Carla Neggers - Harbor Island

“I played dead,” Lucy said, trembling under the blanket a paramedic had given her. Yank had placed the blanket around her shoulders himself. She was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the exposed brick wall of Aoife O’Byrne’s studio. She licked her chapped lips. “I heard you and Detective Garda Murphy come in, but I didn’t know who you were.”

Yank knew he had to contain his emotions, but it was damn hard. Lucy. His wife. In Dublin, trapped under a bookcase for at least thirty hours. Likely left for dead. She’d managed to protect her head and vital organs when the bookcase had come down on top of her, and she’d had access to her water bottle, although it had been nearly empty when she was attacked. She was bruised, but she had no broken bones, lacerations or other internal injuries. And she was shaken. More shaken than she would want to admit. She’d martialed her limited water supply and was mildly dehydrated, but she’d been lucky. They both knew it.

The gardai were doing their work. Sean Murphy was definitely the guy in charge. The living quarters had been tossed, too. Murphy had been firm but not a jackass when he’d reminded Yank this was now a criminal investigation. Yank knew he had no choice and had to stand back and let Irish law enforcement do their jobs. He had no authority in Ireland.

“What are you doing here, Lucy?” he asked finally, sitting next to her on the wood floor.

She attempted a weak smile. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Consider me surprised.”

“Because you found me in Dublin or under a bookcase?”

“Take your pick.”

Her dark eyes leveled on him. The same dark eyes he’d fallen in love with at twenty-three at the University of Virginia. He’d been getting his master’s in criminal justice. She’d been a senior majoring in psychology. Ten years they’d been married, and yet some days—like today—he wasn’t sure he would ever know her.

“I’m sorry, Matt,” she whispered.

“Did you break in here and pull the bookcase on top of yourself?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then nothing to be sorry about.”

“Cut-to-the-chase Matt Yankowski. There’s a reason you’re in law enforcement.” She sighed, again licking her chapped lips. He noticed a small cut at the corner of her mouth, probably from dehydration and biting down as the hours had dragged on. She eased a hand out from under her blanket and placed it on his thigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was coming to Dublin.”

“Water over the dam.”

She gave a tight shake of her head. “We have too much water over the dam and not enough real talking. Real listening. I flew to Boston on Thursday morning and went to your apartment, and you weren’t there. I saw a printout of your flight information. I had my passport with me. I booked a flight on Aer Lingus for that night, then turned around and went straight back to the airport.”

“Did you have any idea where I was?”

“Ireland,” she said, and this time her smile revealed more of the ultraconfident Lucy Yankowski he knew so well.

“Were you mad?” Yank asked.

“Incensed.”

A Lucy word. He covered her hand with his. Hers was cool, and he could feel its slight tremble. “I’m glad you’re okay. There was a moment...” He breathed. “Lucy. Damn.”

“It’s been a long two days.” She glanced at the studio, as if seeing the mess for the first time. “Does whatever happened here have anything to do with why you’re in Ireland?”

“Probably.”

“Aoife O’Byrne is a well-known artist. Where is she? I thought she’d come back. Then I realized it was the weekend, and maybe she was away.”

“She’s in Boston,” Yank said.

“Boston? Why—”

“We’ll get to that. Why did you come here?”

“I was curious. I arrived in Dublin at the crack of dawn. You know those overnight flights. I’d booked a room while I was at the airport in Boston, but it wasn’t ready. I dropped off my bags, took myself to breakfast and read about the murder in Declan’s Cross early last week. That’s what brought you to Ireland, isn’t it?”

“Sort of.”

“Aoife O’Byrne was mentioned in the article. I checked out her website. It lists her address. I decided to kill time by coming by to have a look. I guess I expected a public gallery. I didn’t think too much about it. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“You’ve told all this to the Irish police?”

She nodded. “I figured you would want to know, too.”

“I do, Lucy. I want to know everything. When you’re ready. You’ve come through a hell of an ordeal. Aoife flew to Boston yesterday. Someone could have wanted to take advantage of her absence and see what was in here.”

“An ordinary burglar, you mean. Then I walk in and startle them.” She swallowed, sinking back against the wall. “I don’t know why I walked in. I didn’t see that the door had been jimmied. I can’t explain. My mind didn’t grasp it. Lack of sleep, being in a foreign country, irritation with you. I just don’t know.”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to make sense of it.”

“Maybe not yet, anyway. I remember being in here, wondering where Aoife was. I heard someone in the other room. I called Aoife—except I mangled the pronunciation of her name. Sean Murphy’s already set me straight. Anyway, next thing I was falling, things were crashing around me, and I was trapped under a bookcase. I thought I could push it off me, but I couldn’t. It’s heavy, and I was afraid I’d dislodge something and do real damage to myself.”

“Did you yell for help?”

“Some. Once I was certain whoever had pushed the bookcase on top of me wouldn’t hear me. I wanted to preserve my energy—I didn’t want to waste it screaming if no one was around to hear me—but I also didn’t want...” She broke off with a small shake of her head. “Never mind. You know what I’m saying.”

He did. His wife—trapped, scared and in pain—hadn’t wanted whoever had broken into Aoife’s studio to come back and kill her. He wanted to scoop her up and carry her to his little car and disappear into the Irish hills with her. Protect her, keep her safe. A little late, he thought bitterly as he saw the bruise on her forearm where she’d fended off a falling object from the bookcase.

“I thought you were in a snit and that’s why you didn’t call me back.”

“I was in a snit,” she said. “I wanted to strangle you when I realized you’d gone to Ireland without telling me. Then I thought...I’d surprise you. I’d get you off to a cute Irish hotel and we’d talk, finally. And if you couldn’t come—if your work wouldn’t allow it—then I’d see the sights on my own. It wasn’t a well-thought-out plan, but it was a plan.”

“It would have been fun to see Dublin with you, Lucy,” Yank said softly.

“I have my list of sights I want to see. The Book of Kells, the Long Room, Temple Bar, Grafton Street, Saint Stephen’s Green, Georgian Dublin.” Lucy sank her head against his shoulder. “Then I wanted to find a cozy Irish cottage and get you to take a few days off.”

“I know just the one,” Yank said. “I stayed there this week. It’s in the Kerry hills. It’s owned by an Irish priest, one of Emma and Colin’s friends. I’m here because of work, but it’s not the only reason. I needed some time on my own.”

“To think about us,” she said.

He put his arm around her. “Every time I saw rainbows and sheep, I thought of how much you love them.”

“You never see rainbows.”

“I did this past week. Gorgeous rainbows. They made me wish you were with me. I saw one this morning when I left the cottage...” He heard his voice crack. “And you were here, trapped...”