Angela grinned. “I’ve never played tour guide before, but I think I’m going to be good at it. Turn left on the road; we’ll be in town in no time.”

  Two hours later, Tulia was feeling every inch the tourist. They’d swung through the college campus, which wasn’t very busy since it was summer. It turned out Angela had done a semester of school there, and she explained that the campus had underground tunnels for when the weather was especially bad in winter. Tulia thought that was an extremely neat feature, though it made her wonder just how bad winter could get up here.

  Their next stop was the downtown part of Marquette, where they parked along the curb and got out to walk the hilly streets. Unlike the campus, Marquette was swarming with people, both tourists and locals taking advantage of the nice weather to get some fresh air and do some shopping. Tulia was resigned to window shopping until she remembered that she could actually afford to do more than look now, and she bought herself a Marquette sweatshirt that had a stylized rendition of the city on it. She also purchased a handmade scarf with autumn colors that she loved, even if she wouldn’t need to wear it for months yet. She bought Angela a scarf of her own when she spotted the other woman eyeing one and forced the other woman to accept the gift by claiming she still owed her for all of the help she had been giving her.

  Finally, they got back into the car and headed toward the beach. Angela directed her away from the busier spots right by the city, and they drove along the coast for a few miles until Angela had her turn down an unmarked dirt road. She was skeptical, but after driving only a few hundred feet, the road turned sharply and ended at a pebbly beach lined with trees. The lake stretched in front of them, endless and blue.

  Tulia felt a thrill as she stepped out of the car and the lakeside breeze tugged at her hair. This was what she had wanted to experience on her trip. New things, things that reminded her of the expanse and beauty of her country.

  “It’s gorgeous,” she said as Angela joined her. “This is an amazing spot.”

  “Isn’t it? You’ll get a few people here sometimes, but it’s too rocky for swimming, and there’s no boat launch, so even the locals don’t use it much. You can wade in, though the water’s going to be chilly.”

  “I can brave a little chill.”

  They walked down the beach together. Once they reached the edge of the waves that lapped at the shore, Tulia slipped her sandals off and went forward until the cold water splashed over her feet. She smiled as she gazed out across the lake, the far shore lost to the horizon. It was amazing to think of the sheer size of Lake Superior, and she wondered what secrets might hide in its depths. She could now say she had visited three of the five Great Lakes. Hopefully, by the end of her trip, she would have seen many more natural landmarks. This was just the beginning.

  “You know, my grandmother had a boat that she left me,” Angela said from behind her. She hadn’t waded in and was instead searching along the beach for interesting rocks. “I don’t take it out much, but if you’re still going to be around this weekend, we can go out on the lake.”

  “I wouldn’t—”

  “Stop it, you wouldn’t be imposing. Do you have any idea how boring my life is? Most of my friends moved away after high school. The few who stuck around either left after college, or they stuck around but have jobs and families. I spend like ninety percent of my time either working or thinking about working, and the rest of the time, I’m wondering when my brother will get his life together. Do you really think I’m anything but happy to have an excuse to go have fun this weekend?”

  “All right, all right,” Tulia said with a laugh. “I can stay another day or two. I do want to go out on the lake. I’ve only ever been kayaking, and I’ve never been on a real boat.”

  It was something to look forward to. She didn’t want to stay too much longer, though. She had a lot to see, and she’d never complete her road trip if she got sidetracked so easily.

  They returned to Angela’s house that evening as it was getting dark out. Benny and Devon had already started a fire in the ring of stones in Angela’s yard, and Tulia made sure Cicero could see them out the RV’s window from his cage. Parrots couldn’t safely be around smoke, or she would have tried to put his harness on so he could join them. As it was, she made frequent trips back to the RV to bring him treats—bits of broken off graham cracker, some watermelon and grapes they’d bought at the store, and a chopped off piece of corn on the cob, which would keep him occupied for most of the evening.

  She and Angela chatted during the cookout, and eventually Devon joined in on the discussion, giving his opinion of a movie they’d all seen when it had been released the year before. Benny remained quiet, shooting his friend glances that made Tulia wonder what their argument earlier had been about. Benny looked almost … scared.

  She glanced over at Devon as he said, “I don’t know which one of you bought all this food, but it’s all great. My girlfriend and I had a campfire last week, but we didn’t think to cook anything but hot dogs on sticks. These brats are way better.”

  “That was Tulia,” Angela said. “She insists that she still owes me for letting her crash in the guest room, even though I made her work all day at the diner.”

  “Well, I owe you one,” Devon said, smiling as he raised his can of pop in a toast. She smiled back at him, then glanced over at Benny, who was scowling at his friend.

  Whatever their argument had been over, she had a feeling it was more serious than Angela, who was currently lighting marshmallows on fire before blowing them out and eating them whole, seemed to think. At the end of the day, though, it wasn’t her business or her problem. She did her best to put all of it—Tom’s murder, the RV theft, whatever was going on with Angela’s brother and his best friend, and all her other worries—out of her mind and enjoy the evening.

  CHAPTER NINE

  It was past midnight when Tulia finally retreated to her RV for the night. It was her first night sleeping in it, but she was too tired to really enjoy the sensation of being securely snuggled into her own home on wheels. After taking a quick shower, mindful of how limited her water supply was with no hookups, she tucked herself in to the generously sized bed and barely had time to remember that she hadn’t called her parents like she had promised before she was out like a light.

  When she woke up, it wasn’t to the sun’s cheerful morning light, but rather the soft red flicker of the dying campfire through the RV’s blinds. Bleary-eyed, she sat up in bed and looked around. She could only have been out for a few hours at most, but what had woken her? The RV was quiet, and a quick check of her phone showed no new notifications.

  She got out of bed and walked over to the window, lifting the blinds up to peek out. The fire was almost out—it was a pit of embers with only a few flickering flames. When she had gone to bed, the others had still been up, watching it, but now she didn’t see anyone. Would Angela really have gone to bed with an unattended fire outside? She liked to think she wouldn’t, but the truth was, she barely knew the woman.

  “At least I didn’t wake up to my RV burning down around me,” she muttered. That would have been just her luck, considering how the trip had gone so far.

  She shuddered a bit at the memory of finding the body and tried to push the images away. Whoever had killed that poor man would be caught, and it didn’t have anything to do with her. By this time next week, she would be long gone. While she felt terrible for him, she was just a waitress—not even that now. She knew there wasn’t anything she could do to help, so why drive herself crazy thinking about it?

  She stared at the dying fire for another moment, trying to decide whether or not she should go out there and kick dirt over it or something. It didn’t look like it was in danger of spreading, but she was sure that was what most people thought hours before a forest burned down around them.

  Something thudded against the opposite side of the RV, making her jump and making the entire vehicle shake. Cicero shifted in his cage, having joined her in wakefulness.

  “What the heck?” she whispered as she crept toward a window on the other side. “Was that a bear or something?”

  The last time she’d thought a mysterious noise might be a bear, it had turned out to be someone stashing a dead body in a dumpster. This time she almost hoped it was a bear.

  Before she reached the window, though, she heard voices. Inching closer, she peeked out the window and saw two people standing against the side of her RV, their forms shadowy in the dark. She couldn’t tell who they were and couldn’t make out what they were saying. Curious, she fumbled at the window, trying to remember how to open it. Finally, she found the latch and managed to inch the window open silently.

  “… know something is going on. Why are the two of you acting so strange?”

  It was Angela’s voice, low and intense. A man responded. She didn’t know Benny and Devon enough to be sure which it was.

  “You can’t guess?” He scoffed. “The police are going to figure it out eventually. We’re all going to be caught up in it when they do. Why are you pretending nothing happened? You’ve spent the past few days prancing around with your new friend, when you should have been spending them getting ready for the fallout.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Angela hissed.

  “I don’t believe you,” the man hissed right back. “And the police won’t either. A man died. That doesn’t just go away.”

  “Stop it. Just leave me alone.” Her voice cracked, and the man withdrew.

  “Pretending it didn’t happen won’t make it go away,” he said in a parting remark before he walked around the RV, leaving Angela to sag against the side of the vehicle in the dark. Tulia wondered if she should say something, reveal herself and make sure Angela was okay, but before she could decide, the other woman straightened up and took a deep breath, then went the same way the man had gone around the RV.

  Tulia went back over to the other window and looked out. The man wasn’t visible. He had probably already gone into the house, but Angela took the time to kick some sandy soil over the fire and pick up some of the trash that had been left out before going in. She didn’t look at the RV once, and Tulia watched her until the door closed behind her.

  Then, she retreated to her bed and lay on top of the covers, staring up at the ceiling as she wondered what she had just overheard. She’d been trying hard not to dwell on finding Tom’s body. It felt overwhelming, monumental, and like something she just couldn’t deal with. She’d thought that, once she had the RV back, she was done with her involvement in things.

  But by the sound of it, whoever had been talking to Angela knew something about what had happened … and thought Angela knew about it too.

  The thought raised goosebumps on her arms. She’d believed Angela was exactly what she acted like: an average, friendly young woman with a good heart and the kindness to offer her home to a stranger in need. Had she somehow been hiding knowledge about Tom’s killer all along? Was she involved?

  She turned over onto her side, laying her head on her pillow and staring blankly at the wall beside her. She didn’t want to tell Angela what she had overheard, but she knew she couldn’t keep it a secret. It would eat at her, and if what she’d heard could help the police solve a murder, wasn’t it her responsibility to share it?

  Uncomfortable, worried, and wishing she’d slept through the night without hearing a thing, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, telling herself that things would look better in the morning. They always did.

  She woke up bleary-eyed and still tired. It was strange to go through her morning routine in such a cramped space, and her favorite sweatshirt, which she had put on when it started getting chilly last night, smelled like campfire smoke. It was a reminder that she’d have to do laundry at laundromats for the duration of her trip; her RV may be fancy, but it didn’t exactly have a washing machine.

  The inconveniences were small, but it was a reminder that she still had a lot to get used to. This new lifestyle of hers wasn’t permanent, but it would last a few months, at least, unless she chickened out and went home early. She knew that, within a few weeks, she would probably have figured out all the little tips and tricks to make life on the road easier, but that time felt like a long way off just then.

  Once she got dressed and gave Cicero his breakfast and a kiss on the beak, she stepped outside to find Angela waiting for her on the porch. The other woman had a smile on her face, but it looked strained, and Tulia didn’t know if it was in her head or if something had changed in the other woman since last night.

  “Good morning! I’m about to head to the diner. Don’t feel like you have to, but I was wondering if you wanted to come with me? I totally understand if you’d rather do tourist stuff.”

  Tulia had been thinking she might find somewhere to go hiking; Cicero could go with her on his harness, and it would give both of them a chance to get some fresh air. But now, with what she’d overheard last night fresh on her mind, she knew she couldn’t waste this opportunity to try to figure out exactly what it was that Angela knew.

  “I don’t mind helping out at the diner,” she said. “I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”

  Before long, she found herself slipping back into her old habits of being a waitress for the second time in as many days. The diner was a bit busier than it had been the day before, probably because it was a Friday and people had the excuse of celebrating the weekend early. Still, it was easy enough to keep up with her tables, and she even managed to take the time to chat with a few of the guests who wanted to know her name and her story. Whenever she went to the kitchen to pick up an order, she took the chance to chat with Angela—just a few sentences here and there, keeping up an intermittent stream of conversation between them. She waited for a good opportunity to ask about the murder, or even to ask more about Tom in case it gave her insight into why he might have been killed.

  But then two all too familiar men walked through the door, and she found herself face to face with Samuel and Marc again. Only this time, she wasn’t sure she believed they were just friendly tourists. She still had no idea how they’d come across her and Angela when they went to fetch her RV the day before, and she didn’t like it.

  “Table for two, please,” Sam said, giving her his crooked smile as he slid his sunglasses to the top of his head.

  “Right this way.” She kept her voice brusque and professional as she led them to a booth—far from the other guests. She wasn’t sure what their deal was, but something about them struck her as different from everyone else here.

  “Thank you,” Sam said, taking a seat. His silent partner sat across from him and nodded at her. She passed them their menus.

  “What can I get you to drink?”

  “Just water for me, miss,” Sam said. “I’m surprised to see you here again. Didn’t you say you were just helping out for the day?”

  “I decided to stick around a bit longer,” she replied, giving him her much-practiced customer service smile. “Speaking of surprises, how did you know where we were yesterday?”

  He raised an eyebrow, seeming taken aback that she’d brought it up. “It was just happenstance on our part. There was supposed to be a small lake back there, according to our GPS. Turns out, the access to it was overgrown years ago, but at the time we were just hoping to get some fishing in.”

  “Right.” She looked the two of them up and down, then glanced out the window toward their shiny black SUV. With their neatly pressed button up shirts and matching sunglasses, they looked more like special agents than fishermen, but she wasn’t going to call them out on it.

  “I’ll have a diet soda,” the other man said, cutting into the drawn-out silence.

  She nodded and, without another word, spun on her heel to get their drinks. When she came back to take their orders, they put their requests in without hassle, but Sam drew her into conversation again when she came back with their meals.

  “So, where are you heading next?”

  The question seemed like a non sequitur and caught her by surprise. “Hmm?”

  “You mentioned you were on a road trip, and last I saw you, you had a fancy RV you’d just recovered. That must have been lucky, having it found so quickly.”

  “I’m heading to Wisconsin,” she said shortly. She didn’t want to be too specific, and almost immediately wished she hadn’t even said that.

  He exchanged a glance with his companion. “I see. And that will be stop number … what, in your little trip?”

  Irritated with the way he was speaking to her, almost like he was interrogating her, she snapped, “It’s none of your business. I’m sorry, but I’m trying to work. If you need anything else, let me know, but I have other guests to attend to.”

  She didn’t wait for a response before she walked away. Maybe he was just another creep who didn’t know when his attention wasn’t wanted—she’d met far too many of them in her time as a waitress—but something about the two men seemed off in a way that she didn’t have experience with. It was like they knew something she didn’t, something they were holding over her head.

  But she’d never seen them before this trip.

  She kept her distance from them as best she could, hoping they would eat and leave quickly, but they nursed their coffees and stayed all the way up to when Kim and the older man came in to replace her and Angela. They left as Angela was counting out her tips, and she watched them drive away in their SUV, hoping that would be the last she saw of them.

  She realized, as she and Angela walked out to her car, she’d been so distracted by the two of them that she had completely forgotten to try to figure out what Angela knew about the murder.

  CHAPTER TEN

  That evening, she sat at the small table in her RV while Cicero wandered the floor, looking for trouble. Angela had offered to do another campfire or for her to come in and watch a movie with her, Benny, and Devon, but Tulia had declined. Benny and Devon still weren’t talking, the former sullen and quiet, and the latter almost forcibly chatty as if he needed to cover up the oppressive silence. Angela seemed short tempered with both of them but kept a smile on her face for Tulia’s sake.

 

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