Page 111 of Guess Again

Lake Morikawa, Wisconsin Monday, July 13, 2026

THE HORIZON WAS CHARRED WITH THE GINGER GLOW OF SUNSET THAT bottom lit a network of clouds drifting over the lake like frayed cotton shredded across the sky.

Ethan and Maddie stood out on the porch and looked down over Lake Morikawa.

Mark Jones had finally taken Ethan up on his offer and sipped Schlitz while he sat on the couch inside the cabin.

Ethan looked at Maddie and ran a finger along her left cheek.

“Told you it would come back.”

Maddie smiled, each side of her face responding, the Bell’s palsy invisible to anyone who didn’t know it had once existed.

She reached up and placed her hand on his wrist.

“I don’t know what happened last summer.

I don’t know what you found in that storage unit that sent you into such a spiral.

And, honestly, I don’t care.

I don’t need to know why you ended things with me.

I don’t need to know why you quit your job. And I don’t need to know why you ran away. All I need to know is if you’ll come back and help me with this. I’ve been put in charge of the investigation by the Milwaukee PD. We’ve called in the DCI to assist us. If you come back, you and I would be leading the charge on this, Ethan. And I need you by my side.”

Ethan swallowed hard.

A fish swirled near the pier and broke the surface of the water.

An elk bugled from somewhere in the brush.

Ethan wondered when he’d be back here again.

He wondered if this place would ever be the same for him. He wondered how many more women would die if he refused Maddie’s request. He wondered the same thing if he accepted.

“Ethan?”

Maddie asked.

Ethan looked at her.

His gaze shifted to the lake in the background, and the lodgepole pines all around him.

Slowly, he nodded.

“I’ll do it.”