“There,” Ava says, when Imo finally lands on the right date. “Look at the midnight hour.”
Imo toggles down and we see the grainy black-and-white footage pop up. The camera’s so old, you can barely make out details. No color or shading. Shapes moving around in the dark. But even still, the waterfront is unmistakable. Camp Alpine Lake at night. Breathtaking.
“There we are.” I point to the corner of the screen where you can see a few naked butts running toward the water, splashing around in the moonlight.
“Huh, maybe Ishouldhave gone for Aaron this summer,” Ava says. She mimes zooming in on his behind. “Cute.”
Imo swats her on the arm and stifles a laugh as she fast-forwards through the tape until there’s nothing, just stillness.
“Try the next hour,” Ava says.
Imo clicks over to it, and sure enough, when she lands on the thirty-five-minute mark, there’s a splash of bright hair peeking out from a dark hoodie. A figure sprints down the beach. It’s obviously Ava, whipping her head around, looking for someone, something.
Ava inhales sharply beside me. “It’s okay,” I say as her eyes stay glued to the screen.
We wait a second, peering at the stillness, but then I notice movement at the top of the frame. A small boat slowly approaching in the water. Heller’s dinghy. “There he is.”
We watch the scene unfold as Ava said it did. Heller boats over to the beachfront and climbs out of the dinghy so he’s standing on the edge of the dock. He steps onto the sand, onto Camp Alpine Lake property.
Ava motions for him to move over to the kayak stand, so they’reunder cover. At least a little bit. I watch as he follows her to the exact spot where I found his necklace. They talk for a little while, a minute or two, before we see headlights coming from off frame, spotlighting the waterfront. It must be a golf cart. The glow illuminates everything, including Heller’s dinghy, tied up to the close dock. The golf cart pauses and the lights flicker off.
On-screen, Ava whips her head around, trepidation in her eyes, and then she looks back at Heller, pushing him toward his boat. He stumbles and I wonder if this is where he lost his lightning bolt. In a split second Ava’s gone, hightailing it up the back trail, while Heller runs back down to the dinghy, into the spotlight.
“That’s when I came to your cabin,” Ava whispers to me.
But before Heller climbs into the boat, he swivels his head around, looking to where the golf cart is off-screen. He freezes as if someone’s calling to him, saying something.
I lean in to the picture, like it’s going to give me answers. I wish I could turn the volume up to hear his voice, or enhance the image to make out the emotions on his face.
Heller takes a step away from the water. Then he does the unthinkable. He jogs up the beach, past where he stood with Ava. And then he disappears off-screen.
“What the fuck is happening?” I ask, panic in my voice.
Ava’s got a quizzical look on her face, her head cocked to one side. “Is he... talking to whoever’s in the golf cart?”
Imogen nibbles on her lip and fast-forwards. But nothing appears on screen. We can only see the stillness of the water and the beauty of the night.
We search for something, anything that can bring answers. I’m holding my breath and all of a sudden, Imogen gasps beside me.When I see what she’s looking at, all the air leaves my lungs.
No.
A hooded figure appears. Their face is obscured and they have no defining characteristics. One person of average height and weight dressed in dark sweats. Their back is to the camera but then the whole picture comes into view. The person moves slowly, dragging a lifeless Heller—my Heller—across the sand by his legs like he’s a piece of lumber.
I watch in disbelief as they heave Heller into the shallow end of the lake before running back off-screen.
Heller floats for a bit, the water rippling behind him, until he stops next to his dinghy. A rope catches on his foot, still stuffed into his white sneaker. The moon shines bright, and it looks like he’s glowing in the dark, dark water. I want to cover the screen, shield his body from onlookers—from me.
But I can’t pry my eyes away from him because if I do, that means he’ll be gone for good.
“Who would do this?” Imo asks. Her voice is shaky and scared. No one says anything. No one makes a move. We watch Heller float in the water alone.
Dead.
Ava wraps an arm around my shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” she says breathing warmth into my neck. I shake my head against her chest and she pulls me tight to her.
Imogen fast-forwards until we see the sun starting to peek out from the horizon. “There’s Levin,” she says. He appears on-screen wearing swim trunks. He stretches, all smiles, as if he’s about to take a morning dip, but as he approaches the water he stops, frozen, until he drops to his knees. Levin fumbles for his walkie andit only takes a few minutes before Stu and Mellie appear in a golf cart. Imogen speeds ahead some more until the Roxwood police come into view. She stops the tape before we can watch them pull Heller out of the water on a stretcher.
“Fuck,” she whispers.
