been some bad stuff happening around town lately.”

“Like what?” Hayden sat up straight, remembering the cop cars from the night before.

“Sounds like there have been a few murders. Someone out on the lake. The police haven’t caught him yet.” Tommy looked sideways at Hayden.

“Holy shit. Here? Jeez…” Hayden slumped back, hand over his eyes.

“If you don’t mind, and I know this is a bit forward, but I’d like to crash here on the couch tonight. You know, while they’re in town. Keep an eye on things. I don’t want to freak you out, but you’re the only house on this side of the lake. That is, if you don’t mind.”

“You really don’t have to,” Hayden said hesitantly. Tommy who was staring at him intently.

“I’ve got a .45 out in the car. We won’t be bothered, I can guarantee.” Tommy didn’t like the thought of Hayden being in this house alone even with his two visitors. They were lawyers, not cops.

“Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”

Amanda and Terri both came back into the room; Terri had changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. Soon, they were awash in conversation again, and Tommy excused himself to get his gun.

The night air was crisp and breezy, the moon was high in the clear sky, and the smell of burnt leaves filled the air. Tommy’s boots crunched on the ground as he made his way across the gravel to his truck. He checked to see if his gun was loaded, turned the safety on, and slid it in the waistband of his jeans, covering it with his shirt. He stared out into the water of Lake Veronica, watching and listening. The night’s silent as the grave. He shivered and walked back inside, throwing the bolt after he closed the door.