Chan stumbled forward and then righted himself. “Just let me get my coat,” he said.
He reached toward the coatrack beside the front door, but instead of pulling the jacket
off the hook, he stuck his hand in the pocket and pulled out his gun, which he pointed
at Ben. The whites were showing around Chan’s eyes. “She’s at the bottom of the pond,
actually. Now you can join her.”
“The bottom of the pond?” Ben said. “She’s dead?”
Chan glanced at his watch and nodded. “Unless she’s got gills.”
In that split second Ben understood that this…creature had killed her. He let out
a groan. Was it possible? Tess was gone before he had ever even held her in his arms.
Before he could even tell her what was in his heart. They were just about to start,
and now Chan had killed the last hope Ben had in the world to be whole again. Ben’s
brain reeled and his heart wailed for vengeance. He lunged at Chan, who hesitated
a second and then fired. Ben felt a searing pain in his chest. He staggered and grabbed
at a nearby table for support. Instead, he pulled the table over as he fell.
B
en was splayed out on the floor, his hands covering his bleeding chest. The wounded
man gave a feeble groan. Chan lifted the gun in his shaking hand and pointed it down
at the attorney. At that instant, Chan heard the door open behind him. He turned and
was immediately tackled by someone hurtling through the open door. The gun flew from
his hand as Chan collapsed with two policemen on top of him.
The cops held Chan as Rusty Bosworth burst into the foyer behind his officers. Rusty
saw Ben Ramsey lying on the floor, blood across his shirt and tie. “What happened?”
he cried. “You shot him?”
“I found him here with my wife. She’s dead. Look by the stairs. She’s dead,” Chan
cried. “It’s not me. It’s him. He killed her!”
Rusty peered down the hallway and made out the crumpled body of Sally Morris at the
foot of the stairs. Then he strode over to the door and hollered out, “Get those EMTs
in here, stat.”
Outside of the house, a fawn-colored sedan pulled up behind the ambulance. Kenneth
Phalen, Dawn, and Erny jumped out.
“Where’s my mom?” the boy cried.
“Stay back,” said Dawn. “The police will handle this.” Kenneth had picked up Erny
on the road and had driven the frantic boy back to the inn. Officer Virgilio and Officer
Swain tried to calm the boy as he told them about Tess being held captive by Chan.
They were on the radio, calling for help, before he could even blurt out all he knew.
“Thanks to you, Erny, I’m sure they got here in time and they’ll find your mother,”
said Dawn, although in her heart she was crying out, God, you can’t do this to me
again.
Erny looked up at Dawn. “Swear,” he said. “Swear they’ll find her.”
Dawn could feel Kenneth’s sympathetic gaze on her but she did not meet it. Dawn felt
sick to her stomach. She looked around the property, now swarming with police cars,
emergency vehicles, and arriving television vans. “I swear,” she said.
“I want to go up there,” said Erny.
“You can’t. There are people with guns.”
“I’m going. She needs my help.”
Dawn crouched down and grasped him by the upper arms. She looked at him steadily,
but Erny saw that there were tears standing in her eyes. “Erny, I want her back just
as much as you do,” Dawn said. “And I’m as worried as you are. But right now all I
can do for your mother is to keep you safe. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
Erny sighed and pushed out his lower lip.
“Try and be patient,” said Dawn.
As the freezing water reached her knees and splattered her from every side, Tess tugged
frantically at the door handle, but it refused to budge. Waves of horror rolled over
her. What a way to die, watching the water rise, feeling the air sucked out of your
lungs. She started to hyperventilate again in the submerged vehicle, but then she
stopped herself with a mighty effort of will. Say your prayers, she thought. Try and
make your mind peaceful.
She thought, first, of her son. Maybe he got away, she thought. Maybe he was able
to get help and he will tell people what happened. If Erny got away, then I won’t
have died in vain. The water was pouring into the car now, reaching her chest. She
felt more alone than she ever had in her whole life and it made her think of Phoebe
and her sister’s last moments. Maybe I’ll see Phoebe in the next life, she thought.
If there is a next life, she will be there. And Rob. Her father. He would be there,
too. If…
Tess wasn’t able to think anymore of people or prayers to say. The fear was filling
her whole body just as the water was filling the car. It was up to her shoulders,
her neck. She had never been so cold in all her life. Her teeth were chattering and
she was shivering from head to toe. She began to hum the tune of “Amazing Grace” to
keep herself from screaming. How could she die like this? Who died this way? In a
car at the bottom of a pond?
Pond, she corrected herself. And then she thought about a car in a river. It was a
memory from her childhood. Tess must have been twelve or thirteen. Two college boys,
who had been her father’s students, accidentally drove off the bridge into the Charles
River while under the influence of some combination of drugs and alcohol. She remembered
hearing her parents discuss it in hushed tones, the awfulness of it, the distress
of the boys’ families. Why think about this now? she thought. Is this how people will
talk about me? They’ll shake their heads and agree that it was, indeed, a horrible
way to die. And then, suddenly, like a ray of light in the freezing blackness around
her, Tess remembered her father’s words as he recounted the terrible incident to Dawn.
“If they hadn’t been so stoned, they might have remembered their physics. They might
have realized that once the car had totally filled up with water, they could have
opened the car door.”
For a moment, Tess’s heart seemed to stop. Had she really heard her father say that
so long ago? Was she hallucinating? Why would the door open once the car filled up?
Her father had taught physics. Maybe it was some law of science. Some principle that
Tess had never bothered to learn. Or maybe it was her own brain, trying to protect
her from what was about to happen to her. Her mind was letting her think that she
would be able to open the door. That there was hope.
The water was up to her neck now and splattering her face from every angle. Part of
her just wanted to sink down into it and accept what was going to happen. But she
had always listened to her father. And now, even if this memory was only the figment
of her terrified imagination, she had to cling to it. Let the car fill up. Hold your
breath. Either it will work or it won’t. One way or the other, you will find out.
Tess kept her head back, her nose and mouth above the water, for as long as she could.
Her body was so numb, it felt as if it had become detached from her head and yet she
felt as if she were being pierced with thousands of icy knives. The panic was almost
uncontrollable, but she kept her mind fastened on her father’s voice, be it a memory,
or a hallucination, or his way of welcoming her from beyond. At the last minute, when
there was only an inch or two above her face, Tess gasped, inhaled as much air as
she could, and let herself drift down, immersing herself in the cold blackness, still
holding her breath and groping for the door handle. The car was completely filled.
Now or never, she thought. For a moment, the faces of the people she loved passed
through her mind and swelled in her heart, and then her fingers found the door handle
and pressed.
As if she had found a magic password, the door that had refused to budge for the hours
or moments it had taken for the car to fill suddenly swung out.
Tess almost let go of her breath in her shock, but stopped herself in time. She forced
her body into the open space between the door and the door frame and pushed herself
out of the car, swimming awkwardly, her limbs numb, her lungs bursting. At first she
could not see where she was going and she felt a moment of panic that she would not
find the surface. And then, above her, she saw a pale ribbon of light. She pointed
herself upward, kicking and pushing with all her might. She felt her clothes weighing
her down, but she couldn’t stop to shed them. Her face burst the surface of the murky
pond and the chill moonlight caressed her like a lover’s kiss.
For a moment she bobbed there, exhausted, thanking God for her deliverance, and then
she heard the blessed wail of police sirens and saw the flash of lights. Erny, she
thought. He did it. He got help. Shivering but exultant, she summoned all her remaining
strength and began to swim to the shore.
“S
omething��s happening in there,” said Kenneth.
Dawn looked up at the front door of the Morris house as a stretcher emerged and the
EMTs rushed the patient down the steps toward the waiting ambulance.
“Who is it?” Dawn asked.
Kenneth strained to see. “I can’t tell from here.”
The ambulance was parked beside Chan Morris’s black Mercedes. Dawn peered at the car
next to the Mercedes. “Isn’t that Mr. Ramsey’s car?” she asked.
“I don’t remember,” said Kenneth.
A maroon van pulled up beside where they were standing and a heavyset woman in a tweed
coat clambered down from the driver’s seat. The van had an acronym on the side: SHARE.
Dawn recognized the logo. It was from the center for abused women. The driver walked
over to where Dawn, Kenneth, and Erny were standing. “Excuse me,” she said. “I heard
on our scanner at the center that the police were called here,” she said. “Is that
Mrs. Morris they’re carrying out?”
“We don’t know who it is,” said Dawn. “We heard gunshots inside the house just as
we arrived. We’re waiting for some word. I’m afraid my daughter might be in there.”
“Oh my God,” said the woman, shaking her head. “This is just awful. Sally Morris called
us today. She wanted to get away from him, but when I came here this afternoon to
pick her up, she wouldn’t come with me. If only I could have convinced her…”
“Here comes another one,” said Kenneth, pointing to the front door as another group
of rescue workers carried out another stretcher.
Erny watched the stretchers being loaded into the ambulance with a heavy heart. Was
his mother on one of them? He had done his best to try to save her. He even got into
the car of a stranger—something he knew he should never do—to try to get help. He
was afraid to get into that car, but he was more afraid for his mother. So he did
it. Luckily, it turned out okay because the man, Ken, knew Dawn and took him right
to the inn. He told the cops everything he knew. He was brave and didn’t cry, and
everybody told him how good he did. But now…now it seemed it was all for nothing.
There was no sign of his mother. If she was in that house and still okay, she’d be
running out of there and down those steps, calling out for him. He told the cops about
the shed where the creep had locked him in and the cops were looking for her there
and in the barn, but so far she wasn’t anywhere that he could see.
Erny leaned against Dawn, who was talking to the woman who had driven up in the van.
He tuned out their conversation and looked hopelessly up the driveway, wishing that
he and his mother had never come on this trip. If they had stayed home, none of this
would have happened and his mother would be with him and would be okay. He stared
blankly into the darkness beyond the flashing red lights of emergency vehicles toward
the driveway and the pond, which was illuminated by only a silver band of moonlight.
What would happen to him now? Would he be alone again?
All of a sudden Erny saw something moving. He frowned and looked harder. There was
something out there. Maybe it was an animal, crackling through the leaves and branches,
he told himself. Just an animal, like that moose me and Mom saw that day from the
canoe, he thought, as a cloud obscured the band of moonlight. Erny’s already low spirits
sank even further as he remembered that canoe adventure and how excited he had been.
Before I found that dead man in the woods. Before that Chan guy took me away. He and
his mom were getting ready to make a campfire. It was going to be the best day, and
then it turned into the worst day. Erny sighed and slumped against Dawn’s side, wondering
if he would ever feel good again.
And then, materializing out of the gloom, he saw it again. A figure. At first he thought
it was a ghost. It had long stringy hair and clothes that appeared to be melting.
But then he realized that it was no ghost. It was a person who was walking down that
driveway. Erny’s heart beat wildly. He held his breath and waited, hoping against
hope, as the bedraggled figure stumbled on the macadam, nearly fell, and let out a
mild oath. Hearing that familiar voice, suddenly, he knew.
“Mom,” he whispered.
Dawn raised her head and looked around in confusion as Erny pushed away from her and
began to run toward the swaying woman. He threw himself at her. Tess saw him coming,
streaking toward her like a comet in the darkness. She swept him up in her arms, pressing
him against her sopping wet clothes, and let out a sob of relief.
“Ma,” he cried and then recoiled from her. “You’re all wet.”
“I know, I know,” said Tess, beaming at him.
Dawn was running toward them, Kenneth following close behind.
“Grandma!” Erny crowed. “I found her.”
Dawn threw her own jacket over Tess’s shoulders while Erny told anyone who would listen
about how he had spotted her and knew it was her. Tess, still shivering, explained
what had happened in snatches to her mother and a policeman whom Kenneth had summoned.
Erny stayed glued to Tess’s side, refusing to let go of her hand. She rubbed his hair
and kissed him on the top of the head.
“What happened?” she asked him. “How did you get away?”
“Ken found me,” he said.
Tess looked up at Kenneth Phalen, who was standing very close to Dawn. “Ken?” she
said.
“He was looking for me,” Erny told her. “And he took me right to Dawn. And the cops.”
“Thank you so much,” Tess said to Ken sheepishly. “I can never thank you enough. I’m
sorry I’ve been so…”
Ken raised a hand to silence her. “I’m so happy that you’re okay. I couldn’t stand
it if your mother had lost you.”
The police officer who had taken her statement reappeared. “Chief Bosworth wants to
talk to you,” he said. “Can you come with me?”
“Now?” Dawn cried. “She’s freezing. We need to get her home.”
“We won’t keep her long,” said the cop.
“Okay. Sure,” said Tess. She turned to Erny. “I’ll be right back. Don’t worry.”
Pulling Dawn’s coat tighter around her, Tess and the policeman started toward the
house, the officer parting the crowd of curious reporters and onlookers. As they reached
the spot where Chan’s Mercedes was parked, Tess stopped in her tracks.
“That’s Ben’s car parked there,” she said. “Ben Ramsey.”
“Yeah,” said the officer. “He was in there. He got shot.”
Tess stopped, swaying on her feet. “No…”
“They took him in the ambulance,” said the officer. “He’ll be okay. Here, let me give
you a hand. You look a little shaky.”
Tess accepted his offer of an arm. “I am,” she admitted. She was full of fear for
Ben, but she clung to the officer’s hopeful prediction like a life preserver. Together
with the officer, they approached Chief Bosworth, who turned and frowned at them.
“This is Miss DeGraff, sir,” said the officer.
“Thanks,” the chief said gruffly. He looked critically at Tess. “What happened to
you? Where were you? I’ve had teams of men searching for you.”
“He tried to kill me. Chan Morris did,” said Tess. “He tied me up and sank the car
I was in. He tried to drown me. He killed my sister. He admitted it.”
“Well, he won’t hurt anyone else. He’s being read his rights even as we speak.”
“How is Ben Ramsey?” Tess asked. “The officer said he was shot.”
“He’ll pull through,” said the chief. “Morris’s wife wasn’t so lucky.”
An excited buzz suddenly arose and a cry among the onlookers as two policemen appeared
in the doorway, flanking Channing Morris, who was in handcuffs. Reporters shouted
his name and begged for a comment, but Chan did not look anywhere but straight ahead,
his handsome face a blank mask.
Tess turned to Rusty Bosworth, who had moved to the open door of the cruiser. “Chief,”
she said.
“We’ll need to talk to you some more at the station,” Rusty said grimly. “You’d better
get some dry clothes on first.”
There was a slight scuffle as Chan resisted being shoved down into the backseat of
the waiting police cruiser.
“Can I speak to him for a minute before you take him?” Tess asked.
“That’s up to him,” said Rusty Bosworth.
Tess looked closely at Chan. At this moment of ultimate defeat, his gray eyes looked
indifferent and distant. His gaze flickered slightly when he saw Tess.
“I’m still alive,” she said to Chan.
Chan shrugged. “Too bad,” he said.
“She wants to talk to you,” said Rusty Bosworth.
“I have nothing to say to her,” said Chan.
“I want to ask him something,” said Tess.
“I guess you’ll have to visit him in jail,” said Rusty.
Tess looked Chan in the eye. “Please.”
Chan looked at her and shook his head. “Why?”
“Please. Give me one minute,” said Tess.
Chan shrugged. “Fine.”
The officers looked to their chief. Rusty Bosworth held up his index finger. “One
minute,” he said.
“I want you guys out of earshot,” said Chan.
Rusty put his hand on the gun in his holster. “Don’t try anything.”
The officers stepped back and Chan, still handcuffed, inclined his head so he could
hear what Tess was saying.
Tess licked her lips. She didn’t want to alienate him with her question. He would
turn away and never answer her. And she knew already that he would plead innocent
and refuse to answer questions at his trial. But she needed to know. She spoke carefully.
“You said you killed my sister out of revenge. But you didn’t even know us. How could
it have been revenge?” she asked.
Chan laughed scornfully. “Why should I tell you that? So you can get up on the witness
stand and testify against me?”
Tess shook her head. “We both know I’m going to testify against you. But nothing I
say will matter. The DNA will speak louder than I ever could.”
Chan shrugged again. “You’re honest,” he said. “I like that.”
“Then tell me why,” Tess pleaded. “Please.”
A white van came tearing down the driveway and screeched to a halt in the midst of
the crowd of onlookers. Jake and Julie had arrived. Jake rushed over to his mother
and Erny. He picked up Erny in his arms, holding him close. Julie followed right behind
him, her round face beaming. Chan’s disdainful gaze seemed to be fixed on the newcomers.
“I don’t remember saying that,” said Chan.
“You said you were angry when you saw my sister tied up in that shed,” Tess prompted
him. “That you wanted revenge.”
Chan looked over at Julie, bulky and sensibly coiffed, and shook his head. “It’s unbelievable.
I didn’t even recognize her when I saw her the other day.”
“Saw who?” said Tess, confused. “What are you talking about?”
Chan snorted with disgust. “She was pretty then. And had a great body. And she was
mine. Until your brother showed up that day at the lake.”
“Julie?” Tess asked.
Chan’s face was a blank, his eyes faraway, remembering. “When I saw Lazarus coming
and going from the gardener’s shed, and I found your sister locked up there, I considered
letting her go. And then I thought, Forget that. It’s payback time.”
“Payback,” Tess whispered.
“I probably shouldn’t have taken it out on Phoebe. I know that now. But you’re stupid
when you’re young. You think your heart will be broken forever.” Chan shook his head.
“What a waste. Now I wouldn’t give that cow the time of day.”
Chan turned his head and looked at Tess. “I’m warning you. If you say this at my trial,
I will deny it.”
Everything inside of Tess shrank from his cruel words. She looked over at her family.
Dawn, standing close to Kenneth, was talking on her cell phone, spreading the good
news that Tess was safe. Jake looked on indulgently as Julie took her turn tearfully
embracing her nephew. Tess looked back at Phoebe’s killer. “No. No one will ever hear
that from me.”