Two Widows: A totally gripping mystery and suspense novel

by Laura Wolfe

  I’m leaving him today, and you all should leave him, too. He thinks I don’t know that he’s still cheating on me, but I do. I found out a few weeks ago, the day I almost died in a car accident. He’s the reason our baby is dead. He’s a liar and a cheat and a murderer!

  I wasn’t worried about embarrassing myself, or people thinking I’d gone off the deep end. I’d already lost everything. The point of the speech was to humiliate Jason in front of his peers, to make people question his character and withdraw their money from his fund. If he could treat his wife and unborn child with so much disregard, how would he handle their money? Jason had ruined my life; now I would destroy the only thing that mattered to him—his reputation.

  The group of people I’d been standing with a moment earlier migrated to more important conversation partners. Minutes later, Alan strode over to the railing and draped his arm over the shoulders of his petite wife. Jason wasn’t with him.

  Although I was committed to my plan, my nerves were catching up with me, my heart thudding louder with each passing second. Shifting in my seat, I felt the time nearing. Via email, we’d received a detailed schedule of the cruise, including a map of the exact route we’d take, the timing of the food and drink service, and a complete menu. I’d make the toast right before the crew opened the buffet lunch. That’s when there’d be the most people gathered in the main cabin. Hopefully, I’d cause such an uncomfortable scene that the captain would cut the cruise short and return to port. But first, I needed to run to the restroom. The alcohol had gone straight through me.

  Standing, I teetered along the side of the cabin, using the wall to balance against the rocking motion of the boat. I made my way down the stairs and turned the corner into the bathroom. A minute later, relieved, I emerged on the lower deck, finding my bearings. The floor was even shiftier down here, the boat tilting and straightening with each wave.

  I rounded the bend. Jason lounged in the distance all alone. He could have been mistaken for a model from a J.Crew catalog, the way he rested his elbow on top of the railing, gazing out at the expanse with his chiseled features and windblown hair, the turquoise waves tossing beyond him. He flicked ash from his cigarette into the water as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I tried to remember any reason to still love him but couldn’t come up with a single one. If only he knew his charmed life was about to come to an end.

  A few feet from where he stood, the railing ended, leaving only a low ledge at the back of the boat. Beyond the ledge lay a drop of at least fifteen feet to where the water displaced by the yacht’s propellers churned and splashed creating a frothy white current behind us.

  How easy would it be, I thought, just to push him off the back of the boat, to never have to look at his lying face again? He deserved it. I’d be rid of him forever. Everyone would assume it was an accident.

  Planting my feet, I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath, remembering the plan. The speech Caroline and I had written. Despite everything Jason had done, I didn’t have it in me to kill him. Maybe I’d just give him a hint about the downfall awaiting him. That would be fun. An ominous statement to foreshadow his doom. Then I’d walk away without explanation.

  Slinking up behind him, I folded my arms in front of my chest. He still hadn’t noticed me when I was about a foot away. I stepped toward him, my heartbeat throbbing in my ears. “I know what you did.” My voice cut through the gusty sea air.

  His head swung toward me, eyes and mouth stretched wide. “Liz. You scared the crap out of me.”

  “I’m going to destroy you.”

  He shook his head and narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “You and Sarah.” I leaned close to him, speaking in barely a whisper, “Or is it Amanda?”

  His smile disappeared and he dropped his head. His knuckles turned white as his hand clutched the railing.

  “I was following you that day. That’s why I didn’t have time for the seat belt.” I ignored the spit that flew from my mouth with each painful syllable. My voice shook with anger, the words stinging me.

  His shifting eyes latched onto mine, solidifying in a moment of realization. “Liz…” A wave crashed against the boat, causing his beer to slip out of his hand. He fumbled, reaching to catch it, but wasn’t fast enough. The bottle spiraled downward and splashed into the water. He turned back toward me, his mouth pulled low at the corners, a sheen of sweat covering his forehead. He looked like he was going to throw up. I’d said enough. I needed to get away from him before he tried to justify his behavior. I’d save the rest of my surprises for the speech.

  I turned to leave but paused as Jason’s eyes popped open, his stunned expression transforming into panic. I wondered if he’d somehow figured out the speech I had planned, but he was no longer focused on me. Something beyond my shoulder had drawn his attention.

  A hand shoved me to the side, my stomach splitting with pain as a heavy-set man with gelled-back hair barged past me. A gold chain peeked from beneath his button-down shirt, his shadow darkening Jason’s face. “Let me save both of you a lot of trouble.” He lunged toward Jason, grabbing him by the shirt collar and forcing him several steps backward, toward the opening at the back of the boat. The yacht lurched against a wave and slammed down. A glass shattered in the distance, followed by laughter from the upper deck.

  “Shit!” Jason’s face stretched with terror. The man picked him up like a bag of garbage and heaved him head first over the ledge, slamming Jason’s skull against the side of the boat before he released him. Everything happened in an instant, yet also in slow motion. Jason’s limp body splashed into the water below, the choppy waves gobbling him up in a frenzy.

  My body froze. What the hell just happened? My feet remained cemented in place, shocked by the scene playing out in front of me. Before I could cry out, the man’s fingers clenched my arm. I struggled to pull away, searching for an escape route, for other witnesses, but his grip only tightened. Music, conversation, and laughter buzzed from the upper deck, but the lower deck was empty, except for us.

  Something about him was familiar. He forced me toward the ledge where we peered beyond the commotion of the propellers into the water behind us. Jason’s body floated motionless in the white froth of the boat’s wake and then began to sink. I gasped, still not believing what had happened. Jason was drowning. I’d lain awake at night wishing for karma to catch up with him. A part of me had wanted him to go overboard, but now that it was actually happening a sickening sensation rose in my stomach.

  “Don’t say nothin’.” The man leaned close to me, heat radiating from his face. My stomach dropped, my body visibly shaking.

  My brain told me to ignore the man’s warning and yell for help, but my gut twisted with fear. What if I was next? I couldn’t find my voice. I didn’t want to help Jason. Someone else would have to do it. Backpedaling, my breath clogged my throat. I waited for someone to scream out in panic, or yell man overboard! but no one had noticed. Reggae music vibrated through the speakers, the bass thumping. Laughter echoed from the party upstairs.

  Searching over my shoulder, I checked again to see if there’d been any new witnesses descending the stairway, someone to come to my aid. We were still alone. I yanked my arm, attempting to free it from his hand, eager to get away from the scene as quickly as possible, but he’d now grasped both of my arms, his thick body blocking my path. I swallowed, trying not to think of the last glimpse I’d caught of Jason’s face as he disappeared beneath the wake.

  The man grunted, and a jolt of recognition tore through me. He’d been the person creeping outside my house when Caroline was staying with me. His hair was shorter and he wore a collared shirt today, instead of the leather jacket he’d had on back then, but his voice, his gut, his gold chain, were all the same. He’d pounded on my front door demanding money. My jaw clenched, my stomach tightening itself into a knot. A vision of Caroline wailing at the memorial service, crumpled and broken, flashed through my head. She’d ye
arned so intensely for a niece or nephew. She was the only person who hated Jason just as much as I did. Had she moved off script from our plan? Had Josh introduced her to this thug? Had she gone behind my back and hired her seedy contact to take care of business in some sort of misguided attempt at sisterly love? Or maybe she owed this guy drug money.

  I shook my head and squeezed my eyelids closed, only sure of one thing. I was afraid for my life.

  Twenty-Nine

  Gloria

  Now

  Beth’s sister blocked my path to the front door of the tiny house. She raised the revolver in line with my forehead, a crazed sheen in her eyes. “Who are you?” The calmness in her voice was unsettling, like the lull of the sea before a storm.

  “I’m Beth’s friend, Gloria. I live next door.” My eyes wouldn’t budge from the gun in her hand, the dark hole of the barrel staring back at me. A sinking feeling in my gut wondered if it was the same gun used to kill Amanda.

  “Why are you sneaking around her house in the dark?”

  My jaw locked, my eyes glued on the dime-store version of Beth. I unwittingly took a step closer. “Beth told me about you, Caroline. Are you visiting from Ohio?”

  “Stay back!” She lifted the gun higher, aiming at my face.

  I whimpered, the photo of the two sisters slipping from my hand and spiraling to the floor.

  Headlights flashed through the window, traveling over the young woman’s tormented face.

  “Get down!” she said in a loud whisper as she waved the gun at me. She pressed her back against the wall, her nostrils flaring with each breath she inhaled.

  I slid to the floor and pulled my shaking knees toward me, reciting a silent prayer that I wouldn’t become her next victim.

  The doorknob rattled and the door opened beside her. Beth tumbled inside with her mouth stretched open.

  “Caroline. I told you to stay away.” Her eyes bounced from Caroline to me.

  Caroline tipped her head toward me. “I caught her snooping around in here.”

  Beth frowned, her features hardening. “You shouldn’t be here, Gloria.”

  I swallowed and lowered my chin. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have just asked you about Amanda.”

  “Did you think that I kidnapped her? Or murdered her?” Beth stepped next to her sister, towering above me as I cowered against the wall. “I thought we were friends,” she said. A stream of tears glistened on Beth’s cheek.

  “I found her necklace under the seat of your car,” I said. “The one she was wearing in the photo on the news.”

  Beth’s eyes bulged before she covered them with her hands. “That wasn’t Amanda’s necklace.” She lowered her hands. “It was mine. Jason bought us the same one.” Beth shook her head, her lips quivering. “He bought us the same purse, too.”

  “Oh.” My chest deflated.

  “He was having an affair with her.”

  “I suspected as much,” I said. “At least, about the affair.”

  Beth cocked her head at me, swiping her free hand across her cheek.

  I laced my knotty fingers in front of me to stop the trembling. “I found an envelope Amanda left behind in the apartment. There was nothing inside, but it was from your husband.”

  Caroline grunted and kicked the floor. “That piece of shit.”

  I sucked in a breath, worried I might have angered the unstable young woman again.

  Beth hovered in front of me, wavering back and forth like a tree that might topple. “Yeah. He was cheating on me. I was stupid enough to take him back, and then he did it again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…” The whites around Beth’s eyes showed.

  “I found a receipt from Fringe Salon,” my voice squeaked out like a mouse. “It had Ella’s name on it. It was from the day before she was killed. You never mentioned you knew her.”

  Beth shook her head and let out a hollow laugh. “So, you think I killed all of them? My husband and his lover and some random woman who worked at a salon? Got my revenge. Is that it? Did you already call the police?”

  “No, dear. Of course not,” I said. But my eyes flicked toward Beth’s sister, and I couldn’t help wondering if she was the one responsible for their doomed fates. Beth had mentioned her sister was a hairstylist and that she battled a drug problem. Caroline was unhinged. “I’m only trying to understand what’s going on. You’ve been acting so oddly. You lied to me. That’s not what friends do.”

  Beth watched me. Her gaze followed mine toward the gun in Caroline’s hand. She turned toward her sister. “Lower the gun, Caroline.”

  Caroline stepped back and lowered the revolver, her shoulders relaxing. “I saw the flashlight from outside and I didn’t know who was in here.”

  Beth nodded.

  I exhaled, slumping forward into a heap. “Please tell me what’s going on. Tell me you didn’t kill those women.”

  Beth’s face tightened into a grimace. “It’s a long story.”

  I tried to ignore the way my stomach turned. “I only want to know the truth.”

  Beth pinched her lips together, her nervous eyes darting toward her sister.

  “Can we trust her?” Caroline asked.

  Beth eyes locked onto mine, tears pooling in their corners. “Yeah. We can trust her.”

  Thirty

  Elizabeth

  Before

  The boat lurched beneath my sandaled feet. I blinked toward the churning water, Jason sinking somewhere beneath. My fingers gripped the railing as I slumped in front of the large man who’d just thrown my husband overboard. “Listen. Whatever my sister did, I can make it right. Does she owe you money? I can pay you back. Please don’t hurt her.”

  The man lowered his chin and laughed. “I don’t care about your addict sister. Your husband’s the one who scammed me.” The man’s breath smelled of cigarettes and alcohol, his words nowhere close to the explanation I’d been expecting. “He was running a Ponzi scheme. I don’t like being scammed.”

  Ponzi scheme? So, this had nothing to do with Caroline. My knees buckled. Jason’s deception extended further than I’d imagined. I thought back to the increasing deposits to our bank account, the sums growing astronomically by the month. All at once everything made sense: the luxury cars, the expensive jewelry, the endless dinners out, the designer clothes. Jason had lied to me about his business, too. His outrageous spending had been with other people’s money. He probably hadn’t invested their money at all.

  I remembered calling Jason after I’d hidden from the man lurking outside our house. At the time I’d assumed the thug was looking for Caroline, but I’d been wrong. It was Jason he’d been after. Jason had let me think the man had been there for my sister.

  “Who are you?”

  The man tightened his grasp on my arm, still blocking the stairwell. A wry smile formed on his face. “You mean your husband never mentioned me?”

  My entire body quivered.

  “Listen closely.” He tipped his head toward the stairs. “We gotta get outta here before anyone sees us. We’re gonna head up and finish our little chat while we enjoy lunch. Then you’re gonna talk and laugh with your country club friends. It’ll be a while before anyone notices he’s missing. When they do figure it out and try to account for our whereabouts, we’ll say we ran into each other coming out of the bathrooms on the lower deck. We never saw him. Understand?”

  My jaw clenched, my eyelids lowering.

  The man pushed his face next to mine, tipping his head toward the railing. “You’ve seen my work. I got no problem doin’ the same to you, unless you do exactly what I say.”

  I nodded, my throat too dry to speak. He stepped away, lowering his hands to his sides, but never releasing the grip of his stare. Smoothing down my dress and tucking my hair behind my ear, I climbed the stairs to the upper deck, envisioning Jason’s lifeless body sinking beneath the waves and feeling as if I might throw up.

  The man’s breath heaved behind me as I shuffled toward the lun
ch buffet.

  “Get some food.” He shoved a small plate toward me and took one for himself.

  Hands shaking, I lifted a pair of metal tongs and dropped a few crackers and a piece of cheese onto my plate. My eyes darted around the deck, wondering if there’d been any witnesses. The other passengers were standing in small groups, eating and laughing. No one gave us a second glance. The man guided me over to a tiny space beyond the appetizer table, within eyesight but out of earshot, of the closest group of people. He leaned into me. “Smile,” he said.

  I forced my mouth into a smile, struggling to mirror his false show of happiness.

  He moved even closer. “I been doing some diggin’, okay? I know you’re involved in Jason’s company. I know your pretty-boy husband has a two-million-dollar life insurance policy. You’re going to collect the money and pay me—Vic Callis—back first. Understand?”

  “No.” I shook my head, my free hand clutching the railing behind me, the metal bar the only thing keeping me upright. My legs felt as liquid as the lake surrounding us. “There must be some mistake. I don’t know what my husband did. I wasn’t involved. I’ve never heard your name before.”

  “You’re a member of his LLC. It’s in the records. You don’t pay me, and you’ll be the one who’ll end up in the joint. Or worse.” He chuckled and thumbed toward the hungry waves.

  I doubled over as a vague memory from almost three years earlier surfaced—Jason asking me to sign his business papers the day he’d formed his LLC. I’d never had an active role in the company, but I’d agreed to be listed as a member just in case anything ever happened to him. I cursed my naivety. Now he’d left me holding the smoking gun.

  “How much?” I asked, my voice shaky.

  Vic’s eyes narrowed into sharp slits. “$1.2 million. ASAP.”