Page 51 of Vanish From Sight

Ed wagged a finger near his nose. “I’m glad you find it funny. What happened? Did you two idiots decide to go skinny dipping? I mean, you, I could expect it from, but him. He’s with local PD, right?”

He said it in a way to suggest that State investigators were out of their mind.

“Something like that.” Noah let out a sigh and took a seat. “You think you’ve got a drink?”

“You don’t drink.”

“You’re right, but at this rate I probably will again.”

Ed observed him before taking a seat. “So?”

Noah sighed, running hands over his wet pants. “I pulled him out of the river at High Falls Gorge.” He shook his head. “Fuck knows how long he was in there. I was going to take him to the hospital but he refused.”

“Tough shit. You take him. I don’t like the damn place any more than him but I know my limits.”

“I’m with you on that but you don’t know Ray. Hell, you don’t know my family.”

“Actually, I think I’m the only one who can say I do. And so far, I’ve begun to think you are all a little batshit crazy.”

“Being a Sutherland will do that to you.” He gave a pained smile before staring out across the lake toward the three islands. “They’ll detain him on a 5150. He could lose his career.”

“By the looks of him, he was ready to ditch it anyway. I gather he didn’t slip?”

“No,” he said again. “That’s what makes this difficult.”

“For you or for me?”

Noah took a seat in a wicker chair, feeling chilled to the bone. “Ed. Look. I appreciate this. I just need a place for him to get warm, somewhere he can put his head down for a day or two until we can work this out.”

“And what happens if you don’t? What happens if he decides to go take another dip in the lake, outside my house? What then?”

“He won’t.”

Ed grumbled. “You know, most people when they haven’t seen someone for a long time, they usually show up with a gift, asix-pack of Buds, a bottle of wine. You show up with a drowned rat.”

“I will make it up to you.”

“I look forward to that,” he said, eyeballing him.

Noah gazed across at the property where Alicia’s cabin had burned down. The charred remains had been cleared away, nothing remained except the foundation. Ed followed his eyes. “Oh yeah. That. What a damn mess. I’ve been waiting on Alicia to tell me when they’re going to rebuild or if she plans to sell the land.”

“She is. To me. At least, she’s looking into it.”

“To you?”

“Yeah, that a problem?”

“Ugh. Why me, Lord, why me?” he asked, looking toward the dark sky.

“You don’t want me as a neighbor?”

“I want you as a neighbor as much as I want another dose of hemorrhoids.”

Noah chuckled as he rose and took out his phone. He stepped away to make a call to Tanya. “And it’s good to see you again, my old friend.”

“So what now?” Ed asked.

Noah brought the phone to his ear, waiting for Tanya to pick up. “Damage control.”