by Jan Burke
I turned to see Andrew Hollingsworth staring at me.
44
“WHERE’S ELINOR?” I asked.
“And I asked you what you are doing here.” It was then I noticed that he looked very peculiar. He was covered in sweat and his eyes were darting nervously between me and the house as he closed the distance between us. I started to move to the other side of the car. He lunged out to grab me, but I ducked his movement and he went sprawling.
I took off running. He got up and came after me, but I made it to the woods. I darted in and around the trees that bordered the road, not looking back but just going for all I was worth. At some point I slowed just long enough to glance back. I couldn’t see him. I kept running.
I hid behind a large tree and caught my breath. I looked back, and this time I had a fairly clear view of the house. Andrew Hollingsworth was walking with his back to me, toward the house. My breath came in sharp, stabbing gulps. I felt dizzy. What had gone wrong? Hollingsworth must have come home unexpectedly. But I didn’t see any sign of Markham anywhere. What had he done with Elinor? Or what would he do, now that he had seen me?
I started moving cautiously toward the road. I wanted to follow it out, but I didn’t want to be out on it. I knew that the tower would afford Hollingsworth a perfect view of the road itself. If I stayed in the woods, he might not see me.
I tried to remember how far the road went before there was another house or building, and felt dismayed. By the time I got anywhere, even if I ran, Hollingsworth could be long gone. He might even be getting a car now, suspecting the direction I would be headed.
As if to confirm these thoughts, I heard the sound of a racing car engine. I lay down and looked out at the road. The sound came closer, and I realized that it was coming into the estate, not from it. My relief turned to horror when I saw that the car was Pete Baird’s. Unaware of any danger to himself, Frank had come after me. The car flew by, and I helplessly watched him disappear from view. I had to try to get back to the house and warn him before Andrew Hollingsworth found out he was here. I ran back through the woods. My legs felt shaky but I forced them onward. As I came within view of the house, I froze and dropped to the ground.
A group of people was making its way into the house by the side door off the barbecue patio. Even from the back, I recognized them.
Frank was first, with his hands raised. Then Elinor.
Then Andrew, with a gun.
45
I FELT SICK. I was quivering with fear and exhaustion, but I had to think of something. Maybe I could get inside the house and use the phone. But would anyone get here fast enough to save Frank and Elinor?
I looked out at the cliffside. Could I be seen or heard by someone below on the beach? Not likely. I noticed some ships out on the water. Maybe I could do something to attract their attention. Something that would also distract Andrew Hollingsworth and give Frank and Elinor a chance to escape.
Suddenly I remembered the propane tanks and the newspapers in the basement. If no one was in the hallway, I could probably get down there long enough to start a good-sized fire, one that could be seen from the water. It would be risky for Frank and Elinor, but with luck it would provide enough of a distraction for them to get out safely.
I crouched low and made my way to the side patio. I leaned up against the wall of the house. The kitchen windows were closed, but I could hear voices — mainly Andrew’s, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. If they were in the kitchen, it would be hard to sneak into the basement without being seen or heard. I couldn’t think of any other way into the house that would be any more quiet, so I went ahead and slowly turned the knob on the door leading into the house.
I slowly pulled the door open and was relieved to see the door to the kitchen was closed. I opened the basement door and went softly down the stairs. It was dark, but a little light came through a small window. My eyes got used to it and I found the propane tanks. I looked around the room for items that would burn.
I found newspapers and some matches. I opened both propane tanks just a crack, so that the hissing would not be loud enough to attract attention. If I went upstairs and tossed a match down here as I left, I figured I would have the distraction I was looking for. I was on my way up the stairs when the door suddenly opened.
I saw the gun first. Then I realized Elinor Hollingsworth was the one pointing it at me.
“Thank God you’re safe!” I said, feeling relieved.
“Oh, you’re the one who’s in danger. Come on up and join your friend. You’ve been making enough noise down here to wake the dead.”
She laughed a strange laugh, still pointing the gun. I finally caught on.
“Don’t try anything foolish, Irene. I’m an expert with firearms.”
I walked up the stairs and she prodded me into the kitchen. Andrew held a gun on Frank. I guessed from Frank’s empty shoulder holster that Elinor had his. Frank looked over at me, and for a moment we exchanged a look of mutual fear for one another. He forced a smile and said, “Come on in, Irene. We can wait here and watch the Hollingsworths get arrested.”
“Shut up!” Andrew said.
“Now, now, Andrew,” said Elinor, cool as ice. “There aren’t going to be any arrests. And even if I believed for a moment that the police were on their way, I have the comfort of knowing that these two will not live to see their would-be rescuers. Stand a few feet away from Mr. Harriman, please, Irene. The two of you will be very much together soon.”
“Let me guess,” Frank said. “Looking at old Andrew quiver and quake here, I’d lay money you were the one who killed that girl.”
“Of course I was. Do you think I was going to let some little white trash strumpet from Arizona spoil my wedding plans? And Andrew was going to marry her! Can you believe it?”
A pained look crossed Andrew’s face. Elinor smiled and went on.
“She shows up in town one night, tells him that she’s pregnant. She says it was from his visit to her on spring break. That was rather naughty of you, wasn’t it, Andrew?”
Andrew’s eyes glazed over, as if he had mentally withdrawn from us.
Elinor smirked. “She tells him she’s written a letter to her cousin, naming the father-to-be. What does he do? He tells her he’ll make an honest woman of her!”
Elinor hooted over this. “He came to tell me we would have to break off our engagement. I told him not to worry, to leave it all to me. And convinced the little whore that she should meet me under the pier and the rest has been history in this town for thirty-five years.”
“Not exactly,” I said, finding my voice.
She shot a hard look at me.
“What did you do with her hands and feet?”
Andrew blanched, but Elinor cackled.
“Oh, that was inspired. What better place for a pair of feet than at the end of a pair of legs?”
“She buried them under the Las Piernas cliffs,” Andrew said quietly.
Frank and I looked at one another.
“As for the hands, well, I made a very special wedding present of them to my dear husband.”
“Elinor! For God’s sakes!”
“They want to hear the story, Andrew. You know, Andrew thought I had just paid her off to leave town until the story came out in the paper the next day. I called him to remind him that I knew where he had eaten dinner with her, that he was the last one to have been seen in public with her, and that I could easily provide the link between the two of them. Who in Las Piernas wouldn’t take my word over his? Why, at that time, no one would have thought of a woman doing such a thing anyway.”
Even now it was hard to believe. Elinor had great physical strength and an iron will. A lady who always got her own way. “Why not just pay her off?” I asked.
“Oh, I tried. And I would have been good for it. It’s worked with our beloved mayor for years. But the cheap tart said she didn’t want my money, she wanted Andrew. Well, she simply couldn’t have him. I had come prepared
in case she refused.”
She eyed us warily.
“Andrew, get some rope from the basement. We don’t want to take chances with these two.”
“No,” he said. “You know I won’t go down there.”
Elinor sighed. “His wedding present is in the freezer down there. He won’t go near it.” She laughed at him. “She’s not going to reach up and grab you, Andrew.” He turned red, but said nothing. She walked over to her husband. “Andrew has been very good to me over the years, so I put up with his little phobia about the basement.”
“Why O’Connor?” I asked. “What did he ever do to you?”
“He was about to figure out who she was, that’s what. I learned that from his son.”
She smiled at the look of surprise on my face. “I had an affair with Kenny. Strictly for espionage purposes. The little blabbermouth told me every move his father made. Of course he was clueless as to my reasons for wanting to know. Kenny’s not much of a lover. Nothing like Andrew. Andrew is a fantastic lover. I’m disappointed Kenny survived, but I understand he’s not saying anything.”
I looked at Andrew. He stood with a stony expression, not directly acknowledging our presence with anything other than the gun. If Elinor was embarrassing him, he didn’t show it.
“I’m surprised Andrew can get it up for you after the way you treated his girlfriend,” Frank said.
A look of cold fury passed over her face.
She walked up to Frank, put the gun to his temple, and cocked the trigger. “Raise your hands higher.”
He did. She drew her other arm back and punched him hard in the ribs. He paled and exhaled loudly, but he didn’t give her the satisfaction of hearing him crying out. She stepped away with a smile on her face.
Frank’s forehead was covered with sweat, but he lowered his arms again and said nothing.
“Irene, I really like you. And he does seem to be quite a man. I’m rather sorry we didn’t get to know one another better. Wouldn’t cry out for me. Well, we’ll see.”
“Elinor, let’s get this over with and get out of here,” Andrew said.
She looked at him.
“Very well, put them in the freezer. I’ll get the rope.”
She waited a moment to make sure he obeyed.
He motioned us over to a walk-in freezer not far from where we stood. He pointed the gun at me. “Open it.”
I did as I was told. I yanked at the handle and pulled the heavy door open. It was a small meat freezer. Various cuts of meat hung in it, large containers of ice cream were stored on racks on one wall. I shivered as I stood behind the door. I’m not sure it was from the cold.
He turned the gun on Frank. “Go on, you first.”
“Hollingsworth, this is your chance to get free of her,” Frank said. “Why let her push you around? She’s the murderer, not you.”
For a moment Andrew Hollingsworth looked bewildered. He glanced back at Elinor, then back to us. He leveled the gun at Frank, his hands shaking. “Get in there,” he said.
“You’re a DA, you know how it works. We’ll tell the attorney general you helped us out. He’ll go easy on you.”
He said nothing, just stood there quivering like a frightened animal.
“Let Irene go. She hasn’t done you any harm.”
“Andrew!” Elinor commanded.
It was only one word, but it cracked through the air like a whip. Hollingsworth grew wild-eyed. He turned the gun toward me and screamed at Frank. “Get in there! Do it now or she’s dead! I’ll do it! I’ll blow her head off!”
Frank walked stiffly and slowly, the barrel of Andrew’s gun now following his every move. He went into the freezer. I hated myself, knowing he was here because of me.
Elinor had walked over to the basement door.
“That’s odd,” she said.
All I heard after that was a loud explosion.
46
I FELT MYSELF ripped away from behind the door and hurtled hard into a wall. I lay there, flat on my back, stunned and unsure of what had happened. The air was hot. I felt my face covered with something sticky, something salty that was in my mouth. My ears felt as if they were filled with water. Next I became aware that there was smoke filling the room. I closed my eyes. It dawned on me that there was no sound.
Someone was lifting me. I opened my eyes and saw Frank looking down at me. He was trying to say something to me, but he wasn’t making any noise. I smiled at him and closed my eyes.
WHEN I OPENED THEM again, I was looking up at a smoky sky. I was coughing. Frank’s face came into my field of vision again. I realized he was bending over me. We were on some grass. He held me. I felt sleepy.
I looked up into his face. What was wrong with his eyes? They were watery. He was trying to say something. I think it was my name. He wasn’t making any sound. I moved my hand to his lips. I closed my eyes again.
47
THE FIRST SOUND I heard was snoring. I woke up in a strange room, hearing snoring. That and a hammering inside my skull. I slowly turned my head to see Frank sleeping in a chair behind bars. I gradually realized I was in a hospital bed, and the bars were the bed railing. My head hurt so bad, it was easier to shut my eyes. I fell back to sleep.
When I woke up again, there was a woman’s face looking down at me. “I think she’s coming around now,” the voice said, and I realized it was Sister Theresa. Soon I saw Frank standing next to her.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi.” He took my hand. That felt good.
“Your sister has been asking about you,” Sister Theresa said. “I think I’ll let her know you’re awake.”
Frank sat down, but kept hold of my hand. I let go and slipped my arm through the rails to make it easier on him.
I fell asleep.
Later that night, I finally managed to stay awake for more than five seconds at a time. Frank was still holding my hand.
“Frank?”
He sat up with a start. He looked exhausted.
“Irene? How do you feel?”
“Like hell. What happened?”
“Did you open those propane tanks in the basement?”
I was still a little foggy. Gradually I remembered where I had been just before the explosion.
“Yes. But I didn’t light them.”
“It filled the room up with propane. Elinor flipped the light switch and it sparked. It exploded. And burned.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I guess they did me a real favor sticking me in that freezer.”
I remembered seeing him put in there at gunpoint, remembered Elinor holding the gun to his head and striking his ribs hard. I felt the color drain from my cheeks.
“Irene? Are you okay? Do you want me to get the nurse?”
“No,” I said. “I’m okay. I just remembered how they treated you. I was so afraid for you.”
“Believe me, it was mutual. God, you gave me a scare. When I brought you outside—”
His voice broke and he was quiet, looking away.
“I’m okay,” I said.
“Hello there!” Barbara called from the door.
She came over to the other side of the bed. “This guy is worse than I am. Even Sister Theresa couldn’t get him to take a break.”
The memory of hearing him snore came back to me and I smiled.
“Hi, Barbara. How’s Kenny doing?”
“He’ll be in here to apologize to you any day now,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“He told me what he said to you about O’Connor. I told him either he apologized or I wasn’t ever going to have a thing to do with him. He started crying and going on about how he killed his father. I tell you, he’s delirious. I told him you and Frank knew who killed his father, and that as far as I knew, his name hadn’t come up. Do you know what he was talking about?”
Frank and I exchanged a brief look.
“No,” I said. “He probably just feels bad about what he said to me. Tell
him I said all is forgiven.” I turned to Frank. “What happened to the Hollingsworths?”
He shook his head.
“Oh.”
“Longren has confessed to the money laundering and providing a false alibi for Emmet Woolsey’s wife; he claims he never knew about the other stuff, but nobody believes him. He’s washed up anyway. Elaine’s mother never found the letter. It was probably thrown away years ago. We called her to let her know what happened. Small consolation.”
My head felt heavy and woozy. I shut my eyes and it cleared.
I looked up at Frank again; there was concern in his face.
“How did you know I was out there?” I asked.
“Lydia. She called me to say you had left her that note. But we can talk about all of that later. Just get better. They want to hold that wake for O’Connor and they’re waiting for you to get out of here to do it.”
“I owe you a lot,” I said drowsily.
“Not a thing. Go to sleep.”
I did.
48
IT WAS A GRAND OCCASION . There was food and drink and joyful and tearful remembrances of the man we loved.
“Do you believe in ghosts?” I asked Frank.
“Only Casper.”
“You should get to know O’Connor’s — it’s even friendlier.”
I must have talked and laughed and cried with a hundred people. Barbara and Aunt Mary had set the whole thing up at Barbara’s house. Sam and Roselynn had provided some of the food. Probably one of the first Irish wakes to serve Thai food.
I avoided the booze — I wanted to give my head a chance to stop aching from the blow I gave it when I hit that kitchen wall. Frank didn’t drink either, telling me I should have one sober person to talk to.
Kenny was there, home but not really up and around. He and Barbara were going to make another go of it. I was happy to notice that she was being more assertive around him.
