by C. C. Coburn
Packing finished, Beth wandered throughout the house, curious about Marina and wondering why there weren’t any photos of her anywhere. Surely if he’d loved her so deeply Gabe would have kept at least one memento of her? This piqued Beth’s curiosity further. She really needed to know about Marina, needed to see a photograph of her, and most especially a photograph of her and Gabe together. Tilly refused to talk about Marina, apart from saying she had been a gentle, physically fragile girl of extreme beauty. Beyond that, Marina was a mystery and Beth hated mysteries!
She retraced her steps to the study, walked behind Gabe’s enormous oak desk and opened a drawer, then another and another, searching for something, anything, to give her clue about Marina, what she looked like and what her life with Gabe was like.
Although she felt a certain amount of guilt at going through Gabe’s personal papers, Beth comforted herself with the knowledge that he wouldn’t be back for ages and so what he didn’t know about her snooping wouldn’t hurt him.
Next, she tried the filing cabinets. None of the drawers were locked so Beth flicked through the files, searching for photos. Nothing! Then finally at the very back of the bottom drawer of the last cabinet, she hit paydirt.
Her hands closed over several photo frames and a folder. Beth sat on the floor, carefully withdrew everything and placed it on the floor in front of her.
There were three photographs: one a wedding photo and two others of Marina alone. She was breathtakingly beautiful, Beth had to admit. With long, dark hair and dancing green eyes, she was tiny in both stature and frame, but the love that glowed from her eyes in the wedding photograph told Beth all she needed to know about Marina Hunter: clearly, she’d loved her husband unreservedly. Could Beth say the same about how she’d felt about JJ on their wedding day? The answer, she was surprised to discover, was a deafening no!
The other two photos were one of Marina when she must have been at college, judging by the way she was dressed; she looked happy and carefree, her dark hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back; the other was a close–up that took Beth’s breath away. Gabe must’ve taken it because Marina’s face glowed with love. This woman would have done anything to make Gabe happy and she’d have risked having a child to make their lives complete because, beneath the love, Beth detected a note of sadness in Marina’s eyes, that had shone so brightly with hope in the other two pictures.
She put the frames aside and opened the folder. More photos spilled out. Beth riffled through them, her heart stopping as she found several of Marina, pregnant and proud, but looking ever so thin and frail. It was painful to look at her and Beth put them back into the folder.
Some handwritten notes caught her eye and without thinking Beth picked them up and started to read. It was immediately obvious that these were love letters to Gabe and their content was personal and very sensual. Marina and Gabe had obviously enjoyed a very full love life. Marina had adored her husband and wanted to tell him so. Beth put them aside; they were almost too painful too read them, too personal and really none of her business.
Beth paused, realizing with a start that none of this was her business. What had started out as a curiosity about Marina and what she’d looked like had turned into full–scale snooping! She was about to put everything back into the folder when an envelope caught her eye. Written on the front in an elegant scrawl were the words, For my darling baby.
Beth was sure her heart had stopped. Were these letters Marina had written to her child, knowing all the time she would never see her? The envelope hadn’t been sealed and Beth found herself unable to resist the pull of wanting to know once and for all, why Marina had risked her life for her child.
Carefully, she withdrew the letters from the envelope and started to read.
My precious darling, I’m overjoyed with the news that I’m pregnant with you at last. I was told I’d never have children after trying for so many years, but I never gave up. Having a child means more to me than anything else in the world. I want so much to make your father happy, but he’s not. He’s sad and angry and afraid because the doctor says carrying you is too dangerous. But I know I’m strong, I can do this, he will see in the end that it was all worthwhile when he’s holding you in his strong, protective arms.
There were more letters, some written a day apart and others written weeks apart, but the common thread Beth noticed was that nowhere had Marina indicated that she would be there for her baby. She’d only ever spoke of Gabe holding their child, caring for her, loving her, taking her to school and all sorts of activities. It was as if she already knew she wouldn’t survive.
A tear escaped Beth’s eyes and rolled down her cheek. She wiped at it with the back of her hand. This was all too personal and painful and although she now understood a great deal more about Marina, Beth was filled with guilt that she’d let her curiosity get the better of her.
She was about to gently fold the letters up and replace them in the envelope when there was an angry demand from the doorway.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Gabe roared and strode into the study. “This is none of your business!”
Beth looked down at the photographs spread on the floor and the precious private letters clasped in her hand and whispered, “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Why did you come snooping in here?” he demanded. “Did you think you’d get away with it, that I’d be gone for hours and you could poke around through my private life as much as you liked?”
He bent and retrieved the folder and photographs and practically snatched the letters from Beth’s suddenly numb fingers. “Get out!” he roared. “Get out now, before I do something I regret.”
“Gabe, I’m sorry,” Beth pleaded. “I didn’t mean it to go this far. I… I just wanted to know about Marina.”
“Then you could’ve asked,” he snapped as he shoved the file cabinet drawer closed. “You had no right to come in here. Please leave and don’t come back!”
Beth was mortified. There was no point trying to explain herself. There really was no excuse for doing what she’d done. Gabe had every right to kick her out.
She was humiliated that he’d caught her out and needed to put as much space between her and Gabe Hunter as possible. He’d asked her to leave and she would. Beth hurried out of the study and back to Molly’s room, collected her and carried her to the car. Just as soon as she got the boys and their bags loaded, they’d be on the road. She found them in the kitchen munching on cookies.
“Boys, we’re leaving. Get you bags and get in the car.”
“But, Mom!” Mikey protested.
“Don’t argue!” she snapped at him more harshly than she meant. It wasn’t his fault they were leaving, it was entirely hers. “I’m sorry, honey. Something’s come up and we need to go now.”
“Where’s Gabe?” Jack asked. “I want to say goodbye.”
“He’s busy, honey. He asked me to say goodbye for him, okay?”
“‘Kay,” they all said in unison, but with confusion in their voices.
They knew when Mom said to do something and not ask questions, it was important, so they reluctantly retrieved their bags and filed out to her vehicle. Beth watched them go. She couldn’t leave like this, not without saying goodbye to Gabe.
She retraced her footsteps to the study and found him standing leaning against the cabinet, his head bowed.
“Gabe?” she whispered, almost afraid to see his face.
He lifted his head and his eyes bored right through her. Beth’s breath caught in her throat. He’d obviously been crying, but his gaze seemed to hold only hatred for her.
“I told you to go,” was all he said then bowed his head again.
“I wanted to say goodbye. And… to say how sorry I am—”
“Save it!” he cut her off and waved her away. “Just go.”
Beth turned and fled. When she got home and there was time to think about this and the physical space between them, then she might call and ap
ologize once more. But one thing was certain, whatever relationship Beth might have imagined they were building between them had been completely razed in a moment of inquisitive meddling by her.
The trip back through the mountains and down to Denver was long and tiring due to weekend traffic returning to the city and what seemed to be an accident of some sort near the Pinetree Canyon exit. There were State Troopers, the Sheriff’s Department and emergency vehicles everywhere, and drivers were slowing to stare.
Later, traffic was forced to the side of the road as a convoy of first responders headed back down to Denver.
As Beth turned into her street over two hours later, she found several Sheriff’s Department vehicles pulled up outside her house.
“What’s going on?” Jack demanded.
“I have no idea, honey. But I don’t think it’s good.” Beth was starting to experience a sense of alarm as she realized they were from the same county they’d passed through on the way down from the mountains.
She turned into her driveway and had barely turned off her engine when a uniformed officer was by her door.
“Mrs. Harman?”
“Stay here, kids,” Beth said as she climbed out and closed her door so they wouldn’t hear her conversation. “What’s wrong?” she asked, rising panic filling her throat and making her voice sound hoarse to her ears.
“I’m Deputy Stevens from the Sheriff’s Department. This is Deputy Cole,” he said, indicating the other officer who had joined him. “It’s about your husband.”
Relief flooded Beth. “I don’t have a husband,” she said. “You must be confusing me with someone else.” She turned away to tell the children they could get out of the car and go inside, but the officer’s next words stopped her as she opened her mouth.
“I meant to say, your ex–husband, Jefferson Harman junior.”
She turned back to him. “JJ? What’s wrong with him? Well, apart from the usual.”
“Can we go inside?”
Beth was confused and intrigued. This sounded serious.
“Um, sure. Would you mind if I got my children settled first?”
“Go ahead.”
Beth wasted no time in getting the children inside and, ignoring their protests, shunted them upstairs and asked Jack to run their baths. She was thankful that she’d surrendered to their pleas claiming they were starving to death and they’d stopped at a drive–thru on their way home—at least once they were bathed, they could go straight to bed.
Beth showed Deputy Stevens and several others into the living room and closed the door in case any of the children happened to wander downstairs.
She turned to him. “So what’s that useless fool been up to now?” she demanded.
“Mr. Harman is dead, ma’am,” Deputy Stevens told her.
Beth smiled. “I should be so lucky! Okay, this is a joke, right? You guys are from a party telegram company aren’t you? Tilly did this to cheer me up, didn’t she?”
“Tilly?” he said, deadpan.
“Oh, come on! Who set me up? It’s a great joke—just a pity it isn’t true.” Although if it was the funny telegram company, then one car would probably be enough for a joke like this, she thought. Three was definitely overkill. The man’s expression didn’t change.
“Um, this isn’t a joke, is it?” Beth felt her knees wobble a little and sank onto the couch, indicating the officers should take a seat opposite.
“No, ma’am, I’m afraid it’s not,” the deputy said, taking a seat, slowly twirling his hat in his hands as if uncomfortable. He leaned towards her. “Your ex–husband’s body was discovered this afternoon up in Pinetree Canyon. We believe he was murdered.”
Beth had heard of people speaking of surreal experiences and thought maybe she was having one too. JJ was dead? Really dead? This was something she probably should be grieving about.
Maybe. If he hadn’t been such a shit.
But all Beth felt was a ridiculous sense of elation. If she’d had any champagne in the refrigerator, she’d have been tempted to break it out. Maybe once the officers had gone, she would.
Schooling her face to look serious, she asked, “So who killed him?”
“We were hoping you could shed some light on that.”
“On who killed JJ? I have no idea. But when you find out, would you kindly let me know, I’d like to give them a medal.”
“You don’t seem to be taking this matter very seriously,” the officer pointed out.
JJ was dead? Woo hoo! Beth forced the happy grin that kept intruding from her lips and said, “I’m sorry. My ex and I didn’t have a particularly amicable relationship so I’m not particularly upset that he’s no longer breathing the same air as us.”
As the full ramifications of JJ’s demise hit her she said, “Although I’m not sure how I’m going to break the news to my kids. They might take it hard.”
“We have counselors who can help you.”
“Really? That’s wonderful. I really appreciate it,” Beth said, standing. “Now, I really should let you guys get along. I need to supervise my children’s baths.” She started to open the door of the living room to show them out.
“Not so fast, ma’am. I’d like to know where you’ve been.”
Beth spun around. “Been?” Suddenly the drive down from the mountains came back to her. The traffic snarl at the Pinetree Canyon turnoff. Police vehicles tearing down the interstate. A coroner’s ambulance. Uh, oh, had that been JJ in the coroner’s vehicle? “Um, I was up in the mountains. For the weekend.”
“Where, precisely?”
Beth frowned. She was getting an uncomfortable feeling this guy wanted to imply something. Cops were always doing that to relatives in TV crime dramas and, before they knew it, they were the number one suspect. “I wasn’t in Pinetree Canyon, if that’s what you’re inferring.”
“Then I’ll have to ask you again. Where exactly where you?”
“I was visiting with a… a friend outside Cedar Falls.”
“And this… friend would be prepared to confirm this?”
“Yes, of cour…” Beth wasn’t so sure she wanted Gabe implicated in this. They’d turn up at his ranch and start interrogating him about where he’d been and what he’d been doing. And what she and Gabe had been doing probably didn’t look good considering what had happened to JJ. “Er, should I be speaking with a lawyer?”
“Would you like to, ma’am?”
Beth bit her lip. She didn’t like the way he said that. It made it sound as if she called in a lawyer, she was admitting her guilt. What did the characters on CSI do in these circumstances? Usually they were running on a treadmill or doing something totally relaxed as though they didn’t have a care in the world about being accused of something suspicious. She turned from the door and walked back to the deputy. “Am I being accused of anything?”
“No, ma’am, we’re just hoping you could help us with the investigation.”
“I can’t help you with what JJ was up to today, but you can probably be sure it wasn’t anything good. I haven’t seen him since Friday evening.”
“The coroner believes his body’s been in the water for several days. That could tie in with Friday evening.”
“Water? So someone drowned him?”
“No. We believe his throat was cut and then his vehicle was pushed over the cliff into the canyon. It’s quite deep at that point—both the canyon and the river. A group of rafters discovered his vehicle when they were on the river this morning.”
Someone cut JJ’s throat? Scenes of gore filled Beth’s mind. Aghast, she sank back down onto her sofa and tried to stop her knees from knocking.
“As Pinetree Canyon is on the way to Cedar Falls, I’d like to ask about your movements over the weekend.”
Beth couldn’t help the flush that suffused her face. Her movements were somewhat X–rated…
Oh, he didn’t mean those movements! “I didn’t go anywhere, just stayed near Cedar Falls.”
“Wh
ere, please, ma’am?”
“Look, you’re going to have to stop calling me ma’am all the time. It makes me feel old. How about Beth?” she suggested. How was she going to keep Gabe out of this? “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer not to say. But I can assure you I wasn’t anywhere near Pinetree Canyon, apart from driving past the turnoff on the interstate on my way to Cedar Falls on Friday night, okay?”
“So you’re saying you saw the deceased on Friday evening and then you traveled to Cedar Falls?”
This wasn’t looking good. Why the hell did JJ have to go and get himself killed on the same road as led to Cedar Falls? Typical! He was always so damned inconsiderate.
“Alright, we’ll forget about where you stayed, for the moment. Exactly where and when did you last see your ex–husband?”
“He came here. It was a little after nine on Friday night. We… argued and…” This probably wasn’t looking good for her either, Beth realized. “…And he left. And that’s the last I saw of him.”
“May I ask what you argued about?”
“The usual. Money, the kids, what a rat he is… um… was. ”
“Could you elaborate?”
“He wanted money and I told him to get lost.”
“You said you argued about your children?”
The argument came back to Beth in a blinding flash. There had been a lot of yelling on her part. No doubt the neighbors had heard just about everything!
She stood up and walked towards the fireplace, her arms clasped around her, feeling suddenly chilled to the bone. “He said he’d give me sole custody of the children if I signed over the title of this house to him.”
“And why would he want to do that?”
“He said he needed money. He… owed people a lot of money and they’d made threats against him. He claimed they were loan sharks. It was something about a gambling debt.”
Beth could see the speculation in the deputy’s eyes and that of the other men in the room. “It’s true! That man was such a jerk he’d sell his kids for a piece of paper. So if you’re still wondering why I’m not in the least bit sorry or upset that he’s dead, then you’re probably in the wrong job. Thanks to whoever did away with that waste of space, I can now keep my house and my kids all to myself!”