The Other Man in My Wife's Tent novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Cold Lake

We were dressed and in the truck in four minutes.

Freja drove, and I called my mother, who was crying so hard I couldn't follow her.

"He had a key, Cal. A key to my house. I never gave him one."

"Lindsay gave it to him," I said.

"She did not!"

"Mom, it's all right. Did Eli say anything?"

"He was in pajamas. He said 'Hi, Dean,' like he'd been waiting."

I closed my eyes.

My phone buzzed with a second call, and I switched over.

"Cal." It was Lindsay, out of breath. "He took him."

"I know."

"I know where. He told me once, in the fall. It was his plan B."

"Where?"

"The lake," she said. "Northern Pines. He has a key to the lodge, and the camp is closed for the season. Tent Three's clearing. He says there's an ice hut out past it."

"I'm on my way."

"So am I. I'll be right behind you, and I've called the county deputy."

"Lindsay."

"I'm not asking to be forgiven," she said. "I'm asking to help."

I looked at Freja, who had heard every word.

She nodded once.

"Fine," I said. "Don't get in my way."

We drove north in the dark with the heater roaring and the road coming up white in the headlights.

Freja did ninety on a straight stretch and didn't apologize for it.

"If he hurts that boy," she said, "I swear to God."

"He won't."

"You don't know that."

"He loves him," I said, and I hated it, because it was true.

"That isn't the same as being safe."

We turned in at the Northern Pines gate a little after midnight.

The lodge was dark.

Beyond it, the clearing where the Lake Camp had stood was empty and blue under the moon.

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