Cheryl Tardif - Submerged

Detective Zur sat down across from her. “Your father-in-law will be going away for a long time, Mrs. Kingston.”

“Please. Call me Rebecca. That name…” She shivered.

“Of course.” The detective placed a hand over hers. “Rebecca.”

“Seems like Walter Kingston went through an awful lot of trouble just to get back the money for loans he gave Tracey and Wesley,” Marcus muttered.

“That’s why we never considered him a suspect. The guy was loaded.”

“What I can’t comprehend is why Walter would go to all this trouble to get me out of the way,” she said. “He didn’t need the money. And he had no personal reason to see me… dead.”

“There is another reason,” Detective Zur replied.

Rebecca frowned. “What?”

“This is what we’ve been able to piece together. Walter Kingston was working on a major merger deal with two very well-known eBook retailers—one from Canada, the other from the US. It would’ve been huge news, especially for the Canadian company, which Walter represented. He’d spent thousands on research, all of which would have been recouped once the merger went through. Not to mention, he’d earn a hefty sum for closing the deal.”

“But what’s that got to do with me?”

“Everything started with Wesley.”

“His gambling,” she guessed.

“Wesley had borrowed money from his father to repay his gambling debts, then incurred more debt. That’s when Tracey Whitaker went to Walter and relayed what Wesley had told her about the inheritance you received from your grandfather.”

“The kids’ money,” she corrected.

“Yes. She convinced him that, with you out of the picture, Wesley could get his hands on that money, clear his debts and repay the loans to Walter. He knew he had to do something to help Wesley because if word got out about his son’s gambling, the companies would pull out of the merger and—”

“And the Canadian company would dump Walter as their lawyer,” she finished.

Detective Zur nodded. “Exactly. Kingston would lose millions in the deal.”

“So he’s the one who hired Rufus Delaney to run me off the road.”

“Yes. And when that failed, he paid Tracey to drug you in the hospital.”

Rebecca recalled Tracey’s words. “ That’s the way he wanted it, planned it. He paid that guy to run her off the road. He said I had to finish it, that we’d get the money for sure then. There was no other way I could pay back the goddamn loan.”

“At the hospital,” she said, “right before she was shot, we thought she was saying that Wesley had been her partner in crime.”

“But all along it was his father,” Marcus said.

Rebecca thought of Wesley, of her marriage, of all the lies. Her children had almost paid the price for his behavior. Never again!

“Life isn’t all sunshine and roses, is it?” Marcus said.

She shook her head. “Maybe it’s time to get a new life.” She gazed into his eyes. “Both of us.”

“Time for me to go,” the detective said. “You two can come down in the morning, and I’ll take your statements then. You both look like you’ve been through hell.”

“And back,” Marcus agreed.

“You should stop by the hospital and get checked out. You’re going to need stitches in your arm.”

“Later. Right now, John, I want to sit awhile and relax.”

Detective Zur looked at Rebecca and rolled his eyes. “He’s such a tough guy. Make sure he gets checked out. Don’t take no for an answer.”

Rebecca grinned. “I won’t. I’ll drive him there myself.”

Marcus let out a snort and she whipped around. “What? Are you suggesting I’m not a good driver?”

“Look where your last trip got you.”

“Ha ha, Mr. Big Shot.”

He smiled at her, and it lit his eyes. “I thought I was Mr. Superhero.”

“I think I’m going to regret that comment.”

“Okay, okay,” he said waving his hands in the air. “You can drive my car. I know I’ll never get any peace from you unless I go.”

Rebecca glanced over her shoulder to say something to the detective, but he was already gone. “Give me your keys,” she said to Marcus. “I promise not to drive us into a river.”

Marcus left the hospital exam room, feeling a strange lightness in his step and a weightlessness to his body. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his breath until he released it, slowly, evenly.

Everything had checked out. An ER doctor had ordered some X-rays on his hands and face, but she said nothing was broken. She’d patched up the cuts, stitched his arm and warned him he’d feel worse in the morning.

Great. With nothing stronger that Tylenol, tomorrow was going to be one nasty day. Except for seeing Rebecca.

He smiled and dialed her cell phone. “I’m all done.”

She’d wanted to wait with him, but he’d insisted that the long wait and subsequent tests wouldn’t be much fun, and he suggested she visit her kids. He figured her sister would take care of her for the few hours he’d be at the hospital.

“My sister wants to meet you,” she said.

“I’m not very good with families.”

She laughed. “You’ll do fine. Kelly’s already got you up on a gold-plated pedestal.”

“You sure know how to put a guy at ease,” he said wryly.

“Come on, Marcus. It’ll be fun. We’ll have lunch tomorrow with the kids, Kelly and Steve after we see Detective Zur.”

He grinned. “Sounds like a date.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

“Lunch tomorrow is fine, Rebecca.”

“See you in twenty minutes.”

“Actually, I have someplace I need to be. I’ll take a cab to your place afterward so I can pick up my car.” After she agreed, he hung up.

During the examination, all he could think about was Rebecca and how close they’d all come to death. It put things in perspective. Life was short. Death could come knocking any time.

After Walter Kingston attempted to drown Rebecca, Marcus realized something had changed in his own life. He could finally breathe. It was like he’d been submerged, lost, but now a switch had been flipped. Like he’d been given a new lease on life… and more. A new relationship—one he’d never expected but wanted very much to explore.

However, he had to clean up his old life first. He’d left too much unfinished.

Time to burn the wooden box.

This time, he knew he’d do it. He’d watch the damn thing burn until all that was left was a pile of ashes. He was done with holding on to the past. Done with drugs. Done with ghosts. As soon as he got home, he’d light a fire in the fireplace.

Dust to dust, ashes to ashes…

In the hallway near the nurses’ station he spotted a public phone. Should he make the call?

“Time to get a new life,” Rebecca had said.

Before he could do that, he needed to say farewell to the old one.

He grabbed the receiver and dialed. When his former mother-in-law picked up, he took a deep breath. “Mom—uh, Wanda? It’s Marcus. I wanted to let you know that I will be coming to Jane’s memorial.”

“That’s wonderful,” Wanda said.

“I, uh… I’ll be bringing a guest, if that’s all right.”

“Of course. Anyone I know?”

“No. It’s someone I… met recently.”

“A woman?” There was surprise in Wanda’s voice, and something that sounded like joy.

“Yes,” he said. “Rebecca.”

There was a long pause. Was Wanda upset with him?

“Marcus,” she said, “I’m so relieved to hear you’re finally ready to move on.”