They both laughed and Harm felt the pang of an outsider barred from some kind of “inside” joke.

“The Indians who lived around the lake and traveled by canoe and fished and traded, noticed that when people drowned, especially out in the very deepest parts, the bodies never came back up. They believed the drowning victims had actually been snatched up and enslaved by an evil monster who lived at the bottom of the lake.

“Because the lake’s dark and cold, the prisoners couldn’t find their way to the next world and the Great Spirit wept for his children lost to the monster. Finally, he had an idea. In the summer, when the days were long and the air warm, he asked the Full Moon Goddess to travel over the lake, laying down a path of silvery light to slice through the darkness down to the monster’s lair so that the souls could follow it.

“She said she’d try and so, after a long summer day, while the monster slept, she crept across the lake, marking a wide, bright silver trail. The souls saw it and began following it silently up, finally reaching the lake’s surface. On the shore, the Indians saw the wispy, gray spirits moving along the water until they were gradually picked up and taken to the next world by the Full Moon Goddess.

“When the first white men came here and heard the story, they didn’t believe it. They were camped at a little beach and one night they sat up with the Indians, and sure enough, they saw the Moon Goddess collecting the souls from the lake and began calling it ‘Haunted Moon Lake’. And since there seemed to be an awful lot of activity in the water just off from their camp, they called it ‘Spirit Cove’.”

Harm snorted. “The lake is very deep and very cold. I’m sure that when someone drowned, especially in the really deep part, the body didn’t decompose and release gases and therefore, didn’t come back up to the surface. And the ‘spirits’ on the lake are nothing more than foggy mist created by warm air on a cold lake. An interesting tale to tell the tourists around the camp fire.”

“You’re a pathetic cynic,” she told him, trying to be serious but already past her two hard cola limit.

“And you’re drunk. I think it’s time to take you home.”

Elgin stuck out her tongue and made a raspberry.

“Camp’s right,” Fisher agreed rising to his feet and pulling her up with him. “You’re tanked and it’s past my bed time.”

“What a pair of party poops you are.”

“Yeah, well tomorrow is another day young lady, and we have the whole summer.”

“Poops,” she retorted, throwing out her lower lip in a childish pout. “The pair of you. Poops.”

Fisher and Harm took a place on each side of her and guided her gently back to the SUV. Carefully, they got her buckled securely into her seat.

“Good night, Camp,” he beamed. “You come back real soon. I’ll give Ellie another bottle of whiskey and you can stay in the boat, sorta hunkered down where Jack can’t see ya. Catch yer limit the next time.”

“Okay, Jim, you got a deal. Good night.”

As he moved around to the driver’s side, Ellie rolled down the window and reached out to the big man like a small child. “I had a wonderful time, Jim,” she told him. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy.”

“That’s what I want,” he whispered, leaning his face close to hers, brushing a wisp of hair from her forehead. “That’s what I’ve always wanted. Since you were a little girl.”

She stretched up and put her lips on his, feeling the warmth of his body and the prickle of stubble and the tang of Irish Coffee.

“I love you, Jim,” she mumbled.

“I love you too, Ellie.”

“Let’s stop at the Lodge for a nightcap,” she suggested brightly.

“It’s late. You should be in bed.”

“It’s the shank of the evening and I don’t want to go to bed.”

“What happened to your ‘two hard cola limit’?”

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah, well I’m exhausted. I’ve had a lot of sun, a lot of exercise, a lot of good food and more than my share of beer. I need to go to bed.”

“Good. You’re no fun anyway. You can drop me at the Lodge. I’ll call Marty. Unlike certain other people I could name, he is definitely not a poop.”

“Okay, lean back, close your eyes and rest. We’ll be at the Lodge in about ten minutes.”

“Now you’re talking.”

She was fast asleep by the time he reached the gate. Turning the wheels to the right, he set the emergency brake and put the SUV in “Park.” Quietly, he opened the door and slid out, striding quickly to the gate.

The full moon peeked through the trees, giving him enough light to walk and find the gate chain. Concentrating on the gate and the ground as he walked it inward, Harm didn’t hear anything until the wheel crunched on the gravel behind him.

Looking up, horror washed over him as the SUV rolled down the hill toward him. Pete’s mangled body flashed through his mind. This vehicle wasn’t moving at break-neck speed, but its nose pointed downhill just a few feet away. He had neither time nor space to maneuver.

Without thinking, he darted behind the gate, stepping back as far as he could, pulling the heavy metal gate to his chest.

As the car rolled past him, gaining speed, he saw Elgin, her head resting to one side, still asleep.

The instant the car passed him, he bolted across the narrow road, racing to catch up with it. Somehow, the driver’s door had swung shut and the big vehicle picked up speed as it gained downward momentum. And just beyond them a few hundred feet, the road made a sharp curve. Traveling straight would put it into the thick forest just beyond the road. If that happened, even with her seatbelt on…

A surge of adrenaline pumped through him, prodding him to more speed.

He pulled even with the driver’s door, catching his fingers under the handle and jerking it open, losing his balance and almost tripping. If he fell now, he would almost certainly be caught under the back wheels.

Barely hanging on, Harm jumped into the driver’s seat, grabbing the wheel with one hand, stomping on the brake and forcing the gearshift into “park.”

Unable to get a grip in the loose gravel, the anti-lock brakes struggled as the SUV slid toward the shallow drainage ditch, transmission whining in protest. Slipping and bumping, it finally came to rest, the front end about forty-five degrees to the left, the engine stalled.

Shaken rudely back to consciousness, Elgin sat up, blinked groggy eyes and looked around. “What happened?”

“It’s all right,” he lied, gripping the wheel with sweaty palms and forcing his voice to remain calm. “I got out to open the gate and I guess I didn’t set the brake right. Car rolled down the hill a little. Stomped on the brakes too hard and kind of fishtailed in this gravel. Everything’s okay now.”

Taking a deep breath, he restarted the car and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

“You go on up and go to bed,” he told her, “I just want to check and make sure everything’s all right.”

“Okay. Good night.”

“Good night.”

With Elgin safely in the house, Harm turned on the overhead light, illuminating the interior of the car. The emergency brake lay flat against the console. Except that he’d pulled it upright when he’d set it before getting out of the SUV to open the gate. And he’d had to jam the gearshift from “Drive” back into “Park” to stop the car. Except that he’d left the car in “Park.” Having turned the wheels to the right, even if both the gear and the brake had failed, the SUV should have rolled into the ditch after only a few feet, the driver’s side door remaining open.

The realization sent a cold chill through his body, and he shivered.

He was here, and Harm had been careless enough to let him get within striking distance of both of them. Lulled by the peaceful beauty and tranquil surroundings, he’d let down his guard and Elgin had almost paid the price for his blunder.