Among the Missing Read Free Page A

stern lines anchoring his aluminum canoe to the front and rear bumpers of his Pontiac, then unbuckled the cloth straps that latched it to the roof rack.
    "Could you give me a hand lifting it down?"
    "I don't know, Bass."
    "It's not very heavy."
    "Not for you, maybe."
    "All those work-outs you do, you shouldn't have any trouble at all holding up one end of this little thing."
    "Well, I'll give it a try."
    Bass took the bow and Faye took the stem. "Okay," he said. "Ready?"
    "Oh, I guess so."
    "Now!"
    They both lifted the canoe off its rack. Holding it high, they sidestepped away from the car.
    "This isn't so bad," Faye said. "I thought it'd be a lot heavier."
    "You're stronger than you think."
    "Maybe so."
    With her arms raised, the bottom slopes of her breasts showed beneath the ragged edge of her T-shirt.
    "Ready to carry it down to the river?" Bass asked, enjoying the view.
    "How far is the river?"
    "At the bottom of the hill behind you."
    She gave him a thin smile. "Pardon me if I don't turn around and look."
    "You wouldn't be able to see it, anyway. Too many trees in the way."
    "I don't know how far I can carry this thing."
    "Just do the best you can."
    "Holy Moses, you didn't tell me this would be an endurance test."
    "You're doing just fine."
    "Why don't we carry the other stuff down first? The light stuff?"
    "Do you think that'll make things easier?"
    She grinned. "Sure."
    "We'd have to set down the canoe. Then pick it up again."
    "Oh, I wouldn't mind. Let's, okay?"
    It made no sense at all, putting down the canoe at this point. But he didn't want to start an argument. Forcing himself to smile, he said, "Okay. Let's set her down."
    Slowly, they lowered the canoe to the dirt. Then Faye straightened up. She brushed strands of short blond hair away from her brow and took a deep breath. "Whew," she said. "Glad to have that done with."
    "We'll just have to pick it up again in a few minutes."
    "It'll give me time to rest and recuperate."
    "Ah. Okay." Bass stepped to the trunk of his car and pounded on the lid. The latch opened and the lid swung up. Reaching in, he grabbed the towels. He tossed them to Faye, throwing them high to make her reach. "Catch," he called.
    She leaped for them, her cut-off T-shirt rising above her breasts for a moment before she snagged the towels out of the air, laughing.
    "Nice catch," Bass said.
    "Nice throw."
    He lifted out the picnic basket, set it on the ground behind his car, then ducked into the trunk and hauled out the cooler chest.
    "Do you think I should leave my purse in the car?" Faye asked.
    "Might not be a bad idea. In case we capsize."
    "Wonderful. Capsize?"
    "It isn't likely."
    "Are you taking your wallet?"
    He patted the rear pocket of his cut-off jeans. "I need mine. I'll have to drive after we get to the lake."
    "Oh. That's right. Okay, I'll leave my purse here. Do you think it'll be safe?"
    "Probably. Just hide it under the front seat."
    "What about my cell phone?"
    "You'd better leave it, too. You definitely don't want that going into the river."
    "I don't want anything going into the river."
    "More than likely, nothing will. Just our paddles."
    "I hope so."
    Faye removed a plastic bottle of sun block from her purse, then opened the passenger door, bent down and shoved her purse under the seat.
    "All set?" Bass asked.
    "Yeah." She locked and shut the door.
    Bass shut the trunk. Its latch caught on the first try. As he picked up the picnic basket and cooler, Faye started on ahead of him with her sun block and the towels.
    "That's a long way down," she said.
    "It's not as bad as it looks."
    "I'll just bet." With a laugh, she started down the trail.
    Bass walked behind her. He didn't try to catch up, but walked steadily with his load, watching her. In spite of her complaining, she seemed eager and happy about being here, doing this.
    She hurried down the trail, stopped, turned around to smile at Bass and wait for him to get closer, then chided, "Slow poke" and hurried on.
    "I'm