Authors: Michelle Love
But then who had killed George? Buddy Harte, the shipwright? If the killer was, as the police thought, the same person killing young Asian-American women, why hadn’t he simply murdered Sarah, instead of those around her? Isaac winced at the thought.
When he went back to his office, just after eight, his assistant Maggie told him, to his relief, that his final meeting was
canceled
.
‘Maggie, it’s late, go home. You already do more than enough. Take tomorrow off on me.’
Maggie smiled and thanked him. After she’d gone, Isaac called Sarah’s cell. It went to voicemail but he knew she was due to go into work that evening to do a stock take with Molly.
He had no idea whether he should speak to Finn, tell him about Caroline’s infidelity. It would open up a can of worms, that was for sure.
And he couldn’t tell Sarah either. She was so fiery, and loathed Caroline and loved Finn in such equal measure that she would undoubtedly go straight to Finn – if she didn’t kill Caroline first.
No, I’m sorry,
baby. This is one secret I have to keep. Until Dan Bailey made himself known to her – if ever – then he might decide differently. Isaac was satisfied he made the right decision.
He tried to call Sarah again. Voicemail. He smiled. ‘Hey beautiful, I’m just finishing up, I’ll be home in an hour. I love you, so much. See you soon.’
***
Bracing herself against the cool tiled wall, Molly pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed quietly.
They sat there for a while in silence then a soft knock at the kitchen door. Molly stood and opened it a crack. Finn. He smiled at his sister.
‘Can I come in?’ His voice was soft.
‘It’s okay.’ Molly’s voice was gruff. She put her head
on
her knees, feeling him sit down in front of her. He slid his hand under her chin and lifted her face to his.
‘I’m sorry.’ He whispered.
‘You haven’t got anything to apologize for. I haven’t any right to feel like this. None.’ She sighed. There was a silence.
‘Yes,’ he spoke softly, ‘you have. You have every right.’
She put her head on her knees again and he stroked her hair, feeling helpless.
‘It might not be mine.’
Molly looked up then, the tears flowing again and gave him a sad smile.
‘
Might
.’ And he knew what she meant. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. They looked at each other for the longest time.
‘You never stood a chance, did you? The moment she got your ring on her finger, she made your life miserable. And now she’ll do that forever.’ She sighed and looked away.
‘I don’t have to stay with her.’
‘You do, Finn. I know you – you’re not like Pa, you won’t walk away from a child that might be yours. So, stay. At least until your child can understand why their mother is such a succubus.’
Finn smiled gently and Molly wiped her eyes. Finn pulled his sister to her feet and then looked around. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be doing a stock-take with Sarah tonight?’
Molly glanced at the clock. ‘Jeez, I totally forgot. Where the hell is she?’
She tried to call Sarah and when she got no answer, she shared a look with Finn, an unspoken concern. She quickly dialed Isaac.
‘Hey, Isaac…is Sarah with you?’
The look on his sister’s face told Finn everything he needed to know. He grabbed his car keys. ‘Let’s go.’
***
Isaac pulled the car off the ferry and sped through the night, breaking every speed limit in his rush to get to Sarah’s house. When Molly had called and he’d heard the worry in her voice, every nerve ending in his body seemed to flame. He didn’t even try to talk himself out of the fear. Not being able to get hold of Sarah when he thought she was with Molly was one thing but…
‘Please please
please
, be okay, be okay…’ He hissed out the words between gritted teeth.
Halfway to Sarah’s house, he saw brake lights in front of him. He sped up to see Finn’s police cruiser in front of him.
They pulled up to Sarah’s house at the same time and everyone almost fell out of their vehicles.
‘Where is she?’ Isaac found himself screaming at the pale, terrified faces of Molly and Finn but he didn’t care. He
leaped
onto the porch, saw the front door open and burst into the house.
‘Sarah! Sarah!’
Soon all three of them were screaming through the house, calling her name over and over but they were greeted only by silence and emptiness.
They met back in the hallway. Molly was openly sobbing now. Finn put his hand on Isaac’s shoulder. Isaac, almost deranged with fear, stared blankly at him.
‘Isaac, breathe. Let’s do a sweep outside.
Mols
, do you know if Sarah has any flashlights?’
Molly nodded and went to the cupboard under the stairs pulling out two flashlights and handing them to the men.
‘Mols, stay inside, turn on the lights. Call 911 if we’re not back in ten minutes.’
The two men plunged into the dark grounds. Finn scooted immediately the boathouse and searched, whilst Isaac moved toward Sarah’s truck. He saw the driver’s side door was slightly open, then, with a shock, he saw blood on the cracked window. He swept his flashlight around the ground. The dirt was disturbed, signs of a fight, a scuffle then – and his heart began to beat erratically – the obvious signs of a body being dragged into the woods.
God, no, please.
Isaac followed the tracks, sweeping the light wide over the dense trees. The trail wasn’t hard to follow, the bracken and plants snapped and broken. The flashlight shook in his hands, the light bouncing around the trees.
He found her less than a minute later. She was on her back, her arm thrown above her head. Her beautiful face was smeared with mud and blood and her eyes were closed. Isaac, yelling for Finn, dropped to his knees beside her.
‘Sarah? Honey?’ He couldn’t breathe, his chest constricted
tightly
.
She gave a low moan and that sound was like music to him.
‘Sarah, sweetheart, open your eyes, darling.
Sarah opened her eyes and stared up at the dark canopy above her. Her mouth moved, just a little but no sound came out. As Finn crashed into the wood behind him, Isaac held her face, willing her to focus on him.
‘Oh God, Isaac…is she okay?’
‘Baby? Oh my God…please Sarah, promise me, stay awake, please, please.’
She looked at him, focused for a second. She reached up and touched his face, gave a small smile then her eyes closed again and her
hand
fell away, limp. Isaac panicked, pressed his fingers to her neck. A pulse, weak, but there. He slid his hands under her and picked her up, a stunned Finn at his elbow. He carried Sarah back towards the house, Finn behind them calling for the air ambulance, calling in the emergency. Inside, Isaac wrapped her in a blanket, kept
pressure
on her wounds, Molly at his side, holding her friend’s cold hand. Isaac checked her for other injuries. He found her bleeding from a deep cut on the back of her head, multiple cuts and bruises. He took her cold face between his palms.
‘Sarah? Honey, can you open your eyes for me?’
But she didn’t and his heart clenched and shuddered. He wondered what it took to bludgeon a woman like this.
‘The fucking,
cowardly
motherfucker,’ he hissed under his breath as he cradled his unconscious lover. Molly put her arm around his shoulder, her face deathly pale, her eyes red.
‘She’ll be okay, Isaac, she has to be.’
Finn came in, looking as wretched as them. ‘Air ambulance is on its way. Jesus, is she okay?’
There was a silence then, in a broken voice, Isaac shook his head, never taking his eyes off the woman he loved, lying so still in his arms.
‘No. No, Finn, she’s not alright. Not even one little bit. Oh God, Sarah, please….stay with me…’
***
The hospital was too quiet. In the small relatives room, Isaac and Molly waited. Sarah had been in surgery for seven hours. When they’d brought her in, the look of concern on the emergency room doctor’s face scared them all. She was in a bad way, the surgeon had told them, the head injury serious but they were going to do absolutely everything to save her. They sat in the small room, watching every movement outside. At one point they saw a doctor run past, his arms full of blood bags and Isaac was terrified they were for Sarah.
He leaned his forehead against the cool window and shut his eyes. He tried to tell himself she might not make it, she might die so that if it did happen, he’d be prepared. But even the thought of Sarah dying was enough to make him want to scream and scream and never stop.
He heard a quiet knock behind him and turned. Finn. He’d stayed behind on the island to help the investigation Molly got up and went into his arms.
‘
Hey,
sweetheart. You okay?’ He looked over to Isaac. Isaac nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
‘She’s still in surgery,’ Molly said, letting Finn go and sitting back down. ‘We don’t know if…’ Molly’s face crumpled and she let out a sob. Finn put his hand on her shoulder.
‘Look, we have to think that’s she’s going to be okay.’ He looked at Isaac. ‘Dude, I’m here for you. We have officers fine combing around Sarah’s house, inside it. There’ll be some clue.’
Isaac sighed and stood. ‘Look…I just found out…Daniel Bailey is back in Seattle. He has been for a while.’
Molly gave a strangled gasp. ‘Oh god…he did this, didn’t he?’
‘I don’t know for sure…but he’s the only person with any motive.’
Finn’s face was like stone and Isaac turned to him. ‘Finn, I just found out too that he’s been screwing someone. Someone who knew he was back before any of us.’
Finn gave a humorless laugh. ‘Caroline.’
Isaac nodded. Finn sighed. ‘Well, I hate to admit it but it’s kind of a relief. Another reason not to feel guilty about leaving her. I wish you had told us
before,
though, Isaac.’
Isaac half-smiled. ‘Another bad decision on my part.’ His face clouded over. ‘I did this. I got her hurt.’
‘No,’ Molly stood and hugged him, ‘this is not your fault. It’s the asshole who did this. Whether it was Dan or not, I don’t know.’
They all looked up as the surgeon knocked on the door and came in. He was smiling at them, and the sense of relief was palpable in the room.
‘She’ll be fine. She has a serious concussion and she suffered a small bleed on the brain but we removed the clot. It’ll take her
awhile
to get back to normal but we’ll keep her in for a few days for observation. You can see her in a while.’
***
Finn and Molly crept into Sarah’s room. She was turned onto her side, away from them. Isaac was sitting, holding her hand, his eyes never leaving her face. Finn moved around the bed. Her face, bruised, swollen and crisscrossed with butterfly stitches, was creased with stress. Finn pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down, his hand on her hair. Molly watched them for a while.
‘Has she woken at all yet?’
Isaac shook his head. ‘Doc said they had to sedate her for surgery so she’ll be out for a few hours. Her skin tone is
better,
though, don’t you think?’
Molly couldn’t see it but she nodded to reassure Isaac. The tall man seemed shattered. This was one problem all the money in the world wouldn’t touch.
Finn cleared his throat. ‘Police want to talk to you, Isaac, and to Sarah when she’s up to it. I told them where to find Dan and they’ve gone to question him.’
Isaac looked at him. ‘I wish you hadn’t done that.’
‘Why?’
Isaac’s face hardened. ‘Because I wanted to deal with him myself.’
Finn shifted. ‘Look, man, as your friend, as Sarah’s friend, I feel you. But as a cop…do
n’t
let me hear you say that out loud again. Please.’
Isaac gave him a half-smile. ‘Sorry.’
Finn moved back into the hallway, Molly following him. He hugged his sister, feeling drained and exhausted.
And there was something else in the back of his mind too. Something he couldn’t tell anyone. Something he realized when he’d seen Sarah’s broken and bloody body in that wood, seen the bruises on her face, been terrified that she might be dead or dying. Something he’d denied for nearly his entire life.
He was in love with her.
***
Sarah was in a dreamy world of
half-formed
shapes and images she couldn’t quite access. There was tremendous
pain
, she knew that, as she began to surface from her deep coma, as she entered R.E.M. sleep and began to feel the effects of her assault.