The Cast Net

by Mille West

  The detective turned to Jeff and said, “I next showed them your photograph, and guess what? They identified you as the man in the car with her that morning. That would have put you two near the Camp property on the Ashley River, which Cooper had just purchased back into your family.”

  “What were you doing with Elise, Jeff?”

  Jeff did not respond.

  Lieutenant Barnes walked toward the barn door and said, “I’d like for you two to come to police headquarters to answer more questions. There is new evidence that we need to discuss, and with this storm coming, a person could easily get displaced.”

  “What evidence?” Cooper demanded.

  “I think it’s hard to talk above the storm, and I’d prefer to have the rest of the discussion at headquarters.”

  Cooper grew agitated, and he raised his voice to the police officer, “I want to know what you’re talking about—right now!”

  The lieutenant calmly paused and said, “After your wife disappeared, I thought we did a thorough job of searching your properties. I was very impressed by your real estate holdings. When I recently subpoenaed the records from your transactions, I noticed that your cousin always acted as your broker.”

  He turned to Jeff and said, “You’ve made some handsome commissions while helping your cousin. It’s nice to have loyal relatives. Cooper, I came to understand that you attempted to purchase the Camp property a year ago, but the owner died intestate, and his heirs fought each other until they finally agreed to settle with you just a few months ago.” His expression became troubled. “I personally joined my men in searching the Camp property: we found a woman’s remains at the bottom of an abandoned well. Dental records may be the only way to identify the individual.”

  The policeman’s tone of voice was now threatening. “Jeff, my theory is that you would have been thrilled to see your lover, Elise, inherit her husband’s estate. Cooper, did you ever conclude what happened to you during your diving accident in the Turks and Caicos Islands?”

  “No. It was an accident. Nobody knows what happened. Not even me.”

  Lieutenant Barnes took a deep breath and said, “Jeff, you were having an affair with Elise Heath and I can prove it.”

  Mills looked at Jeff and Cooper. Jeff’s face was drained of color and Cooper’s face was contorted by rage.

  “You know, Cooper, I really thought that you were behind your wife’s disappearance, and I suppose I’ve made your life miserable at times. What a shame for you, your wife, and your closest friend, deeply involved. Jeff, cocaine and greed cause a calamitous combination.”

  “Jeff, what in the hell is he talking about?” Cooper asked.

  “Something must have happened. Did you just kill her in a drug-induced rage?” Barnes paused. “Jeff?”

  “I’ve never intentionally hurt anyone in my life,” Jeff responded.

  “You didn’t answer the question.”

  “If you know so much, where’s the warrant for my arrest?”

  In shock, Mills watched as Cooper charged Jeff, grabbed him by his shirt collar, and shoved him. He then struck Jeff hard across the face, knocking him to the ground. Exhaustion and pent-up rage made Cooper insane with anger, and he stood above his cousin with his fists clenched.

  “Get up, you Cassius!”

  As Jeff rose from the ground, he signaled for surrender, but then charged into Cooper’s torso and struck him in the right eye. The deputy tried to pull them apart, but they hit each other with severe blows until Jeff pushed Cooper away. As he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, Jeff said to Cooper, “I ought to make you bleed!”

  He then turned to look at Lieutenant Barnes and said, “You son of a bitch. I’m not admitting anything. You want to put me in jail? You’ll have to arrest me first.”

  With those words, Jeff removed a handgun from the waistband at the back of his pants and strode toward the barn door that was closest to the river. In response, Lieutenant Barnes drew his weapon, and the deputy charged Jeff and began to struggle with him for control of the handgun. Cooper moved quickly in Mills’s direction, and taking her hand, he positioned himself between her and the fight. He tried to get her out the door, but there were loud cracks that sounded almost like thunder.

  A warm red spray settled onto Mills’s hair and face. She wiped her hand across her cheek and there was blood on her palm, but she felt no pain. Her mouth dropped open.

  Cooper turned to face her and she could see the anguish in his eyes. They stared at each other in disbelief. His vision had just become a reality. It was not Mills’s blood that he saw stain her flesh during each nightmare, but his own.

  She realized she was alone with Cooper. Jeff and the two policemen had run through the door closest to the river. As he sank to the floor, she tried to support him in her arms. He was bleeding from wounds to his arm and right side. Running to a workbench, she removed some clean cloths from the drawers and performed emergency first aid on Cooper’s wounds. Stop the bleeding, just stop the bleeding.

  He was unconscious on the concrete floor and after she finished binding his wounds, she ran outside into the pouring rain. There was no one in sight, and she went to Lieutenant Barnes’s vehicle and attempted to open the doors. He had locked them. Without hesitation, she went back into the barn and removed a large wrench from its hook on the wall. The rain was almost blinding, but she returned to the vehicle and smashed the driver’s side window with all her strength. When she got the car door open, she nervously fumbled with the radio mike to make a call to the police dispatcher to report the shooting and call for an ambulance. Her mouth was bone dry, and she could barely speak, but somehow, she gave the address to a police dispatcher and then threw down the microphone and ran back inside.

  Cooper was still on the floor, and she returned, lifting his head gently into her arms. “Cooper, you’ve got to get up.”

  He didn’t respond, and she began to shake him gently at first and then with more force. When he finally opened his eyes, she told him, “I’m going to get you in the Land Rover. Stay awake. Just stay awake!”

  Mills cranked the vehicle and raised the garage door to the barn. Wind and rain blew into the structure, and she returned to Cooper to get him to his feet. “Come on. Get up now.” He didn’t respond, and she raised her voice, “Cooper, listen to me. Get on your feet!”

  He slowly rolled to his side and she assisted him into the Land Rover. She overapplied the accelerator and the vehicle lurched forward out of the barn.

  Mills knew that she had a decision to make. Cooper was bleeding and she was frightened of getting stuck in evacuation traffic. She had requested an ambulance, so she decided to get him inside his house and take care of him until help arrived. The struggle to get him up the steps into his home turned out to be just as difficult as the fight to get him off the barn floor, but they made it. Once inside, he sank to his knees in the foyer and she collapsed beside him in exhaustion. When her energy returned, she went to the light switch to turn on the lights, but the power was out. In the center of the foyer was the mahogany table with the hurricane lamp. Mills lit the candle with matches on the table and a circle of light danced on the ceiling, illuminating the handsome workmanship of plaster designs. She went to his bedroom and
returned with blankets, pillows, and the first aid kit.

  He was unconscious, but trembling, and she feared he was suffering from hypothermia. She removed his wet clothes. What she couldn’t pull off, she cut off. Then, removing her own wet garments, she slid under the blanket and held him until the heat from her body warmed him and he stopped shaking. Then she checked his wounds, which continued to bleed. With the palm of her hand, she pressed additional bandages into the wounds, in hopes that she could control the bleeding. For a few moments, she wrapped herself in a blanket and rested at his side. Her mind wandered to the events of the day, and she wondered what had happened to Jeff, Lieutenant Barnes, and his deputy. Jesus, keep me strong.

  Tears began to well up in her eyes, but she fought them back, knowing that Cooper’s life depended on her ability to keep her composure. She dressed in dry shorts and a T-shirt from his dresser and secured the hurricane shutters that banged against the front door. Mills remembered that the telephone junction box near Alston Station had been hit by the woman’s car after the live oak limb fell on it. She decided to try it anyway. Lifting the receiver on the phone in Cooper’s bedroom, she found it was dead.

  As the hours passed, and night fell, her hopes of a rescue faded. She knew they would remain in Cooper’s home for the duration of the storm. The winds roared and objects hit the house with a frightening frequency. She kept Cooper hydrated by squeezing water from a sports bottle into his mouth when he was conscious.

  Around midnight, the winds died down for a few minutes but then returned with a fury from a different direction. Cooper began to talk to himself, and she held his hand and continued to assure him that he would be all right. She wasn’t sure if he comprehended her words because he was conversing with people who were long deceased.

  She realized that she had not said a prayer for Cooper during the entire ordeal. He had sacrificed himself to prevent her from being harmed. She started to pray, but as she did, her voice became louder, and she repeatedly asked the Lord to spare Cooper’s life.

  At first light, the rain still fell, but the winds had slowed. Cooper was asleep, the bleeding was under control, and his bloody clothes lay in a heap in a corner.

  Her back ached as she rose from the floor, and when she opened the front door, the heavy scent of pine rushed into the house. The storm damage was shocking; trees were broken off halfway up and the ground was coated with pine needles and downed limbs. Near the front steps, a large black snake slithered in standing water around the house. She noticed Cooper’s bloody handprint displayed on the front door. My poor Cooper.

  When she reentered the house, she opened the hurricane shutters to allow more light inside. She was exhausted, but she would not permit her failing strength to overcome her. Cooper began to call to her and a look of desolation appeared in his eyes. “Mills, there’s someone knocking at the door. Can you hear them?”

  “There’s no one here but us.” He’s having a premonition. No! He reached for her hand, and she took his and held it tightly. “I’m sorry, Mills, but I have to let go.” Don’t leave me!

  His hand became lifeless, and she attempted to wake him, but to no avail. She quickly rose to her knees and as she did, the room became a strange color of amber, like the tea-hued Edisto. Dizzy and sick, she got down on her hands and knees to regain her strength before rising again.

  There were footsteps on the front porch and as she looked toward the open door, two figures appeared in the threshold. Her eyes ached with pain, but she recognized the silhouettes of Williston and Charles against the light streaming into the doorway.

  “Thank God you’re here.”

  “Mills, what happened to you and Cooper?”

  “He’s been shot—he won’t move. I tried to wake him.”

  Williston dropped to her knees, took a small flashlight, and pushed back his eyelid, looking into his eye. She then felt for a pulse. “He’s alive. How long has he been like this?”

  Mills’s emotions could no longer be subdued, and she began to cry. “Thank God,” she murmured over and over.

  “Shhh, it’s going to be all right.”

  “He was hurt right after you and Charles left. Lieutenant Barnes and a deputy showed up, and he accused Jeff of killing Elise Heath. Jeff had a handgun. Cooper stood in front of me to protect me, and the gun went off. Jeff disappeared into the storm along with the two police officers. I don’t know what happened to them.”

  Williston looked at Mills as she removed a blood pressure cuff from her bag. “What has he had to eat and drink?”

  “Just water.”

  Dr. Will looked up at Charles who had a deeply concerned expression on his face. “Can you please get the hurricane shutters open in the kitchen and get the gas back on to the cook top? I’m going to need you to help me lift him onto the kitchen table.”

  “Charles, I saw a snake outside the front door.”

  “I know, Miss Mills, these storms run animals out of their homes, just like it does people. I have hip waders outside the door.”

  He patted her on the shoulder and then went out the front door.

  Williston fixed Mills a sandwich in the kitchen while explaining that she wanted to give Cooper a blood transfusion from her. “You have the same blood type—remember? Could your blood have been affected by any changes since your last donation?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Then let’s get started.”

  As Williston performed the transfusion, she explained that she and Charles had spent the night at Roper Hospital, but due to the condition of the roadways, they had to borrow a boat from Yates Marina to get back to Edisto. Williston said her fears increased when she found out that the Miss Elise had not been delivered to storage for protection.

  Charles returned to the foyer and said, “Dr. Will, I’ve got the shutters open, and the gas is back on. Let me know when you’re ready for me.”

  When she was finished with the transfusion, Williston put a bandage on Mills arm and she hugged her. “I’m very proud of you. Charles, I’m ready for you to help me now.”

  He lifted Cooper from the floor with little difficulty and carried him to the kitchen table. With the movement, Cooper woke. Confused, he began a feeble attempt to defend himself.

  “No, no. Jeff.”

  Charles grabbed his hands, and pressed his arms to the table. “Cooper, calm down now. It’s Charles, it’s Charles.”

  Eventually Cooper relaxed, quietly repeating Charles’s name.

  Mills began to cry, but Williston quickly led her into the living room and to the couch. Williston left for a few moments and returned with a blanket and a glass of milk. “I want you to rest.”

  “Dr. Will, please save him.”

  “I’ll do everything I can for him. Have faith, Mills.”

  She closed her eyes to rest and said another prayer, but the vows of Ellen and Michael Camp would not leave her: Death will separate us for only a short while.

  Her dreams were filled with anxiety and cries of pain. She wasn’t sure if she heard them or if they were part of her nightmares.

  The air was full of tropical moisture and Mills woke feeling damp. Her shirt was wet f
rom sweat. Dazed, she looked at her wristwatch and realized she had slept for hours.

  As she rose from the couch, she felt battered, and her back ached from her all-night vigil of caring for Cooper. When she entered the foyer, the aroma of cooking tomatoes filled the air. Cooper’s bedroom door was slightly ajar and she couldn’t see inside. There were candles burning in the kitchen and Mills caught sight of Williston stirring a large steaming pot on the stove. Cooper was nowhere in sight.

  When Williston saw Mills, she went to her and helped her to a seat. “How are you feeling?”

  “I ache all over. Where’s Cooper?”

  “We put him to bed several hours ago. Go see for yourself.”

  “He’s not going to die, is he?”

  Williston patted her on the shoulder and in a reassuring manner said, “No, Mills, he’s not going to die. He’ll recover, in time.”

  She opened his door and saw two hurricane lamps lighting the room; their circles of light moving slightly on the ceiling. Cooper had an IV in his arm, and an IV bag was hanging from a makeshift support that ran between the posts of the Rice bed. An ice pack was on his right eye, and Charles was holding his hand and praying. When he heard Mills enter the room, he turned and she could see that he had been crying. As she approached, he placed Cooper’s hand on the bed and helped her with a seat so she could come close to him.

  Charles softly said, “Miss Mills, he’s holding his own. Thank God.”

  She sat with him and studied Cooper’s features. His face was pale from blood loss, and bruises were emerging from the fight with Jeff. Williston laid her hand on Mills’s shoulder and motioned for her to join her. When they returned to the kitchen, there was a large bowl of soup on the island for Mills, and Williston asked her to sit down.