P. Parrish - Thicker Than Water

“Louis?”

He turned to see Susan standing by the side of his cottage. She was wearing a blue cotton dress that swirled with the breeze. She looked different. Brighter, softer. He had to squint to look up at her.

“What are you doing?”

“Just burying something.”

“Good God. Did your cat die?”

“What? No, no.”

Benjamin ran up next to her. “Can I go swimming?” he asked.

“Not in your shorts,” Susan said. “Don’t go in the water and stay where I can see you.”

Benjamin ran off. Susan was still looking at the fresh mound of sand.

“What are you doing out here, Susan?” he asked, standing up and dusting the sand off his hands.

“I came to ask you about something.”

Louis nodded toward the porch and they went to sit down on a step. Susan was looking out at the beach, keeping an eye on Benjamin, who was playing tag with the waves. She hiked her billowing skirt up over her knees and slipped off her sandals, digging her toes in the sand.

“I went out to the Cade place yesterday,” she said. “Ronnie told me Jack ran off. Did you know about this?”

Louis stared off at the water, watching Benjamin play.

“No.”

“He didn’t tell me either,” Susan said. “But then Ronnie told me Cade left them twenty-five thousand dollars. They found it in Eric’s bedroom, in a dresser drawer. Funny, isn’t it? A man like Jack Cade having any money, let alone leaving it to Ronnie and Eric. Where do you think he got it?”

Louis drew up his knees.

Susan reached into her bag. “Ronnie asked me to give you this,” she said, handing Louis an envelope.

Louis took it and looked inside. There were five hundred dollar bills inside.

“I don’t need this,” he said.

Susan pushed the envelope back. “He needs you to have it. It makes things right for him.”

Louis closed the envelope. “How’d Eric seem?” he asked.

Susan shrugged. “He was fine. He was talking about getting a Nintendo.”

“Did he seem happy?”

“Yes. Seemed like a different kid,” Susan said.

He could see Benjamin picking up shells. Maybe Eric had a chance now. Maybe he could somehow rediscover the hope and innocence kids should have, the things Benjamin had.

“Susan,” Louis said suddenly. “You’ve done a good job with Benjamin.”

She seemed surprised at his comment. “Well, thank you, but sometimes I don’t think I do enough. It’s hard being alone.”

He looked at her profile. She was staring off toward the beach.

“You don’t have to be alone all the time,” he said. “You could bring him back here. I mean, any time he wants to come.”

She looked at him quickly, then away just as quickly, blinking. He knew she understood what he meant. Not just to come back and let Benjamin play in the water, but for her to come back and spend time with him.

“Maybe,” she said.

Louis didn’t press it. They fell quiet, watching Benjamin.

“Oh, I saw something posted in the courthouse the other day that might interest you,” she said.

“What?”

“Fort Myers is hiring three officers next month.”

Louis turned away, looking out at the gulf.

“Are you going to apply?”

Louis shook his head.

“I thought you liked Chief Horton. I heard he likes you too.”

Louis was thinking about Ellie Silvestri. He had gone to her office yesterday, to tell her about Spencer Duvall. He had tried to make Duvall sound misguided, but wasn’t sure she had bought it. She had taken him back into Duvall’s office and shown him one of the pictures on the wall. He had noticed it the first time; it was the picture of the Victorian beachfront cottage among the photographs of old Fort Myers. Ellie told him it was a real place, in a town up in the panhandle called Seaside. It was a new development, a fabrication of an idyllic twenties village, complete with a bandshell in the town circle and rockers on the pastel porches. The motto of the place was “Remembering how nice the world can be.” Duvall had planned to divorce Candace, leave her everything and move to Seaside, Ellie told him. He wanted to open a small law practice and start over.

But Spencer couldn’t go back, not after what he had done. No more than he himself could.

“Louis?”

He looked at Susan. “I think I’ll wait,” he said.

“But why? I thought you hated this PI stuff.”

Louis shrugged. “You get used to it.”

They fell quiet, watching Benjamin chase the gulls.

“Do you think they’ll get a conviction on Scott?”

“If they don’t,” Louis said, “it was all for nothing.”

She was looking at him, hearing the hollow sound in his voice. “The system worked this time, Louis.”

He didn’t comment. She sighed and picked up a shell. He saw her looking at the mound in the sand.

“Louis, what did you bury?” she asked.

He hesitated, his gaze dropping to the ground. He opened Ronnie’s envelope, pulled out one bill and held it out to her.

She looked at it. “What?”

“Just take it.”

She accepted it. “Why?”

“I want to hire you as my attorney.”

“What for?”

“I don’t know yet. It’s a retainer.”

She eyed him, then looked down at the bill.

“Am I now your client?” he asked.

“I don’t know how much a hundred bucks will get you, but yes, you’re my client.”

Louis nodded.

She looked back at the sand. “Now are you going to tell me what you buried?”

“I didn’t bury anything.”

“But you told me you buried something.”

He looked at her. “And what I told you is now privileged.”

She stared at him, then turned away. “Technically, you told me before you hired me, but I can get around that.”

“I thought you could.”

“Do I want to know what you buried?”

He shook his head.

Benjamin came running up, his shorts and sneakers wet.

“Ma, this is so cool,” he said. “There’s a really cool dead fish out there, and some seaweed. And look what I caught!” He held out a shell. There was a tiny crab in it. “Can I take him home?”

“No, Ben.”

“Aw, why not? Please, Ma, please?”

“No, now go put it back.”

He plopped down on the sand at her feet. “But you said I could maybe get a fish tank. I could keep the crab in it. Can I, Ma?”

“We need to buy a tank first. You can come back and get another one,” Susan said.

Louis glanced at her. Come back?

She saw his expression and quickly looked away. She slipped the hundred dollar bill in her pocket and rose.

“So, show me this really cool dead fish,” she said.

Ben scrambled to his feet and took Susan’s hand. He looked back at Louis.

“You coming?” Ben asked.

Louis hesitated, then got to his feet, dusting the sand off his hands. “I guess I am,” he said.

It took him a while to find his way back. He was lost until he spotted the towering tree and he used it as a landmark, walking through the headstones until he found Kitty’s grave.

There was a fresh mound of dirt. They had already put her back in the ground. The dirt was covered with lavender flowers.

Louis looked up. The canopy of the tree was bare. Not one flower was left on the branches.

He moved closer. For a moment, he just stood there, staring at the dirt. He looked up at the bare tree, then down at the grave.

“I had to do it the way I did,” he said.

The sound of his own voice was startling in the silence. He hadn’t meant to speak. And for a moment he was tempted to look around to see who had heard. But he keep his eyes on the grave.