Wolf Lake by John Verdon

Author:John Verdon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781619028074
Publisher: Counterpoint
Published: 2016-05-25T19:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

After Hardwick revved up the GTO and headed south on his long-shot mission to Floral Park, Gurney and Madeleine sat quietly for a while in the parked Outback.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“No.”

“What’s wrong?”

“This whole thing is getting darker and more complicated.” A gust of wind blew particles of sleet under the hotel portico and they bounced off the windshield. “We better get back to Wolf Lake before the weather gets worse.”

He nodded, started the car, and headed onto Woodpecker road in the direction of the Northway. “Maddie, are you absolutely positive we shouldn’t just put this situation behind us?”

“I’m positive. And it’s not because I like Hammond. I don’t. He’s a spoiled genius with a sick dependency on his caretaker sister. Judging from that body-in-the-trunk story, he’s also a little crazy. But I don’t believe he’s a mind-controlling murderer. And I know now that walking away from a mess doesn’t solve it.”

He had the sense that one of the tectonic plates of his life was shifting. Ever since he’d left the NYPD, Madeleine had been predictable in one respect. She’d consistently pressed him to turn his attention away from the world of murder and mayhem and focus on their new life in the country. Never before would she have advised him to stick with a homicide investigation.

The shift was radical and unsettling.

AFTER STOPPING AT A THAI RESTAURANT IN LAKE PLACID FOR A quiet lunch, for which neither of them had much appetite, they arrived back at Wolf Lake a little after four. The dusk was deepening and the temperature was dropping.

As they entered the lodge reception area, Austen Steckle was coming out of the Hearth Room. Past him, Gurney could see the tentative flames of a new fire.

Steckle’s smile looked tense and his scalp looked sweaty.

“Hey, just the people I wanted to see.” After a nod to Madeleine, he addressed Gurney. “I got you set up like you asked. But the thing is, Peyton’s got plans for the evening. For tomorrow, too. And after that, it’s hard to tell, you know what I mean?” He pushed back his cuff and glanced down at his gleaming Rolex. “So the thing is, if you want to talk to the man—it’s pretty much got to be now.”

Gurney looked at Madeleine.

She shrugged.

He looked back at Steckle. “Now is fine. Actually, fifteen minutes from now would be better. I need to go up to our room first. Does he expect me?”

“Yeah, more or less. I’ll call and confirm it with him. You know the way, right?”

“I know the way.”

“Conversations with Peyton can be difficult. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m used to difficult conversations.”

Steckle went into his office.

The Gurneys went up to the suite.

The main room lay mostly in darkness. The wind was whining at the balcony door. He switched on the ceiling fixture in the entry area, then crossed the room and switched on the lamp at the near end of the couch. He thought about lighting the kerosene lamp at the far end, the one with the wolf etching on its base, but decided against it.

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