by Claire Raye
I don’t say anything, just wait for him to continue as Sarah and I watch each other, still unsure as to why he’s called me.
“A part of me half expected her to hook up with you as soon as I was out of the picture.”
“That never happened,” I quickly say. “Carla and I have never been involved with each other, apart from that one night at the end of high school.”
“I know,” he says, as though to reassure me. “That’s not why I called.”
“Why did you then?” I ask, suddenly exhausted and frustrated.
“A Detective called me,” he says. “Wanted to speak to me about Carla, wanted to know if I’d seen her recently.”
“What did you tell him?” I quickly ask.
“I didn’t,” he says. “I actually haven’t called him back.”
“Why?”
Craig exhales. “Look Finn, I know you and I were never really friends, okay? But I don’t believe you did what Carla says you did.”
“I didn’t do anything to her,” I half shout, pissed that I should even have to defend myself about all of this.
“I know,” he continues. “That’s why I’m calling.” He pauses, and I don’t say anything, still confused about all of this. “Look,” he eventually says. “I just wanted to let you know that I believe you, that I believe you didn’t do what she said you did and that’s what I’ll be telling the detective when I call him back.”
“You do? I, um…”
“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” he adds, his words coming out in a rush now, as though he just wants to get it all out. “I mean I should’ve told you years ago about her weird obsession, I just…” he pauses now, as though he isn’t sure how to say what he wants to say.
“It’s fine,” I say, exhaling hard, as Sarah stands and wraps an arm around my waist.
“Yeah, okay,” he says. “Anyway, I hope you find her, get everything sorted out.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Thanks,” I say. “Look, I gotta go, I appreciate the call though.”
After we hang up, Sarah and I stand there looking at each other. I know I should call Detective Greenwood and let him know that Craig has been in touch, but honestly, I’m not sure there’s much point. He doesn’t know where Carla is and short of confirming this weird obsession she has, which is pretty much undisputable given everything they found in her house, I don’t think he can offer much else.
“You going to call him?” Sarah asks, reading my mind.
“Yeah,” I breathe out, reaching for my phone. Before I have a chance to call though, my phone rings again, Kelsey’s name flashing up on the screen.
“Kels, hey, everything alright?”
I hear her exhale down the phone, the noise in the background suggesting she’s in her car. “Finn, I’m so sorry to do this,” she starts. “But I’m halfway home and one of the guys has called to say there’s been a disturbance down by the docks. I’m going to come back and take a look, but I wondered if you could…” she trails off and I immediately know what she wants.
Ever since she got kidnapped by her stalker ex-boyfriend down at the docks, Kelsey has been reluctant to go down there alone, especially at night. I don’t blame her, that kind of shit is hard to get over.
“Kels, don’t worry about it,” I say. “Go home and I’ll take care of it.”
“You sure?” she asks, relieved. “I don’t want to trouble you.”
“Promise,” I say, chuckling. “Besides, I am the Chief around here remember? It’s kinda my job.”
Kelsey laughs a little, but I can tell she’s relieved. “Thank you, Finn, really.”
“It’s all good,” I tell her. “I’ll call you when it’s done, okay?”
I hear her exhale. “Thank you,” she says, gratefully. “And I’m sorry to disrupt your night.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say, knowing that this night has been a bust from the get-go.
When I hang up, Sarah looks up at me, a confused look on her face.
“I need to go down to the docks and check something out for Kelsey,” I tell her. “I won’t be long, I promise.”
She smiles. “I’ll come with you.”
“No, it’s okay, stay here, I won’t be long.”
“Finn,” she says, grabbing my hand. “Let me come with you.”
Something in the way she says it has me pausing, remembering that she has been through her own shit tonight and the last thing she needs is me leaving her alone in this room while I go take care of something.
“Okay,” I concede, squeezing her hand in mine. “But stay with me the whole time.”
She grins, giving me a salute as she says, “Yes, boss.”
As we walk out of our room and down toward the back entrance of the inn, I actually tell Sarah about the boat I have. I’m not sure why I’ve never mentioned it to her before, mostly because I never really take it out anymore, work and shit always just getting in the way. Kelsey lets me keep it down at the docks though, near her dad’s old boat, just in case I ever feel like taking it out sometime.
“Maybe we could change that,” she says, as we step outside and head down toward the docks. “Go out together sometime?”
“Yeah,” I say, smiling at her. “Sounds like a plan.”
We head down to the docks and I immediately wish I’d brought a flashlight. The whole place is pitch black, creating an eerie feeling as even darker shadows cast by the boats makes it feel like something is hiding down here.
“Let’s go to my boat,” I say. “I need to grab a flashlight.”
I lead Sarah through the dozens of boats that are all pulled out of the water and in dry dock. The shed is maybe two thirds full still, only some owners having put their boats back in the water now that winter is on its way out.
Despite having not used my boat for years, I still maintain it and for the first time in what feels like forever, I can actually picture myself using it again. Especially now I have someone I want to share it with.
When we reach my boat at the end of the row, I notice the tarp has been disturbed, pulled aside as though someone has been onboard.
“Sarah,” I say, as I pull myself up onto the boat. “Wait here a sec,” I add, a bad feeling curling through me.
I hear her answer but I don’t stop moving, lowering myself onto the deck and pushing the tarp all the way to the side. I grab the flashlight I keep near the life jackets, the bright beam illuminating the deck when I click it on.
“Fuck’s sake,” I mutter when I take in the scene in front of me. It’s obvious someone has been on my boat, regularly by the looks of it, given the empty food containers, the coffee cups strewn all over the place.
“What is it?” I hear Sarah call up.
I look over the edge. “Someone’s been here,” I say. “I’m just gonna check down below. I won’t be long.”
I disappear below deck, to the small galley and eating area and the tiny bedroom that occupies most of the front half. The whole place looks like it’s been trashed, there is shit everywhere. When I step closer, cast the flashlight over table, that bad feeling curling through my gut only intensifies when I see what covers the surface.
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me,” I say as I pick up a photo. I stare at the image of me and Sarah, walking out of the pub, laughing together and completely unaware of the fact that someone is taking a photo of us. I feel my pulse ratchet up a notch as my blood curdles, anger now pulsing through my veins.
I know exactly who’s been on my fucking boat.
“Sarah,” I call up, suddenly wondering what the fuck has happened here tonight and more importantly, where the fuck Carla is.
“Sarah!” I repeat when I get no response.
My heart is pounding in my chest as I make my way back up to the deck. I pull out my phone, wishing to fuck I had thought to bring my gun. Scrolling through my contacts, I find Detective Greenwood’s number just as I
come up top and see exactly why Sarah isn’t responding.
“Carla, what the fuck are you doing?” I shout, my heart going double time as I take in the sight in front of me.
Carla is standing opposite Sarah, a large knife in her hand as she stares at her, a wild look in her eyes. She looks like she hasn’t showered in days, her hair hanging limp and greasy around her shoulders, her clothes all disheveled. But it’s her eyes that get me, because they are wide and wild like she’s on edge or on something.
“Sarah,” I ask, my eyes flicking to her. “You okay?”
She nods without taking her eyes off Carla and I slide my phone into my pocket as I make my way toward the ladder.
“Carla,” I repeat. “Don’t do this,” I add, as I climb over the deck and down onto the docks. “This has nothing to do with Sarah, nothing at all.”
“This has everything to do with her,” Carla screams, never taking her eyes off Sarah as her voice echoes in the large shed.
I shake my head as I walk toward them. “No, it doesn’t,” I say as I stop beside Carla, my eyes on her now. “This is between you and me.”
Carla’s holding the knife at Sarah, she’s close, not so close that I’m not prepared to risk attempting to disarm her. As long as Sarah is safe, that’s all I care about.
“Carla,” I repeat. “Stop this. Give me the knife.”
But Carla ignores me, shaking her head once as she steps closer to Sarah, the knife now only inches from her throat.
I move forward, inching my feet closer to her and hoping like fuck that Greenwood can hear all of this through the phone in my pocket and is sending someone over here.
“Carla,” I try again. “Stop.”
“Stop what?” she shouts, her voice shrill. “Stop loving you? Stop caring for you, caring about you? How can I do that…how?” Her voice cracks, the words coming out high and rushed like she’s barely aware of what she’s even saying. It scares the shit out of me to see her like this. To witness this strange obsession first hand. To know it really is a delusion.
“Please,” I say, hands out as I step toward her. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“Yes,” Carla says now, her voice strangely calm. “This is exactly how it has to be,” she adds as she lunges at Sarah with the knife.
“Fuck!” I scream as fear all but paralyzes me.
Chapter Thirty-One
Sarah
I can’t even process what is happening. I’m emotionally and physically exhausted from all the shit that went down with Andrew just hours ago and now I’m dealing with a psycho who thinks my boyfriend belongs to her.
She’s unstable, but she’s also weak and exhausted, and it shows on her face. The dark purple circles that rim her eyes and her matted unkempt hair, says she hasn’t slept or showered in days. Her normally heavily made up face is red and blotchy, aging her well beyond her early thirties.
She looks far from stable and when she lunges at me, she’s slow and awkward, and the knife is pointed down.
I grab hold of her wrist just as the sirens cry out in the distance. It won’t be long before the police arrive and arrest her, but she doesn’t seem concerned.
Her eyes shoot down to where my hand clutches her wrist and she yanks hard trying to break free, but I hold firm. My other hand wraps around the base of the knife, again holding it in place.
“Let go!” Carla screams in my face and her breath reeks of booze and cigarettes and dirty teeth, but I don’t relent.
“You don’t want to do this,” I say, shaking my head at her, our eyes locked together. “Just put the knife down. Listen, the police will be here any minute and right now, you’re in a good place.”
I’m trying to talk her down, bide time until the police arrive, but I can tell out of the corner of my eye, Finn doesn’t like the idea. He’s moving toward us and I know it’s going to throw Carla into a tailspin.
As soon as she realizes he’s coming to protect me, she’s going to up her game. And if Ryan has taught me anything about the crazy and the unstable, it’s that they’re unpredictable and that when push comes to shove, they lose their shit.
I can’t look away from her and risk losing the edge I currently have on her, but I can’t let Finn come any closer either.
“Stay away!” I yell, but it’s like Finn doesn’t hear me, too wrapped up in my safety. “Seriously, Finn!”
“Listen to her, Finn,” Carla chides manically, a high-pitch laugh ringing out above the sound of the sirens.
When Finn finally stops, the sound of his feet no longer moving along the worn wooden planks of the dock, I breathe out slowly.
“If you kill me, they will arrest you,” I whisper to Carla. She’s quiet, taking in my words and I use the opportunity to get inside her head. “I want you to put the knife down and go to Finn.”
Her eyes find mine, and she smiles, but it’s sad and I watch the tears well up in her eyes.
“If you kill me, you’ll never be able to be with him.”
She contemplates my words, and all I can hope is that she’s too manic to realize I’m setting her up.
I feel her grip on the knife loosen, but the pounding feet of the incoming police officers shake the dock and Carla snaps back to life.
She again begins to push the knife toward my body, the tip nearly poking my thigh and it takes what little strength I have left to force it away.
“Call them off!” I scream at Finn, my eyes darting quickly to his and then back to Carla. I know any disturbance in what I’ve already stabilized will just set us back and I’m not sure I have the resolve to see this out any longer.
As much as I despise Carla for what she’s done, I don’t want her dead, but with the way the police are aiming their guns at her, I can’t help but think that’s what they want.
It won’t fix the situation. Carla is sick, and she needs more help than the criminal justice system can provide. I need to walk away from this unscathed, because right now Carla is looking at minimal time in prison. But if she stabs me, they can get her for attempted murder.
I don’t want that for her. She needs to be in a mental health facility where doctors can treat her and help her find a way to a stable life.
Finn holds a hand up and the group of officers stop in their tracks, but one officer in particular doesn’t seem as keen as the others to back off.
“Listen to me, Carla,” I demand, my voice firm. “You need to go to Finn. I’m not willing to risk my life over a guy. He’s yours.”
She looks at me and then at Finn, but I never take my eyes off her. I’m trusting that Finn hears the plea in my words and knows that I’m not talking to her, but to him.
I need him to lure her away from me. I need my words to be desperate enough that she believes me.
I watch her shoulders sag as if she’s suddenly relieved, and then I hear Finn’s deep voice murmur, “Come here, Carla. Come to me.”
Her grip on the knife is gone, it’s now resting in my hand, as I watch her stagger toward Finn’s outstretched arms.
But like hell if I’m going to let her reach him.
I have no idea if she’s still armed and I don’t want to find out.
Without missing a beat, I chuck the knife into the water, the sound causing Carla to look away from Finn, and it gives me just enough time to catch her off guard.
I catch her in the back of knees with my leg, sweeping her feet out from under her. She crashes hard onto the dock; her body slamming down and her head bouncing wildly like a ragdoll.
She goes unconscious the moment she hits the wooden surface, and by the time I take a breath, the officers have descended upon us and it’s out of my hands.
It’s Finn’s arms that grab me when I finally feel the weight of my day crash into me, and I let my body sink into him.
And for the first time that I can remember, I let myself cry. I’m sobbing into Finn’s chest as he runs his hands up and down my back.
I put my life at risk not once but twice tonight and it’s a place I never want to find myself again.
“Shhhh, Sarah,” Finn murmurs into my hair making a hushing noise as he presses his lips to the top of my head. “I’ve got you. It’s over.”
In between muffled sobs and hard drawn in breaths, I hear Finn’s conversation with Detective Greenwood.
He’s been cleared of any wrongdoing and his file will reflect that, but he will eventually need to meet with the detective to give his statement on what occurred tonight, as will I.
And as I finally calm down, my sobs turning to soft muted cries, Finn and I make our way back to the room at the inn.
I strip off my clothes and Finn follows suit, and heads to the bathroom, starting the oversized shower,
The waterfall of rain begins to cascade down on me as Finn steps in and takes my exhausted body in his arms. We stand like this for what feels like forever, his hands running up and down the length of my body.
“Let’s agree that there will be no more of you putting yourself in danger,” Finn says, and something about his words makes me smile.
I look up at him, and he leans down, our mouths meeting in a soft kiss. It’s a kiss that says so much without using the words. It says I love you.
It only takes one moment, one fleeting second of fear, of worry, of heart-shattering sadness to realize what a person means to you. Finn and I had that moment today and it’s something I never want to relive.
“I agree,” I say, nodding my head, but knowing that Finn’s job alone puts him in danger. “I guess we can just be grateful that you’re the chief in a small town where stuff like this only happens once in a lifetime.”
Finn chuckles a bit and I look up at him with a questioning looking on my face. “I guess, unless you’re part of my family. Those are the people who bring big drama to this town.”
I laugh too, thinking about Kelsey and Erin and now me, we’re the problem causers, the bringers of drama. But it is nice that we can laugh about it despite the horribleness that could have come from all of it.