An update at last. Fanfic didn't send out a notification for the last update so hopefully readers saw there was new chapter.
This adventure could be called 'Gail and Holly on holiday…' Let me know what you think of it. I so appreciate your comments and likes and favs and the fact that you keep reading this. Apologies if I haven't replied to everyone who has reviewed or left a message — life is a little insane right now. Also Fanfic is being a bit weird at the moment and I can't respond to PMs - it took me awhile to log on and post this.
Hope you are all keeping safe and well. Take care.
…
'Why would I know anything about cars,' Gail scoffed, 'you're the card carrying lesbian.'
Holly had popped the bonnet of the car and was bent over the engine studying it intently. Now she straightened and regarded Gail sceptically.
'Stereotyping much.' She slowly and deliberately ran her eyes over Gail, starting with the black combat boots, then up jean clad legs to arms crossed over a tight white t-shirt and leather jacket. When she reached Gail's face, Holly tilted her head to one side and smirked. 'I'don't believe I'm the only card carrying lesbian in this neck of the woods.'
'Wow, who's stereotyping now,' Gail challenged but Holly kept smirking.
Damn, how did she manage to look so sexy when she did that, Gail thought, wanting nothing more than to walk right over to Holly and wipe that smirk off her face with a kiss which would render her speechless, but not willing to give ground just yet.
'What?' Gail placed her hands on her hips. 'I've always dressed like this.'
Holly's smirk grew wider.
Gail never admitted how much she loved this banter. It was no secret to Holly, whose interest in Gail had been piqued not by her beauty (considerable though it was) but the snark that had tumbled out of that perfectly shaped mouth. And kissable mouth, a fact Holly had registered even before Gail tried to kick her out of her crime scene, not for a moment imagining she might one day be the one kissing Gail Peck.
Gail was certain Holly was one the few people who liked her because of her sass not in spite of it. In past relationships, people were either cowered by her sarcasm, or didn't know quite how to take it. Chris tended to be bewildered while Nick put on a show of good humoured resignation, and Frankie responded by being surly and mean. Not Holly, never Holly. Sometimes Gail imagined Holly cradled her heart in her hands.
Granted this image was a macabre one given in Holly's profession organ handling was routine. During autopsies Gail had watched as, with a precision that came from experience, Holly made the y-shaped incision from shoulder to shoulder down to the sternum and then along the midline of the abdomen to the pubis. Next she'd split open the ribs and remove the breastplate to reveal the heart and lungs. Then she would extract the heart and place it gently upon a set of scales to record its weight, her gloved fingertips stained red with blood. Gail was certain that even if Holly couldn't say what it actually weighed (though no doubt she could make an educated guess) she recognised what weighed upon Gail's heart.
'A big heart', Holly had once pronounced despite Gail's protestations to the contrary. 'A good heart,' Holly had continued, determined Gail hear her out. Then quietly, 'a tender heart'. Gail shook her head. 'You mean a damaged one,' she demurred. Holly placed her ear against Gail's chest as if listening intently. 'Still beating strongly,' she said after a moment, pulling back to look at Gail, her expression at first playful and then somber. She considered for a moment, as though making a diagnosis, and finally in a voice that allowed for no disagreement said, 'a resilient heart'. Gail had snorted at that.
Gail had once believed hers was a cold dead heart. That was after Nick and Chris and then stupidly, inextricably another round with Nicholas. Gail pictured her heart locked away in a dark safe with walls too thick to penetrate. A lonely, unloved heart. Until Holly. Then all Gail's defences had melted away. What a mush, she thought to herself, scoffing audibly. Holly, who was once again bent over the engine, turned her head to look at Gail quizzically.
'The thing is,' Gail continued, picking up the conversation where she had left off. 'You've had your membership way longer.'
'What?' Holly asked, having herself lost the tread of the conversation.
'You know your Sapphic seal of approval, your bean flicking badge, your lesbian licence, your gay passport, your Queer—'
'Oh, I see. I see,' Holly held up her hands to make Gail stop. Perhaps it was foolish to have spent the second hour of the trip amusing themselves by coming up with expressions, positive or not, used to describe lesbians.
'You don't need me to elaborate,' Gail grinned cheekily.
'I think I'm good but your point is?'
'You should know how to fix a car because you've had your membership forever and I'm probably still on probation or something.'
'Ha!' Holly snorted, 'honey, you are way past probation and you know it.' She arched an eyebrow, knowing and sultry all at once. Gail felt the heat rise in her cheeks, and from Holly's smug expression it was clear she was well aware she had Gail all hot and bothered.
'That sounded, well to be honest, kinda dirty,' Gail said. Abandoning any pretence of restraint, she began advancing towards Holly, only stopping when Holly held up oil stained hands. 'How far did you say the town was?' Gail asked instead.
'Thirty kilometres.'
'Probably take us at least five hours to walk and we don't have much daylight left,' Gail checked her phone. 'Still no signal. What about you?'
'My phone's in my back pocket,' Holly held up her greasy hands again, 'can you get it.'
This time Gail walked right up to Holly and, as she reach a hand around to retrieve the phone, she leaned in with an impish grin and kissed Holly. Gail felt Holly smile back into the kiss. Even though they were stranded in some godforsaken wood miles from civilisation, it made her giddy and light and happy. This was living, Gail decided as they continued to kiss, only to shriek when Holly placed oil stained hands on her cheeks.
'You did that on purpose, Stewart,' Gail accused though she was laughing as was Holly.
'I didn't, I swear,' Holly insisted.
Gail began to rub her cheeks, which did little but smear the oil further.
Holly was doubled over now.
'What?' Gail demanded.
'You're surprisingly attractive with a beard,' Holly spluttered.
The sound of a car approaching made the two women collect themselves. Almost immediately a dark wagon with tinted windows came into view.
'A saviour,' Holly said, waving to flag the car down.
'Or an axe murderer,' Gail replied, automatically tensing.
As the car drew level, the window on the front passenger side slid down and with it came the sound of a nursery rhyme—'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'—and a child lisping along to it. The driver—a woman Gail guessed to be in her late twenties—leaned across to speak through the now open window. 'You girls all right? Broken down?' she asked, indicating their car.
'Yep,' Gail said, resisting the impulse to roll her eyes and say no, doesn't everyone stand around on random roads in the middle of nowhere with their car bonnet popped.
'Could be the alternator or the battery,' Holly said. She'd produced a rag from somewhere and was wiping the grease off her hands. Gail shot her a look. She had thought Holly was as clueless as she was about cars.
'Won't start, huh?' the woman said.
Holly nodded. "Plus there's a smell of burning rubber.'
'Alternator then. Bet your cell phone isn't working either?'
'Yeah,' Holly made a rueful face.
'Never any signal here. It's a dead spot. They can put people in space but cell coverage defeats them.' The woman scoffed. 'Tell you what, I can drive you into town. My brother's a mechanic. Reckon you'll need to get that car towed though.'
Gail hesitated but Holly was already accepting the offer. 'That's very kind—' she paused.
'Marylou and the rugrat in the back is Cindy,' she jerked a thumb in the direction of the back seat. Gail peered through the window to get a better look but could only see two feet encased in pink shoes thudding against the car seat in time to the music. The song had changed to 'London Bridge is falling down' and Cindy had stopped singing.
'Holly and Gail,' Holly indicted first herself and then Gail. 'Can you give us a minute to lock up.'
'No problem,' Marylou smiled.
While Holly put the bonnet down, Gail retrieved her back pack from the front seat. Yes, she did own a backpack, had in fact had one in her possession along with a flannel shirt when she had teased Holly about these very items back in the coat closet at Frank and Noelle's wedding. Now Holly smirked every time Gail pulled out the backpack or pulled on the flannel shirt—although Gail had noticed Holly had a tendency to get her out of the shirt almost as soon as she'd buttoned it up.
'I just need to get something from the trunk,' Gail said before Holly had a chance to lock the car.
The box was at the very bottom of Gail's bag, under three layers of neatly folded clothes and a bag of toiletries. Gail hadn't opened it since Elaine had pressed it upon her at lunch the previous day. 'I'm not,' Gail had started to protest. 'Not what?' Elaine narrowed her eyes and ridiculously, stupidly Gail began to blush. 'Holly is part of the family now and she needs to accept that this is who we are,' Elaine said, unfurling her serviette with a flourish that put a full stop on the conversation. 'Should we have wine?' she asked, squinting at the menu, too vain to put her glasses on in public.
Now Gail hurriedly shoved the box into her bag, much as she had done at the restaurant the day before. 'If it's any consolation,' Elaine had at least tried not to appear irritated as she had observed Gail's furtive actions, 'it's compact and light and easy to conceal too.' As Gail rounded the corner of the car, Holly gave her a quizzical look.
'Supplies,' Gail said, which was kind of true. Holly probably thought she was referring to the packets of cheese puffs she'd packed for the trip not the Smith and Wesson MP Shield or the box of bullets Elaine had so thoughtfully provided ('minus one,' Elaine had confessed, 'I couldn't resist trying this little beauty out at the range).
'All set,' Marylou smiled as they settled themselves in the car—Holly in the front and Gail in the back with Cindy.
'Are you a pirate,' Cindy asked, regarding Gail suspiciously. Cindy's shoes weren't the only pink item she was wearing—in fact her whole ensemble was pink, right down to the wand she clutched in a chubby hand. A pair of folded fairy wings lay on the seat between she and Gail.
'Um,' Gail, normally good with children, was momentarily disarmed by the way Cindy was staring at her so intently. 'Nope, but I can tell you're a fairy,' she said.
'Don't be silly. Fairies aren't real,' Cindy said disdainfully.
'Five going on fifteen,' Marylou said from the front, catching Gail's eye in the rear view mirror and smiling. 'It's the—' she gestured to her own chin.
'Beard,' Cindy supplied helpfully and then sniggered nastily. Did five year olds even know how to do that, Gail wondered.
'There are some wet wipes in the pocket behind my seat,' Marylou told Gail. 'Where are you girls headed,' she asked as Gail began to scrub her chin.
'A friend's cabin. It's not far past the town,' Holly said.
Cindy poked her tongue out at Gail who followed suit, trouble was Marylou caught it the rear view mirror and didn't look particularly amused.
'Thirty going on five,' Gail said.
Marylou didn't respond. Perhaps she was beginning to suspect they were the axe murderers.
'The Gordon place?' Marylou asked, directing the question at Holly.
'Yes,' Holly sounded surprised. 'How did you know?'
'You two look like friends of Lisa's.'
'Friends is putting it a bit strongly,' Gail piped up from the back, intending to say more but Holly looked around at her sharply so she didn't continue.
'You know Lisa?' Holly asked.
'Yep, but to be honest the Gordon cabin is the only holiday house near town. Most people hereabouts actually live in their houses.' The last bit was said pointedly. 'But yeah I know Lisa a bit but my sister knew her better.'
'Lisa broke her heart,' Gail said, acting on a hunch.
'You could say that,' Marylou drawled. 'Carol hasn't had a serious relationship since and that was sixteen years ago.'
'Your sister was that heartbroken over Lisa.' Gail screwed up her face,
'I take it you're not a fan?'
'Well,' Gail began but stopped when Holly stiffened. She guessed she owed Lisa a modicum of loyalty, if only for Holly's sake. 'Lisa can be a heartbreaker but you know she has other good qualities.' Gail finished lamely.
Marylou snorted. 'Such as?'
'Um,' Gail bit her lip and then brightened. 'She's loaning us her cabin for the week.'
'Cabin,' Marylou snorted again. 'More like a palace.'
'Mom, who's Lisa?' Cindy asked.
'No one honey bunch.'
'Mom,' Cindy whined and thumped her pink clad heels against the car seat. 'No fair.'
'A not very nice person,' Marylou conceded.
'A witch?' Cindy asked a little breathlessly.
'Could be,' her mother nodded slowly.
'Lisa has matured a lot since then,' Holly said.
Marylou looked sceptical.
'I don't like you,' Cindy said to Gail.
The feeling's mutual, Gail wanted to say but thought better of it. The holiday had already got off to an inauspicious start with the car breaking down. Now as luck would have it they'd been picked up by someone nursing a decade plus grudge against Lisa and with a child who Gail was beginning to think might be psychotic or at the very least possessed.
'Mom,' Cindy pointed at Gail, 'is she bad too?'
Instead of responding with 'of course not' (which any normal person would have surely done), Marylou said, 'I don't know, pumpkin. We'll have to see.'
She caught Gail's eye again in the rear view mirror and her expression held a challenge that Gail found as unnerving as Cindy.
They had, by this stage reached the town sign—population 1,651 it said—and Gail contemplated suggesting she and Holly walk the rest of the way. However, it transpired Marylou's brother garage was on the outskirts and moments later they pulled up in front of a ramshackle building surrounded by rusting broken down cars and two tall stacks of worn tyres.
Hank was as unkempt as the garage. Lanky with long wispy black hair and grease stained overalls, he nonetheless greeted them warmly, sticking out an overly large hand, its deep cracks ingrained with oil. After the car journey with Marylou and Cindy, this reception was a relief. However, it was short lived because Hank decided it would be best if Holly and Gail waited in town while he and his apprentice retrieved the car.
'Shouldn't we come with you,' Holly suggested.
'Nah, not enough room in the truck,' Hank said in a way that made it obvious there was no arguing with him—at least not if they wanted the car fixed in a hurry. 'I'll call with an update once I take a look at the car,' he promised, taking down both Gail and Holly's cell numbers.
Back in Marylou's car, Cindy was sucking on a lollipop that Hank had rustled up from somewhere.
'He spoils her rotten but she is such a treasure,' Marylou turned toward the backseat and regarded Cindy fondly. Her mood seemed to have shifted and she was quite pleasant for the remainder of the trip.
'I'll drop you at Sleepy Joe's. Only place to get a decent cup of coffee around here.'
Sleepy Joe's turned out to be a bar. Three o'clock in the afternoon and it was already pumping. Every stool at the counter was taken and the bartender was lining up shots which Gail had to admit looked mighty tempting. On a raised platform at the end of the bar, a couple were slow dancing to a country song Gail didn't recognise. A squabble had broken out over a game of backgammon in the middle of the room but it seemed this was a regular occurrence because the rest of the patrons either ignored it or urged the two players 'to settle down now, it's just a game.'
Gail and Holly found a corner booth and ordered coffee.
'Sure you don't want something stronger, honey,' the bartender winked at Gail. She was probably nearer sixty than fifty but it was hard to tell given her foundation was troweled on so thick it was practically a mask. One of her false eyelashes had come half unstuck and Gail couldn't decide whether it made her look sad or comical or both. The whole effect was more morning after a bender than a work day afternoon. Maybe she wanted to blend with the patrons.
They were a scrappy bunch and, judging by their reaction to Gail and Holly's arrival, close knit. As she made her way back to the booth, Gail was conscious of quickly averted stares, and beneath the open curiosity, she sensed a hostility.
'What's this? Holly asked as Gail sat down. She was holding aloft the black gun box Gail had shoved in her bag back by the side of the road.
'Nothing,' Gail went to grab the box but Holly held it out of her reach. 'Why were you going through my bag anyway.'
'I wasn't going through your bag. Your phone rang and I thought it might be Hank.' Holly placed the box on the table between them, the words M&P by Smith and Wesson emblazoned in silver lettering across the top. Gail had to resist the urge to snatch it away.
'Would you believe me if I said—,' she began.
'That you're looking after it for a friend.'
Gail twisted her mouth. 'Yes. Kinda. No.'
'Which is it?' Holly wasn't impressed. Far from it. Her expression was so flinty Gail knew she wouldn't let up until she got the truth. With a stare like that she'd be an asset in an interrogation room. Gail shifted uncomfortably.
'Thing is, I didn't buy it.'
'So it doesn't belong to you?'
'Well, it didn't until yesterday.'
'Your mother,' Holly said flatly.
Gail nodded. 'You know Elaine. She doesn't take no for an answer. I didn't feel like I had a choice and I was going to talk to you about it but then there wasn't really an opportunity before we left.'
'So you thought what the heck I'll bring my new gun on vacation with me.'
'It was like that. I just didn't want to leave it lying around Alannah's apartment,' Gail could hear the defensiveness in her voice. Fact was she was itching to take the gun out of its box, weigh it up in her hand, test the trigger, load the magazine and fire off a round.
'I feel safer with a gun,' Gail began, realising she needed to be honest with Holly.
'And I don't.'
'I know and I want to respect that.'
Holly shook her head to demur. 'By carrying around a gun which is banned in Canada.'
'Restricted not banned and Elaine organised the paperwork.'
'I bet she did,' Holly said dryly. 'Does she realise, do you realise the Danford Street shooter used a M&P Shield.'
'Yeah, I know. I was one of the responding officers.'
'Oh,' Holly's face softened at that.
'But that gun was stolen and the shooter had a history of mental illness. I know about guns. Firearm safety was practically the first thing Elaine drilled into me.'
'Okay, I get why you carry one at work but the more guns there are in circulation the greater the odds people will get shot and die. It's a no brainer.'
The bartender choose this moment to plonk down their coffees with such force the liquid slopped over the side of the cups and into the saucers.
'Nice piece,' she indicated the box. 'You got the paperwork for that?'
'Yeah,' it was clear from the way Gail didn't bother looking at the bartender she thought this was none of the her business.
'Only the police chief here is very particular. Some would say a stickler for the rules.'
'I'll keep that in mind.'
It wasn't lost on the bartender that the smile Gail gave her was too saccharine to be real. 'Just saying,' she turned on her heel and flounced back to the bar.
Gail took a gulp of her coffee and instantly spat it out again. 'Jesus, this is like dishwater. And it's not even hot. If this place has the best coffee in town, I hate to think what the others are serving.'
'Maybe Marylou was having us on,' Holly shrugged, sounding disinterested, though she left the coffee untouched.
'Probably,' Gail leant back against the padded booth and surveyed the room. 'This place is weird.' She looked across at Holly, expecting her to agree, to perhaps even make some witty observation about the ragtag patrons but she didn't respond. 'Don't you think?' Gail laughed uncertainly.
Holly sighed.
'Okay, okay. I'm deflecting. I'm sorry.'
Before Holly could respond, a man stumbled into their table, putting out a hand to steady himself. Though clearly drunk, in a surprisingly deft move, he pivoted into the seat next to Holly. She shrank back, but the drunk just took this a signal to get more settled so Holly was wedged against the wall. Gail hastily crossed her arms across the box to conceal the lettering.
'I think you've got the wrong table,' she said.
'Nun uh,' the drunk shook his head and then turned to face Holly. 'Where are my manners,' he slurred thickly and pointed an unsteady finger at himself. 'I'm Davy. And you are—.' He leaned in to Holly.
'Leaving,' Gail said.
'Good riddance,' Davy said, without looking at Gail. 'What are you drinking, beautiful,' he asked Holly, slinging an arm around her shoulder. She tried to shrug it off, which only made Davy tighten his grip.
'Take your arm off her,' Gail said, her voice hard.
'Thought you were leaving,' Davy said, not taking his eyes off Holly. 'Come on beautiful, let Davy show you a good time.'
Holly grimaced. 'Thanks but I need to get going.' Davy didn't move. He was a big guy. Over six foot and fit, his shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal broad muscular arms. He might have been handsome but for his ruddy complexion and the broken veins along his cheek bones that betrayed an over fondness for drink. Gail had locked up enough drunks to recognise he'd be a mean one who'd come out swinging and have no scruples about hitting a woman.
'You need to move,' Gail said, her voice quiet and firm. The booth was narrow, barely big enough for two sitting on either side of the table, let alone a third person of Davy's size.
'Yeah. How you going to to make me.' Davy challenged, finally swivelling his head to look at Gail, his expression belligerent.
Gail leaned back now, removing her arms from the top of the box. 'Think this might do the trick.'
'You wouldn't know how to use that, girlie.' Davey was scornful.
'Wanna put that to the test. I have a near perfect score at the range.'
'Gail,' Holly said sharply. Somehow she had managed to get to her feet and half clambered over Davy to escape the booth. Gail scooped up the gun box, in the process knocking Holly's coffee into Davy's lap.
Davy yelped and leapt up, making the liquid spread further down his legs. 'Bitch,' he shouted. He went to throw a punch at Gail but lost his balance and fell back heavily into the booth.
As Davy tried to scramble up, flailing as he was now half stuck between the padded seat and the table, the bartender suddenly materialised, her expression thunderous. Last Gail had looked, she was behind the bar, deep in conversation with some old timer. 'You two get the hell away from my boy and the fuck out of my bar,' she said, her hands on her hips.
The room went immediately quiet, the only sound the music coming from the jukebox, a whining country song about unrequited love. Gail felt as though every pair of eyes were on she and Holly.
'We don't want your kind around here,' the bartender started moving toward Gail.
What did she mean by that, Gail wondered. City folk? Lesbians? Women who didn't appreciate her son's clumsy advances?
'We're going,' Holly tugged on Gail's jacket sleeve to make her move.
As the bar door swung shut, Gail could swear she heard the bartender shout 'show's over folks' and after a beat the noise started up again. The sidewalk was empty save for she and Holly. Perhaps the whole town was in the bar.
'Fuck,' Gail said, pushing the gun box into her backpack. 'That was like stumbling into the Wild West.'
Holly didn't say anything. She was peering up and down the street. A number of shop fronts were boarded up, some with closing down signs in their windows. A dusty awning overhanging what was once a realtor's office was ripped in half so only the word 'real" was visible. The faded cards in the shop window mostly advertised foreclosure sales. Gail wondered if any had sold before the realtor went bust.
Further down the street, the barber appeared to be open but so much paint had flecked off the barber pole outside the shop it was grey rather than striped. Next to it was a small convenience store and next to that, on a corner, was the police station, although even it was dilapidated.
'Okay, I was a dick back there,' Gail admitted.
'Davey was a bigger one.'
Gail laughed a little too long. 'You weren't tempted by Davey's charms?' She couldn't help smirking and finally caught Holly's eye, and Holly started laughing too.
It was infectious, and soon they were shaking with laughter, not because the situation or their quips were particularly funny but rather it was a release of tension. It didn't mean their conversation about the gun was forgotten. Gail knew they'd pick it up later and that was okay. They were okay.
She might make Holly come around to her point of view or perhaps Holly would persuade Gail to see things her way. Then again, maybe they wouldn't agree. It wouldn't signal that their relationship was over or even on rocky ground because no matter how much Holly loved her and she loved Holly, it just wasn't possible to be in lockstep all of the time.
Sometimes it was enough to acknowledge they were on different sides of the argument and sometimes all it took was a little compromise. Gail put up with Lisa, even though she couldn't see what Holly had in common with her, apart from the fact that they were both doctors and shared a college history. Holly tolerated Gail's close friendships with her exes, even Nick, whose treatment of Gail she thought unforgivable. 'You were too good for him,' Holly once said. Gail had laughed and rolled her eyes. 'Yep and that's why I'm with you babe.' Holly swatted her arm and Gail protested it was a compliment.
So yeah compromise. Holly only occasionally complained when she tripped over the boots Gail always left in the hallway and Gail never refused to watch nature documentaries when it was Holly's turn to chose the TV viewing. So, yes, they'd talk about the gun, but not now, not in the middle of the main street in this godawful town.
'I guess we won't find a taxi or an Uber,' Holly said when she recovered from the laughing fit. 'I was thinking we could go to the cabin and sort out the car tomorrow.'
'Good plan but we might need to prevail upon one of the townsfolk to give us a ride but somehow I think we may have burned our bridges.'
Holly tilted her head to one side.
'Okay, I burnt our bridges.'
Just at that moment, as if they had summoned him, Hank's pick up truck came rumbling down the street toward them.
'I can't fix your car today,' Hank said once he'd pulled up alongside them, the engine still idling so Gail and Holly had to strain to hear. 'It's back at my garage but it's gonna take a bit of work.'
'Oh,' Holly blew out a breath. Gail suspected that like her, all Holly wanted to do was put as much distance as possible between herself and this godforsaken town.
'I can give you a ride somewhere,' Hank offered, 'otherwise Mae,' he jerked his thumb towards the bar, 'rents out rooms but they are a bit rough.'
'I think Mae just banned us from the bar,' Gail said.
Hank laughed. 'You and half the town. Mae only tolerates me because I'm the sole mechanic hereabouts. Where to then?'
Hank had had the foresight to move their bags and provisions into the back of his truck. Gail decided he was alright, certainly less strange than his sister despite his shabby appearance. He didn't need the directions to Lisa's family cabin.
'My mom used to clean for the Gordon's until she got too old, ' he explained. 'It's a big place.'
Hank wasn't wrong. What must have once been a modest stone and timber cottage had been extended to include an additional wing and second story. In the living area, floor to ceiling glass windows overlooked a massive deck which led to a jetty and the lake beyond. The surrounding forest was thick with oaks and pines and Gail couldn't make out any other houses on this stretch of the water.
'We could be the only people in the world,' Hank said, suddenly wistful. He was staring out to the lake, having insisted on bringing the luggage into the house. Then he scoffed. 'When I was little my mom would bring me here while she cleaned and I would imagine that no one else existed except for the two of us.'
'A bleak thought,' Holly said.
'Nah,' Hank shook his head. 'I kinda liked the idea.'
What had happened to this man to wish such a thing, Gail wondered, seeing for the first time that beneath his rough exterior there was a vulnerability to Hank. He left soon after, refusing Holly's offer of a beer or money for his trouble.
'You have to admit,' Gail said as the sound of Hank's truck receded, 'this is a weird town.'
'You think!' Holly laughed. 'It sure looks like it's fallen on hard times since I holidayed here when I was in college.'
'You ever meet Carol?'
'No. That must have been a summer I didn't make it up here. Another in a long line of Lisa's conquests.'
'I'm so glad you weren't one of them,' Gail looped her arms around Holly's waist and grinned.
'Seems like I have a thing for snarky blondes,' Holly grinned back and leant in to kiss Gail.
Later after unpacking and showering, they ate dinner out on the deck. The sun was setting, a blur of gold that hovered above the treetops on the other side of the lake. It was a still night, the only movement a flock of loons making their way across a cloudless sky.
'We could be the only people for miles,' Gail observed, shivering despite the mild night. Perhaps it was a good thing she had a gun after all.
'Sorry to disappoint but there are a couple of houses tucked away behind the trees either side of here,' Holly said.
'Actually, that makes it a lot less creepy.'
'You think this place is creepy.'
'God no. I mean what more could you ask for,' Gail held out her hands.'It makes my parent's cabin look like a shanty.'
While Holly had prepared dinner, Gail had explored the house. Each of the six bedrooms had an ensuite and, like the living area downstairs, each faced the lake. The living space was open plan with a fully-equipped kitchen, a long oak dining table and a sitting area with three large couches and two easy chairs arranged around a huge square coffee table. Off this was a games room and library, and finally in the basement what could pass for an industrial laundry. Outside, two canoes were secured to the deck, which included a fire pit and barbecue. The whole place exuded good taste and money and was far too big for two.
'I knew Lisa was rich,' Gail said, 'but wow!'
'Her whole family are surgeons,' Holly said. 'As Lisa likes to remind me, it pays well.'
'Most especially the boob jobs,' Gail added and they both giggled.
'Here's to our holiday,' Holly clinked her beer bottle against Gail's in a toast.
'At last,' Gail grinned.
They turned in soon after, the events of the last four hours finally taking their toll. Still, Gail found herself reaching for Holly in the big king-sized bed, pulling her close so their bodies were flush.
'I could lose you in a bed this size,' Gail quipped.
Holly laughed and kissed her and that was enough to set hands wandering. Gail came with Holly's fingers inside her, and Holly wasn't far behind, having manoeuvred herself onto Gail's thigh.
It wasn't their most vigorous or adventurous coupling—they had the rest of the week for that Gail thought as she yawned into Holly's shoulder—but a tender and unhurried connection that was no less lovely for its ordinariness. It was much needed too after the irritations of a day which began with such promise when they had set out from Toronto, carefree and buoyed by the prospect of a holiday together.
Gail fell asleep half on top of Holly. It amused Holly that Gail often started the night in this position, particularly as the first time they had sex, Gail warned her that she didn't cuddle. Holly shouldn't take it personally, Gail had continued, because she didn't cuddle anyone, in fact usually didn't stay overnight. The next morning Holly woke to find Gail wrapped in her arms, snoring softy. That had been a victory of sorts.
Gail was woken by pounding on the front door. She knew that sound, had herself knocked on many a door in the same manner and sure enough next came a shout of 'police, open up'. Holly stirred, her hair tousled and her face creased with sleep and confusion.
'I'll go see what they want,' Gail said, slipping out of bed and pulling on a t-shirt and jeans, 'they've probably got the wrong address.'
The pounding stopped abruptly as Gail came down the stairs. Reaching for the doorknob, she overheard two men discussing whether they should kick down the door. Damn, she wished she had thought to get her gun but it was upstairs. What if it wasn't the police?
'Okay, stand back,' Gail heard one of the men say and then the other offering to retrieve the battering ram from the trunk of the squad car. Seemed like she had no choice so she opened the door (it was either that or explain the damage to Lisa). The officer who was preparing to kick the door down—had indeed taken aim and was in the process of shifting his weight forward, with one leg in the air—stumbled into the foyer and landed flat on his face. He made no attempt to move and Gail wondered if he was concussed.
She might have laughed but for the fact that the other officer had his gun trained on her. Even though he gripped it with both hands, he was shaking so violently he couldn't keep the gun steady.
'Put your hands in the air. Hands in the air,' he screamed, his voice too high pitched to carry any real authority.
He looked too young to have finished school let alone graduated from the Academy. His forehead was covered in sweat and two damp patches were spreading out from his arms pits. Nothing more unpredictable than a green and jittery rookie, Gail thought. She suspected this was the first time he'd had call to use his service weapon and given his nervousness was as likely to pull the trigger as not.
'Okay, okay,' she said putting up her hands, but just at that moment Holly appeared at the bottom of the stairs asking if everything was okay. Gail saw the officer's eyes flick to Holly in alarm and he raised the gun higher so she was in his sights.
In that same instant, Gail stepped towards the gun, shielding Holly from it. She half expected the officer to pull the trigger, but he stumbled backwards, tripping on the stoop. The gun went off as he fell but the bullet went high and wide, puncturing a metal down pipe. Shit, these guys were going to have to do a lot of paperwork, Gail thought.
'What the hell is going on?' she asked, to her surprise sounding a lot like Elaine.
The officer on the foyer floor, who wasn't much older than his partner, groaned and started to stir.
'Are you okay,' Holly knelt down beside him.
'Step back, step back,' shouted the other officer. He had regained his balance and once again had his gun trained on them. 'You are under arrest.'
'Me?' Holly asked in surprise.
'The both of you.'
'For what?' Gail asked.
'The murder of David Miller.'
'Who?' Gail screwed up her face, still half believing the cops had come to the wrong address.
'The man you threatened with a gun at Sleepy Joe's yesterday.'
