Carla Neggers: The Widow

Across the small horseshoe cove formed by the cliffs, Linc Cooper had managed to secure himself on a rectangular boulder just under water, but the waves continued to pound him. With the cold, he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

And Abigail knew neither would she.

Without help, they’d never last through high tide. The isolated cove wasn’t easily visible to passing boats. The gusts of wind and the crash of waves would keep them from hearing any screams for help. And there’d be no kayakers out in these swells.

“Pretend you’re in a hot bath,” she whispered to Mattie. “Think about sitting by Owen’s woodstove.”

“I…deserve to die.”

“You deserve to live, Mattie. Come on. Stay with me.”

A huge swell engulfed them. Cold salt water went up her nose and down her mouth. Abigail coughed, spitting, trying to keep her feet under her, on the rocks. She hung on to Mattie, who barely responded anymore to the battering his body was taking. If she let go, he’d drown. She could feel his ribs under his soaked clothes. How long had it been since he’d taken care of himself?

His drooping eyelids struggled to open. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“You can’t drink, Mattie. That’s all there is to it.” Abigail kept her tone cheerful, positive. “Once we get out of here, I’ll make you a nice pot of hot coffee. We’ll, hell, here comes another wave. Hang on.”

It was too strong a swell to fight, and she went with it, holding Mattie under by his armpits as they smashed into the face of the cliffs. She felt rock claw at her back and legs but didn’t fight the impact.

She swore she heard thunder.

“Great.” She held Mattie close to her. “Locusts are next.”

“Abigail…Chris…I didn’t…”

“I know you didn’t kill him. Ellis killed him.” She felt him sobbing into her. “Oh, Mattie. You didn’t cause Chris’s death. Ellis would have found a way to kill him no matter what you did.”

“I was mad…Grace.”

“She was in love with Chris.”

“A fantasy. I was real.”

“You? Mattie…” Abigail grinned at him, trying to encourage him to keep fighting, even as she shivered, her own teeth beginning to chatter. “You and Grace? I’ll be damned.”

The thought of Grace seemed to help him stay a bit more alert. “She tries. She loves her brother. I just couldn’t-” He slumped, his eyes closing again. “I couldn’t fight a ghost.”

“Chris knew about the two of you?”

Mattie didn’t respond. He was too sleepy, nearly unconscious.

Another swell overtook them, inundating them and dislodging them from her wall and back into deeper water. She felt him slip out of her grasp and lost him as she pushed her way back to air.

As if she’d imagined them, Abigail felt strong arms encircle her.

Owen’s arms.

“I’ve got you, Abigail. Let me take your weight.”

“Mattie…”

“I’ve got him, too. You kept him alive.”

“Linc-”

“He’s okay. A rescue team’s on the way.”

“Ellis. I hit him, but he’s still alive-”

“Doyle and Lou have him. You can relax now.”

“Damn Maine water. I had to fight off ice cubes as well as rocks.” She tried to stop her teeth from chattering. “You didn’t just jump off the cliff, did you?”

His arms tightened around her. “Hell, no. Lou had a rope and some clamps.”

“Batman.” She smiled at him, wondering if she was delirious. “My very own Batman.”

She didn’t remember what happened after that.

Bloodied and beaten, Ellis still had gone after one of Doyle Alden’s officers with a rock, snatching his gun, and Lou Beeler had shot him.

It was a clean shot. Ellis had died instantly.

“Suicide by cop,” Lou said.

Abigail, wrapped in a fleece blanket in front of Owen’s woodstove, shook her head. “He still thought he could make it work. He didn’t give up.”

She edged closer to the fire. Thunderstorms were raging outside, and everyone else was in shorts and looked hot, but she thought she’d never get warm again. Mattie was in the hospital but would recover. He’d talked some to police before the paramedics took him away. Linc was fine, back with his family.

They’d survived.

“Ellis’s gun. It fell in the water when I tackled him.”

“We’ve got it.”

“It’ll be the weapon he used to kill Chris,” Abigail said. “That’s how his mind worked. He’d like the poetic justice of it. And he’d be too arrogant to get rid of it.” She tightened the blanket around her. “It’s like keeping Doe’s swing in the backyard for everyone to see.”

“I never had a clue,” Lou said.

“Me, neither. Thank God he didn’t kill anyone else.”

“He was all about hate, not love. You know that, don’t you?” Lou’s look took in Owen, too. “Both of you?”

Owen nodded. “I had that clear in my head the second I kicked in the door to Doe’s old room.”

“He resented Jason for his money and power over him,” Abigail said. “He felt like a second-class Cooper. His secret obsession with Doe allowed him to feel more power, more control.”

Owen stared at the fire. “Doe never said a word. She kept what he did to her to herself.”

“I know it doesn’t make it any easier, but that’s not uncommon,” Lou said.

Abigail agreed. “Chris figured out Ellis was obsessed with Dorothy Garrison. That’s why Ellis killed him. They both knew Linc was burglarizing homes, that Mattie was angry with Chris for dumping him as an informant. Ellis used and manipulated them-and Grace. Only his obsession mattered.”

“Mattie never expected you to be at your house that afternoon,” Owen said.

Lou nodded. “He’s told us that already. Ellis said you weren’t home. When you surprised Mattie, he panicked. He hit you and grabbed the necklace, knowing the burglar would be blamed. He didn’t want to get caught with the necklace and dropped it in the wall.”

“And Ellis seized the moment.” Abigail felt a surge of respect for the man she’d married. “Chris did what he could to keep anyone else from getting hurt. Ellis knew he would-he counted on it.”

“Your husband was a good man,” Lou said. “I wish I’d had a chance to know him.”

Abigail bit back tears. “What about Grace? Have you talked to her?”

“She lied to us after the fact. She didn’t knowingly help her uncle kill your husband. She wouldn’t have-” Lou stopped himself, getting to his feet. “The Coopers have a lot to sort out. I don’t envy them.”

If the Maine detective felt any lingering effects from having killed Ellis Cooper, he didn’t show it in his stride as he headed out.

He stopped at the door. “By the way, about hypothermia-you know one of the best ways to get warm?” He grinned. “Shared body heat.”

Abigail groaned. “Good night, Lou.”

After her fellow detective left, Owen sat next to her by the fire. “He’s right, you know.”

“Tonight’s a good night to be close to you.”

He gathered up more blankets and pillows, laying them on the floor in front of the woodstove. He stretched out next to her. “We’ll stay right here by the fire.”

Linc drifted off on the couch in the library and awoke with a start, overwhelmed by a feeling of sheer terror. His heart beat wildly.

“It’s okay, son,” his father said, taking his hand in the near-darkness. “I’m here.”

“Dad?”

“I’m not going anywhere. Don’t worry.”

Grace came into the room. “I thought you two were asleep. I’ve got chamomile tea made if either of you wants it.” Her voice sounded curiously calm-shock, maybe, Linc thought. “Just let me know.”