Amka shook her head.Her grip on the glass tightened.“No.Not at all, and nobody knows this.”Amka looked up at May, her voice lower now, more raw.“I helped her.”
May’s eyebrows drew together.Wait.What?“You helped Flossy?”
Amka wiped her eyes.“She didn’t have the strength.I was on my way to work on the snowmobile, heading to open the tavern.I came up on them by the river.Hank was all but begging her to do it.She was holding the shotgun, but she could barely lift it.Her hands were shaking.”
May stared, silent for a beat.
“I didn’t pull the trigger,” Amka added quickly.“I just steadied her.Helped her hold the gun.That’s it.The recoil knocked both of us over when it went off, and then Hank…he fell into the river.”
“Oh my God.”May sat back, stunned.“I read that he did have water in his lungs but not a lot.The shot killed him.”
“Yeah, they said he died seconds later.Might’ve already been gone when he hit the water.Either way, he didn’t make it.We left.I was late getting to work, and no one asked questions.”
May’s voice was quieter now.“Amka, I understand.I really do.So would most people in town.But I don’t see what this has to do with the explosion.”
Amka threw up a hand.“Nothing.It doesn’t.That’s the point.This has nothing to do with the fire.”
May pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose.“Okay.I’m lost.”
Amka hesitated.“Jarod was coming back from a fishing trip that morning, or from staying with some tourist, or from getting drunk and passing out somewhere.I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.”
May sat up straighter.A cold spike of recognition lit through her.“And he caught you?”
“He filmed it.”Amka’s voice went flat.“He had his phone and filmed the whole thing.”
May didn’t speak right away.Her chest tightened.“That’s why you’re engaged to him.”
Amka gave a short laugh.“You were surprised?”
May shook her head.“He’s such a dick.I’m sorry, but no one can figure it out.I mean, sure, he’s good-looking.He knows how to be charming when he wants to be.But still.He’s a…dick.”
“Yeah.”Amka exhaled.“He’s blackmailing me.Jarod said if I didn’t go along with the engagement, he’d turn over the video to the authorities.”Her shoulders dropped.
What a terrible burden to keep to herself.“I’m so sorry,” May whispered.
“They’d have no choice but to charge Flossy.And probably me.”Amka let out a slow breath.“I wouldn’t mind going to trial and fighting it.I’d stand up there and tell the truth.But Flossy is elderly.She wouldn’t make it through something like that.It’d wreck her.”
May sat back, arms folded.“You’re not actually going to marry him.”
“No,” Amka said.“I agreed to be his fiancée for a few months so he could clean up his image and get financing for one of the businesses he’s always chasing.That’s all it was supposed to be.But now he says he wants to actually get married.That I don’t have a choice.”She paused.“I don’t know.I don’t trust him.”
“I don’t trust him either,” May said.“You’ve got to go to Brock with this.”
“Why?What can the sheriff do?”Amka asked.“Jarod holds the cards.If he turns in that video, we’re screwed.”She pulled at a loose thread from the blanket tossed over the couch.“Honestly, I was thinking maybe I could just stay engaged until Flossy passes on.”
May didn’t react right away.“You mean even if it took years?”
Amka flushed.“Yeah.I don’t mean that in a bad way.Just…she’s old.”
“No, no.I get it,” May said.“You’re just trying to make a plan.”Although that one wouldn’t work.“Let me be honest with you.Flossy’s in great shape.She’s sharp.Still hunts.Still gardens.She could last another twenty years.”
“I hope she does,” Amka said quietly.“But that doesn’t help me.”
“You have no idea where the video is?”May asked.
Amka shook her head.“No, and it gets worse.Jarod said if anything happens to him, the video automatically gets sent to the district attorney’s office.”
May froze.“Automatically?”
