“Stacy’s not,” she said over her shoulder as they went to the clubhouse.
With a laugh, Billy opened the door into the office.
Anna didn’t look up. “I don’t know anything. Go ask Nate.”
“We can’t find him,” Terri said.
Anna looked up at them in relief.
“Been bad here?” Billy asked.
“Worse than you can imagine. I don’t know why people think the FBI reports directly to me. I would close up the office but...” She shrugged.
“I know. People who live here need looking after.” Billy sounded reassuring.
“The minute after they found the car it was in the news.” Anna pushed aside a stack of papers. “So far, w
e’ve had eight people pack up and leave. They said they wouldn’t stay where there was a serial killer on the loose.”
“This happened years ago!” Terri said.
“I told them that but they wouldn’t listen.”
Terri was frowning. “Has anything unusual happened? Other than morons being themselves, that is.”
“Nothing. I just listen and act like I understand their fear. We had six people call and cancel their reservations. What’s this about Nate? I heard he’s now the sheriff. Bet Frank loves that!”
“Can you print out a list of who is still here?” Terri asked.
“Sure.” Anna turned to her computer. Minutes later, she held out a list. They had a rule that even people who owned a cabin needed to tell the office when they arrived and left. If nothing else, it was for fire safety. “Oh wait. This couple left this morning.” She crossed off names.
“That’s a lot of empty cabins.”
“And all out of fear that a killer might be on the loose,” Billy muttered, and they turned to leave.
“Except for the rats,” Anna said, and they looked at her. “The tenants in Mr. Owens’s cabin said they’d had an invasion of rats during the night. Tore up things and left a mess.”
“Sure it wasn’t raccoons?” Terri asked.
“Who knows? Whatever it was, the renters were angry and said they wanted their money back. I called Mr. Owens and asked him what he wanted to do. I suggested he double the rent for the cabin and I’d put a reporter on an expense account in there.”
“You did what?” Terri asked.
Billy put his hand on her shoulder. “What did Mr. Owens say?”
Anna looked at Billy. “He was very nice, but then he always is. Spends every August here. He said he couldn’t stand to hear what was happening at dear Lake Kissel and he said he’d take care of it in person. Wouldn’t even let me hire someone to clean it up. I don’t know how he got here so fast since he lives in Connecticut. But, if there’s food rotting it’ll draw even more rats.”
Neither Terri nor Billy gave a hint that Connecticut meant anything to them. “We’ll take care of it,” Terri managed to say before they left the office.
When they got to the car, Billy insisted that he drive. He’d trust Terri with his life in a boat but not in a car. “Just direct me and we’ll go to the cabin.”
“It’s probably nothing,” she said as she got in the passenger seat. “A coincidence.”
“I’m sure you’re right. So tell me about Mr. Owens.”
“I don’t know much. He’s a handsome, middle-aged man. When he first arrived I was a kid but even I saw the way the women went after him. He wanted nothing to do with them. Dad and I used to laugh about it.”
“Who does he socialize with?”