The lamp over our heads got brighter. I willed my heartrate to slow down; I needed my wits about me. Sitting up a little straighter, I said, “I don’t really have a good explanation for that. I just like that time of night. The peace. Stars.”
“Not peaceful up at camp, smack in the middle of the woods?” Krout asked, his voice a little harder, wryer. “Can’t see the stars up there where it’s dark? Had to go looking for it in town?”
I massaged my face. “It looks bad, I agree, but it’s not like that. I just—there are kids everywhere up there, I needed some time to myself. I work construction. I’m not—not used to being around all those kids.” The officers let me ramble, probably hoping I’d trip myself up. I took a breath. “They say anything else?”
“Like what?”
I shook my head. I just needed to know about Lake. If anyone’d seen her. “Just trying to figure out—I mean, I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t. You can search the truck. My cabin. All I brought up here with me was a bag, not like I could fit any stolen goods in it. What’d the robber take?”
Vermont looked at Krout. “Nothing. He was interrupted. The woman who caught him described him as tall with dark hair and clothes.”
“So then it wasn’t actually a crime?”
“Of course it was,” Krout said. “Someone came into a family’s home and confronted the wife. Her kids were there. What we have to figure out is who and why.”
I knew from my criminal justice class that first-degree robbery was a felony, and a felony charge could fuck me long after I served time. “Was anyone hurt?”
“Fortunately not. The woman wrestled her wallet from him and he ran. She’s all right. He knew enough to pick a lock. No major damage done. You know how to pick a lock?”
“No.” Of course I did, for fuck’s sake. My breathing shallowed. I needed more water, but it didn’t look like I was getting a refill. “Can I get an aspirin or something?”
“In a minute.” Krout looked over his notes. “Vermont’s niece was at Phil’s, that bar you visited last night. She ID’ed a tall, dark-haired man and your vehicle, so we know you were there.”
I waited for the bomb to drop. Who was the girl in your car? I’d fucked up huge. Lake was innocent. Last night, I’d made some mistakes. I hadn’t been thinking straight. Now, in the light of day, I saw how bad it was. Fooling around with her could have lasting effects on her. If they brought her in, it would traumatize her. People would talk. Her bright future could be tarnished. Her dad, fuck, he would fucking murder me, and who knew what kind of emotional punishment he’d put Lake through.
“We haven’t spoken to Phil over at the bar yet,” Krout continued, “but we’ll get to that. I assume he’ll remember you. Tall. Dark hair.”
I nodded mindlessly. Just say it. Just ask me who she was. I didn’t know how I’d answer, but the anticipation was killing me.
Krout straightened his file on the table. “That’s all I got for the moment. We’ll have to keep you here, though. We’re vetting some other suspects, then we’ll need you for a line-up.”
I didn’t know what to feel. There were other suspects—that was good. Lake hadn’t been mentioned. Also good. But I was too apprehensive to feel relieved; it didn’t seem like they believed me.
“We go home today,” I said. “They’re packing up the buses as we speak.”
“Not much we can do about it, Mr. Sutter,” Vermont said.
It’s Manning, I wanted to say. Mr. Sutter was my piece-of-shit dad who was in prison for a real, actual crime, and whom I wanted nothing to do with. “I didn’t do this,” I said. “I swear.”
“If that’s true, then it’ll work itself out,” Vermont replied automatically, as if he’d heard it a thousand times before. “In the meantime, we’ll confirm your story with the officer on duty last night. Is there anyone else we should talk to? Anyone who saw you come or go? Maybe vouch for your whereabouts?”
Lake. She was the only one who knew where I was last night. That I was innocent—at least of what they were accusing. But there was no way in hell, none, I’d be bringing her into this. I couldn’t put her through it, and I was pretty sure it’d do more harm than good anyway.
I swallowed for what felt like the millionth time in an hour. My throat was raw. “I think I’d like to speak to a lawyer.”
24
Lake
Everybody went about their business as if nothing had changed.
As if Manning hadn’t been gone almost two hours.
As if taking away an innocent man in a police car was normal.
I helped every girl in the cabin pack her things, leaving mine for last. The cabin was messier than I realized. Hannah and I worked in silence to pick up, strip beds, empty the trash. The girls sat outside in the sun on their packs.