The Long Gray Goodbye: A Seth Halliday Novel

by Bobby Underwood

  Laura smiled. She said, “I know an agent who can keep everyone away from you. And I know the perfect spot where you can get away, make a home, if you’re interested.”

  “Where?” frowned Holly.

  “Mykonos. There’s a house there. It belongs to you. Susan would want you to have it, I think, but only if that’s what you want. There are other options, though. It’s up to you, Holly.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Holly had tears in her eyes.

  “Yes, absolutely. And you don’t want to deal with record companies. They’re awful. I bought a little studio a while back so we could put out music from our show. It’s state of the art. It’s in Boca too. You can record there if you want to, on my label I made for our show.” She squeezed Holly’s hand, anticipating the next question. “They’ll be no contract. Whatever the sales are, they’ll go directly to you. I’ll arrange it all. I don’t need the money, Holly, and it’ll help you begin to make your own life and career. Make up for all the years you lost.”

  Holly said, sort of wistful for what might have been, “I think I’d like to live where Susan lived. Maybe I’ll feel her there, and it’ll inspire my song choices.” Holly stared at the setting sun. “I’d like to dedicate the first album to her, and to Brian and Cheryl.”

  Caroline said, “I’m sure they’d love that.”

  “Spend a week or two with me in Boca Raton, first,” urged Laura. “You can look over the studio, see how you like it. Relax with me. When you’re ready, we can fly to Mykonos together.”

  There was an air of hope as we watched evening descend on the Miami skyline, all bright and glittery. A world was waiting out there, one Holly could ease into, retreating to Mykonos when it all got to be too much.

  Caroline’s phone rang. She listened and handed it to me. The girls were talking and making plans so I went below. I almost didn’t recognize the voice at first. It was Alegria.

  “Hello, Mr. Marquez tells me you are off the coast of Miami.”

  How the hell Marquez knew where we were when no one else did was beyond me.

  “Yes, we’re docking in the morning.”

  “Mr. Marquez has asked me to call you. I have tried this Lovato but he refers me to you because he did not see her body.”

  I suddenly felt sick, knowing who she was talking about. I felt sicker when she spoke again.

  “My sister was helping at my request. Please tell me how she died. And tell me the truth.”

  All of Boon’s men were dead.

  “She was killed during the siege on the compound. It was quick, a shot to the head by a stray bullet from one of Boon’s men. I’m so sorry, Alegria.”

  I heard her sigh in relief.

  “She did not suffer then?”

  “No, there wouldn’t have been time. But I’m still sorry.”

  “Thank you. I will tell Mr. Marquez also. He met her once.”

  She hung up. I couldn’t go back up where there existed light and hope after lying to Alegria. I made a quick phone call from our cabin to Lovato and told him what had happened. He assured me that Alegria, on the chance she or Marquez looked deeper, would never hear any story other than the one I’d told her.

  I waited two hours for Caroline to join me below deck. I was lying on the bed in my clothes when she did. We hadn’t made love since I’d returned. I’d been too sore and afraid of pulling out stitches.

  “What happened?”

  I told her about the girl, first. It was a detail I’d left out because it was so gruesome. Then I told her about Alegria’s call, and the white lie I’d told her. Except it was really a great big scarlet and purple lie. Caroline touched my face.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that girl like that.” Caroline’s first thoughts were always of me, not someone else. “You did the right thing, Seth. She’ll always feel guilty anyway, because she asked her sister to do it. But knowing how she suffered, it would be too much. That was her sister, just like Susan was Laura’s.”

  We were both quiet for a couple of minutes.

  “You know,” I finally said, caressing her through her T-shirt, “I might be up to fooling around a little, now.”

  She smiled. “Yippee!”

  She stood and undressed, then crawled over me. “I’ve missed you, Mister.”

  “I’ve missed you, too.”

  And for the rest of the evening Caroline and I embraced life, love, and each other, making love and whispering about plans for our future. Because our own long gray goodbye was somewhere far, far away in the infinite cosmos…

  Bobby Underwood is a prolific American writer who now lives in the Snowy Mountains of Australia with his wife, Barbara, and their dog, Cisco. He chooses to write in a vast array of genres. He believes a tale well-told transcends genre and simply becomes a memorable story. His short stories, novels and novellas are available on Amazon in the United States and all across Europe. He appreciates all feedback from readers in the form of reviews and ratings on Amazon and Goodreads.