Maelstrőm

by Michelle Love

  Isaac motioned for Mike to follow him into the corridor. Nurses and assistants bustled past them as they spoke. The noise of the hospital - machinery beeping, announcements, and pages, people talking - was a constant hum in the background.

  “How long will Molly be here?”

  “They said she could go home today but – “

  “Listen, anything you need, just ask. I can have somewhere rented for you within the hour – wherever you want, have someone pick up your clothes from the house. Trustworthy people who will respect your privacy. I mean it – just say the word.”

  Mike smiled then, a half-broken thing. “Thanks, man that would be good. I can’t fathom that Molly will want to go back to…anything. The house, the Varsity, the island. It’s all tainted with blood now.”

  Isaac nodded. “Consider it done. Look, why don’t you go see the kids and we’ll stay with Molly for a few hours?”

  Mike nodded and the two men went back into the room. Sarah was seated in a chair next to Molly’s bed. Molly was talking in a low tone to her. They looked up as the men entered and told them the plan. Molly nodded and smiled at Isaac. “Thank you.”

  “It’s no trouble. I just want you to be safe.”

  Mike kissed Molly, thanked Isaac, squeezed Sarah’s shoulder and left. Isaac perched on the end of Molly’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

  Molly sighed. “Empty.”

  Sarah rubbed her arm. “Let me go see if I can find something to drink for you. Baby,” she smiled at Isaac, “would you like some coffee?”

  He nodded and she kissed him as she passed him. “Be right back.”

  After she’d gone, Molly seemed to slump. “She thinks it’s her fault.” Isaac nodded, sighing.

  “I know. There’s no way she’ll get over this.”

  “I don’t think any of us will,” Molly studied him. “I’m so glad she has you to love, to help protect her.”

  “I’m here to protect you too, Molly. I’m just sorry this has happened. Finn was a good man, even a great man. I’m still not sure he wouldn’t have been better for Sarah than me.”

  Molly half-smiled. “You know what’s weird? I wanted them to be together for years, they seemed so perfect for each other. Then Sarah met you and it suddenly made sense to me. Sarah and Finn were family, regardless of any romantic feelings that may or may not have been between them over the years. Family wins. You are her family now.”

  Isaac patted her hand. “And you are mine. I’ll do anything to make you all safe again.”

  He looked at the door. “She’s taking her time with that coffee. Let me just go see if she needs help. You’ll be okay on your own?”

  With Molly’s assurance she would be okay, Isaac closed the door to her room and wandered down the hospital corridors. His cellphone buzzed. Jay.

  “Hey boss, just thought you ought to know…that lawyer Sarah saw? His body’s just been pulled out of Elliott Bay.”

  Isaac stopped, shocked, and closed his eyes. Another one. He’d wait to tell Sarah about William Corcoran – she was hanging on by a thread as it was. He took a deep breath and went to find her.

  Sarah was nowhere. He looked into the small cafeteria on their floor but it was empty except for an elderly couple and the woman at the cash register. He went out to the nurse’s station.

  “Hey, have you seen my wife, Sarah? Dark hair, five-five, beautiful? We were visiting with Molly in room seven.”

  The nurse looked surprised “I saw her about ten minutes ago. She didn’t tell you she was leaving?”

  Isaac frowned, trying to ignore the biting panic starting to build inside of him. “I’m sorry?”

  The nurse came around the desk and handed him an envelope. “Mrs. Quinn said to give you this and to tell you she was sorry.”

  Isaac’s heart began to thump unpleasantly as he took the note and when he read it, every nerve ending in his body went numb.

  “Oh my God…” He whispered. “God, no, no…”

  He walked slowly back to Molly’s room and looked at her with horror-filled eyes. “She’s gone. She’s gone to him.”

  “Oh my God, no…Isaac…” Molly couldn’t believe it. “Did she say…?”

  He passed her the note.

  There’s only one way to end this.

  He says he’s going after Molly’s kids next and I won’t let that happen, I won’t let anyone else die because of me.

  I’m sorry, you have my heart, Isaac, I love you.

  Goodbye, my love, Sarah.

  “She’s gone to the island. She’s trying to find Bailey.” Isaac’s voice was flat as he tried to understand.

  “Is she trying to find him so she can kill him?”

  “That…or she wants him to kill her. Finish this so no-one else gets hurt. Oh Jesus, no…” And Isaac broke down completely.

  Where do you want me to meet you?

  Go to the ferry terminal, buy a ticket, go to the ladies” room. Don’t be late, Sarah.

  Sarah followed Dan’s instructions to the letter. On the ferry boat, she moved slowly as if in a trance down to the ladies” restrooms. She pushed open every stall – empty. As she let the last stall door swing open, she heard him behind her. She stopped, closed her eyes. Would he kill her here?

  No. Dan was a showman – he would want to draw this out, make her suffer, enjoy every moment.

  His hot breath on her neck. “Hello, beautiful.”

  She was frozen as he turned her. There was a gun in his hand, a long thin silencer screwed onto the muzzle. He pressed it into her belly. “This will be easy, my darling. We get to the island, go to where I have laid out our little scene, our denouement. We have a little goodbye talk and then, finally, Sarah, I’m going to kill you.”

  He made her sit next to him in the lounge, his lips against her cheek, her mouth. As they’d walked to the busy lounge, he murmured into her ear, “One word from you, I’ll kill everyone in this lounge.”

  She had no doubt he would.

  For the journey, she felt numb, already dead, at least inside. She kept her mind on picturing Isaac’s face, the fine angles of his cheekbones, the dark green of his eyes, his full mouth as it pressed against hers. She remembered everything about his body, his broad shoulders and hard chest, his muscled abdomen, his hips, his long legs, his large, beautiful cock. Everything.

  As the ferry docked, Dan pulled her up, the gun jammed against her side, hidden from view. They walked down to a car – not his – he must have stolen it. He shoved her into the back seat. Crawling behind her, he pushed her down then stopped, smiling. “This is it, Sarah, are you excited?”

  She smiled, a fake rictus, sarcastic, mocking. He was going to kill her anyway, what did it matter? Dan narrowed his eyes, leaned in to grind his mouth on hers. She clamped her teeth on his bottom lip. Dan yelped as she let go, wiping his mouth. Sarah smiled in satisfaction to see the blood on his mouth. His face twisted with rage.

  “Fucking bitch!” And he slammed the butt of the gun into her temple, knocking her cold.

  Isaac went over everything Jay and Flynn had told him over and over as he sped the car to the ferry terminal. No, they hadn’t seen Sarah leave the hospital, no, they hadn’t taken their eyes off of the entrance. Shit, Isaac cursed to himself, I should have been more vigilant. Gotten more bodies at every entrance. Seen this coming.

  Molly sat beside him in the car, having insisted on coming with him. She stared out of the window looking out over the snow-covered city, sidewalks and roads starting to show through now the rain had started to fall. She felt Isaac take her hand. She gazed up at him, in her eyes a world of pain.

  “Do you think she’s already dead?”

  Isaac looked over at her, took a hand off the wheel and took hers.

  “No. Absolutely not. Dan planned this meticulously. He’ll want to enjoy the moment.”

  Molly swallowed. “So she’s not dead, she’s just going to wish she was.”

  Isaac hoped that wasn’t true.

&nb
sp; It was the singing that woke her. Angelic. Plaintive. Sarah slid back into consciousness. She lay there, unmoving as her eyes brought the room into focus. A room, not a car. She squinted, dust, water, something misting her vision. The room was hexagonal, dirty, obviously abandoned. The top of the lighthouse. Moonlight gleamed off the darkened lantern. She heard the insistent rattle of rain on the windows. The singing. It was the wind across the wires. Haunting. Lonely.

  Lonely.

  A cough, a moan. She started, turned her head toward the noise and gave a gasp. Caroline Jewell was tied to a chair across the room, blood streaking from her nose, down her chin. Sarah tried to say her name but found her throat too dry, too scratchy. She rolled over onto her stomach, pulled herself onto her knees. Her body ached, her clothes torn and bloody but flexing, she found nothing broken. She crawled over to Caroline and fumbled at the ropes binding her hands, wondering why she herself was not bound. She pulled Caroline free and helped her stand. She coughed, casting desperate glances around the room. There were two entrances to the lantern room, one from below – Sarah quickly realized Caroline would never make it down the steep ladders that led up from the ground – or the door to the lighthouse’s balcony. Sarah knew the staircase outside was shaky and decaying, prayed it would hold both their weights. She moved towards it, but Caroline held her back, gazing at her, her eyes watery and red.

  “Why are you being so nice to me?” Her voice was a whisper. Sarah, surprised by the question, felt her face go red.

  “We don’t have time for this, Caroline…”

  “No. I won’t go anywhere unless you tell me why. You could have left me to die. Why didn’t you?”

  Sarah sighed, edgy, frustrated. She tried to pull Caroline’s arm towards the door but Caroline held back stubbornly. Sarah shook her head.

  “Honestly? Because I want to believe that you’re not all bad. I don’t pretend to understand you, Caroline, or understand why you hate me so much. But I won’t let him ruin anyone else’s life. Caroline, look at me. We need to go now.”

  She turned towards the door but stopped when she heard it. Caroline giggled. It was not the hysterical giggle of the terrorized, the shocked. No, it was something else. Victory. Sarah turned as Caroline started to laugh. The redhead’s face was exultant. She leaned forward, a nasty smirk on her face.

  “I got the joy, joy, joy, joy” she started to sing and cackled at the confusion on Sarah’s face. Sarah stepped towards her.

  “Stop fucking around, Caroline, we – “

  Another voice started singing now, male, but high-pitched, mocking, demented. Sarah’s breath stopped.

  Caroline turned her head towards the darkest corner of the lantern room.

  “You can come out now…”

  Sarah’s stomach disappeared as, smirking, Dan stepped out of the shadows.

  “Hello again, baby girl.” Dan’s smile was friendly but his eyes bored into hers, flat and dead. Caroline was skittish, pulling at his jacket. He glanced at her, irritated, but she kissed him, oblivious.

  “Dan, Dan, Dan, I did good, huh?”

  Dan turned back to Sarah, who was staring at Caroline with a mixture of horror and disgust. She shook her head at her long-time enemy, who grinned back nastily. Sarah narrowed her eyes.

  “I should have known. You really are a skank.”

  Caroline was smug. “A skank that’s going to live to see the morning, bitch.”

  “Shut up, Caroline.”

  She looked at Dan in shock. “What does it matter? She’ll be dead soon anyway.”

  Dan didn’t speak but his expression made her quell. She stepped back from him and moved around the lantern into the darkness. Sarah heard her give a little whimper, a sob. Dan smiled at Sarah.

  “She’s right about that. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this day?”

  “You killed Finn” She hissed the words at him and he grinned and nodded.

  She choked back a sob and Dan laughed. Gathering herself, she met his eyes.

  “Why?”

  Dan laughed, sat down on the chair that Caroline had left. Sarah vaguely wondered what the other woman was doing, but her focus was on Dan.

  “Those last moments, when he realized what was happening, when I told him exactly what I was going to do with you, to you…were exquisite. His terror was never for himself, even when he was dying?”

  Sarah was shaking, trying not to throw up. “Why not just kill me then?” Her voice shook but she raised her chin, staring him down, “Why kill George? Finn? Why all of this? Why not just kill me?”

  He smirked and she balled her fists up, tears threatening.

  “Answer me,” she said. “Why? Why kill Finn? George? Even Buddy?” Her voice broke and she could feel her mask slipping away. She heard Caroline laugh softly, and Dan grinned. He stood and walked to tower over her. He cupped her face in his hand, tightening his grip as she tried to pull away. He brushed his lips over hers, across the soft down of her cheek, until his mouth was at her ear. His voice was a whisper, a seduction.

  “Because it was fun.”

  Her temper exploded and she threw herself at him, screaming all her anger, her grief, everything, pounding him with her fists, with every piece of strength she had left. Dan caught her and threw her back against the wall. The wall, iron, and wood, shuddered, the window smashed with the impact of her head hitting it. She clambered to her feet, ready to rush him again when Caroline stepped around the lantern, calmly raised the gun and shot her.

  They’d abandoned the car in Seattle and Isaac had paid the first person he found with a speedboat to take them to the island. Above them he could see police helicopters racing to the island, all searching for Sarah. Steve, the new police chief, met them at the island’s small port, told them that the island was being searched with a fine toothcomb.

  “If he has her here, we’ll find them,” Steve promised them but Isaac and Molly shared a look.

  “We need a car.”

  Steve wasn’t keen on them going to search but one look at Isaac’s face told him he wouldn’t be able to stop this desperate man searching for his wife. With a quick glance at Molly’s face, he gave Isaac the keys to Finn’s police cruiser.

  The bullet struck her shoulder, spun her around and Sarah slammed into the hard metal floor. The shockwave of the gunfire in the confined space made every sound, even her own groans echo dully in her ears. She clutched at the wound, blood gushing from the torn skin. She felt the collarbone shift under her touch, smashed in two by the bullet. The pain was nauseating. She kept her eyes pinned to Dan, though, despite her agony, watched him as in the ringing silence as he roared his disapproval and snatched the gun from Caroline’s hand, cuffing her hard across the face. Caroline’s laughter broke off and she gasped in pain, in shock.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Dan’s voice was ice. Caroline caught her breath and tried to smile.

  “I’m sorry, baby, I just thought she was playing for time, I thought she was going to hurt you.” She slid her hand up his chest. “The sooner she’s dead, the sooner we can get out of here, start our life together. All three of us.” She ran her hand down her belly and smiled up at him, her gaze adoring, and so, so sure.

  Dan smiled humorlessly. “Oh yes, Caroline, of course. Of course, that’s what’s going to happen now.”

  Caroline frowned at the sarcasm in his voice and she hissed in frustration. “Just fucking kill her then. Get this over with.”

  Sarah dragged herself up into a sitting position. Dan’s eyes met hers and she saw, with a sickening lurch, the depth of his evil as she realized what he was about to do. She shook her head at him, desperately. Dan’s hand moved and she shook her head, terrified now.

  “Dan, no….no…don’t.” Her voice seemed like a whisper.

  Dan smiled, triumphant, and pulled the trigger.

  Caroline gasped, staggered away from him, looking down at her swollen abdomen. Blood bloomed out from the bullet hole in the center of
it. She gaped at Dan, confusion, betrayal, in her eyes. Sarah couldn’t move, couldn’t make a sound, the horror of it both so real and yet unbelievable. Her ears ringing from the gunshot, she felt her body go numb as she watched Dan raise the gun again. Caroline held both hands up in front of her, pleading, begging.

  “Please…baby…no…”

  Dan shot her in the face and Caroline dropped. Sarah cried out, horrified. Dan gazed down at Caroline’s body dispassionately. Sarah whimpered involuntarily. Dan’s head turned and she saw that whatever humanity had been in him was forever gone. He calmly reloaded the gun.

  Sarah managed to get herself to her feet, bracing herself against the wall. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the corpse of the woman she’d been enemies with since childhood. The baby. The baby. Finn. George. Blood, so much blood.

  Dan walked slowly around to face her. He was grinning but his smile was tender, this time, almost reverent.

  “Just you and me now, baby girl.”

  And then he was on her.

  Isaac tore through Sarah’s old house, screaming her name, even going deep into the crawlspace from where Dan had watched her all those months. Nothing.

  He scrambled up to the hallway. Steven and Molly met him there, the cop talking on his cell phone. “They’re not at the Varsity or Caroline’s house. Caroline is gone too – I assume she’s helping him.”

  “Fucking bitch,” Molly growled then when she saw the desolation in Isaac’s eyes, the hopelessness, she grabbed his hand. “Come on. They don’t get to win this.”

  She dragged him outdoors into the night.

  Dan shoved his hand against her throat, choking her but Sarah, furious as well as terrified, dug her fingers into his eyes, and Dan rocked back, yelling in pain. Sarah rolled away from him, scrambling to her feet