Dangerous Waters by Janice Kay Johnson

I had a little accident," Mac said.
    "So I hear. Pete Tevis gave me a call."
    Mac had arrived at a decision on the way over. Kellerman was an older man, taciturn but fair. Megan had mentioned that her father had known him for years and considered him a friend. Mac was chafing already at the restrictions his situation placed on him: no access to data bases and police files, no authority to question people or dig into their affairs. If somebody local was responsible for his problems, his best attack was to investigate the people he'd encountered through his construction work. Kellerman wasn't going to let him sit and read files, note names and phone numbers, who paid and who didn't if he thought Mac was a drifter who'd done a decent job for two months, then not bothered to show up for work one morning. Sometimes you had to take chances; Mac had decided to take one with his ex-boss.
    "I need some help," he said. "Do you have a minute when we won't be interrupted?"
    Kellerman looked him over in silence, his blue eyes shrewd. "Now's as good as any other time," he finally agreed, lowering himself into his squeaky office chair behind the battered gray desk. Mac sat, too, then pulled out his badge and a wallet full of genuine ID he'd recovered from a safety deposit box. He'd lost the fake ones; maybe they tossed that wallet in the lake with him. He didn't know.
    The older man barely glanced at the badge and ID. "You implying something's wrong with my business?"
    Mac shook his head. "Nothing like that. I'm the one with problems, not you."
    And so he explained, for the third time in the last few days. He was growing to like the people here in Devil's Lake. Each time he'd expected interruptions, questions, hysteria. Instead, Kellerman listened as thoughtfully as the deputy sheriff had. His only reaction was to pop a peppermint candy in his mouth and suck on it.
    "You were mighty lucky Megan was around to fish you out of the lake," he said at last.
    "I understand you know her father."
    He grunted again. "I've known Megan since she was a toddler. Unusual kid."
    "Not your usual lifeguard," Mac commented. He'd be interested to hear what the home folks thought of her.
    Kellerman shook his head. "She's got to be rolling in bucks. Her face was everywhere after the Olympics. She still does some endorsements. I understand she's agreed to be a color commentator at the next Olympic games, too. But, you know, you'd never guess any of it. She's the girl next door. My granddaughter was in her kindergarten class last year, loved her. This stuff at the beach..." He shrugged. "She must enjoy it."
    Enjoyed yelling through a bullhorn at kids who didn't seem to have the sense God gave them? Mac thought incredulously. Well, why else would she do it?
    "The main thing I've discovered about her is that she's stubborn as hell."
    "You don't get to be the best in the world at anything if you're not," the balding man pointed out.
    Mac rubbed a hand over his face. "I suppose so. And God knows I have good reason to be grateful she's stubborn."
    Kellerman nodded. "So what do you want from me?"
    Mac told him.
    Kellerman frowned and swiveled his chair to gaze in silence out the window toward the huge metal building that garaged the construction equipment. "How many jobs did you work on?" he asked.
    "I've been trying to think. Maybe twenty, counting some one-day jobs."
    "You know, those fellows who knocked you on the head asked specifically for you. Molly remembers that much. They called instead of coming in."
    "Lucky for her."
    "Yeah, so Pete said." The older man shook his head. "Things like this don't happen in Devil's Lake."
    Mac didn't say anything.
    Kellerman turned in his chair to face Mac. "Pete tell you the address they gave is an empty lot?" Mac had checked it himself two days ago, but he only nodded. His ex-boss looked him directly in the eye. "You can have the run of this place as far as I'm concerned. If you can't find something, ask Molly. I'll tell her to