Free Dead Frenzy by Victoria Houston

figure out who was giving orders. I wonder if it’s the big sister?”
    “I wouldn’t put it past her. I wouldn’t put anything past that woman. If Parker Steadman shows up, you should ask him about her, Lew.”
    “How long were they married?”
    “Don’t know. And what I do know was told to me by Mary Lee so I’m sure the details were more than a little twisted. But keep in mind Catherine, as I said earlier, was a very pretty young woman in those days, very attractive.”
    What Osborne didn’t say was that the girl was too attractive. There had been moments in the office when he had had to remind himself that she was seventeen and he was a married man, a father. He had never known, before or since, a woman who could ooze sex like the young Catherine Plyer.
    “It was that same summer of my run-in with her that she started dating Parker Steadman and got pregnant. They were married pretty soon after that and moved to Minneapolis, if I remember right. Maybe it was Chicago … anyway, wherever it was, he had a job in the family business.
    “The next thing we heard was the baby was born and the couple split. Only they didn’t just split—this is Mary Lee’s version now—Catherine
assaulted
Parker. His family was so horrified, they paid her off. They paid her to file for divorce. We heard it was a lot of money, which she took—and disappeared.”
    “Until today.”
    “Until today.”
    “What do you mean she assaulted him? Like what—beat him up?”
    Osborne looked over at Lew. “She shot at him. With a deer rifle. Obviously missed, but the story was she tried to kill him. But see, this was all rumor. Who knows if that’s what really happened. I mean, there aren’t that many women who can handle a deer rifle.”
    “Unless you grow up hunting with your brothers. And those two boys were pretty proficient with firearms, I can tell you that. They were a dangerous duo, Patty Boy and Dickie, people you don’t want to tangle with if you don’t have to.
    “Hey—enough of that. Here we are.”
    Lew slowed the truck. At a small sign reading birch lake , she turned right. As Nellie bounced along, Osborne stole glances at Lew’s face. He really enjoyed watching her demeanor change as they neared a fishing spot. It happened every time: The worry lines dropped away, her brow lightened, fatigue disappeared, and by the time she parked, she was grinning like a kid.
    Osborne knew the feeling well—happened to him, too: sixty-something going on sixteen.

eight
    “Modern fishing is as complicated as flying a B-58 … several years of preliminary library and desk work are essential just to be able to buy equipment without humiliation.”
    —Russell Baker
    Lew pulled the truck into a small clearing. Out his window, Osborne could see tire marks indicating other vehicles had been there recently, but no one was around.
    Holding her door open, Lew paused for a moment to look over at Osborne. “Hey,” she said with a questioning lift of her eyebrows, “ready to go play with some fish?” She shook a finger at him. “Now just you remember Birch Lake is a secret—don’t you
ever
tell a soul about this place.”
    “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
    Hopping down and out of the truck, Lew gave a quick look in every direction, stuck both her arms straight out, and waited. She had rolled up the sleeves of her khaki fishing shirt, so plenty of bare skin was exposed. But no insects took the bait.
    “So far so good,” she said after a moment. “Last time I was here, the mosquitoes dive-bombed us. Better bring your Deet just in case, Doc.”
    Walking to the back of the truck, Lew yanked down the tailgate and reached inside. Osborne hurried back to help. “First we unload this stuff.” She pointed to his gear bag and the little cardboard box. “You don’t wear a fishing vest in a float tube so what you’ll need on the water, you want to pack into your tube.”
    “Really?” That worried Osborne. It had taken him hours to