What Lies Beneath: Romantic Suspense (15 page)

I suddenly felt dizzy. I sat down on the ground. Tom was having an affair. It was the only thing that made sense.

Our marriage was over. This was the last straw. Anger replaced the bewilderment I felt. I would confront the both of them. I would tell Tom it was over. I stood with a sense of determination I haven’t felt since before I married Tom.

As I rose, our eyes met. Tom’s mouth fell open. He had the look of a man who’d been caught red-handed. There would be no denying his infidelity. I didn’t want to hear any excuses.

Our eyes locked. Anger passed over his face. Suddenly it turned to fear. He was falling backwards over the rail. The woman had pushed him hard. As he fell he tried to grab onto the railing, but she kicked his feet out from under him.

I watched with horror as he disappeared over the edge. There was a loud splash. I ran to the lake. The cold water soaked my house shoes. Should I go in after him? The water was freezing and I’m not a strong swimmer.

I stood at the water’s edge, listening and waiting. There was no sign of Tom. It was as if the lake had swallowed him whole. I don’t know how long I stood there. I heard a noise from above and saw the woman staring down at me. The wind caught her scarf, blowing it free. Her long blonde hair trailed through the air like snakes. Her eyes were wild with excitement. She was breathing hard. Mrs. Devereaux. I recognized her from around town.

When she caught sight of me, a look of fear passed over. She shot away from the railing, moving out of my field of vision. I continued to stand there like a deer trapped in the headlights. I was frozen with indecision.

The sound of a car broke the spell I was under. I crawled up the hill on hands and knees in time to see a sports car driving away. The bridge was empty. I went to the place where the woman stood and looked down. The calm surface started to crater with falling rain. I looked up. When had it started to rain?

I slid down to the ground and sat trembling in the freezing rain. Then a light was shining in my eyes. Jillian. I couldn’t speak, or think. I simply let her lead me away back to her cabin.

I opened my eyes. I was back on the bridge, gripping the railing. Aiden was pulling at my shirt saying, “Momma?” He sounded like a toddler.

“It’s okay, baby,” I said dreamily.

“I saw you,” I said, turning on Mrs. Devereaux. “After you pushed him over the edge, you lost your scarf. That’s what your husband was looking for the next day. You were afraid it would incriminate you.”

Mrs. Devereaux looked annoyed. “We’re not going to rehash it. Just jump.”

“No. You’re going to have to shoot me. Good luck explaining that to the police.”

She reached for Aiden. “Maybe I’ll shoot him first and say you did it. I’ll call the police myself.”

Her eyes darted around manically as she quickly formulated a new plan.

“I’ll tell them you called me out here to confront me and I found you with this gun. You killed your son, then yourself. I’ll tell them you told me they would blame me. You were trying to frame me all along. The cops will never doubt a thing. You were their prime suspect in Tom’s death. They never even looked at me. They’re already suspicious of you. They know you’re not right in the head. I’ll tell them you confessed to killing Tom in a fit of jealousy before killing your son and yourself.”

Mrs. Devereaux grabbed Aiden’s collar and tried to pry him off me. He clung to me and screamed. I pulled him back while also trying to grab for the gun. Silver flashed out of the corner of my eye.

Mrs. Devereaux screamed.

Suddenly, Jillian was there, swinging a baseball bat. She hit Mrs. Devereaux’s shoulder. She let go of Aiden.

“Run, Aiden!” I screamed. He hesitated as if he didn’t want to leave me. “Go! I’ll be right behind you.”

He took off running across the bridge towards Jillian’s cabin. Mrs. Devereaux turned the gun on Jillian, but she wasn’t fast enough. The old woman swung the bat again, hitting her arm with a sickening crunch.

Mrs. Devereaux managed to pull the trigger. Two shots were fired. One hit me in the shoulder. The force of the blow pushed me back. My fingers slid along the slippery metal railing. I tried to grab it but it was no use. I fell from the bridge, plunging into the water beneath.

26

The surface of the lake swallowed me. The water was freezing. I felt like I was being stabbed with tiny needles all over my body. I kicked for the surface, but didn’t get far. My limbs were numb and heavy.

In the wake of Tom’s death, I’d barely been able to find the energy to carry on. Now, after reliving that night, my desire to live was almost completely gone. Aiden flashed through my mind. Someone had to take care of him. Then I thought no, he’d be better off without me.

What about Theo? A distant voice asked.

I opened my eyes and saw Tom before me in the water. He smiled. I reached for him. He put out his hand. Just as our fingers were about to touch, he was pulled away violently. I watched as he disappeared into the dark, leaving me alone.

An arm wrapped around me. I fought against it, thinking that whatever had pulled Tom down had come to claim me. The arm was too strong though. The more I fought, the more its grip tightened.

I could feel that I was being dragged, not down, but to the surface. A part of me resented being rescued. Maybe it was best that I sink to the bottom with Tom. Another part of me felt hope. Someone thought I was worth saving.

We broke through the surface of the water. I didn’t take a breath. The air was shockingly cold. My chest felt as if it was being squeezed from the inside. I started to shake all over. We moved slowly through the water. My savior was having difficulty. I don’t know where he found the strength. The cold was crippling.

When we reached shallower water, he stood and wrapped an arm under my legs lifting me up. Theo. I wanted to thank him for saving me and apologize for doubting him. He was the only one who’d stood by me. But I couldn’t speak or breathe. The world was slowly starting to fade away.

“Sabine, stay with me,” he said.

He laid me down then turned me over on my side. He hit my back, trying to force me to cough up the water in my lungs.

“Breathe, sweetheart.”

My vision narrowed. I looked back towards the water expecting to see Tom standing on the bank of the lake. No one was there. Tom was gone for good. Relief came with that realization.

Theo flipped me over onto my back. Suddenly, his mouth was on mine, breathing life into me. A surge of energy exploded from inside me. I started to vomit lake water. Theo turned me onto my side. I took a deep breath, then another. I coughed and trembled.

“You’re safe now. It’s alright,” Theo said.

He scooped me up into his arms and started to run. Where was he taking me? Where was Aiden?

“Aiden…” I said between chattering teeth.

Theo kept running until we reached Jillian’s cabin. She was waiting at the backdoor. She still held the baseball bat.

Theo carried me inside and set me down by the fire. A hundred memories rushed back to me. I’d sat in this very spot dozens of times. Jillian wasn’t lying when she’d said she helped me countless times. She’d been trying to keep me alive since Tom’s death. I felt a rush of shame mixed with gratitude. If I’d been brave enough to face the situation earlier, maybe things would have gone differently.

Aiden appeared out of the dark. He fell into my lap, wrapping his arms around my waist. I ran my shaking fingers through his hair and kissed the top of his head. Theo sat down beside me and rubbed his hands together before the fire. He was shaking almost as badly as I was.

I stared at him searchingly. Where was Mrs. Devereaux? Had Jillian killed her? He shook his head and glanced over his shoulder at Jillian. She was pacing the room holding her baseball bat. I stopped shaking enough to speak.

“Are you okay?” I asked Aiden. He shook his head, yes. “Are
you
okay?” I asked Jillian.

She either didn’t hear me or was ignoring me. She continued to pace the room and mutter to herself.

Theo and I locked eyes. He stood and walked over to her. When he got within five feet of Jillian she tensed and gripped the bat like she meant to swing it if he came any closer. He held up his hands as if to say he meant no harm.

“Can I use your phone?” he asked.

It was clearly time to call the police. There would be no more lies and cover-ups. It was time to come clean. I was relieved. I couldn’t carry this secret around for the rest of my life.

“There’s no phone out here,” Jillian snapped.

“Okay. We should go into town and call someone. My car’s parked just outside…”

Jillian held up the baseball bat, pointing it at Theo’s chest. “No police.”

“There’s a body up there on the bridge. You can’t keep the police out of this. It’s only a matter of time before they’re up here asking questions.”

“Am I under arrest? No? Then I don’t have to answer any questions.”

“That may not be good enough. They could pick you up for obstructing justice, or on a hundred other trumped up charges.”

“You’re one of them, aren’t you? Figures. You talk like a cop. You’ve got that look about you. I’ve got nothing to say to you. In fact, I don’t remember inviting you in. You’re trespassing. I’m within my legal rights to-”

“Jillian,” I said, cutting her off, “you’ve done so much for me. I don’t even know how to thank you. You protected me the way someone should have protected you.”

Jillian lowered the bat and looked at the fire.

“It’s time to end this,” I said. “Give me the baseball bat. I’ll tell them that I’m the one who hit Mrs. Devereaux. I won’t involve you in this.”

“Sabine, you’re not going to take the fall for this,” Theo said. “I won’t let you.”

“Theo, this has to end. I won’t drag Jillian into it.”

Jillian scoffed. “Please. You didn’t drag me into anything, girl.
Nobody
forces me to do anything. Get out of here. Get to your car and call the police. I’ll take responsibility for what I’ve done.”

“Jillian, you’ve already done so much for me…” I said.

“I’m only trying to make things right. I’ll tell them I saw that bitch push your husband off the bridge.”

“But you didn’t see it.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“They’re going to have a lot of questions, like why you’ve kept this a secret for so long,” Theo said.

Jillian rolled her eyes. “They’ll believe whatever I tell them.”

Theo frowned. He used to be a cop; he knows they’re not that easily fooled.

“Alright,” he conceded.

I could tell he was eager to get away from the cabin. He walked back over to where I sat with Aiden. Theo tried to pull him to his feet, but he wouldn’t let go of me.

“It’s okay,” I said.

I peeled his hands free and handed him to Theo. Once free of me, he jumped into Theo’s arms, wrapping his legs around his waist like a monkey. Theo offered his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet.

“Can you walk?” he asked.

“I think so.”

Between the freezing water and the adrenaline coursing through my body, I didn’t feel any pain. Still, Theo looked skeptical. He managed to bend over and wrap an arm around me with Aiden still in his arms. I leaned against Theo as he led me out of the cabin.

Jillian stood in her living room staring at the fire. She had a far-off look in her eyes as if she could see something neither of us could. Guilt washed over me. I didn’t want to leave her alone.

“Jillian, come with us,” I offered.

She didn’t turn to acknowledge me. She simply said, “Go.”

27

Theo’s car was parked on the other side of Mrs. Devereaux’s sports car. She was on the bridge, unconscious, but still alive. I was relieved. Maybe I would see justice for Tom’s murder. Though there was always the possibility they wouldn’t believe me. I could end up in a jail cell next to her.

“Cover your eyes,” I said to Aiden as we passed her unconscious body.

Aiden squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in Theo’s neck. When we reached his car, he set Aiden down inside. It wasn’t easy; he didn’t want to let go. Theo managed to close the car door so we could talk in private.

“Don’t talk to the police,” he said.

“Theo…”

“You have to trust me on this. They will twist your words around to fit their narrative. If they’ve made up their minds that you’re guilty, then nothing will change their opinion, short of a confession or explosive evidence. When they get here, tell them you want a lawyer present. I’ll fill in the rest.”

I glanced at Mrs. Devereaux. “Do you think she’ll confess?”

“If she makes it… I don’t know. When I went back to her house, it was a mess. She destroyed everything, threw paint all over the living room. I think she’s lost what little grip on sanity she had. Who knows what she’ll tell the police.”

Theo went around to the driver’s-side door and opened it. He started the ignition and turned the heat on to high. He pointed the vents at Aiden, then said: “You okay, Buddy?”

Aiden nodded. Theo reached inside the glove box and pulled out a cell phone then closed the door. He dialed a number and looked at the screen.

“No signal,” he said. He held out the phone and walked down the hill a few feet towards the water. “Wait here.”

He disappeared out of sight. I bit my lip and looked around. Aiden sat inside the car, staring up at me. He placed his hand on the glass. I put my hand over his and smiled. He pulled his hand away and slumped down into the car. He looked a little less frightened, but I was still worried about him.

I looked to Mrs. Devereaux. She was stirring awake. I glanced over my shoulder. I could hear Theo talking. He asked to speak to someone by name. Apparently, he hadn’t called 911.

I could see Mrs. Devereaux out of the corner of my eye. She pushed herself up onto her knees. What if she tried to flee? Did she still have a gun? I should have called for Theo, but for some reason I didn’t.

I still wore Theo’s coat. It was wet and heavy with lake water. I should have taken it off, but it gave me comfort. I stuck my hand in the pocket and felt the switchblade. I couldn’t let her get away. She got away with murdering Tom once already. She tried to murder Aiden. She’d probably get away with that too. She’d hire the most expensive lawyer her money could buy and paint herself as a victim. The cops would probably put me in prison and congratulate her on her bravery.

I took a step towards her.

Theo was still talking on the phone, giving out our location to the person on the other end. Cops and paramedics would be here soon. I walked as quickly as I could over to Mrs. Devereaux. The side of her face was swollen and blood was flowing from a gash on her forehead. She clutched her arm as if it was broken. When she saw me her eyes narrowed with hate.

I ran my fingers over the switchblade as Mrs. Devereaux staggered to her feet. She took a step towards me and nearly fell to the ground. I pulled out the switchblade and depressed the switch, sending the blade shooting out with a deadly hiss.

“You’re going over the edge,” she mumbled, “and you’re going to take that brat with you.”

Madly, she repeated the phrase again. She said it with such conviction that I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see that Aiden had joined us. Thankfully, he was still in the car.

“Over the edge…”

Her voice was high-pitched with a childlike, singsong quality. Eerily, it reminded me of Bella.

“It’ll look like a suicide just like Tom’s death did.”

I gripped the knife.

“They’ll say you killed your husband, then your son, then yourself.”

She looked to my side as if she saw someone standing there.

“What are you doing here?” she asked the empty space to my right.

Mrs. Devereaux took a step back, bracing herself against the side of the bridge. This was it. If I wanted to do away with her for good, I had to act now. I took a small step forward.

“How are you still alive?” she asked.

My eyes darted around nervously. Mrs. Devereaux and I were alone on the bridge, but the way she kept addressing the empty air made me paranoid. I’d had enough bad experiences with dreaming while I was awake. Was I dreaming now, or was she? Was I trapped in someone else’s nightmare? My hand started to tremble.

“Take your wife and your son with you,” she said.

She thought she was talking to Tom.

“You were right. She suspects something.”

Was Mrs. Devereaux talking about me?

“If you won’t divorce her, then I’ll have to take care of her.”

She took a step towards me. I held out the knife. I imagined myself stabbing her and ending this for good. A light mist had started to fall. Tiny beads of water clung to the knife. My hand went steady. All it would take was a couple steps, a small thrust of the blade, a decent lie for the cops, and I’d be free of Mrs. Devereaux forever.

I dropped my hand. I couldn’t do it. I’m not a murderer. Mrs. Devereaux’s mind was broken. She was seeing ghosts and babbling incoherently. It was as if the grief and delusions that had plagued me had infected her like a virus. Is this what people saw when they looked at me? I shuttered at the thought.

I pushed the blade down and stuck it into my pockets. Mrs. Devereaux wouldn’t be making up lies for the cops about what happened on the bridge. She was still babbling about how she was going to force me over the edge with Aiden and make it look like a suicide.

“No!” she suddenly yelled.

I turned to find Theo by my side.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

His eyes quickly darted between the two of us.

“Nothing,” I lied. “Just checking on her.”

Theo studied me closely. I could see it in his eyes: he didn’t believe me.

“Let’s wait by the car. The police will be here soon.”

In the time it took us to walk across the bridge and back to the car, sirens reached us. The cops had a lot of questions. I was eager to explain, but Theo insisted that I was in no condition to talk. He made the paramedics treat me before Mrs. Devereaux. I was then whisked away by ambulance to the hospital where it was quickly determined despite the gunshot, my knee was in worse shape than my shoulder.

After hours of surgery, I relaxed in my hospital bed. Floating on a morphine cloud, my problems seemed trivial. When Theo entered, I didn’t have a care in the world. He looked concerned.

“How are you?” he asked. His voice was barely a whisper, as if he talked in a normal tone it might break me.

I laughed. “I’m fine. How’s Aiden?”

“He’s good. He asks about you all the time. He’s worried.”

“He’s a sweet kid. What about Mrs. Devereaux?”

Theo sat down on the edge of the bed. Again, he whispered. This time I suspected he worried more about eavesdroppers than my delicate condition.

“She’s here, in the hospital. She suffered quite the blow to the head. They weren’t sure she was going to make it through the night, but things look a lot better this morning.”

I smiled, though I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or sad about this development. On morphine, everything feels like a happy development. So I decided to take it as good news.

“Is she talking?” I asked.

“She spoke with the police yesterday, before the ambulance brought her to the hospital.”

I wondered if that was why Theo insisted the paramedics treat me first. Was it because he was worried about me, or was it because he saw the mental state Mrs. Devereaux was in and he wanted her to talk to the cops without a lawyer present for as long as possible?

“You’re a clever boy,” I said, sounding high even to my own ears.

Theo smiled. “And why is that?”

“You knew she’d talk to the police.”

“I suspected she might.”

“What did she tell them?”

“Well, I’m not sure exactly. I’m a part of this now, so the detectives aren’t going to share their investigation with me, but I saw her fighting the police. She didn’t want them to touch her. She kept referring to them as Tom. She thought they were trying to push her off the bridge the same way she killed your husband. At one point, she said she was going to send you and Aiden down into the water with him. Trust me that did not escape the detective’s notice.”

“Good,” I said dreamily.

It felt as if things were falling into place nicely, but that could have just been a false sense of comfort created by the drugs.

“What about Mr. Devereaux?”

“I’m friendly with one of the local detectives. We worked together years ago on a missing person’s case. Anyway, I explained what happened. How Mr. Devereaux lured you out of the house on the premise of a date; he then kidnapped you, took you to the woods and tried to kill you. You were able to wrestle the gun away from him and kill him in self-defense. Of course, the detective wanted to know why you didn’t call the cops immediately and what I was doing out there. I told him I’d been tailing you as per my arrangement with Mrs. Devereaux. I didn’t tell him that you and I have slept together. When you talk to the police, don’t tell them. It will only make things appear more suspicious. I told him you didn’t call the police because you were in shock. I wanted to take you to the hospital but you insisted on checking on your son. I told him how Mr. Devereaux confessed about his and his wife’s involvement in your husband’s death. I convinced him that I wanted to check things out for myself before going to law enforcement.”

“He didn’t think that was suspicious?”

“Of course he did. But once a cop always a cop. He knows that I would treat this like my own case and I’d want to solve it without interference from other law enforcement officers. They’re not happy with me, but I think they believe me.”

“This is a lot to remember.”

“Which is why you’re going to have a lawyer with you when you talk to them. I know a guy. He’s good and he’s handled a lot of self-defense cases.”

“What about Jillian?”

“Jillian’s a problem. She tried to take credit for everything. She even told them she killed Mr. Devereaux.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “I thought she was going to stick with the truth.”

“You can’t control her. The detectives have written her off as a crazy old woman. I told them she was responsible for attacking Mrs. Devereaux with a baseball bat. They found it in her cabin and she refused to give it over until they came back with a warrant.”

I groaned. “What happens now?”

“Now, we leave this in the hands of your lawyer. Once Mrs. Devereaux is released from the hospital-”

“I don’t think she will be.”

“Why do you say that?” Theo asked carefully.

“She spoke to me on the bridge. She was out of her mind, seeing ghosts and talking incoherently.”

I swallowed hard and looked away. If Theo was reminded of my own strange behavior, he didn’t show it.

“I don’t think the hospital would release her in that condition.”

“No, probably not. It will help her defense though. She can make an insanity plea.”

“Great,” I said sarcastically.

Theo’s hand rested on mine. “We just have to ride this out.”

“What will happen to Bella?”

Theo sighed. “That depends on what happens to Mrs. Devereaux. If she winds up in jail, or a mental institution, Bella will go live with her closest relative.”

“Does she have grandparents?”

“On Mr. Devereaux’s side of the family, but since he’s not her biological father…”

“This is going to sound crazy…”

“Sabine, I know what you’re going to say. I don’t think it’s a good idea. Bella can’t live with you. For one, I don’t think the courts would allow it given the circumstances. But even if they did, I don’t think it would be good for either one of you. She doesn’t know that Tom is her father. She grew up believing James Devereaux was her dad. How can she live in a home with the woman who killed him, even if it was self-defense? I’m sure when she’s older she’ll understand, but she’s a kid. Besides, you’d have a living, breathing reminder of Tom’s infidelity, abuse, death and everything bad that’s happened since then.”

“I would never blame Bella.”

“I know that, but it can be hard to escape the past. No one knows that better than you.”

“You’re right…”

It made me sad to admit, but it would be hard for me to look at Bella without being reminded of the bridge and everything else. Maybe someday she’d reconnect with her brother and we could all live peacefully together, but that was a long journey ahead.