Renata wasn’t sure what to say. Michael was frightened. She could feel his fear. And it wasn’t just fear because his grandfather was missing. It was fear that the old man truly was losing his grip on reality. He might have decided to run away.
“I don’t know what to say, Michael,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”
Again he shrugged, with frustration this time. “It’s not your fault.”
“I didn’t mean it was. I just...I wish I could do something to help you. To help you both.”
Michael glanced at her, his eyes too dark to read in the twilight. “You already have, Renata. You’ve done more than anybody could have asked of you.” His voice caressed her with embarrassed gratitude. “We have no right to keep showing up on your doorstep. Believe me, if he hadn’t run off again—”
Michael broke off abruptly, as though he suddenly realized what he’d been about to say: You never would have seen me again. It was tactless, but probably true. Renata swallowed hard and looked out the window. She was drawn to this man, but it was obvious that he did not return her interest in him. Some things just weren’t meant to be.
The next half hour was busy but unproductive. Renata showed Michael the shortest way by road to Timberlake Lodge. After circling the main building, he drove through the parking areas while she darted inside to ask if anyone had seen a solitary old man. Edward Wocheck was in the lobby, conferring with his staff in preparation for the next morning’s groundbreaking ceremony, and he took a moment to express his sympathy. He promised Renata that he’d tell his people to be on the lookout for Michael’s grandfather.
When she got back to the car, Michael didn’t touch the door as she opened it and climbed in. Wordlessly he searched her face, then floored the engine when she said, “He hasn’t been here.”
It was a quiet night on the lake. Only one tourist couple was out for an evening stroll. When Michael made a sharp turn, he caught the startled eyes of deer in his headlights. He slowed down until the deer safely crossed the road, but he made no comment as the BMW approached the highway.
He drove in virtual silence for maybe half a mile until Renata said abruptly, “Stop the car.”
Instantly he braked. “Do you see him?” he demanded.
There was a catch in his voice that tugged at Renata. Oh, Michael, a tiny voice inside her whispered, you really do cherish that old man. She felt a sudden jealous ache as she realized how much it would mean to have anybody cherish her with such devotion.
Especially a man as compelling as this one.
“I don’t see anything, but this is the easiest place to catch the back trail to the lodge from the highway,” she explained. “Do you want to come with me or keep driving around while I check it out on foot?”
This time when Michael turned to face Renata, he looked astounded. For the first time since he’d arrived, she had the feeling that he realized a real live person was sitting beside him, not just a faceless local guide.
“You are suggesting that I let you wander through these woods alone at night on the off chance you might find a stranger who was trained in the Winnebago art of hiding?” he asked incredulously.
Renata was touched by his concern, even though she realized that his protest might be an instinctive macho reaction. “I was born here, Michael,” she reminded him. “I know these woods like my own backyard.”
“And that lodge is filled with city people, all strangers,” he retorted. “I’ve got enough on my plate looking for Grand Feather. The last thing I need is to report to Lieutenant Bauer that I’ve lost you, too.”
“Gee, thanks, Michael,” she snapped, not at all appreciating his sharp tone. “I’m sorry I’m such a burden to you.”
He glared at her for a moment, then exhaled a mighty sigh. His dark eyes were intense as he apologized. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just don’t want you to get hurt because of me or mine.”
“This is Tyler,” she pointed out patiently. “Nobody ever gets hurt walking in the woods.”
“Renata, a woman was killed here! Right here at the lodge!”
“That was forty years ago.” She was surprised that he’d heard about Margaret Ingalls, but since he’d spent a good twelve hours in Brick’s police car last night, he probably had heard everything that had ever happened to anybody in Tyler.
“If they never found the killer, it might as well have been yesterday,” he insisted somewhat irrationally. “Whoever did it might still live near here. How many of the farms around your place have been sold since then?”
“Michael, you don’t honestly think that one of my neighbors—”
“I don’t know your neighbors. I only know you. And I don’t want anything to happen to you.” His voice was low...too low for a casual statement. It caused a strange vibration that sensitized Renata’s ears. She felt herself leaning toward him again; she felt his grip tighten on her hand.
Was it possible that he felt a fraction of what she did when they touched like this? Was there some reason beyond fraternal concern that he was still holding her hand?
“Then I guess you’d better walk back to the lodge with me,” she suggested, not at all averse to taking a moonlit walk around Timber Lake with Michael, especially when he seemed eager to keep her close to him. “I really do think we need to check out the trail.”
This time when Michael’s eyes met hers, Renata saw something she hadn’t noticed before. He was torn. For some reason he was struggling to protect her from something more than Timberlake Lodge’s out-of-town guests...something he hadn’t put into words.
For the first time she wondered if, in some strange way, he was trying to protect her from himself.
* * *
IT WAS AFTER TEN when Renata suggested that they check the house again. They had walked from the road to the lodge, from the lodge to the house and from the house back to the road again. They had listened for the sound of chants; they had watched for any ghost of motion. They had alarmed some Timberlake guests, dislodged one ring-necked pheasant hen and startled a ruffed grouse. Other than that they had seen no one.
The instant Michael pulled into Renata’s driveway, he knew that he was wasting his time. Grand Feather had outfoxed him again. The old man hadn’t sneaked off just to come right back to where Michael had collared him the first time. He was hiding somewhere different this time.
He must be working on a new plan.
“Oh, my God,” Michael said aloud as the implications of that thought crystallized in his mind.
“What?” Renata’s voice echoed his alarm.
“I’m so stupid! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before!”
“Michael, tell me!”
He shook his head. “Renata, Grand Feather came over here in the first place because of that damn ground-breaking ceremony. He’s going to show up there tomorrow and make a scene. I know it!”
“Oh, Michael.” She didn’t try to tell him he was wrong. “If we go there early, maybe we can stop him.”
Again he shook his head. “I doubt it. The best we can do is try to keep him from getting hurt. He is a stubborn, stubborn old man, Renata. I told you he was not senile. He’s got a mind like a steel trap, and you’d better believe that he’s thought up a plan worthy of a Winnebago chief. Damn it! He’s going to take Edward Wocheck and all the rest of us by surprise.”
Renata