How did hedie?
Looks like a boating accident. The coroners down there now. Dewayne nodded toward her grandmothers house. Look, maybe you best go on inside. This isnt something you want to see.
But
Hey, Dewayne!
He turned at the sound of his name, then muttered a curse as a tall figure topped the bank and headed across the yard toward them. Pardon my French, but I sure as hell dont need this tonight, he muttered to Shelby. He called to the newcomer, Look, you got questions, you need to talk to the sheriff, Nathan.
Shelbys mouth fell open in astonishment. Nathan? Nathan Dallas? The boy who had once gotten her into so much trouble? Was it possible?
Shed heard Nathan had left this part of the country years ago. Like her, hed migrated to a big city. Her grandmother had told her once that he was some hotshot reporter in Washington, just as hed always said he would be. What in the world was he doing back in Arcadia?
McCaid wont talk to me, you know that. Come on, Dewayne, cut me some slack here, okay? Nathan strode over to the deputy, his back to Shelby. I want to know what the coroner found when he examined the body.
Dewayne sighed. And have my words splashed across the Argus? No thanks. Been there, done that.
You got burned once by my uncle, Nathan said. But youre dealing with me now. If you say something is off the record, its off the record.
Yeah, right.
Nathan ignored the sarcasm. You dont really think this was a boating accident, do you? Come on.
What else would cut a man up like that? Dewayne said grimly. He got caught in a boat propeller.
cut a man up?
Shelby shivered uncontrollably. Shed forgotten how dangerous the river could be, how unpredictable. Shed come here seeking solace from the violence of her past only to find more death, more horror. But surely this was an accident. A terrible, tragic mishap.
Its how he got caught in a prop that makes me curious, Nathan persisted. Why was he out there diving alone?
His wife said he liked to go night-diving.
Night-diving? In that river? Nathans tone was clearly incredulous.
Dewayne shrugged. He got too close to the surface and a boat ran him over. Probably thought they hit a log or something.
So thats going to be the party line, is it? Contempt crept into Nathans voice. Are you even going to question Takamura?
Thats none of your damn business, Dewayne countered. You let the police handle the investigation.
Which means youre not. Nathan shook his head in disgust. Takamuras got an iron clamp on this towns throat, thats for damn sure.
The deputys voice hardened with anger. I dont think I like what youre implying, Nathan.
No, Nathan said quietly. I dont imagine you do.
Shelby had stood silently during this exchange, but Dewayne glanced at her now. Look, I dont have time for this. I have to get back down there. It was nice seeing you again, Shelby.
You, too, Dewayne.
Nathan spun, peering at her in the moonlight. As Dewayne walked away, Nathan took a few steps toward her. Did I hear him right? Shelby? Shelby Westmoreland?
Its August now. Its been a long time, Nathan.
At least you remember me, he said.
Oh, I remember you all right. She wasnt likely to forget the kid who had dared her to meet him down by the river at midnight so they could watch for the Pearl River Monster together. Nor would she forget that hed stood her up that night. If hed been there to corroborate her story, Shelby never would have become such an object of ridicule.
At least that was the way shed felt back then. But time had put that night in perspective. It hadnt been Nathans fault that her imagination had conjured up a monster, or that, after the initial terror, shed enjoyed the rush of attention. It hadnt been his fault that maybe, just maybe, shed embellished her memory of that night because the spotlight had somehow made her abandonment more bearable. Shed been dropped on her grandmothers doorstep that summer by parents who didnt want her. Didnt love her. But for a while, everyone in Arcadia had adored her.
Then, of course, theyd turned on her.
But Nathan hadnt. Hed broken his word to her that night, but hed stood by her in the humiliating days afterward.
Hey, Shelby, seen any monsters lately?
Wheres your monster, Shelby?
You shut your face, Nathan would tell the smirking crowd of kids who gathered around Shelby. Before I shut it for you.
And then, inevitably, a fight would ensue. Nathan had been so scrawny, hed almost always gotten his butt kicked, but hed never once backed down.
Judging by his conversation with Dewayne Mill-sap, Nathan was still just as stubborn. But Shelby doubted hed be the underdog in a skirmish nowadays. He looked strong, capable, almost formidable in the darkness as he stared down at her.
Hed turned out to be an attractive man, from what she could see. She wondered what he thought of her.
He grinned suddenly, as if reading her mind. Look at you, all grown up.
I should hope so, she said dryly. Im thirty years old.
Where did the time go? he said softly.
Itvanished. Just like my monster.
He tipped his head slightly, gazing down at her. I heard you were living out on the west coast. What brings you back here?
I came to help my grandmother, Shelby said. She broke her hip.
Yeah, I heard about that, too. Is she going to be okay?
The doctors think shell make a full recovery, but shell be out of commission for quite some time. She asked me to come back and run the shop for her.
Why not your uncle James?
Hes a busy man, Shelby said. There was no need for further elaboration, because Nathan knew as well as she that James Westmoreland was not a man who could be trusted, not even by his own mother. That was why Annabel had been compelled to call Shelby for help.
James was so much younger than Shelbys father that he was more like a cousin or an older brother in age, but he and Shelby had never been close. When Shelby had first come to live with her grandmother, her uncles coldness had hurt her feelings, but shed learned to stay out of his way. Everything had been okay for a while, but then James had gone and told that awful lie, claimed the monster sighting had been his idea so the family business could profit from the influx of tourists. Hed been willing to tarnish his own reputation in order to defame a nine-year-old girl, and to this day, Shelby didnt understand why.
Nathan had fallen silent, and she followed his gaze across the yard. They were bringing the body up the bank. The stretcher was covered, but Shelby couldnt bear to look. She turned her gaze instead to the river. The water looked iridescent, shimmering like an opal in the moonlight. On the far side, trees crowded the bank, and the fronds of a weeping willow trailed like fingers across the glassy surface.
She wrapped her arms around her middle, shivering in the warm June night. Why dont you believe it was an accident? she asked softly.
Nathan glanced at her in surprise, as if hed forgotten her presence. What? Then, shrugging, he said, It doesnt add up. A lot of things dont add up around here.
Such as?
He hesitated. Maybe Im just being paranoid.
He didnt strike her as the paranoid type, but then, she hadnt known him since they were kids. You mentioned Takamura earlier.
Yeah. Do you remember him?
Vaguely. Shelby remembered one afternoon coming back home after a day on the river with Nathan. Her grandmother was sitting on the front porch, clearly upset, as a long, black car pulled away from the house.
Whats the matter, Grandmother? Shelby asked worriedly.
That man! Her grandmothers tone was scathing. He thinks he can barter for anything he pleases, but Ive got news for him. Some things around here just arent for sale!
Only recently, Shelbys grandmother had mentioned Takamura again. Shed said he was still trying to buy the supply of freshwater pearls shed acquired from a man named Wilson Tubb years ago. Most of the jewelry she sold in her shop now was made from pearls that came from the original collection, although she still bought from a few local divers. But the river pearls were almost gone now because the mussel beds had been so badly depleted by pollution and by dredging by people like Takamura.
He takes and takes and takes, Annabel had said with scorn. But one of these days, the river is going to claim a price.
Maybe it already had, Shelby thought, glancing at the shrouded stretcher being loaded into the hearse.
She could feel Nathans gaze on her and she glanced up at him. Youre still a reporter, I take it.
He shrugged. Some might say thats debatable. I work at the Argus now.
Your uncles paper? Memories of past headlines flashed through Shelbys mind. Virgil Dallas had pursed her relentlessly after her monster sighting that night. His stories had drawn reporters from all over the country, had made her a celebrity, but like everyone else in town, hed turned on her after James had told his lies. Why did you come back to Arcadia? she asked Nathan. As I recall, you couldnt wait to get away from this place.
Something flickered in his eyes, an emotion Shelby couldnt define. Things change.
Yes, she agreed quietly. They do.
He paused, his gaze deep and unfathomable in the moonlight. Ive thought about you over the years, Shelby. Wondered where you were, how you were doing.
The way he said her name sent a soft shiver up her spine. Ive thought about you, too, she admitted.
Have you? He sounded surprised. Its funny, isnt it, how the more things change, the more they stay the same? Look at us. For years we lived on opposite sides of the country, thousands of miles apart. And yet here we both are. Back where we started.
Full circle, Shelby murmured. Maybe its fate.
Yeah, he said, smiling. But there was an edge of bitterness in his voice when he added, Fate can play some pretty strange tricks all right.
NATHAN CLIMBED into his Bronco and waited for the procession of police cars and the hearse to pull out so that he could fall in line behind them. From his rearview mirror, he could see Shelby standing in the yard, gazing after them. He couldnt see her face in the darkness, but the way she lingered on the lawn, looking a little lost, reminded him of the way shed seemed that first summer shed come to live with her grandmother.
Mentally he calculated the years, shocked again to realize how much time had passed since hed last seen her. And yet the moment hed heard her name, hed felt that old, tingling sensation along his backbone. That old awareness.
Shed been nine that first summer, and Nathan had been ten. Older, wiser, hed naturally stepped into the role of her protector, even though theyd been about the same sizeand both small for their ages at that.
Shelby was still petite. When theyd stood talking, she hadnt even come up to his chin. And shed seemed frail somehow, as if maybe life hadnt been exactly kind to her. The notion made Nathan a little sad because hed always imagined Shelby Westmoreland living a charmed life, maybe because hed never gotten over his first impression of her.
In his mind, he could still see her sitting so prim and proper on Miss Annabels front porch, nibbling a strawberry ice-cream cone that was the exact color of her dress. Even in the shade of the porch, her blonde hair had shone like new money, and her eyes were wide and clear, forget-me-not blue.
Nathan had been out fishing that day. His bare feet were muddy, and his clothes reeked of the river. To this day, he remembered how daintily Shelbys perfect little nose had turned up in displeasure as he climbed the porch steps and held up a string of catfish for Miss Annabels inspection.
Nathan, this is my granddaughter, Shelby. Shes going to be staying here with me this summer. Im very lucky to have her, but Im afraid she might get a mite lonely, what with just the two of us out here. How about you come around every chance you get and help me keep her company?
Okay, hed mumbled, tongue-tied, having not the faintest idea how one entertained such a creature.
But to Nathans amazement, he and Shelby had become best friends that summer. In spite of her delicate appearance, shed been game for almost anything. The pink dress had soon given way to shorts and shirts that had grown, under his expert tutelage, almost as ragged and disreputable as his own clothing.
Hed taught her how to dig for worms in Miss Annabels flower beds, how to bait a hook, where to find the best fishing holes. Hed taught her how to clean a catfish and how to cook it over a campfire. How to run a trotline. How to dive. Where the currents were safest to swim and where they werent. Hed shown her his hidden spota secret he would have guarded with his life, if necessaryfor finding the highly coveted mussels. Hed taught her everything he knew about the river, and then some. All the while, hed kept his adoration to himselfthen, and as theyd grown olderbecause hed always been afraid that if shed suspected his true feelings, she would be so embarrassed and disgusted that she would never want anything to do with him again.
Starting his ignition, Nathan turned on his lights as the last police car moved in behind the hearse. But he didnt put the Bronco in gear because he couldnt quite tear his gaze from the rearview mirror. It came to him, as he watched Shelby in the mirror, that she had seemed like a woman who was badly frightened of something.
Of what? Surely that summer night had long since faded from her memory. There were no monsters, nothing to be afraid of here. Not for her.
But the old protective instinct rose in Nathan anyway, and he had to fight the urge to swing his truck around and go back to make sure she was safe.
He tightened his grip on the wheel. They were adults now, and Shelby was a married woman. A lot of years had passed since hed tried to slay dragons for her. And monsters. He was out of practice, and besides, the boy who had once had such chivalric tendencies had grown up to be a man with weaknesses of his own.
A man too flawed to be anyones hero.
NOT UNTIL the last flash of red taillights disappeared around the bend in the road did Shelby turn and start across the yard toward the house.
Police cars. A violent death. Not exactly a desirable welcome home. Certainly not a scenario she would have chosen.
Halfway across the lawn she hesitated, glancing up at the house. Rising on stilts, the looming white structure, so charming by daylight, had always seemed a little spooky to Shelby in the darkness. It wasnt so much the house itself that was eerie as the area beneath. Enclosed in whitewashed latticework, the spider-infested space was used to store everything from garden tools to trunks of old schoolbooks.