Grave Mistakes_A Deadly Vigilante Crime Thriller
Page 24
But when the sounds came again, Amy heard them. Instinctively, I held her, as distant voices called across the beach and hard-soled shoes clomped through the sand.
“What’s going on?” Amy asked, looking confused. She wrenched herself free, stepping away from me as a half-dozen people dressed in dark suits and police uniforms surrounded us.
“Amy...” I pleaded in a calm tone.
But she ignored me. A scowl came over her face, and she stared at the police like a cornered animal.
“Amy, you’ve got to go with them.”
“Steve! What’s going on?” she cried.
She spun around to run, finding Detective Jenna White standing there. Their eyes locked as everyone came to rest where they stood. Amy froze, her legs shin deep in the breaking surf while some of the officers stood guarding us, and others waded into the water, blocking Amy from the ocean. The daylight was fading fast, and I motioned for Jenna to get on with it. The last thing I wanted to see happen was Amy diving into the water and disappearing into the night.
As if Amy had heard my thoughts, she moved deeper into the ocean, her body cutting the glimmer of sunlight as it carved a thin line of red and orange across the water’s surface.
“Amy Sholes?” Detective Jenna White asked. Her voice was deep and sounded formal. On cue, the surrounding officers stepped closer. Amy flinched when she heard her name. She searched past the detective, finding my eyes. I shrank back and wanted to run, feeling I’d betrayed my wife. She’s a murderer, I reminded myself again. But in my heart, I didn’t care. I loved her.
I’m sorry, I mouthed. She turned away, a distant look in her eyes and the questions in her expression fading. She searched the ocean, swallowing hard against tears that seemed to tell me the truth about Garret Williams. But why she killed him was still a mystery—the obvious answer, an affair, was impossible for me to believe.
Amy turned back again, looking lost in deciding what to do. And in her face I could see her spirit dying. She knew she’d been caught. And then I saw anger and resentment beaming toward me. It was my turn to look away.
“Yes,” Amy answered the detective. “My name is Amy Sholes.”
It felt as though my legs were going to give, and I braced myself, favoring my good leg as I braved a step away from my wife, giving the officers the room they’d need to place handcuffs on her. Amy stood alone.
At once, she lunged for me, but the officers were well trained and were triggered by her actions. Jenna raised her hands, stopping the officers mid-step like a dog trainer signaling the animals to halt.
“Stand down!” I screamed in a voice that was shaky with emotion. I scanned the officer’s stone faces and then Detective White’s, pleading with her in my mind to make this easy.
Detective White nodded.
“Babe?” Amy asked, her eyes turning soft and beautiful again. “Why?”
She began to cry, and I wanted to go to her, to hold her, to tell her everything would be okay. I felt my heart break for a millionth time as tears welled and fell. Amy didn’t say anything else, but instead she squared her shoulders and straightened her back.
“Amy, you have to go with them,” I told her. I kept my voice deep and empty. And then I gave her one final look as a husband. I filled my eyes with love for her and repeated our vows in my head. I turned away after that and fixed a look on the sun setting behind a ridge in the west.
“Amy Sholes.” I heard Detective White direct again. I heard Amy’s sobbing voice and then the sounds of splashing and of a body diving into the ocean. The officers raced passed me and waded into the ocean after my wife, rescuing her from drowning herself.
“Please, Amy,” I shouted without turning around, but I knew she couldn’t hear me. “Go with them. I can’t... I won’t help you.”
“Amy Sholes, you are under the arrest for the murder of Garret Williams,” I heard Detective White say, adding the final words that closed the door on our life together.
“In sickness and in murder,” I muttered sadly and walked away.
From the Author
Thank you for reading my short story, In Sickness and In Murder. If you’re wondering where the idea for the story came from, then wonder no more. The story came to me while finishing the second book of my series, Affair With Murder. The series centers around Amy Sholes—a mother and wife, and who just happens to be a serial killer. But she’s not your typical serial killer, she only targets those who won’t be missed.
As a vigilante, readers can’t help but like Amy and don’t want to see her get caught. Inevitably, everything must come to an end, and the same is true for Amy’s career as a murderer. And who better to catch her than the love of her life, her husband. As for the short story, I thought it would make for an interesting, and fun, story to write, switching perspectives and giving readers the same point of view Amy’s husband had when discovering his wife was a murderer.
Happy reading,
Brian Spangler