Free Nowhere to Hide by Carlene Thompson

gawkiness.
    Andrew had been almost silent during their first outing. Eric could tell he’d been awed by the beautiful boat and everyone’s courteous and welcoming behavior. At fourteen, Marissa and Gretchen had worn their first two-piece bathing suits that summer and painted each other’s toenails, which had brought on gales of adolescent giggling from them that baffled Eric. They’d even gone to Gray’s Island a couple of times, where Dillon had seemed especially interested, almost entranced, by the church with the sun shining through its beautiful stained-glass windows.
    Eric now felt like an old man remembering the fun and the laughter of what seemed a long-ago summer. Dr. Gray had encouraged everyone to go waterskiing if they weren’t afraid. Eric could tell Andrew wanted to give it a try but was afraid he’d do something wrong. He always seemed afraid he’d do something wrong.
    Dillon had much more confidence. His manners were excellent and he’d even tried waterskiing and done well the very first time. He’d talked to everyone, even Marissa and Gretchen, asking if they were going to paint every toenail a different color, which brought on another attack of giggles. Dillon had asked Catherine if she was looking forward to entering the University of California at Berkeley in the autumn, and he’d told Tonya to avoid taking a class from a teacher named Blume when school started in the fall. He was pleasant, charming, and polite. Still, Eric hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that Dillon was being extremely watchful, as if coolly assessing everyone, and the feeling had made Eric uneasy.
    Eric’s attention now snapped back to the river. The towboat and barges had moved on, the remaining mist and snow closing in and making them invisible. They had vanished, Eric thought winsomely. They’d vanished like the Annemarie, which had been in storage since Dr. Gray’s death.
    Another blast of freezing air let Eric know he was being foolish to keep standing like a statue beside the road. But one memory held him immobilized—a bitter memory that chilled his already nearly numb body.
    As Eric recalled, it would have been the Archer boys’ third outing when Andrew had seemed more relaxed and Dillon had acted right at home. Both guys had laughed at Sheriff Farrell’s jokes and Andrew had talked to nearly everyone without blushing. He had worn sunglasses, which hid the permanently insecure look in his light blue eyes, and with his new tan and slightly longer hair he’d looked a tad more appealing. For the first time in Eric’s life, he’d seen both Andrew and Dillon Archer act young and carefree.
    Late in the afternoon, Eric had gotten a cold can of Coke from the cooler and placed it beside Dillon, who wore only cutoff jeans and lay stretched full-length on his back, his well-formed body turning a nice shade of light golden brown. Dillon had looked up at Eric with his brilliant blue eyes, smiled almost blissfully, and said, “Thanks, Eric. You know, I hate to sound like an idiot, but all of this is so great I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
    Well, if there was any justice in the world, Dillon Archer hadn’t gone to heaven, Eric now thought, bile rising in his throat after all these years, because on that bright and beautiful day he had been looking into the eyes of a murderer.

Chapter 4
    1
    They stood in Catherine’s ivory and sage green bedroom, one getting dressed, the other slumping drearily in front of the vanity mirror. “Thanks so much for going in with me to give my statement.”
    Catherine pulled a tan wool sweater over her head and threw Marissa’s mirrored image an amazed look. “Did you think I’d send you there alone after you just had a car wreck Saturday night? Honestly, Marissa, you make me sound downright cold-blooded.”
    “You kept warning me not to go by myself in my Mustang Saturday night.”
    “So now I’m going to punish you for not obeying me? If I remember correctly,