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“Not at all. I’ll see if I can find anything else, but I was pretty thorough the first time.”
“Thanks.” I hand Margot her pen and head toward the door for my parka. “I need to get back.”
“Will you be all right?” she asks as she follows me to the exit.
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “I’m not even sure where to start. I need to talk to all of them, but the one I need to talk to the most…well, she’s hard to reach sometimes.”
Margot lets her breath out in a huff.
“This is a lot to take in, Bishop.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
“Are you sure you need to be in the middle of it all?”
“I think I am, like it or not.” I put on my parka and shove the papers into the pocket.
“At some point, I’m going to have to meet this woman,” Margot says, “or should I say ‘women’? I’m honestly not sure what the proper term is.”
“You’re asking me?” I chuckle. “You’re the one who went to college.”
“I don’t think this was covered in any of my classes.” She smiles for a moment and then furrows her brow. “What are you going to do?”
“I have no idea.” I shrug. “Try to get to the truth of it all, I guess.”
“Good luck with that.”
Margot turns to head back to the main part of the lodge, but I reach out and grab her arm to stop her.
“Margot?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.” I have to clear my throat to keep going. “I’m sorry about the way things were between us. You didn’t deserve any of that. I’m sorry I wasn’t…that I couldn’t be better for you.”
Margot presses her lips together for a second, and I’m pretty sure there are tears in her eyes as she steps up close to me and wraps her arms around my neck for a brief hug.
“Thank you, Bishop. That means a lot to me.”
Chapter 25
I stand outside the door to my cabin, afraid to open it.
I’ve never been a confrontational person. In my experience, confrontation leads to blood, and I avoid situations that might become tense by staying the hell away from other people unless it’s absolutely necessary. Since leaving prison, that’s worked pretty well for me.
Now, with so much new information in my head, I know I need to get some straight answers. Though I’ve figured out how to get Iris to appear, I have no idea how to get a hold of the more elusive personality of Netti, and she is the only one who might be able to tell me what I need to know. First, I have to will myself through the door.
With a deep breath, I grab the handle and go inside.
It’s dark, and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. The fire is burning, but there are no candles lit, though the sun is setting outside. Solo meows a greeting from the kitchen counter, but everything else is still and quiet.
I open my mouth to call out a name, but I pause when I’m not sure which name to utter. My indecisiveness adds to my building anxiety, and when I see a slight movement in the corner of the room, I tense even more.
The figure in the dark suddenly rushes forward, and I see the outline of the fire poker held high in the air. It swings in an arc right in front of me as a voice screams out.
“Get the fuck away from me, you asshole!”
“Iris! What the fuck?” I raise my hands in defense, but she stops short of bringing the poker down on my head.
