A Stranger on the Beach

by Michele Campbell

  Fuck.

  “You fucking idiot,” Tommy said. “I knew it was you.”

  Tommy grabbed Aidan by the back of the neck and forced him toward the door. In a second, they were out in the pouring rain grappling and wrestling, trying to force one another to the ground. They were the same height, but Tommy had fifty pounds on Aidan. Aidan was strong, Tommy was stronger. It had always been that way. Tommy shoved and kicked him toward his truck. He slammed him up against the truck bed and grabbed him by the hair.

  “You get out of here now and don’t come back,” Tommy spat out, his face screwed up with rage. “If I find you here again, I’m arresting you and you’re going in. This is your last chance. Do you understand?”

  “I was only—”

  “I don’t care what you were doing. That call went out to every patrol car. You’re lucky I was five minutes away, or you could be dealing with Mike Castro right now, who thinks you’re a piece of shit and would love nothing more than to lock you up.”

  “Fine,” he said.

  “What?”

  He raised his voice to be heard over the pounding rain. “I’ll leave.”

  “Yes, you will. And you’re going straight to my house.”

  “What?”

  “You’re driving away from here, Aidan, and you’re not looking back. You’re going to my house to watch over Kelly and the kids. Ma’s down in Pittsburgh visiting Aunt Joan, and my family’s all alone tonight. With everything I’ve done for you, I think you owe it to me to look after them through the storm. And to give me the peace of mind that I know where you are. Don’t you agree?”

  Aidan couldn’t quarrel with that. The storm was intensifying. He and his brother were soaked to the skin, and the sound from the ocean was like a roar. He was worried about Kelly and the kids, too, if he was honest with himself. Only, he couldn’t really feel that, because his worry for Caroline got in the way. It was so much bigger.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he said.

  “Okay, then. Go.”

  Aidan gestured toward the house, where the alarm still shrieked, and the door gaped open.

  “We have to close up.”

  “If I go in there and turn off the lights and the alarm, she’ll know we were here. I’ll have to file a report, the whole nine yards, and I’m not doing that, because it would mean lying on duty.”

  “But the house.”

  “Screw this lady and her goddamn house. She’s poison to you. We were never here. You got it? It’s for your own good. You understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Now get the hell out. Or I swear to God, kid, I’m done with you.”

  41

  Aidan felt the weight of the responsibility that his brother had placed upon him. He loved his sister-in-law and his niece and nephew. Their safety was in his hands. Tommy had caught him doing something he shouldn’t yet still took that leap of faith. He hadn’t given up on Aidan yet, and Aidan needed to live up to his brother’s trust.

  Tommy’s house was five miles from the ocean. But Aidan worked like hell to secure the house as if it were oceanfront, facing a direct hit. Tommy had only had time to board up a couple of windows before getting called away, so Aidan finished the job up on a high ladder, lashed by wind and rain. Anything that wasn’t nailed down in the backyard, he moved into the garage. He put rolled-up towels along the bottom of the door to stop the water flooding in the crack. It was two long hours of work in the cold rain before he dragged himself inside, wet and exhausted.

  Kelly gave him some clothes of Tommy’s to change into while she threw his wet things in the dryer. He gratefully slurped down the bowl of chicken noodle soup she’d left him on the kitchen table. They still had power, but that wouldn’t last with the winds like this. Too many trees to blow down onto the electric lines. He thought they ought to prepare. Kelly filled the bathtub with water in case the pump went out, and Aidan brought the camping gear down from the attic. Lanterns, a propane stove, coolers to fill with ice and food from the fridge if they lost electricity. It was past eleven by the time Aidan sank down onto the living room sofa with a sigh. Kelly came in, her arms piled high with blankets and pillows.

  “Let me make up the couch for you,” she said, as the wind roared outside. “It would be nuts for you to drive home in this.”

  Aidan was torn. He wanted to stay and look after his brother’s family through the night, but he had another place he needed to protect. Kelly and the kids were safe, their house secured. But Caroline’s house was right in the path of the storm. Not only had he completely failed to secure the windows before Tommy kicked him out; he’d made things worse. The front door was now wide open, exposing everything inside to the elements. He’d left Caroline that voicemail promising to look after her house, and he’d failed to follow through. He couldn’t leave things like that.

  “Thanks, Kel,” he said. “But I should be going.”

  Kelly studied him with concern. “Where exactly are you going, Aidan?”

  Kelly tried to manage Aidan’s life for him like Tommy did. He took it better from her than from him. He and Kelly had a big-sister/kid-brother type of friendship that meant a lot to him. She treated him with kindness rather than the scolding Tommy defaulted to. And she had this wide-open face—round and serene, with freckles and big hazel eyes. He was never able to lie to her, and he couldn’t now.

  “A friend of mind has a house. It’s right in the path of the storm. I told her I’d check it out for her.”

  Her face scrunched with disappointment. “I know about your friend. From what Tom says, she’s bad news, and you got in trouble once already tonight going in her house. Is it really smart to go back there?”

  Aidan wanted to explain. Caroline was a flame to him, and he was the moth. If he ended as a pile of ash, that was the risk he took. His only regret would be the disappointment he caused his brother and Kelly.

  “Maybe not. But I promised her,” he said.

  “Promises are important. But I still think it would be better if you stayed here with us. We’re your family, Aidan. We don’t want to see anything bad happen to you. And I’m not only talking about the weather. Will you stay? Please?”

  He couldn’t deny Kelly’s claim on his loyalty. He’d always been welcome in her house, even at his lowest. She’d picked him up and dusted him off more times than he could count over the years. He had a place at her table for every holiday. She was asking him to stay. As much as it pained him, he felt obligated to say yes.

  “All right, I’ll stay, Kel. For you.”

  “Thank you. Now get up and let me make your bed.”

  She made up the sofa quickly, then pecked him on the cheek and went off to bed. Aidan tossed and turned in the darkened living room, listening to the shifts in the wind. He tried, but he couldn’t get comfortable with the decision to stay here and leave Caroline’s house undefended. Not just that, though. He was afraid that she hadn’t listened. That she was driving through this mess on her way to the beach. That she might be harmed. Half an hour passed. He got up and wandered to the kitchen, where he looked in the refrigerator. But nothing in there appealed to him. He felt too worried to eat. He went back to the living room, where his phone was buzzing on the coffee table, lighting up with Caroline’s number. He grabbed it breathlessly.

  “Caroline. Are you all right? Where are you?” he said.

  “At my house. It’s a disaster. Somebody broke in, set off the alarm, and ran away. Was that you? Don’t lie to me.”

  This was the worst outcome imaginable. She’d driven out from the city despite his warning, only to find the place abandoned and thrown open to the storm. She’d never trust him again.

  “It was me. But I can explain,” he said.

  “Explain?” she said. “What the hell—”

  The line began to crackle and pop. The next words out of Caroline’s mouth were garbled into a tinny, incomprehensible squawk.

  “What?” he said. “You’re cutting out. Caroline? Caro
line, are you there?”

  Nothing.

  “Caroline?”

  But the phone was dead in his hand. Caroline was all alone on that wild, exposed stretch of beach, facing down the storm with no protection, believing that Aidan had betrayed her. He couldn’t stay here, protected from the storm, cozy with his family, and leave her alone to face the hurricane. He had to go to her, or he would never be able to live with himself.

  42

  It was after midnight, and the streets were empty, littered with downed branches and debris. The traffic lights at the intersection swayed like crazy, and Aidan had to fight the wind gusts to keep the truck going straight. When he crossed the highway, he saw a live power wire down, throwing off sparks. The drive seemed endless, because he didn’t know what he’d find at the other end. Would Caroline be safe? Would her beautiful house be reduced to a pile of rubble? If she was safe, would she allow him back into her life? Or would she close her heart and mind against him because of the very things he’d done to protect her?

  He drove down her road with his heart in his throat, peering through the sheets of rain. When he reached her house and saw her car in the driveway, he jumped out of the truck, crazed with fear. A branch had landed on the Escalade, a big one, and Aidan got it in his mind somehow that she might still be inside, crushed and bleeding. He ran over, playing his flashlight across crumpled glass in the pounding rain. When he saw that the car was empty, he nearly cried with relief. Then the flashlight beam caught graffiti scratched into the side of the SUV. “DIE BITCH,” it said, and his blood went cold all over again.

  This vandalism must be the work of that thug Jason Stark had hired. Was he here? Caroline’s house was completely dark. Had he tracked her to this place, defaced her car, hurt her? Aidan ran up to the front of the house and looked in through the glass sidelights that ran on either side of the mahogany door. It was dark inside. The rain streaming off the hood of his jacket made it even harder to see. He swept the flashlight beam from his phone back and forth, and gasped when he caught a movement. Caroline materialized out of the darkness and floated toward him like an apparition. She came up to the door, looking through the glass at him.

  “Let me in,” he shouted over the rain and the wind, but she shook her head firmly.

  “Go away,” she said.

  “Are you all right? Is anybody there with you? Please, you have to let me in.”

  Caroline took a step back, away from the door, looking pale and afraid. Was it possible that the thug was already inside the house?

  “Caroline,” Aidan said, and pounded on the door frantically. “You have to let me in. I’m here to protect you. Somebody is coming to hurt you. Your daughter, too.”

  Her eyes widened. She came back to the glass. “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s your husband. He’s mixed up in something dirty. Let me in, and I’ll explain.”

  The rain came down sideways in sheets, and the wind shook the trees. She opened the door a few inches to hear him better over the racket. A gust kicked up and pushed at the door. He took the opportunity to press his way in. In the foyer, she backed away, grabbing an umbrella and brandishing it at him.

  “Stay back,” she said, looking frantic.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I don’t want you here.”

  “I’m here to help.”

  “What was that you said? Something about Jason?” she demanded.

  “Yes. I’m going to tell you. I’m dripping on your floor. Put that down. Please?”

  Grudgingly, she lowered the umbrella, placing it on a bench, still within arm’s reach. He held up his hands placatingly.

  “Is it okay if I take my coat off?”

  “Why should I trust you, after what you did to my daughter and my sister?”

  “I was trying to help. If I could come in for five minutes, I’ll explain everything.”

  She studied his face.

  “I would never hurt you. You know that,” he said.

  She sighed and nodded.

  “Thank you for trusting me,” he said.

  “I don’t trust you.”

  He stood by the door, stripping off his jacket and shoes, then followed her into the great room. The fire had been turned on in the gas fireplace, and candles placed around the room, which glowed with a warm light.

  “The power’s out, as you can see. Sit over there and don’t come any closer,” she said, pointing at a leather club chair.

  She sat down cross-legged on the sofa opposite and folded her arms, glaring at him. He was taken aback by her hostility. Everything he’d done was for her. How could she not understand that?

  “I don’t know what you think you know about my husband, Aidan,” she said. “But I can assure you, he’s not mixed up in anything dirty.”

  “He is. And he’s a danger to you and your daughter.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “From what you told me about him, I was worried, so I followed him.”

  “You what?”

  “Why is that so crazy? You asked me to kill him for you.”

  “Okay, that was a mistake. I said so. After Jason left and took the money, I was very, very upset. I said that to you out of desperation, then I immediately took it back. You promised not to mention it again.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. I only said it to point out that you can’t trust him.”

  “It’s you I can’t trust. You scare me, Aidan. You went after my family.”

  “No, I didn’t. You don’t understand. I was trying to help.”

  “What are you talking about? You approached my daughter like you wanted to date her. You—”

  “Wait a minute, that’s completely untrue. I never wanted to date her.”

  “She sent me this selfie of the two of you looking like two lovebirds.”

  “I’m sorry if she misunderstood. But I never came on to her in any way. It was totally friendly and on the up-and-up.”

  “What were you even doing there? She’s eighteen years old, Aidan. She’s my little girl. What were you thinking, going anywhere near her? And you tried to run my sister off the road. These are the people I care about, that I love. If you hurt them—”

  “I never tried to hurt anybody, swear to God. Your sister came to the bar and threatened me, then she drove away. All I did was try to catch up to her. Maybe that looked like I was attacking her but I was only trying to talk to her.”

  “Even if I accept your explanation about what you did to my sister, what about Hannah?”

  “Okay, I see now maybe that was a mistake. But I made it because of my love for you. I wanted to make sure she was safe. Your husband is dangerous. He wants to have you killed, and your daughter, too.”

  She laughed in shock. “That’s insane. Either you’re making it up, or there’s something wrong with you.”

  He really thought that, once they were together, she’d see his loyalty and his love, but he wasn’t getting through. He had to try harder, to say whatever it took to convince her.

  “I swear it’s true. I told you, Caroline, I followed him. Jason and his girlfriend went to Queens, where they met with a guy who looked like some kind of mobster. I watched Jason hand the guy an envelope full of cash. I heard them mention your name, and Hannah’s. Don’t you see? Jason wants to be with this other woman. I don’t understand how anyone could feel that way, but there it is. And he’s taking extreme steps to make it happen. You’re in danger.”

  She stared at him with a horror-stuck expression, saying nothing. He had to make her understand.

  “I didn’t seek this out,” he said. “All I did was offer you a ride home when you weren’t safe to drive. And yes, I thought you were beautiful. I thought you were incredible to talk to. But I would never have made a move because you were too far above me. I never thought a woman like you would go for a guy like me. You came on to me first, you can’t deny that.”

  She didn’t deny it. She didn’t say anything. She contin
ued to stare in disbelief, and Aidan kept talking to fill the silence.

  “Normally, I wouldn’t mess with a married woman. But I knew your story. I knew that your husband had mistreated you, and that you deserved better. And I thought, when will I ever get a chance at a woman this amazing again? We slept together, and I fell for you, Caroline. I fell for you hard. As we got to know each other, I saw that your problems were even worse than I imagined. But I didn’t run. I stayed. I’m here to fight for you. Everything I did—following your husband, going to see Hannah, breaking into this house to save it from the storm. It was done to protect you, because of how I felt about you. I’m sorry if I frightened you. But you stopped talking to me. You wouldn’t see me or take my calls. So, there was no way for me to explain. Please, tell me you understand.”

  As they gazed at each other, the lights came on suddenly. She looked around in amazement.

  “Look at that,” she said. “I wonder if it will last.”

  “Answer me. Do you understand why I did what I did?” he said.

  “Aidan, whatever you think you saw, you’re wrong. I need you to stay away from my family. Do you hear me?”

  “From your daughter, your sister, okay. But your husband—”

  “Jason and I are trying to reconcile. He wouldn’t hurt me, and he would certainly never hurt his daughter.”

  “Reconcile? No. That’s messed up. I won’t let you.”

  “It’s not up to you,” she said.

  “Tell me something, Caroline. Who vandalized your car, huh? Was that him? Or the thug he hired? Be honest.”