Closing Time

by Brenda Chapman

  “He and Shane are having a drink at our place. Shane and I are going to live together if I promise to go to the doctor when we get back to Sudbury. Neal said he might come stay for a while until he finds his own place.” Petra clamped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, I wasn’t supposed to say that.”

  Despair fuelled by rage expanded to fill Martha’s chest until she screamed out her anger. One scream felt good, so she shrieked out another. The room floated in wavy lines with black dots thickening on the edges of her vision. Petra’s mouth had formed into a round circle and her eyes were wide and scared, like a blow-up Betty Boop. The sight of Petra’s horror made Martha stifle a giggle even though none of this was remotely funny. She rubbed her eyes and blinked hard, then took a deep breath. She felt her blood pressure lower enough so that she could see straight again. Petra’s face morphed back into its normal size and shape although her eyes were large and panicked.

  I’m not going down without bringing you with me, Martha thought. Your lies are the reason I did what I did. You have single-handedly destroyed my life. You and Shane will not live happily ever after with Neal sleeping all cozy in your guest room, the three of you laughing at me as if I’m the crazy one. She leapt the distance to the kitchen and pulled the carving knife out of the wooden block on the counter, swinging around to face Petra.

  “What are you doing, Martha?” asked Petra as she started backing up toward the door. Her eyes stayed focused on the knife. She whimpered. “I need to go see Shane.”

  “Then let’s go see him. Let’s tell him and Neal that you’re the reason that all our lives are ruined.”

  “How could our lives be ruined?”

  Martha felt a small surge of power as she watched understanding cross Petra’s frantic face.

  Yeah, that’s right. I’m the killer, not Phil Bocock or anybody else Rachel was screwing. Not anybody else who she and Faraday were blackmailing. Nobody is going to destroy what’s rightfully mine. I’ll kill all of you and burn this place to the fucking ground first.

  A calmness stole over her. Perhaps this had been the path all along. She didn’t have to bear the pain any longer — she had the power to ease the horror that her life had become. And she could make damn sure that Petra didn’t live to ruin other lives or to enjoy one more wicked, self-serving second of her own debauched existence.

  “Slight change of plans,” she said to Petra. “We’re going to take a walk over to the main lodge and see what we can cook up.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Kala and Taiku emerged from the path to the main road as a slam of thunder cracked like a gunshot overhead. Lightning lit up the landscape and Kala took the opportunity to look for anyone else out late on this stormy night. They were alone as far as she could see.

  She pointed her flashlight toward the ground and walked in the direction of the main lodge. The restaurant was in darkness and she continued on past. She believed that the killer was from one of the two couples impacted by the explicit photos of Petra and Martha together in the guest cabin: Shane and Petra. Neal and Martha. She considered Neal Lorring suspect number one, but wasn’t ruling any of them out. Not yet.

  Shane and Petra’s cabin was closest to the restaurant, set back in the woods away from the water. The lights were on. Kala stood for a moment under the shelter of a tree at the fringes of the property, watching for signs of life inside. She called to Taiku to heel and they approached the cabin together. She didn’t have her service revolver and hoped that Taiku would at least make somebody think twice before attacking her … if it came to that.

  She listened at the door before knocking, then gave a solid rap. Seconds later Shane swung the door open wide. She looked past him and saw Neal sitting on the couch with a glass of amber liquid in his hand. Shane held a glass as well and he drew her into the room with his free hand. She told Taiku to wait outside on the porch where he was sheltered from the rain and followed Shane inside.

  “What are you doing out on such a miserable night?” Shane asked when she turned her attention back to him. “Come into the living room. Leave your boots on. I have a fire going and you can warm up.” He raised his glass. “Join us in a glass of Scotch?”

  “No, thank you. I’ll only be a moment.” She looked into the corners of the room and surveyed the kitchen. “Are Petra and Martha here?”

  “Petra went over to talk to Martha at her cabin. I expect her back any minute.”

  She looked at Neal. “You spoke with Petra when you found her with my partner Rouleau on the dock. Would you tell me why you were angry with her today?”

  Neal’s eyes turned wary. “We heard you’ve made an arrest, so how could my anger with Petra be of any importance?”

  “There’s been no arrest. We’re still working to put the pieces together.”

  Neal shrugged. “Martha told me this afternoon that Petra convinced her I was sleeping with Rachel Eglan. It was a fabrication, and I confronted Petra. Let’s say she realized how damaging her fantasy leap could be and was convinced a short while ago by me and Shane to go apologize to Martha.”

  “You were not having an affair with Rachel?”

  “God, no. Rachel was a kid, still in high school. Petra saw normal human kindness and spun it into something ugly.”

  Shane had been standing next to Kala and he cleared his throat. “In her defence, Petra is manic and off her meds, and she’s been known to make up shit. She’s promised to see a doctor as soon as we get out of here. By the way, is there any word on when we’re free to close up and leave?”

  “Officer Harrison left a message with Martha, Neal. He said you can all go your separate ways tomorrow.”

  “I haven’t been home most of the day. Did she tell you, Shane?”

  “Nope.”

  They were silent as they pondered what Martha’s silence could mean. Kala started to get a bad feeling, as if time were running out. She said, “Some photos taken by Thomas Faraday have surfaced. Some revealing photos.”

  Both men stared at her. Shane asked, “Can you, uh, give us any more detail?”

  “Your wives were alone together in a guest cabin …”

  Neal jumped off the couch before she could finish. “Why, that prick Faraday. If he wasn’t already dead I’d let him have it for being a scumbag voyeur.”

  Shane’s expression revealed a man gobsmacked. “He was watching them? Taking pictures? Good God almighty.”

  Their reactions told Kala two things: they both knew about their wives’ affair, and neither had known about the pictures. They might be putting on an act, but her instincts said otherwise. If she continued with the premise that Faraday had been blackmailing the killer, the only reason she could see for his murder, then only Petra and Martha remained as viable suspects.

  Kala thought about the two women’s opposite personalities. Martha was competent and controlled whereas Petra was manic and promiscuous. Faraday’s series of photos gave evidence that Petra had initiated the sex.

  Martha believed that Rachel and Neal were having an affair only because Petra had convinced her. Martha must have felt that both her marriage and Pine Hollow Lodge were under threat … and Petra was instrumental in both. How high would Martha’s anger escalate once she found out that Petra had fabricated Rachel’s affair with Neal, the likely catalyst for Rachel’s murder?

  “I think we need to go find your wives,” said Kala, making no effort to hide the urgency in her voice. “We should be prepared to stop one of them from doing something rash.”

  Both men stared at her with dawning horror. “Which one?” asked Shane.

  Kala hesitated. “We’ll find out when we speak with them.”

  If it’s not too late.

  Kala put her hand on Shane’s arm when they reached the road. “Could you first run over to Ian and Blaine’s cabin and ask one of them to drive into Searchmont to call 911? Then join us at Neal’s cabin.”

  Shane nodded, his face grim, his eyes darting between her and the Lorrings’ cabi
n farther up the road before he turned and disappeared into the veil of rain and darkness.

  Martha grabbed Petra by the arm, ignoring her shriek of pain. “Walk, you bitch. Don’t make me cut you.”

  Petra snivelled and blubbered like a baby the entire walk through the woods to the road. Martha thought about slitting her throat and being done with the irritation but that would be letting her off too easy. She prodded Petra forward in the shadows along the edge of the road in case someone happened along, although the odds were slim with the storm drenching them before they’d gone ten steps. She pulled Petra into the brush when she saw a hooded figure that looked like that woman cop going up the path toward Petra and Shane’s cabin. Petra wrenched forward and tried to struggle free. “Don’t even think about it,” said Martha through clenched teeth. “I’ll kill you here and now without thinking twice. And then I’ll kill her next.”

  Petra froze in place. “I said I’m sorry, Martha.” Her teeth were chattering from cold or fear or both. “I’ll make things right.” She turned to face Martha, rain streaming down her face like a steady flow of tears. She clasped both hands in front of her. “Please give me another chance. Please, Martha.”

  “No.” Martha had never felt as certain about anything in her life. This woman needed to pay. If not for her, Neal would still want to be married and they’d be trying for another baby. And I wouldn’t have killed Rachel or Thomas. She closed that thought down as soon as it entered her head. She had to keep herself numb and not think about what she’d done. Only madness lay on that path.

  “Neal loves you. He doesn’t have to know … about Rachel or Thomas and what you did. I won’t tell anybody. Ow!”

  Martha wrenched Petra’s arm and shoved her forward. “Keep walking. I’m not listening to any more of your lies.”

  Petra sobbed but she stopped begging. She lurched back onto the road and resumed her weeping as she stumbled ahead of Martha while the thunder rumbled overhead and lightning lit up the sky. How did I ever find you attractive? thought Martha.

  They reached the path to the main lodge and cut across the grass to the back entrance, which was in darkness. Martha had the key out and fumbled to open the lock. She shoved Petra inside and locked the door behind them. It didn’t matter now if she turned on a light and anybody saw. Nothing mattered. She felt as if a force were propelling her toward the end.

  “Sit over there,” she told Petra. “Where I can see you.”

  “Okay, Martha.” Petra used a phony, meek voice that grated on Martha’s nerves. She obediently sat herself down in the corner on the stool that Shane used to reach the high cupboards, like she deserved to be punished. Martha knew that the true Petra never showed remorse or insecurity. All she ever cared about was herself. Shane would be better off without this amoral leech sucking the lifeblood out of him. In a way, she was saving his life.

  Fuelled by her anger and not allowing herself to stop moving, Martha found the bucket of old cooking grease that Shane kept tucked under the counter until he had a chance to clean it out. She set the knife on the counter within reach and picked up the container, splashing oil across the counter and floor. She filled the skillet on the stove and threw the remainder of the oil in the bucket in Petra’s direction, satisfied to see Petra cower as gobs of it landed on her clothes and hair. Her last task was to turn the heat up high under the pan of oil. It didn’t take long for a flame to spark and send brilliant orange fire straight upward. The oil that had pooled on the counter and floor caught in seconds and spread quickly up the wall. The dry wooden structure was engulfed in flame in the blink of an eye. Martha stared through the fire and smoke at Petra shrieking in the corner and had the feeling of returning to her own body. What have I done?

  The instinct to save herself made her frantic. Not this way, she thought. Petra should die. Not me. But she’d misjudged how fast the fire would grow, and flames had already spread to block the exit into the main restaurant. She spun back around to go out the back way, but the smoke was thick and black, and she couldn’t see Petra anymore. She opened her mouth to scream and the smoke filled her lungs and stung her eyes. She dropped to her knees and began crawling toward what she believed to be the back door. Her entire body felt as if it was on fire and she realized she didn’t want to die. The crackling and popping and heat were too much. Too much. Something struck her back, and she collided with a wall where she thought the doorway opening should be. “Neal!” she screamed, and more smoke choked her and the pain seared into her back and the roar of the fire consumed her as she tried with every ounce of will left inside her to crawl toward safety.

  Neal and Kala approached his cabin without speaking. Taiku stayed close to Kala as if sensing trouble. Neal had his chin tucked into his rain jacket and his hands in his pockets, walking quickly and slightly ahead of her. He stopped at the edge of his property and studied the cabin. He swivelled his head to look at Kala.

  “The lights are on. I don’t hear any screaming.” A smile flitted across his face. “You should know that Martha and I aren’t together anymore,” he said. “She wants to be, but I’m done.”

  “Can you tell me why?”

  “We’ve tried to have a baby and she’s miscarried a few times. It changed her. She started becoming obsessive and difficult to be around. Sex became a grim chore and all she talked about. Charts, ovulation windows, and body temperature — it never ended. She’d cry for days if she got her period. It got so bad I hated to come home. Then we came here for the summer and she seemed a bit more like herself until I caught her in bed with Petra and … I don’t know. Nothing feels the same for me anymore.” He wiped rain from his eyes. “Do you believe she killed Rachel and Thomas?”

  “I think you should be prepared for that eventuality. She could be more troubled than you imagine. Sometimes people struggle and do things they wouldn’t even contemplate when mentally healthy.”

  Neal looked at the ground. “I’ll go in and try to talk to her.”

  “You must be extremely careful not to make her feel there’s no hope. Don’t let her know how shocked you are by what she’s done. Stay calm. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Would it be better if I went in alone?”

  “It might take two of us to keep both women from harm.”

  “Petra could be the killer.” He spoke without conviction.

  “She could be, but I believe that Martha had the most to lose.”

  “I can hardly get my head around this.”

  They approached the house and Neal entered first. He called Martha’s name, but silence greeted them. He walked around the living room and checked the kitchen and bedrooms before rejoining Kala.

  “They’re not here.”

  “Then we’ll have to spread out and find them. I don’t think we have much time.”

  Taiku growled a warning as they stepped outside. He was on guard, looking toward the road. Kala reached down and grabbed on to his collar as Shane and Ian emerged from the trees. They were walking far apart, and Kala remembered that Petra had been sleeping with Ian when Shane was working in the kitchen. Thankfully the two men appeared prepared to set that aside for now.

  “Blaine’s driving toward town until he gets a phone signal. Have you found them yet?” asked Shane.

  “They’re not here,” said Neal. “Could they have gone to the beach?”

  “Lights are on in the main lodge,” said Ian. “I thought Shane was in there working, but since he isn’t, it might be them.”

  “The lights in the restaurant were off when I went to your cabin, Shane,” said Kala. The men gathered around her. “We have to assume that this could be a hostage situation and make contact with the women while we wait for the reinforcements to arrive. Neal, are you still comfortable talking to Martha?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Does either woman have access to a gun?”

  “Shane and I don’t hunt and haven’t any guns, so I’d say no.”

  “That’s good.” She tried to reass
ure them with her eyes. “Our goal is to keep everyone safe. Stay calm and follow my lead.”

  Each man nodded and they hurried down the path to the road with Neal and Kala in the front. She kept Taiku at her side, wishing now that she’d left him in their cabin out of harm’s way.

  “Rain’s letting up a bit,” said Neal.

  She turned her face skyward and found he was right. The rain had eased to a drizzle. That should make their wait easier if the women couldn’t be coaxed out right away.

  Neal stopped and Kala felt him grab her arm. “What the hell?” Neal pointed up the road toward the main lodge and her eyes followed the direction of his finger. The windows were glowing orange in the back section, and as they watched, flames began licking up the sides of the outer walls toward the roof. Kala and the others stood frozen for a second as they tried to comprehend the surreal sight unfolding before their eyes. In that split moment of hesitation, the glow from the flames lit up the sky like blowtorches.

  “Hurry!” Kala cried and the men sped ahead of her toward the restaurant. By the time she and Taiku reached the parking lot, the entire kitchen was engulfed in flame with black smoke billowing skyward. The fire was crackling and popping, the noise a roar in her ears. Shane, Neal, and Ian were already circling the lodge, trying to get inside. She could hear the hiss of rain meeting fire and the rush of flames, not slowed by the precipitation that was barely making a dent. Kala pulled her jacket up over her nose and mouth to filter the acrid stench of burning wood and plastics and chemicals. As she peered into the glow of the burning building, she spotted Shane running along the side closest to her toward the front door. He yelled something before disappearing inside. Neal followed behind him through the smoke-filled door and Kala lunged forward to join them. Ian grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

  “There’s no point,” he yelled above the crackling and roar of the fire. “They’re insane to go in there.”