Lisa Gardner: Alone

Bobby and Catherine didn't answer. Catherine had pulled a pillowcase from the bed and was now tying it awkwardly around Bobby's shoulder.

"James suddenly appeared. He hit the man over the head with a bookend. Really hard. I've never seen such a thing. But that horrible man, he didn't even blink. He just turned around and he looked at James… Oh my God, James knew!" Maryanne sobbed.

"You could see it on his face, he knew what was going to happen next.

"Run, Maryanne," he said. So I did. And I heard noises. I heard the most awful noises. I tried so hard not to hear those sounds. Except then it became quiet and that was so much worse. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to see James. Oh, my poor, poor, darling James…"

She crumpled to the floor beside the body. She clutched her husband's limp hand. And his fingers very slowly curled around hers.

"James!" Maryanne wept.

"James! He's breathing. Oh my darling, you're still alive!"

"Shhh," Bobby and Catherine said instantly.

"He's going to come back."

"Who's coming back?"

"Richard Umbrio."

"Isn't that the man who kidnapped you, Catherine?" Maryanne was bewildered.

"That was years ago. What would he possibly want with us?"

"Maryanne," Catherine said steadily, "where's Nathan?"

The closet was dark, but not totally dark. Nathan couldn't stand totally dark, especially now, when he was already really scared. He'd Jet the puppy go. He wished he hadn't done that now. He missed its warm little body, its sandpaper tongue licking reassuringly at his hand.

Now he was very much alone.

He'd seen the bad man do bad things. Then he'd heard his grandfather holler, "Run!" so he'd run. The other way. Far from everyone, because he didn't like his grandfather, who kept demanding Nathan go home with him, even when it was clear his mommy didn't want him to.

So Nathan dropped the puppy and ran in the other direction, away from everyone, including the bad man.

Then he'd seen this closet, with the shuttered door. It was small, filled with blankets and pillows and piles of bedding. He wished he were bigger. He wished he were stronger. He wished he were a normal healthy boy, because a normal healthy boy could probably climb all the way to the top of the closet, where he could hide above the bad man's head.

But Nathan couldn't do that. So he simply dug his way to the back of the tiny space. He closed the door. He covered himself with down pillows and did his best not to sneeze.

Now he waited. All alone. In the dark.

The bad man was coming.

Nathan whispered, "Mommy…"

Catherine had finished tying the pillowcase around Bobby's bleeding shoulder. It looked and felt ridiculous, but it was the best they could do. Both handguns rested next to Bobby on the bed, within easy reach if Umbrio should return. Looking at Bobby's mangled shoulder, however, Catherine wondered if the guns would really do much good.

Next, Catherine crossed to James, still prostrate on the floor. Blood pooled beneath him while from his lungs came an ominous whistle, like a balloon losing its air. Maryanne had his head on her lap, her hand stroking his cheek. She was crying huge soundless tears. As Catherine approached, Maryanne raised her head. Her gaze was beseeching, but there was nothing Catherine could do. The judge was dying. They all knew that.

The judge gazed up at Catherine. For the longest time, the two simply stared at one another.

Catherine waited to feel something. She wanted to feel something. Triumphant. Victorious. Satisfied. But all she felt was an emptiness that went on without end.

"I know what you did," Catherine said at last, her voice curiously flat.

"A geneticist finally diagnosed Nathan-my son suffers from a rare disorder that only occurs in families with a history of incest."

Maryanne made a small squeaking sound, belatedly covering her mouth with her hand. Catherine looked at the woman. And then she finally felt an emotion-icy cold rage.

"How could you not tell me? The minute Nathan showed signs of illness, how could you not think-" "I'm so sorry-" Maryanne began.

"Are you cousins?" Catherine interrupted angrily.

"Half siblings," Maryanne confessed, then threw out in a rush, "But we were never raised together, we never even knew each other as brother and sister. After James's mother died, his father sent him off to military school, you see. They had a bit of a falling-out, and James decided to stay up north. But as the years passed, my father finally made an attempt at reconciliation. He invited James back to visit his new family. I was turning eighteen. My parents threw a magnificent party. And then I saw the most handsome man enter the room--" James's hand spasmed in hers. Maryanne immediately bent to brush his cheek, but there was something in the tender gesture that now left Catherine feeling sickened. They had been siblings'?

"He murdered your family," Catherine told Maryanne.

"Don't be ridiculous. There was an accident-" "James made that 'accident' happen, Maryanne. He arranged for your whole family to die, just so he could have you. Like he killed your firstborn so the doctors would never discover your little secret. Like he released a convicted pedophile to murder Nathan and me. Why do you think everyone around you dies, Maryanne? Can you really be so naive?"

Catherine's voice had risen dangerously. Maryanne shook her head against the onslaught, while on the floor, James moaned feebly.

"I… loved her," the man rasped out.

"Love?" Catherine spat.

"You murdered innocent people. Was it easy the first time? Tamper with your father's brakes, tell yourself accidents happen."

"You don't… understand."

"After that you were free to come up to Boston, make a fresh start where no one would ever know your dirty little secret. Except then you had a child. And genetics found you out. Did your first son have Fanconi-Bickel, as well? Maybe a very severe case. Always sickly, always suffering."

"I don't understand," Maryanne whispered brokenly.

"Junior died of SIDS."

"Or because someone pressed a pillow over his face."

"James?" Maryanne whimpered.

"I… love you," the judge said again, but there was something pleading in his tone now. Something even more damning than guilt. Maryanne started to cry again.

"Oh no… oh no, oh no, oh no."

Catherine, however, wasn't done.

"You turned Jimmy against me. You filled his head with awful ideas, and forced me to do unspeakable things. How dare you! We could've worked together to help Nathan. Maybe we could've been happy."

"My son," James said clearly, "was always… too good… for you."

"James!" Maryanne gasped.

"You idiot," Catherine said coldly.

"You released Umbrio, and now he will kill us all."

"Police… will come," the judge murmured.

But then, from down the hall, they all heard Umbrio's voice: "Nathan, Nathan, Nathan. Come out wherever you are."

Bobby said quietly to all of them, "Not soon enough."

Mr. Bosu was tired of this game. Coming to the judge's hotel had seemed a good idea. Threaten the judge in person and get a little money, or hey, kill the judge in person and get a little satisfaction, that had been the plan. Mr. Bosu was flexible.

But nothing had turned out that way. Yes, he'd gotten to exercise a little vengeance. But that hadn't felt as good as he'd expected. Maybe even murder got boring after a while. He didn't know. But the wife was still running around and the kid was running around and now Catherine was here and, with her, another man.

Mr. Bosu wanted to feel excited. But mostly, he just felt tired. Screw killing all of them. He'd settle for one last target. The one that would inflict the most damage of all.

He wanted the boy.

Just the boy.