Caught in Christmas River

by Meg Muldoon

“We don’t mean you any harm—”

  “Get out!”

  Her voice echoed down the long hospital corridor. A few patients and doctors looked in our direction.

  I stood up, grabbing my coat.

  “We didn’t mean to upset you,” I said.

  “Well it’s too late for that!”

  I grabbed Daniel’s hand and we headed for the elevators.

  I didn’t want to judge Mrs. Parsons considering the difficult circumstances she’d found herself in.

  But I also didn’t feel as sorry for her as I probably should have.

  Chapter 16

  When we got back to the inn, Adam was sitting on the front steps, staring out at the gray ocean with a blank expression on his face.

  He told us that several of the guests had decided to leave early. Some gave excuses, saying they were concerned about not being able to get out of Agate Bay the following morning on account of the impending storm. Others said that their plans just happened to change.

  It seemed to me that whenever something tragic occurred, people usually tried to get as far away from it as possible. Almost as if they were afraid the tragedy would somehow end up tainting them just by their proximity to it. And aside from that, many of the guests at the inn had come for a relaxing and peaceful vacation. And that most certainly wasn’t getting woken up at dawn by ambulance sirens and then getting interviewed by the police all morning.

  None of it was Adam’s fault. But as we climbed the porch steps up to him, I could see easy enough that he was consumed with guilt over what had happened.

  “I’m the owner – I’m supposed to take care of my guests,” Adam said, shaking his head. “How could I have let something like this happen?”

  Daniel took a seat in a wicker chair next to him.

  “You know it’s not your fault, right? You had nothing to do with it.”

  “But I did, don’t you see? I didn’t do a good enough job looking out for Jason. I should have taken that bottle of scotch away from him. I should have seen how much he’d been drinking.”

  “It’s just bad luck, man,” Daniel said. “That’s all it is.”

  I went over, leaning against the porch railing next to Adam and placing a hand on his shoulder.

  “He’s right,” I said. “You’ve got nothing to feel guilty about, Adam. Bad things just happen sometimes. Even in places as beautiful and serene as The Agate Inn.”

  He nodded, tapping my hand gently.

  “I can see why you married this one,” he said to Daniel.

  “Easy for you to say. You haven’t met her grandfather yet,” he quipped back.

  I feigned a look of disbelief, and Adam let out a short laugh that made everybody feel a little better.

  “Daniel Brightman!” I shouted, putting a hand on my hip. “You take that back this instant! Warren is one of the best things that ever happened to you and you know it.”

  “All right, all right,” Daniel said, putting up his hands. “I was only joking. Warren is a diamond in the rough and we all know it.”

  I grimaced.

  “That’s a little better, but not by much. Adam, is Angelica in the kitchen?”

  The lightness in the big man’s face faded a little bit when I asked.

  “Yeah. She’s trying to make up for what happened this morning with some big, over-the-top dinner tonight. I told her not to worry about it, but she’s still trying to leave the guests that stayed on with a good impression of the inn.”

  I nodded, stealing a quick glance at Daniel. His expression had turned serious.

  “I’m going to go see if she needs any help,” I said.

  Chapter 17

  Angelica moved in wild, hurried motions, looking more frazzled than Mrs. Frankenstein herself.

  Every inch of counter space was covered with bowls, plates, bags of flour, and cookie sheets. Two food processors were roaring simultaneously in the back of the kitchen.

  “Hi, Angelica,” I said.

  She didn’t hear me over the sound of the processors, so I repeated myself in a louder voice.

  A little too loudly.

  Startled, she dropped the stainless steel bowl she was carrying and it rattled as it hit the floor. She reached over, shutting the blenders down.

  “Sorry,” I said quietly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  She ran a hand through her tangled hair, shaking her head.

  “It wasn’t you. I’m just a little…”

  She looked around at her mad kingdom of kitchen utensils.

  “Can I help?” I asked.

  “That was so kind of you to help last night, Cin. But I really couldn’t ask that of you again. You’re a guest and you’re supposed to be on vacation.”

  She furrowed her brow.

  “And besides. There’s not as many people staying here as last night. A lot of them cancelled after what happened…”

  “They probably just wanted to get out ahead of the storm,” I said.

  “Storm watching was supposed to be one of the draws of staying here at the inn,” she said glumly. “We’ve got some of the best views for that sort of thing.”

  I went over to the copper kettle sitting on the stovetop and started filling it with water.

  If she wasn’t going to let me help, the least I could do was make some tea.

  “Cin, you really don’t have to—” she started saying.

  “I insist.”

  She smiled weakly at me.

  There was a lot that tea couldn’t solve.

  But in my experience, it never hurt, either.

  Chapter 18

  Out the expansive kitchen windows, the ocean had turned a steely shade of gray and frothy white caps peppered the waves. The boards of Agate Inn creaked loudly in the powerful gusts.

  Menacing clouds had gathered over the horizon and were quickly obliterating all trace of those powder blue skies.

  I took a sip of my peppermint tea and eyed Angelica.

  “You must be worried about Jason,” I said quietly.

  She flashed her eyes at me when I said the name. The mug of tea wobbled slightly in her hands.

  “Adam went to the hospital earlier,” she said. “He said Patricia was in a bad state, but that the doctors thought Jason would make it. I just… I feel so terrible about all of this.”

  I nodded.

  “You didn’t go with him to the hospital?” I asked.

  I paid careful attention to her eyes when I said that, trying to see if I could read anything in them.

  They flickered again slightly.

  “No,” she said. “I… I have too much to do here. I asked Adam to go for me.”

  She paused, letting out a long sigh suddenly.

  “That’s not true,” she said. “The truth is, I just felt like I couldn’t face Patricia. I’m afraid she’d blame me.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “Because it wouldn’t have happened if… if they hadn’t come here for the grand opening in the first place.”

  I studied her for a long moment.

  “So Jason’s a family friend?”

  She set down the mug of tea next to her phone on the counter, nodding quickly.

  “Yes. When my dad passed from cancer a few years ago, Jay checked in on me a lot. He wanted to make sure I was okay. He wanted to make sure I didn’t feel alone.”

  Her voice had taken on a strange monotone quality, as if she’d said this very line hundreds of times over the years. She said it completely without feeling.

  She took a long sip of her tea. Then she cleared her throat.

  “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Cin.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “Sure.”

  She hesitated for a long moment. Then she smiled a big, strained smile.

  “I was hoping you’d, uh, you’d give me the recipe for that incredible raspberry dessert you made last night.”

  I smiled back.

  “It was such a hit
with the guests,” she continued. “That Jerome guy? He kept going back when he thought nobody was looking. I know you might not want to divulge your secret, but I would love to add it to the menu. You know, if I had your permission.”

  I wasn’t any fool.

  I’d seen exactly what she’d done.

  She’d changed the subject. Flattering me as a way to get me to stop asking questions about her and Jason.

  I played along, though.

  “Of course I’ll give you the recipe,” I said, nodding. “It’s so easy, all you need is—”

  “Ange?”

  We both looked in the direction of the doorway.

  Adam’s mom Betty stood there, leaning against the frame, looking a little winded.

  “Hi, Betts,” Angelica said.

  “Adam needs to talk to you out on the porch.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

  Angelica stood up, giving me a half-smile.

  “I’ll be right back. Can you come and get me if the bisque boils over?”

  I smiled.

  “Of course.”

  A moment later, Angelica was walking out the door with Betty and I was left alone in the kitchen.

  I glanced at her mug of tea.

  And then at the phone next to it.

  I wasn’t proud of what I did next.

  But I did it anyway, thinking of Adam.

  Chapter 19

  I was rotten.

  But I didn’t stop.

  I scrolled through the text messages on her phone quickly, keeping an eye on the door as I did.

  Angelica’s phone was brimming with messages from what seemed to be friends back in Fresno. Many asked how work on the inn was going, telling her they were planning trips to visit during the summer.

  I tried not to look at any of them too closely, already feeling terrible for doing what I was doing. I didn’t want to pry into her life any more than I already was.

  It was no easy task sifting through all her messages. It seemed that Angelica had an endless number of friends who she conversed with often.

  I glanced up at the door suddenly.

  Nobody was there, but I could hear the voices coming from the porch as the front door opened and a huge gust of damp wind wound through the kitchen.

  I should have put the phone down then, but I didn’t. I kept scrolling looking for something. Anything that might—

  The name “Jay” appeared suddenly.

  The text message was dated from a week earlier.

  There were footsteps coming down the hall.

  I opened the text message.

  My eyes went wide.

  “You have to stop ignoring me, G. I won’t permit it.”

  I held in a gasp and clicked out of the message. I placed the phone back down on the counter just as the door to the kitchen swung open.

  I stood up, surprised to see who was standing there.

  “Oh… Officer Reed...”

  The young officer took off his cap.

  “It’s Cinnamon, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Would you mind joining us in the dining room?”

  I felt my hands immediately start to perspire.

  “Sure. What’s this, uh… what’s this about?”

  “There’s been an update in the case.”

  “An update?”

  The young officer looked at me grimly.

  “We now have reason to believe that Jason Parsons’ accident wasn’t just an accident.”

  I felt my heart jump in my throat.

  Chapter 20

  Though Officer Reed was tight-lipped about what he knew, Daniel was able to get a key fact out of him that afternoon during the lengthy questioning sessions we all had to go through.

  Jason Parsons was still in and out of consciousness and couldn’t give anybody his version of events.

  But the doctors had found something on his body.

  There was a significant bruise on his left shoulder, one that given the way he had fallen, didn’t match up with the rest of his injuries.

  The police now believed that Jason didn’t fall. He was pushed over the cliff.

  And he’d been pushed hard enough to leave behind a big bruise.

  The turn of events had left everyone at the inn jittery. The two school teachers that I’d been speaking with at the cocktail hour the night before were particularly jarred, and after the questioning, they went up to their room and didn’t come back downstairs for the rest of the evening.

  The storm didn’t help much with the atmosphere. By the time Officer Reed left, the wind was howling something fierce outside and the rain sounded like marbles getting tossed against the side of the building.

  Reed had talked to everyone still there and was in the process of tracking down the other guests who had left early. He kept his cards very close to his chest and didn’t share with anybody what direction he was going in with his investigation or whether he suspected anybody in particular.

  I supposed I could have helped him out with that a little more. But when it came down to it, I had kept quiet about what I’d seen – about seeing Angelica heading out about 2:30 in the morning. About the person in the distance I had seen her go to.

  About that text message on her phone, proving that she was the woman that Jason had been texting.

  I didn’t know if not telling the police everything I knew was the right thing to do. But I figured I could always amend my story later. I couldn’t, however, take back something I’d said to the police. That would always be on the record.

  In light of the grim turn of events, the elaborate dinner that Angelica had been working on turned out to be more of a casual buffet. We sat quietly around one of the dining room tables, eating lobster bisque and garlic bread, listening to the storm rage on outside.

  The mood was somber, and after taking the dogs on a quick walk in the rain, Daniel and I said goodnight to everyone and went upstairs to our room. There, I told him what I’d found on Angelica’s phone.

  “I know I shouldn’t have looked,” I said. “I crossed a line. But I just couldn’t help thinking about Adam. If Angelica isn’t being faithful to him, he has the right to know.”

  Daniel had been quiet for a full minute after I told him, staring out the window of the room at the churning gray waters in the distance.

  “He really called her ‘G?’ in the text?” he finally said.

  I nodded.

  “Short for Angie, maybe,” I said.

  “Or for Gordon,” he said. “Her maiden name is Gordon.”

  I held in a sigh.

  I hadn’t known that before, but now that I did, it all seemed clear as day.

  “She’s the woman that Jason was texting,” I said. “I didn’t see any other text messages on there from him, but maybe she deleted them.”

  Daniel let out a long, unsteady breath, watching the rain splash across the window pane.

  “What can we do?” I asked, sinking down into the bed.

  Daniel didn’t answer for a long, long while.

  Then he shook his head.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “But I do know one thing.”

  He rubbed his face.

  “This is going to kill Adam.”

  Chapter 21

  We decided to come clean and tell Adam everything we knew in the morning.

  It wasn’t going to be easy, and I knew it was going to be especially hard for Daniel. Nobody wanted to hear that kind of news, and in the hurt and pain that was bound to follow, blame could easily get tossed around. And often times, it ended up landing squarely on the shoulders of the messenger.

  But it had to be done.

  There was no other way around it. Having been in Adam’s shoes before, I knew he was going to be hurting. But it would be a lot worse to continue on in a charade with someone who wasn’t being honest with you.

  I held onto Daniel tightly that night, listening to the storm howl outside. He had dozed off and I listened to his
steady rhythmic breathing, hoping that it might lead the sandman to my door, too. But as much as I hoped, sleep didn’t come to me.

  My mind was racing with all sorts of things – but mostly, I was thinking about the way my first marriage ended.

  It had taken me a long, long time to get over Evan cheating on me the way he had. It had taken me an even longer time to learn how to trust again after that.

  Marriage was never a cake walk. There were always issues that came up. And even going into it with the very best intentions didn’t guarantee that things would work out.

  But to hurt the person you were supposed to love and cherish the most so willfully was something that—

  I heard a loud creak suddenly.

  Then the shutting of a door.

  I sat up straight in bed, listening to the porch boards groan below. I got up, stealing across the room over to the window.

  Through the layers of spitting rain, I could just make out a person in a red raincoat walking across the lawn.

  They were heading toward the lighthouse.

  I glanced back at Daniel and the pooches, all of them sleeping so peacefully.

  Then, I quietly slipped on my shoes.

  Chapter 22

  I watched as the person in the red raincoat stalked along the cliff side, studying the ground in the pouring rain.

  My teeth were chattering and each time the wind wailed, I thought I might lose my footing in the slick grass. But I followed the figure a ways, ignoring the rain and wind as best I could.

  I hung back for a little bit, watching as they walked back and forth near the cliff edge, shining a flashlight across the ground.

  I regretted that I hadn’t woken Daniel up.

  The person out here was obviously looking for something.

  Evidence, I realized.

  I bit my lip. After a long while the person turned around and started heading back toward the inn.

  I thought about ducking down. About hiding.

  But in the end, I decided that I wasn’t going to hide.

  And I wasn’t going to let him hide, either.