Kathleen Long - Silent Warning

Tomorrow she’d pack up Rachel’s things and be gone. The friendship she and Rachel had once shared was lost forever. As much as she longed for closure, she’d never find it at the bottom of a packing box.

THE BEDSPREAD rose and fell with each breath the woman took. A sliver of pale moonlight shimmered through the door, lighting her face.

She looked so much like Rachel he felt a chill. He’d heard the murmuring around town and had wanted to see for himself. Not that he cared. Not really. As long as she packed up Rachel’s things and left, he didn’t care if she was the dead woman’s spitting image.

He pulled a hard candy from his pocket, peeling the wrapper as quietly as he could. He slipped the morsel between his lips, grimacing. Grape. He was growing tired of grape.

He watched the woman for a few more minutes before he turned and walked down the hall, stopping in the kitchen to throw out the wrapper, not caring if she noticed.

He only cared that this one didn’t cause trouble. Not now.

He balled his hands into fists. If she did stick her nose where it didn’t belong, she’d end up just like her little friend.

Very wet. And very dead.

Kelly woke to the sensation of weight at the end of the bed. Something moved alongside her and she struggled to open her eyes. A large gray face purred like an engine, nuzzling her cheek.

Her stomach pitched with the sudden contact and awakening. “Edgar. You scared me half to death.”

She gave him a quick pat on the head and threw off the covers. Grabbing her sweatshirt from the back of the chair, she pulled it over her nightshirt.

“Come on. Let’s figure out how you got in.”

The front door remained closed, locked as she’d left it. As she checked the doorknob, Edgar walked into the kitchen and let out a meow.

“I don’t have anything for you, baby. Sorry. I’ll get you some tuna when I hit the grocery store.”

Kelly trotted down the spiral steps to the lower level. The inner door sat ajar, a sliver of daylight glowing brightly between the wood and the frame.

“Great.” She rubbed her tired eyes. In her exhaustion the night before, she’d never thought to check downstairs when she locked up. “Good thing I’m not at home. The axe murderer would have walked right in.”

Edgar pushed past her, nudging the screen door open. He slipped through, stretching out his back legs before he swaggered down the walk.

Kelly pulled both doors tight and flipped the dead bolt. She trudged up the stairs, deciding Edgar had the right idea. Food was a definite priority.

Twenty minutes later, she’d dressed and headed south toward the shopping area she remembered from her college days. When a supermarket appeared, she zipped into the lot, quickly parking her car and pulling a shopping cart from the cue.

The grocery store was deserted except for a group of senior citizens gathered in the produce section. She supposed everything slowed down once mid-September arrived and tourist season ended.

Scanning each aisle, Kelly tossed only essentials into her cart, choosing just enough to hold her for a day or two. She had no intention of staying in this small town any longer than that.

An end cap piled high with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies beckoned to her. Why not? She reached to pluck a plastic container from the display, starting when a slender hand touched her arm.

“Why are you here?” An elderly woman eyed her quizzically. Short white hair waved gently around her face, her cloudy blue eyes blinking then refocusing on Kelly.

“Pardon me?” Kelly took a step back, thrown off balance by the encounter.

“You don’t belong here. You’re dead.”

Adrenaline spiked in Kelly’s veins. She pulled her arm from the woman’s grasp.

“He killed you.” The woman’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I saw him.”

“Maddie,” a voice called out. “Let’s get you back with the group.”

A young woman sporting wire-rimmed glasses smiled at Kelly, gently taking the woman by the elbow. “I’m sorry. Sometimes she gets confused during our outings.”

Kelly shook her head. “No problem.” Was it a case of confusion? Or had the woman mistaken her for Rachel? Heaven knew, it had been happening for years.

Maddie shrugged off the younger woman’s touch, pointing a bony finger at Kelly.

“He killed you.” Her soft voice sent tremors through Kelly’s bones. “The Candy Man killed you.”

The young woman shook her head, smiling nervously. “I’m very sorry.” She put her arm around Maddie, this time leading her away.

Frozen to the spot, Kelly watched as the old woman turned to waggle a finger in her direction. Kelly’s pulse and thoughts raced at matched speeds. What on earth had just happened? And what had the woman meant?

Rachel had drowned. Right?

Shaking off the encounter as just what the younger woman had said, she turned her attention back to her cart.

The sooner she paid and left, the sooner she’d be able to start packing up Rachel’s things.

DAN SIGHED deeply, rubbing his tired eyes. He scribbled another note onto the pad of paper then scratched a line through the words.

No matter what scenario he used, no matter what theory he tried, the puzzle came back to Rachel. She’d believed something illegal was going on in Summer Shores and had done nothing but gather information during the last weeks of her life. He’d encouraged her every step of the way, urging her to dig deeper.

And now she was dead.

Guilt and doubt tangled inside him. If only he’d been there to take her call. Could he have saved her somehow? He stretched his neck, willing his frustrated brain to work through the mystery of what had happened.

Where were her notes?

He spun his chair to face a wall of framed photos, focusing on his favorite. Diane proudly held a huge bluefish at arm’s length as their mother looked on. Broad grins illuminated both faces.

Dan plucked his coffee mug from the desk and took a long swallow.

His mother and sister. He’d lost them both in a manner of speaking. Diane had drowned two weeks after the picture had been taken. His mother’s mini strokes and her downward spiral into dementia had landed her in the nursing home three months later.

Perhaps fate had taken away his mother’s ability to remember Diane’s inexplicable death, but it hadn’t taken away the thoughts that haunted Dan.

Even though his father had deserted them when he and his sister were young, his mother had never remarried, never loved again. Her obvious heartache had taught him to focus on career, not family. Yet now he found himself faced with a grim reality. His sister was dead because of a drug he’d brought to market, and the vital mother he’d once known was fading away. He’d never be able to recapture the years he’d lost with both.

Dan knew in his heart Diane’s death had been no accident—just as Rachel’s had been no accident. He’d have no peace until he found the truth. All he had to do was piece together the facts—if only he could find them.

Narrowing his focus, he made another notation on the pad, this time circling his writing. He might not have Rachel’s notes to work with, but he had her house—and her friend.

THE MORNING had brightened by the time Kelly finished unpacking the groceries. She poured a fresh cup of coffee and headed for Rachel’s work area, banishing all thoughts of her unsettling grocery store trip to the recesses of her brain.

She walked into the bedroom and sat her mug on Rachel’s desk. Pulling open the French doors to let in the autumn breeze, she inhaled the moist air, pungent with the scent of the bay and marsh grasses. She tipped her face to the sun, letting the warmth permeate her skin.