Dark Harbor

by David K. Wilson

  “I can’t stay long. I just wanted to…”

  He glanced at Carla, not sure if he should finish the sentence.

  What was going on? Carla wondered.

  Vanessa nodded nervously.

  “Carla, do you mind?” Vanessa asked.

  “Car stuff,” John offered unconvincingly.

  “Very private car stuff, apparently,” Carla replied.

  “It’s about Norm,” Vanessa said.

  Something about Norm that Vanessa didn’t want to share?

  “I’ll be in the back,” Carla stammered, pointing toward the bedrooms.

  She turned and walked into Vanessa’s bedroom, leaving her sister alone with the man who could be linked to the murder of her husband.

  What are they talking about?

  Carla strained to listen through the door, ready to pounce if things got out of hand. But all she could make out were muffled whispers. Suddenly, Carla jumped in surprise at a loud banging at the front door.

  53

  John watched as Vanessa went down the hall to answer the door and was confused when he saw who followed her back in.

  It was Gina.

  She was wearing nurse scrubs that were covered in smiley face emojis and was clutching a handbag that was hanging off of one shoulder. But there was something about her that was off.

  “Hi, John,” Gina said, barely acknowledging Vanessa’s presence.

  Her presence clearly startled him.

  “I tried to call you, but you weren’t answering,” she explained, noting his nervous confusion. “My necklace was missing, so I figured I left it at your shop. I was on my way there but then I saw you coming this way so I followed.”

  She walked past Vanessa, focused completely on John.

  “I don’t have your necklace,” John said nervously.

  “It’s probably at the shop,” Gina said, turning to look at Vanessa for the first time. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

  Vanessa shook her head, noticing a spark of menace behind the nurse’s sweet smile.

  “I just needed to drop something off,” John explained.

  “That’s okay, honey,” she said.

  Vanessa was stunned as she figured out the relationship between Gina and John.

  “You two are a…”

  “Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Gina asked.

  She turned to John.

  “You’re not doing anything you shouldn’t be doing, are you?” she said with a wink.

  The fire in her eyes was growing and John was clearly nervous.

  “Of course not!” he said.

  “You think that me and John…?” Vanessa asked. “I swear. There’s nothing going on between us.”

  Gina spun around and glared at Vanessa.

  “Because he’s with me now,” Gina snapped. “Just me.”

  Vanessa gasped, taking a step back from the sudden outburst. Gina too a breath to collect herself. The glare in her eyes disappeared and her sweet smile came back.

  “I just know how irresistible he is,” she continued. “But he’s mine.”

  Vanessa nodded. Even though Gina seemed to have calmed down, something about her still seemed off.

  “I think you need to leave,” Vanessa said firmly.

  “I think you need to stay away from my man,” Gina shot back.

  “Okay, everyone calm down,” John said, extending his arms to Gina. “Baby, there’s nothing going on here.”

  “You know, I saw the two of you,” Gina said, the menace returning to her eyes. “Back at the shop. All friendly and cuddly. It broke my heart.”

  Both John and Vanessa were caught speechless.

  “Thought you were being so secretive, didn’t you?” Gina said.

  “You’ve got it all wrong,” John offered.

  “That’s what you like, right John?” Gina asked. “Keeping everything a secret?”

  She shook her head as the anger continued to rage inside her.

  “I haven’t gone through all of this just to be tossed aside,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Gina, nothing is going on here,” Vanessa said.

  Gina shot a glare at Vanessa that nearly knocked her down.

  “Couldn’t keep your greedy hands off of him, could you?” Gina sneered. “I guess once a whore, always a whore.”

  “Gina!” Carla yelled, getting everyone’s attention.

  Carla appeared out of the hallway and walked next to her sister.

  “What the hell is going on?” she asked.

  Caught up in her anger, Gina glared at Carla.

  “So you know about the two of them?” Gina asked.

  “Know what?” Carla asked back.

  A look of contempt fell over Gina’s face.

  “You’ve known about them all along, haven’t you?” Gina accused. “Even when I told you about Jane. You knew about them then and said nothing.”

  “Know what?” Carla asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Enough lies!” Gina yelled.

  Tears began to stream down her face and she started to tremble as she turned to John.

  “I’ve done everything for you,” she said softly. “And this is how you thank me?”

  “Why don’t we go outside and talk?” John suggested, trying to sound calm and reassuring.

  But Gina shook her head.

  “No. It’s too late for that now.”

  The sadness boiled into fury as Gina reached into her handbag and pulled out a gun.

  54

  Turner sat in his car waiting for the dispatcher to get back to him. Sam had left, having been assured by Turner that Gina not only had been nothing but a model citizen since she’d been on the island, but they had done a background check on her and there was no criminal history.

  Still, he couldn’t get the notion out of his head. What did he really know about her? And how long had she and John been sleeping together? He needed to talk to John. As certain as he was about his friend’s innocence, he had to admit it definitely didn’t look good.

  He had decided to pay Gina a visit. At least talk to her about everything. Get her take. Then he had a second idea. The background check had been based on Gina’s name. But what about the fingerprint database? He knew all hospital employees had fingerprints on file, so he had called his dispatcher and asked to have a search pulled on Gina’s fingerprints.

  “Turner? You there?” the female dispatcher’s voice came through over the police radio.

  Turner snapped up the mic. “Whaddaya got?”

  “I’ve got a lot,” the dispatcher said. “First off, our girl Gina is an alias. Her actual name is Tina McMillan. From Denver. And she’s got quite the rap sheet. Assault. Harassment. Stalking. Arson. And attempted murder.”

  “Come again?” Turner asked, shocked at what he had just heard.

  “I’m digging deeper on the attempted murder,” the dispatcher said. “But from what I can tell, the victim was stabbed multiple times and somehow lived. Charges were dropped, but I don’t know why.”

  Probably not enough evidence to prosecute, thought Turner.

  “I need you to issue an APB out on Gina Moffet,” Turner said. “We need to contact all the departments on the island. We’re going to have to divide and conquer on this and track her down as soon as possible.”

  As Turner spoke, he started his car and pulled out on to the road in front of the auto shop. He reached into his jacket pocket to get the business card Sam had just given to him, dialing the number into his phone. The phone rang as Turner sped down the road. But Sam didn’t answer.

  55

  Sam pulled up to Vanessa’s house, wondering about the two strange cars in the driveway. As he got closer, he noticed one car had a hospital parking sticker on the corner of the rear window.

  It must be Gina, he thought. But why would she be here? And who does the other car belong to?

  He got out of the truck and walked toward the house, leaving his pho
ne on the passenger seat. By the time he reached the front door, he was too far away to hear it ringing.

  He stepped inside and walked unwittingly into the living area. Stunned, he froze in place, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

  There was a crazed woman wearing smiley face nurse’s scrubs standing in the middle of the living room, waving a gun back and forth between Vanessa, Carla and John Rowe.

  “Don’t come any closer!” Gina yelled.

  “I knew it!” Sam shouted out without thinking.

  He was so pleased with himself for being right in suspecting Gina that he temporarily forgot the gravity of the predicament.

  “I said, don’t come closer,” Gina yelled again.

  Sam stopped, still grinning.

  “Paul is gonna be so pissed when he finds out,” Sam said.

  “Shut up and stay still,” Gina said.

  Sam nodded.

  “I’m assuming you’re Gina,” he said. “I’m going to be so let down if you’re not.”

  “Be quiet,” she snapped at him.

  Sam nodded, taking that as a yes. As he began to come down from the high of being right, he glanced around to gauge the situation. He was too far away from Gina to run at her. She’d at least get one shot out before he could disarm her. His only option was to talk the gun out of her hand, and hostage negotiation had never been his strong suit.

  The gun. He recognized that gun.

  “I’m Sam, by the way,” he said casually.

  “I know who you are,” Gina shot back.

  “I didn’t know if you recognized me,” Sam said, slowly taking another step forward “Last time you saw me, it was from behind.”

  She glared at Sam, waving the gun to motion for him to stop. But he took another step anyway.

  “That really hurt, by the way,” Sam said, rubbing the back of his head. “And it was totally uncalled for.”

  Gina seemed surprised that Sam had figured out she had been his attacker.

  “I see you still have my gun,” Sam said, pointing to the pistol that was pointed at him. “Thank God you didn’t get rid of it. Do you know they were gonna take it out of my paycheck?”

  “Wait,” Carla said, making the connection that Gina must have been Sam’s attacker.

  “I should have killed you, too,” Gina snarled.

  “But you didn’t,” Sam said, taking yet another step. “Because you’re not all bad, are you, Gina? In fact, I’d bet you didn’t even want to kill Norm.”

  Vanessa gasped out loud at the accusation. John’s face froze in shock and disbelief.

  “I gave him every chance,” Gina explained. “All he had to do was leave town. But he wouldn’t.”

  She waved her gun at Vanessa.

  “I told him I’d kill you if he ever showed his face again,” she said. “But he wouldn’t leave. He said he had to see you one last time. I knew right then what I had to do. It was the only way to be sure he’d stay quiet.”

  “You…killed…” Vanessa could barely get the words out.

  Gina looked at her and shrugged. “Sorry. It was him or me.”

  While Gina was focused on Vanessa, Sam took another step forward. He was now only about ten feet away.

  Gina spun the gun back around to Sam.

  “Would you stay still?” she yelled.

  “I’m sorry!” Sam yelled back. “Having a gun pointed at my face makes me restless!”

  The outburst stunned Gina, just as Sam had hoped it would.

  “I guess it is kind of romantic,” Sam said. “Killing for love. I get it.”

  “Don’t,” Gina warned.

  “That must have sucked, though,” Sam continued. “You and John fall in love. You finally meet the man of your dreams. But he’s still stuck in a relationship with another woman.”

  Carla took a step to the side and Vanessa caught the reflection of the knife Carla was still clutching behind her back.

  “But then the real kicker,” Sam said. “She had to go and get pregnant.”

  “Shut up!” Gina yelled.

  “Wait. What?” John muttered, completely stunned. “Jane was pregnant?”

  “Oops,” Sam said. “You didn’t know? Ouch.”

  John glared at Gina. “Is all this true?”

  Gina looked at John, suddenly softening.

  “I couldn’t let her trap you, Baby,” Gina said. “We were meant to be together.”

  Rage was building in John. “You bitch,” he yelled as he stormed toward her.

  Gina fired the gun, and the noise echoed through the house. John yelled out in anguish as he grabbed his leg and fell to the floor.

  The shot threw everyone off and before Carla even realized what was happening, Vanessa had pulled the knife away from her and ran toward Gina.

  Gina spun around, the pistol aimed directly at Vanessa’s head, but Vanessa reached her before she could fire, slashing her forearm as they both toppled to the ground.

  Gina yelled in pain and dropped the gun. Sam took advantage of the commotion, lunging across the room and pinning Gina to the floor.

  “No!” Gina yelled manically.

  Sam straddled Gina’s stomach as she flailed underneath him like a trapped wild animal. Carla grabbed the gun and handed it to Sam.

  “Hello, old friend,” Sam said to his pistol. “Did the mean lady treat you nice?”

  “Let me go!” Gina yelled.

  “Sorry, Nurse Ratched,” Sam yelled. “But I’m already on the shit list of the local police. I think they’d frown upon that.”

  “Let her go,” came a disturbingly calm voice behind Sam.

  He turned to see Vanessa still clutching the knife in her hands, pointing it at Sam.

  56

  “Vanessa, what are you doing?” Carla asked.

  “Let me finish what I started,” Vanessa said.

  Her body was shaking, but she had a fierce determination in her eyes.

  “She killed my husband,” Vanessa yelled.

  “Vanessa, you don’t want to do this,” Carla said gently.

  “She’s right,” John said.

  Vanessa looked over at John, confused. He was lying in the ground, holding his bloodied leg where Gina had shot him.

  “She killed Jane,” Vanessa argued. “She killed your…”

  “I know what she did,” John interrupted before she could say more. “But don’t let her take everything. She deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison. Not you.”

  “And trust me,” Sam said. “Prison is not gonna be any fun for someone like her.”

  Carla stepped next to Vanessa and gently put her hand over the hand holding the knife. Vanessa slowly released her grip and collapsed in sobs.

  “If you want, you can punch her in the face before the cops get here,” Sam offered.

  Carla looked at him, shaking her head in disapproval. Sam shrugged.

  Carla rushed over to John to tend to his wound.

  Vanessa called 9-1-1 and Gina, finally surrendering to her fate, stopped struggling.

  “Damn, Nessie,” Sam said. “You went all Samurai on us there.”

  It managed to get a smile out of Vanessa and the four sat in silence as they waited for the police to arrive.

  57

  Sam looked out the window, letting out a private sigh of relief as the plane’s wheels touched the ground. For some reason, he felt safe, even though he was still strapped in a large metal tube that was traveling at dangerous speeds while balancing on three small wheels.

  “Home sweet home,” he said to himself.

  Carla squeezed his arm lovingly in agreement.

  They had stayed in Martha’s Vineyard for another week, helping close out the case and be there for Vanessa at Norm’s funeral. Even though the conditions were morbid, Sam had actually found some time to enjoy himself. Not one to deal directly with grief, Jude seized the opportunity to distract himself by serving as an unofficial tour guide for Sam. He not only took him to the favorite tourist sites
, like Jaws Bridge and the Gingerbread Houses of Oak Bluffs, but also some local favorites, like the hiking trails in the Great Rock Bight Preserve and the colorful cliffs at Aquinnah. He even took Sam and Turner out deep-sea fishing.

  But Sam was ready to return to work, mainly because he couldn’t wait to rub the fact that he had helped solve a double murder into Chief Bannon’s face. Turner had even made a point of calling Chief Bannon personally to applaud Sam’s invaluable help. A favor that Sam admittedly had to “buy” with a couple rounds of beer at The Dive In.

  Carla had invited her sister to come visit her in Texas. Vanessa had promised to take the trip as soon as she sorted everything out and saw the lavender farm through the busy tourist season. Knowing she had Jude there helped ease Carla’s concerns.

  It turned out the reason Vanessa had visited John was to borrow money to help cover Norm’s funeral costs until she received his life insurance. At first, Carla was angry that Vanessa hadn’t come to her for help, but her sister explained that she had swallowed so much pride during Carla’s visit, she couldn’t bring herself to ask for yet another favor.

  Gina pled guilty to the murders of Jane Caplan and Norm Mayhew. In lieu of her guilty plea, which would most certainly result in life imprisonment, the state chose not to seek a more challenging third murder charge for Jane’s unborn child.

  According to Gina’s official statement, she had arrived at Jane’s house around 1:00 a.m. and stabbed her fifteen times in the chest, throat and torso. She then wiped down the house for fingerprints and other signs of evidence and was about to leave when Norm walked in on the crime scene.

  After watching Norm stumble through the crime scene drunk, leaving fingerprints everywhere he went, Gina realized she had a perfect scapegoat. She lied to Norm, telling him she didn’t act alone and her partner would murder Vanessa if anything happened to her. She told him the only way to save his wife would be to disappear forever. Too drunk to question her threat, Norm panicked and agreed.

  As soon as she heard the detective from Texas was looking for Norm, Gina started following him. When she saw him take a late-night ferry to Cape Cod with Jude, she got on the same ferry and trailed them to Norm’s mobile home. She was sneaking up on the house when she heard the rifle blast and saw Jude jump out of his truck. Hidden in the shadows, she was able to sneak up behind him and clock him in the back of the skull with a rock. Maybe it was because of his age, or maybe she got lucky and hit a sweet spot, but he instantly dropped to the ground, knocked out cold.