Still Waters by Matt Goldman

Author:Matt Goldman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

* * *

Alan Cohen lived in a house of stones cut from gray granite. The front of the house was set back a couple of hundred yards from the main road, and the back looked out on the north end of Steamboat Bay. Gabe rang the doorbell. He and Liv heard movements behind the large, oaken door. A full minute later, the light behind the peephole darkened, and then the door swung open.

A small man, gray-haired with stooped shoulders, dressed head-to-toe in sporty Orvis garb, khaki pants and a blue and white checked fly-fishing shirt, stood in the foyer.

“Hello, Mr. Cohen,” said Liv. “We’re—”

“Nope,” said Alan Cohen. “Don’t tell me. I’ve been taking memory supplements and I want to test if they’re working. Not that I’ve had any memory problems but one must be on the lookout for these things at my age.”

“I don’t think you’d recognize—”

“You’re Ahlstroms. You used to work at the resort when you were children. It’s the shape of your eyes and the distance between them.” He smiled and added, “You look like your mother.”

Gabe said, “You’re right. Gabe and Liv Ahlstrom. We’re back in town after being away a long time.”

They shook hands and Alan Cohen said, “Come in, come in, please. Ahlstroms are always welcome in my home.”

Liv and Gabe stepped into a foyer floored in slate. The home was large and open—even from the front entrance you could see all the way through to the back wall of windows that looked out on Steamboat Bay. The place had a Northwoods feel with its timber posts and beams, but none of the Northwoods kitsch that often accompanies it. There were no hunting or fishing trophies mounted to the walls. No duck decoys carved from wood. No buffalo plaid throw blankets. No framed needlepoint signs saying BLESS THIS HOME or PLEASE MIX YOUR OWN or NAP QUEEN. The furniture was upholstered in brown leather. And the television was so big you expected to smell popcorn and Milk Duds in its presence.

“Please come sit.” Alan Cohen led the way to the big room that overlooked the lake. He sat in his recliner. Gabe and Liv chose the couch.

“We’re back in town,” said Liv, “because—”

“I know. So sorry to hear about Mack’s passing. Tragic. He was still a young man. I remember when he came back after your mother died and stayed a whole year. That was very kind of him. And I heard your Uncle Denny was found dead this morning. Terribly sad. I’m mostly retired, but I’ve done some legal work for him.”

Gabe tried not to show his surprise. “I didn’t know that.”

“If I really like a person,” said Alan Cohen, “I’ll help them out from time to time. I’m so sorry to hear about what happened this morning.”

“Thank you,” said Liv. “It was quite shocking when the ice car was pulled out of the lake and we saw Denny strapped behind the wheel. Shocking and terrifying.”

“And the biggest news around here in years,” said Alan Cohen.

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