Page 1 of Vanish From Sight (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #2)

Adirondack County, Upstate New York

D eath hung in the air.

The evening was crisp, the sky clear, allowing the moonlight to cast its cool glow over the surrounding trees. In the midst of fall, the leaves were ablaze in golden yellows and deep reds, signaling the natural cycle of death and renewal.

A single fishing boat glided through the calm waters of High Peaks Lake, the only sounds coming from the gentle lapping of the waves against the hull and the occasional call of a night bird in the distance. As it was the weekend before Thanksgiving, the days were cold, the nights even colder.

“Are we there yet?” Caitlin Dowling said.

“Almost,” her boyfriend replied.

Escaping the hustle of city life in Albany, with the hope of enjoying a weekend away, the young couple had opted to head north to experience the beauty and tranquility of High Peaks.

It was a little after eight in the evening when they’d left the Airbnb for what was meant to be an adventurous boat ride across the 5.

5-mile lake. The waterfront cabin had come fully stocked with all the amenities, a full-size fishing boat, kayaks and canoes.

With his girlfriend too afraid to use a kayak, he’d taken out the fishing boat.

“Billy, let’s go back. It’s too cold out here.” She shivered as she faced him.

He smiled back. “Put your hood up. It will be worth it.”

“This is not what I had in mind when you said we were going to get away.”

“Live a little.”

Caitlin grumbled, wrapping her arms tightly around herself in an effort to stay warm. She’d dressed for warmer weather, not expecting a sudden shift in temperature, now she was beginning to regret her choice of clothing.

With winter on the doorstep, Billy could feel a harsh wind biting at his cheeks.

The boat bobbed up and down as water lapped against it.

Desperate to stay warm, Billy began to row faster, hoping the exertion would generate some heat.

He could feel his fingers getting numb and his teeth chattering.

He’d brought a flask of hot cocoa and some finger foods.

It was meant to be romantic — a kind gesture—proof that he hadn’t lost the touch.

That the work on Wall Street hadn’t consumed his soul the way it had others’.

A light mist hovered over the surface of the water like a ghostly apparition.

Even as he focused on the task at hand, all he could think about was the cold.

“We should have gone south… No one knows we’re out here. If something happens…” she said .

“Chill.”

“Is that meant to be funny?”

He snorted, finding humor in the moment.

“Nothing will happen,” he said as the oars cut through the still waters.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they got close to the outcropping of rocks he’d told her about.

The air became still. He felt a sense of unease wash over him.

Billy heaved a heavy sigh as he brought the oars into the boat.

The sound of the clattering against the hull echoed across the water.

He turned to Caitlin with a grin.

“Well, we’re here,” he said, gesturing to a rocky outcropping. “This is where she’s supposed to be seen.”

Caitlin squinted. “I don’t see a damn thing, so let’s go back.”

He chuckled, reaching for the flask and handing it to her. “Take this. Get some of that in you. It will warm you up.”

“It would be better if we drank it around a fire.”

Another cool breeze blew across the surface of the lake, rustling the leaves and carrying the scent of nature toward them.

“We will. Just give it five or ten minutes. You’re always listening to those spooky ghost stories.

I figured you would get a kick out of this one.

” He poured himself a cup and clambered over to her end to sit beside her.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close.

“Okay, so back in September 1933, a well-known teacher from around these parts supposedly disappeared while rowing across the lake. No one had any idea where she went. She was the dean of an illustrious college. Apparently she was vacationing out here, a bit like us.”

He grinned and Caitlin slapped him on the leg. “Billy Crawford, you better not be pranking me.”

He laughed and she summoned a smirk.

“Shh. Let me finish. So, police dragged the lake, searched the surrounding mountain trails and came up empty-handed. Not a sign. She was there one minute and the next, gone. The only thing they found was her capsized boat near the shore. Then get this… thirty years goes by and this diving group is out here on the lake, you know, doing their thing, having a little dig around to see what they could find, and they come across her preserved remains on a shelf about 95 feet down below the surface of the water.”

Caitlin listened intently, her eyes wide with wonder and fear.

“It seems there was a weight attached to a rope around her neck. They think it was suicide but no one could be sure. Too many years had passed to determine if she was murdered. Anyway, since that night, tourists and locals swear that the ghostly figure of a woman is seen hovering near that outcropping of rock over there. They say the spirit of the Lady of the Lake still haunts that spot ’til this very day. ”

As she squinted to make out if she could see anything, Billy startled her by shouting, “Boo!”

Caitlin slapped him again and he roared with laughter.

“Billy!”

“You are so easy to scare.”

He studied her expression as Caitlin took a sip of her drink.

“Did you make that up?” she asked.

“No. I swear. It’s a true story.”

Caitlin shook her head. “Poor woman.”

“Apparently, she had a lot of bad luck in her life. Family and whatever.” Billy surveyed the surface of the rock, his eyes slowly descending before he glassed the lake.

“Goes to show you that you can achieve a position in life but that career, money, none of that really matters if...” He trailed off, as he began squinting.

“What is that?” she asked.

“Can you see that?” he replied.

“Oh, stop, Billy. ”

“No. Seriously Look out there,” he said, pointing toward a strange shape floating in the distance.

Caitlin followed the direction of his finger. Billy took out his flashlight and shone the beam outward, its warm light danced across the ripples. “Here, hold this,” he said, taking out the oars and paddling as fast as he could toward it.

“Billy. C’mon. Let’s go back.”

“I just want to get a closer look.”

“This better not be a joke.”

He didn’t answer. He was too focused on what was up ahead.

As they approached the unusual object, he soon realized that it was a lifeless body floating face-down in the water.

Billy took an oar and touched the tip of it against the shoulder, turning the face, just enough to see it wasn’t a mannequin but a woman. In fright, he almost dropped the oar.

“Holy crap.”

Frightened and unsure of what to do, he rowed back while Caitlin took out her phone and called the authorities.