Элизабет Чандлер - Don't Tell

“She was wrong. I’m not going to hurt you, Nora.”

Nora sobbed loudly.

“And you must believe me — you didn’t kill my mother.”

The sobs grew uncontrollable.

“You didn’t. I swear to you!”

Were Frank and Holly working together? What about Nick? I shrank from the thought that he was involved, but he was Frank’s nephew and Holly’s boyfriend, the link between them.

“Nora, why would Frank lock me in here? Do you know?”

Her sobbing grew less as she thought. “To help me?” she guessed.

I doubted it. What puzzled me was the fact that Frank didn’t disguise his effort to trap me. No one would believe what crazy Nora might say, but why wouldn’t Frank worry about an accusation by me?

The answer stopped my breath, shrank my stomach into a cold, hard rock. He wouldn’t worry if I were dead. He planned to kill me.

He — or they — were setting up Nora, beginning to work on her mentally by trapping us together. My death would be hung around her neck. It wouldn’t be hard; she had shown herself confused enough to accept the guilt for my mother’s.

I pulled away slowly from Nora. “I have to get us out of here. I’m going to look for a tool.”

I walked all the way around the boathouse, feeling for something I could use to smash the hinges of the door. The place had been stripped clean.

“Okay, Nora, I’m on the other side now. Don’t get scared.

I’m going to scream for help.”

I shouted till I tasted blood in my throat. It was useless.

Who would come — Aunt Jule? She couldn’t hear from the house. Besides, she could be part of the plan.

She’d have to be if my inheritance were the goal, and that was the only motivation for murder that I could imagine.

Frank, as lawyer and executor of the estate, would be able to process the will as quickly as possible, using his local clout to pull strings if necessary. But Aunt Jule was the designated heir, so there would have to be some agreement between them. As for the tension between my godmother and Frank, partners can quarrel, especially when the stakes are high.

I heard movement outside. I screamed again. Nora started shrieking with me. I hurried around the walkway to her. There was barking.

“Rocky!” I shouted. “Rocky, get help.”

Rocky, get help? What did I think he would do — run off like a dog in a Disney movie and fetch the police? I started laughing and crying at the same time, getting hysterical.

I heard noises at the back wall of the building, Rocky barking, Frank telling him to keep quiet. The noise stopped.

I heard Frank leave, his voice fading as he called the dog.

I removed my shoes. “Nora, there’s only one way out of here, under the doors to the river. I’m going to swim under and go for help.”

I put my feet over the side of the walkway, then rolled on my stomach so I could slide into the black water.

“No,” Nora protested. “No, don’t!”

“I’ll be back.”

“She’s in there. She’ll get you.”

Nora pulled on my arms. I was stronger than she and slipped free of her grasp, then thrust myself back in the water. When I straightened my legs and pointed my toes, they barely brushed the silty bottom. I tread water, trying to keep my mouth above it. Its slimy surface coated my arms and neck. Its earthy, sulfurous odor filled my nose and seemed to seep through the pores of my skin.

I turned my head, sniffing something different from river and rot.

“Nora, do you smell smoke?”

I heard her taking in deep, soblike breaths. “Yes.”

For a moment I was so shocked I couldn’t think what to do. It was too horrible — I could not believe that Frank would set the building on fire with us inside.

“Nora, get in. You have to get in the water.”

I heard her pull back against the wall.

“The boathouse is going to burn down. We have to get out of here now. Now! There’s no time. You must come with me.”

“No!”

“I’ll help you. I’ll hold on to you.”

“No!” she shrieked.

It was useless to try to convince her. She wasn’t thinking fire, she was too afraid of water.

“Okay, never mind,” I said quickly, and grasped the edge of the walkway. “Help me get out.”

As soon as her arms were around me, I pulled her into the water. She screamed.

“I’m here. Float on your back. I’ll help you.”

But she was terrified. I fought to get her into a life-saving carry. She clawed at me and tried to climb up on my shoulders. Desperate to get herself above the water, she pushed me under.

I struggled to the surface. Her fingernails dug into my skin.

She was much stronger than I’d realized and pushed me down again. I dropped way down, pulling Nora with me, hoping she would panic and let go.

It worked. I swam three feet away from her, then came up for air.

The smell of smoke was strong, smoke and lighter fluid.

My eyes stung with it. Nora was treading water but was so frightened she kept gulping it down.

“Get on your back, Nora.”

Her arms flailed wildly toward me, and I propelled myself backward in the water, out of her reach. She went under.

I dived and searched frantically for her, then grabbed her and pulled her to the surface, wrestling her onto her back.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright flame shoot up a corner on the land side of the boathouse. I heard the crackling. Another flame shot up the second corner, as if following a trail of lighter fluid. I thought I heard barking, but it was too late to hope Rocky would draw attention. Doused with an accelerant, the wood in this house could go up in a matter of seconds.

I swam, dragging Nora toward the river doors, then stopped in front of them. She was coughing and I had to make sure she had air.

“Come on, Nora. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Deep breath in, deep breath out. That’s the way. Deep breath in

—” I sucked down my own lungful of air, then pulled her under with me. I swam toward the light, one arm keeping her next to me, kicking hard for both of us. In the murky water I didn’t see the net, didn’t know I had swum into it, until it was around us. I pulled back quickly, trying to find its edge.

I had to let go of Nora for a moment. Using both hands I yanked on the netting in front of me, tearing at it with my fingers and teeth, making a hole just big enough for one of us. I swam through it, then reached back and pulled Nora to me.

Almost there, I thought, my lungs burning for lack of air. I took Nora’s hand and curled her fingers around the waistband of my shorts, wanting her to hold on to me so I could use both arms to swim. Suddenly I felt her let go. She bolted like a frightened animal, driven by her instincts, swimming directly upward. I saw the net, but she didn’t. She was caught in it — a new net — a plastic one, one that wouldn’t tear.

Nora clawed at it, pulling it around her even more, getting hopelessly tangled inside. I tried to pull it off her. She writhed, desperate for air. My own lungs ached, my body began to cramp.

I felt the net twisting, being wrenched away from me, and I lost my grip on her. I spun in the water till I was sick and didn’t know which way was up.

Then suddenly there was clear light around me. The air was cold against my face, and I opened my mouth and drank it down. Strong arms held my head just above the water. I gulped and coughed, bringing up river water and a bitter fluid from my stomach.

“Easy. Easy now.”

It was Nick’s voice. Nick’s arms. He turned me on my back and swam with me, pulling me to the bank. I heard Rocky barking. Sirens wailed, were getting louder, coming closer.

I tried to speak. Nora, I wanted to tell him, get Nora!