The Broken Lake (7 page)

“Unfortunately, there have been rumors that our lab is conducting experiments and hiding groundbreaking results from the public. This speculation led a desperate man to seek something he could not find.

“I can assure you that this lab is working every day to find what Mr. Walters was looking for, but I can personally tell you it does not yet exist. We are close to finding cures for many ailments and will guarantee that as soon as we have anything substantially beneficial, the public will know. It is what my uncle lived for. Thank you.”

As soon as he finished, questions began flying in from every direction. “Mr. Wilson, is it true Mr. Walters blackmailed you? Is it true he killed himself with alligator blood? Is there any merit to alligator blood in medicine? What does it heal? Did it kill him?”

Wes waited patiently for the barrage of questions to end. “You all have very good questions. Unfortunately, I am not the person to answer them. I am proud to support and carry on something my father and uncle began, but I will have to defer to the professionals on the rest of your questions. I give you first Dr. Dwight Lyon. Thank you.”

He nodded respectfully and took his place among the five men standing behind him. Dr. Lyon, the oldest doctor, stepped forward with an intimidating demeanor that caused the reporters to step down their tone and eagerness a notch.

He immediately filled them in on several cancer studies they were working on, as well as HIV, and then addressed the important alligator blood question. He told the world that they had begun to extract antibodies from alligator blood for a topical cream study and had seen some benefits in using it on burn victims. He assured, very convincingly, that it was merely a topical application and injecting it in any way would be out of the question.

“Wow,” Tom said, shaking his head in what appeared to be both admiration and disbelief. “They’re working on some very advanced treatments. Wes is an impressive young man. His father would be very proud.”

“See, Sophie. Now you can stop gnawing on your lip. He did great, and he might get an offer to do a billboard ad for pain reliever or something.”

“Not funny, Mom.”

“I’m just saying.”

“I’m going upstairs. I have to work today.”

“Okay, honey. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

By the time I reached the top step, I had gone through the press conference twice over. There was nothing that stuck out as far as I could tell. It had been perfectly done and there weren’t any red flags I could see that would make people think something secretive was going on there. I still shuddered at the thought of the whole thing. Then I started to wonder how much those doctors really knew.

Surely, in order for the lab to find the cures Dr. Thomas had hoped for, they had to know the blood could be injected. Maybe not. I decided I’d ask Wes another time. I really didn’t care right then. I just wanted to talk to him. I debated how long to wait before I called, but he called me first, only minutes after I got upstairs.

“How was it?” he asked, sounding nervous.

That took me by surprise because his tone was opposite from what I’d heard just moments before.

“You did great.” I answered, still trying to decipher the worry in his voice.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. It was perfect. Or at least as perfect as it could be, considering.”

He sighed. “Good.”

“What’s wrong? I thought you would be much more upbeat than me about it. What happened?”

I could almost picture him shaking his head. “I don’t know. I thought it went well, but then everyone watched me the whole time. Even when the doctors were at the podium, they were all looking at me.”

Now I was the one to calm the worry. “Wes, the reporters were probably watching you because you have such a camera friendly face. I’d look at you too.”

He laughed. “Well, remind me not to do that again.”

I snorted. “You’ll have no problem from me on that.”

I
was in a much better mood after the press conference, and my hand was feeling fine, but I still solicited a ride to work from Wes. After he went home to change out of his Clark Kent look, he was coming by to scoop me up. I was on the lookout, knowing if he came inside that my mom and Tom would want to talk about the press conference, and I just wanted the drama to be done and over with.

And it seemed like it was. He was much more relaxed, and so was I the moment I got into his car. Leaning over to give him a kiss was a must, and although it was brief, it was enough to make me wish he wasn’t dropping me off at work.
Focus, Sophie, focus.
Oh, what the heck? I was elated. I leaned over to kiss him again.

“To what do I owe all this?” he asked, laughing between kisses.

“You don’t know?”

“Apparently, I don’t.”

“Mom says you’re famous now. Might get calls from agents for commercials. I’ve always wanted a famous guy.”

He laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“Okay, you got me. I’m just so happy that it’s over. The investigation is closed, the press conference is over, my mom is relaxing, and I’m with you.” I was beaming.

His lighthearted laugh turned into a more serious but content smile. He leaned over to kiss me again and told me he loved me, then smoothly headed the car toward a destination I really didn’t want to reach.

On the way there, I asked a few questions about the doctors from the press conference. He told me about Dr. Dwight Lyon. Apparently, Dr. Lyon was a hemophiliac who was treated by Dr. Thomas before he died. Wes said Dr. Thomas’ research in the 1950s, using various animal plasmas and experimentations with variations of temperature and concentrations of saline and alcohol, led to the development of factors used to clot blood in home treatments. Dr. Thomas’ findings didn’t cure hemophilia, but led to a revolutionary way that people suffering from it could be treated.

Since Dr. Lyon was a beneficiary of Dr. Thomas’ findings, he vowed to help continue with his research. I asked why there wasn’t a larger focus on curing hemophilia in the lab and Wes said that they were working on that too, but current medications already allowed for hemophiliacs to live a relatively normal life. What they want to focus on more is finding cures for terminal illnesses.

“It’s what Dr. Thomas wanted,” Wes ended.

“I wish there was a cure for everything.” I almost became melancholy again.

“Maybe one day.” Wes smiled and lifted my chin with his finger.

“Right. One day.”

A few moments passed and we pulled into the parking lot. A police cruiser sat right in front of the bookstore.

“What is going on here?” Wes asked.

“That’s odd,” I said.

Although Wes normally would’ve dropped me off, this time he parked and got out with me. Together, we walked to the door, curious and anxious. Inside were the same two police officers who had questioned me a few days ago. The sight of them made me tense as I tried to remember any possible slip I’d made in my story.

They were talking to Mr. Healey at the counter. I saw Mr. Healey dip his head and begin shaking it side to side. My thoughts drifted to Dawn and Danny, until I saw Danny come from the back carrying a small stack of items. Dawn.

I walked right up to where the officers were. “Is Dawn okay?”

“Yes, Dawn’s fine,” Mr. Healey answered. “It’s Ms. Mary.”

Ms. Mary couldn’t have done anything wrong, that’s for sure. She was just a quiet, elderly woman who worked at the store. Then it occurred to me that Mr. Healey didn’t have a disappointed look on his face, he wore a shocked and saddened look.

“What’s wrong with her?”

Mr. Healey cleared his throat, but the younger, thin officer spoke up. “Ms. Mary was found dead in her home this morning. She was murdered.”

My heart fluttered and my muscles tightened. Wes stepped forward and placed his hand on my back.

I looked at Mr. Healey. “Oh, my gosh. Murdered? Ms. Mary?” At that point Wes put his hand on my elbow to steady me.

Mr. Healey said, “Officer, I don’t understand. Why would anyone do that to her?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.” The officer reached out his hand toward Danny.

“Are these her belongings?” Danny nodded and handed over her cubby items. “We’ll check these against the items her family says are unaccounted for.”

“What happened?” I asked.

This time the rounder one spoke up. “We received a call this morning when her house alarm went off. Upon arrival, we found her dead.”

It was all too much. This was the kind of stuff people see on TV. This didn’t happen to someone who worked in the same little bookstore where I worked. This was some sort of nightmare.

The thin officer spoke up. “Speaking of this morning, do you mind telling us where you were?”

I looked up, about to answer his question, but noticed his eyes were fixed on Wes.

“Me?” Wes asked, confused.

“Yes, you. I find it a bit odd that two major crimes have occurred in the last week involving people you are somehow connected with.”

“That’s ridiculous!” I snapped, switching from shocked sorrow to anger.

“It’s okay, Sophie. The officers are just doing their job.” He squeezed my elbow and looked directly at them. “I was at a press conference this morning.”

“Yes, the one that was televised live.” I added, just to be sure it was clear that Wes was in
no
way responsible for killing poor Ms. Mary.

The officers nodded and wrote in their notepads.

“Thank you for the information. Please call us if you can think of anything else.” The thinner one, Officer Petty, I had taken notice of his name tag by then, handed over a business card. Then they each gave a brief nod to Mr. Healey, Danny, and Wes, ignored me altogether, and walked out.

I turned to Mr. Healey. “I don’t believe it.”

“I know, Sophie. It doesn’t make sense.”

Wes made a more sympathetic comment. “I don’t know who could be so cruel.”

Danny added, “I know. It’s crazy.”

“So what now?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m going to reach out to her family. I know she has several daughters in the area.” Mr. Healey pressed his lips together, as if holding back emotion, and then walked toward the back room, leaving us to let the news sink in.

“Ms. Mary worked here for twenty years.” Danny sighed. “She used to babysit us.”

“I feel terrible.” In fact, I was starting to feel all cruddy again.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

I looked at Wes. “No, I’m okay. I just think it’s really tragic. She was so nice.”

“Are you sure? I can take you.”

He looked as if he didn’t want to leave, and I almost didn’t want him to, but I knew he couldn’t hang out with me at the store all day. “I’m okay. Really. You need to go to class. Pick me up when I get off. I’ll be all right.”

He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “Call me if you need anything.” Reluctantly, he turned and headed for the door.

I gave him a genuine smile, considering the circumstances, and turned to Danny. He appeared almost as shaken up as his father. “You okay?”

He shook off the concern directed toward him. “Yeah, I’m all right, but it just won’t be the same around here. She kept my dad organized and me in check. We’ll miss her, that’s for sure.”

I wanted to offer a hug, and then thought it might be awkward. Then I wondered who would hug him. I had never seen Danny with any girl. No one ever brought him lunch or dinner. I never saw him on his phone or texting or anything. And he was good-looking.

Then again, before I met Wes, no one would’ve ever seen me with anyone, and I had been just fine. I still would’ve needed a hug if someone close to my family had died. Still, it would seem forced, so I just walked around and patted him on his shoulder gently. He turned and gave me a soft smile.

Interrupting the awkward I’m-here-for-you-if-you-need-me moment was a gust of air as Dawn burst through the door. “What the hell, Danny? I’m not due in until 4:00.”

“Well, little sis, Dad wanted you here, so he could tell—”

“Oh, please.”

“Dawn, will you shut your mouth for two seconds?”

They were about to go back and forth in a sibling spat when I interrupted. “Ms. Mary died this morning.”

Her mouth froze, her face flashed through the same expressions of confusion mine had, and then she asked almost the same questions.

Needless to say, the afternoon was not a joy. It felt cold, sad, and empty in the store all day. It seemed that we were the least busy we had been all year, like the customers knew to stay away and give the store some healing time, only it made matters worse. No one wanted to make small talk or discuss the awful news, so we were silent most of the day.

Finally, Mr. Healey went home early, and at closing time, I did too.

It wasn’t surprising when my mother freaked out over the incident. By morning, she was actually considering moving. I had no choice but to fully engage in the conversation because she waited until I sat at the breakfast table with a bowl of cereal. No quick escape.

“You know, Sophie,” she began, “I’m not sure living in this area suits us anymore.”

“What? Are you kidding, Mom?”

“Well, no. Think about it. Danger never followed you like it seems to be doing since we moved here.”

“Danger did not follow me. Ms. Mary is the one dead, remember? It followed her to her house. Not to mine.”

“But, Sophie, how many young girls your age can say they almost…” She elected not to finish that sentence. Instead, she shook off the thought. “I just think you’ve been too close to too many incidents involving crazy people for my taste. We wouldn’t move far. Maybe closer to the coast. Just somewhere new and fresh.”

This was so like her. She’d always had the itch to try new places whenever she got bored, or didn’t like something about where we were living. Now that we had moved back to the place where I was born, where I had found Wes, I was not about to move again. Not a chance. Plus, I was eighteen. She couldn’t make me move, even if she wanted to.

“Mom, I’m not moving anywhere. I like it here. And so do you, for that matter. And what about Tom? What happened to Ms. Mary was crazy, but it doesn’t have anything to do with us.”