Green Lake by S.K. Epperson Page A

did he say to them?” she asked.
    “Just threatened them with arrest. My name is Dale Russell.” He offered his hand to Madeleine and she shook it, thinking this had to be the one her sister kept going on about. He was definitely handsome. Hazel eyes a shade darker than her own, wavy brown hair, a broad chest, and narrow hips.
    “Madeleine Heron,” she said. “Glad to meet you.”
    “Likewise, though the circumstances could have been better.”
    “I was ready to panic,” Madeleine confessed. “There was no telling what might have happened if you and Renard hadn't come along.”
    Russell looked surprised. “You know Renard?”
    “He's my neighbor.”
    “So you're staying in a cabin then?”
    “I am. It belongs to my sister and her husband. They come up weekends, but I'm here for the summer.”
    “Lucky Renard,” said Russell, smiling again to show the compliment was an honest one.
    Madeleine looked away from him to see Renard glance at them from behind his dark glasses. She left Russell and walked over to him. “Can you see the problem?”
    “Yes,” he said.
    For some reason, Madeleine didn't think he was talking about the truck.
    “Well?” she said, when he didn't elaborate. “What's wrong with it?”
    “Fuel filter,” he said. “I've got one in the truck that should work.”
    “You carry an extra fuel filter?”
    “It comes in handy.”
    “You can put it on right here?”
    “We need to get the truck off the bridge.”
    “Of course,” Madeleine said, and smarted at having been made to feel stupid.
    “What did you say to those men?” she asked.
    Renard finally turned to look at her. “Go to my truck and pull the seat down. The fuel filter is in a plainly marked box behind the seat. Bring it to me, please.”
    She returned to the truck and heard Russell talking on the radio to someone. He smiled at her and leaned away when she reached in to get at the seat. Madeleine looked at him and was surprised. A few short months ago she would have been pleased to be smiled at so warmly by such a handsome man. Today she felt as if her answering smile was forced. Thank you, Sam.
    “This it?” she said as she returned to Renard.
    He looked up and nodded, then took the box from her fingers and placed it beside him while he concentrated on what he was doing.
    ‘‘Your toe still sore?”
    “Yes.”
    “The kittens enjoyed the food this morning.”
    “Good.”
    “Did they really find the little girl's windbreaker today?”
    He glanced at her. “In the water.”
    “Those men told me. They said they were part of the search.”
    “Maybe,” said Renard with a grunt.
    “Do you get a daily paper?” she asked.
    “In the mail,” he said.
    “Would you mind sharing it with me? It seems strange not to get a paper.”
    He nodded and continued with what he was doing. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw Russell still on the radio. He was laughing now.
    “You can go back and wait with him if you like,” said Renard.
    Madeleine looked at him. “I'm fine just watching. About the paper, you could leave it on the porch in the morning if you like, or in the evening, whenever you're finished with it.”
    Renard breathed out through his nose and looked at her. “Miss Heron, has anyone ever told you how demanding you can be?”
    “Demanding?” she said in surprise.
    “Put the paper on your porch in the morning?”
    “Not my porch,” she said quickly. “Your porch. I can walk down and take it off your porch. I would never ask you to walk up and put the paper on my porch.”
    “Wouldn't you?”
    Madeleine stood back, angry beyond belief. “How much do I owe you for the fuel filter?”
    “Three dollars.”
    This made her even angrier. To think that she had broken down, nearly been assaulted, and gone through all this insult for a three dollar auto part nearly made her spit. She jerked the door of the truck open and dug in her purse for the three dollars.
    He was wiping his hands on a rag when she