Beneath the Book Tower: An Alex McKnight Short Story Read Online Free PDF

that bothers me?”
    “What?”
    “How long have you been living in this cabin?”
    “Ever since I’ve been working on it. It just makes things easier.”
    “I think you’re done now, Alex. You’ve got the floor down. You’ve got the woodstove working. As soon as I redo your trim, this place will be ready to rent out again.”
    “It’s been a bad winter for the snowmobile people. You know that.”
    “You could have this place rented right now. It’s your biggest cabin. You’re just wasting money.”
    “Since when are you my accountant?”
    He stopped what he was doing and sat still on the floor. He finally turned to look at me. “You need to move back into your cabin. You can’t keep avoiding it.”
    “I will.” It was my turn to look away. “As soon as I’m done here.”
    Vinnie didn’t say anything else. I got down on my knees and helped him tear up the remaining strips of floor molding. An hour later I was on my way to Sault Ste. Marie to buy the new strips, five-eighths instead of half-inch, cloverleaf instead of quarter round. As I passed that first cabin, I made a point of not even looking at it.

    That was how the day went. That last day in March. It started with breakfast at the Glasgow Inn and ended with dinner in the same place. It was like most every other day in Paradise. Vinnie had helped me finish the baseboard trim, then he’d gone over to the rez to sit with his mother for a while. She’d not been feeling like herself lately. Maybe just one more person who was tired of winter. I was hoping that was it, that she’d feel better once the sun came back. That we’d all feel better.
    Vinnie gave me a nod as he came through the door. Back from the rez, then a shift at the casino dealing blackjack, stopping in now because that’s what you do around here. Every night. Jackie was watching hockey on the television mounted above the bar. Vinnie went over and stood behind him, just like I had told him to do.
    “Hey, Jackie,” he said, “I heard something interesting today.”
    “What’s that, Vin?”
    “Did you know Lake Superior isn’t really the biggest lake in the world? Or the deepest?”
    Jackie turned and glared at me.
    “I’ll throw you right out on your ass,” he said. “I swear to God I will.”
    Finally, something to smile about, on a cold, cold night. I looked back into the fire and watched the flames dance. My last hour of peace until everything would change.
    We’re not supposed to believe in evil anymore, right? It’s all about abnormal behavior now. Maladjustment, overcompensation, or my favorite, the antisocial personality disorder. Fancy words I was just starting to hear in that last year on the force, before I looked into the eyes of a madman as he pulled that trigger without even blinking.
    In a way, I’ve never gotten past it. I’m still lying on that floor, watching the light in Franklin’s eyes slowly going out. My partner, the man I was supposed to protect at all costs. Later, in the hospital, they pulled two slugs from my body and left the one that was too close to my heart to touch. It’s been with me ever since, a constant reminder of the evil I saw that night, all those years ago on a warm summer evening in Detroit. You’d never convince me otherwise. No, I’d seen evil as deep as it could ever get.
    But like Jackie and his beloved lake, you’d never know there was something deeper out there until somebody came to you and told you about. A deeper lake. A lake you’ve never seen before. Even then, you might not believe it. Not unless he took you there and showed it you.
    It was about to happen. Minutes away, then seconds. Then the door opened and the cold air blew in and the last person I expected to see that night stepped inside, carrying a big problem and looking for my help.

Chapter Two
    Chief Roy Maven stood in the doorway of the Glasgow Inn. He was out of uniform, but everything else about him—his clean-shaven face, his buzz cut, his hard eyes,