“I’m really not comfortable with those words coming out of your mouth.” He laughed but then sighed and tilted his chair back, leaning against the wall. “I don’t know, sis…”
Molly growled. “For the love of God, Finn, doesn’t this drive you crazy? This constant…God, I don’t even know what to call it. Everything, everything is telling you to leave Caroline. She makes you miserable. That doesn’t even begin to cover it. I want you to be happy, to find the one person who brings you joy. Stop fooling around. Do something. The one thing I will say is this: you won’t find her while you’re still married to, or at least living with, Count Slutula. She’s changed you, written her spite and her hurt all over you. So before anything else, you have to decide what to do. You, no-one else. And soon.”
Finn nodded. “Yeah. You’re right.” He sniggered. “Count Slutula?”
Molly grinned wickedly and Finn laughed. He drained his coffee then looked at his sister suspiciously.
“When did you get so smart?”
“Around about the time I was born. They had a lot of brains left over from you.”
“Funny.”
Molly grinned at him but her eyes were serious. “You have nothing to lose, Finn. Nothing.
Now he sat opposite his smirking, hateful wife of five years and saw nothing in her he could ever love again. Nothing.
Finn stared at her in dislike. “What do you want Caroline?”
“Isn’t this more about what you want, Finn?”
He sighed. “Yes. Let’s not drag this out. I want a divorce. You can’t be surprised.”
“No.” But she was smiling. She lit a cigarette. Molly walked past and snatched it away from her.
“No smoking, are you an idiot?”
Caroline shrugged and sipped her coffee. “Well, one good thing about getting a divorce would be never having to see you again, you bitch.”
“The feeling’s entirely mutual.”
Caroline stood up and reached past Molly to grab a cupcake from the stand. “When are you going to get a life, Molly, instead of acting as pimp-in-chief to my husband?”
Molly groaned. “At some point, this relentless bitchery must surely get exhausting for you.”
She brushed past Caroline, a little too hard but Caroline just stayed smiling. “Why are you so happy anyway? I mean, apart from making my brother’s life miserable, that is.”
“Molly.” Finn shook his head at his sister.
Caroline laughed. “I am happy and you know what? Do you sell champagne in this pissant little hole?”
Molly looked confused. “What?”
“Shut up, Caroline.” Finn hissed the words, his gaze locked on his wife.
Caroline looked between the two siblings and started to laugh. “Oh my god, she doesn’t know, does she?”
Molly scowled at her. “Know what? Finn?”
Finn buried his head in his hands as Caroline crowed triumphantly.
“We need to celebrate, my husband and I. We’re going to have a baby.”
Sarah didn’t think, she suddenly was sprinting, racing towards her truck. She didn’t make it. He grabbed the back of her neck, smashed her head against the window on the driver’s side. Stunned, Sarah twisted, trying to escape his grip but he was too strong. He flung her to the ground and threw his entire body weight on top of her, pressing her face down into the dirt, his knee on the small of her back.
This is it. This is the end. Sarah struggled against him, adrenalin coursing through her veins but she had no chance against his bulk. Her attacker laughed and she felt his fingers on her neck. “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. You’re a clever girl, you know. I want you to give your fucking billionaire a message, baby girl. Tell him I’m going to teach him about loss. Tell him I’m going to teach him the meaning of pain.” His voice was course, rough, and hands tightened around her throat, his fingernails digging and she choked. His smiled faded, his eyes went blank. “I’m going to kill you, Sarah, you know that now, don’t you? And when I do, I will do it so slowly that you feel every inch of my knife cutting through you, every drop of your blood spilling out, every last breath dragged from your lungs.” She felt the tip of the knife pressed harder into her body as he laughed softly. “Enjoy the time you have left. The only reason I’m not killing you tonight, right now, right here, is that I’m going to make sure your bastard lover is watching when you die. Then I’m going to kill him too. Slowly. So, make the most of the time you have left, baby girl, it isn’t long. Until then…”
And he brought the hilt of the knife down hard on her head and everything went dark.
Isaac Quinn had back-to-back meetings – his own design – to make up for the work he had handed off to Saul these last three months. To all outward appearances, he seemed engaged, alert but his brain was working overtime. Daniel Bailey, supposedly dead or missing, was screwing Caroline Jewell. Was Caroline the reason he was back in Seattle and hadn’t contacted Sarah? In his mind, Isaac had painted Dan as a menacing force but maybe he was just a coward. Maybe he didn’t want to face the questions. Sarah had told him she suspected Dan was having an affair before he went missing. Caroline was the obvious suspect and Stan’s investigations proved she was indeed Bailey’s mistress. He couldn’t help the feeling of relief he felt.
But then who had killed George? Buddy Harte, the shipwright? If the killer was, as the police thought, the same person killing young Asian-American women, why hadn’t he simply murdered Sarah, instead of those around her? Isaac winced at the thought.
When he went back to his office, just after eight, his assistant Maggie told him, to his relief, that his final meeting was canceled.
“Maggie, it’s late, go home. You already do more than enough. Take tomorrow off on me.”
Maggie smiled and thanked him. After she’d gone, Isaac called Sarah’s cell. It went to voicemail but he knew she was due to go into work that evening to do a stock take with Molly.
He had no idea whether he should speak to Finn, tell him about Caroline’s infidelity. It would open up a can of worms that was for sure.
And he couldn’t tell Sarah either. She was so fiery, and loathed Caroline and loved Finn in such equal measure that she would undoubtedly go straight to Finn – if she didn’t kill Caroline first.
No, I’m sorry, baby. This is one secret I have to keep. Until Dan Bailey made himself known to her – if ever – then he might decide differently. Isaac was satisfied he made the right decision.
He tried to call Sarah again. Voicemail. He smiled. “Hey beautiful, I’m just finishing up, I’ll be home in an hour. I love you, so much. See you soon.”
Bracing herself against the cool tiled wall, Molly pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed quietly.
They sat there for a while in silence then a soft knock at the kitchen door. Molly stood and opened it a crack. Finn. He smiled at his sister.
“Can I come in?” His voice was soft.
“It’s okay.” Molly’s voice was gruff. She put her head on her knees, feeling him sit down in front of her. He slid his hand under her chin and lifted her face to his.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered.
“You haven’t got anything to apologize for. I haven’t any right to feel like this. None.” She sighed. There was a silence.
“Yes,” he spoke softly, “you have. You have every right.”
She put her head on her knees again and he stroked her hair, feeling helpless.
“It might not be mine.”
Molly looked up then, the tears flowing again and gave him a sad smile.
“Might.” And he knew what she meant. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. They looked at each other for the longest time.
“You never stood a chance, did you? The moment she got your ring on her finger, she made your life miserable. And now she’ll do that forever.” She sighed and looked away.
“I don’t have to stay with her.”
“You do, Finn. I know you – you’re not like Pa, you
won’t walk away from a child that might be yours. So, stay. At least until your child can understand why their mother is such a succubus.”
Finn smiled gently and Molly wiped her eyes. Finn pulled his sister to her feet and then looked around. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing a stock-take with Sarah tonight?”
Molly glanced at the clock. “Jeez, I totally forgot. Where the hell is she?”
She tried to call Sarah and when she got no answer, she shared a look with Finn, an unspoken concern. She quickly dialed Isaac.
“Hey, Isaac. Is Sarah with you?”
The look on his sister’s face told Finn everything he needed to know. He grabbed his car keys. “Let’s go.”
Isaac pulled the car off the ferry and sped through the night, breaking every speed limit in his rush to get to Sarah’s house. When Molly had called and he’d heard the worry in her voice, every nerve ending in his body seemed to flame. He didn’t even try to talk himself out of the fear. Not being able to get hold of Sarah when he thought she was with Molly was one thing but…
“Please please please, be okay, be okay…” He hissed out the words between gritted teeth.
Halfway to Sarah’s house, he saw brake lights in front of him. He sped up to see Finn’s police cruiser in front of him.
They pulled up to Sarah’s house at the same time and everyone almost fell out of their vehicles.
“Where is she?” Isaac found himself screaming at the pale, terrified faces of Molly and Finn but he didn’t care. He leaped onto the porch, saw the front door open and burst into the house.
“Sarah! Sarah!”
Soon all three of them were screaming through the house, calling her name over and over but they were greeted only by silence and emptiness.
They met back in the hallway. Molly was openly sobbing now. Finn put his hand on Isaac’s shoulder. Isaac, almost deranged with fear, stared blankly at him.
“Isaac, breathe. Let’s do a sweep outside. Mols, do you know if Sarah has any flashlights?”
Molly nodded and went to the cupboard under the stairs pulling out two flashlights and handing them to the men.
“Mols, stay inside, turn on the lights. Call 911 if we’re not back in ten minutes.”
The two men plunged into the dark grounds. Finn scooted immediately the boathouse and searched, whilst Isaac moved toward Sarah’s truck. He saw the driver’s side door was slightly open, then, with a shock, he saw blood on the cracked window. He swept his flashlight around the ground. The dirt was disturbed, signs of a fight, a scuffle then – and his heart began to beat erratically – the obvious signs of a body being dragged into the woods.
God, no, please.
Isaac followed the tracks, sweeping the light wide over the dense trees. The trail wasn’t hard to follow, the bracken and plants snapped and broken. The flashlight shook in his hands, the light bouncing around the trees.
He found her less than a minute later. She was on her back, her arm thrown above her head. Her beautiful face was smeared with mud and blood and her eyes were closed. Isaac, yelling for Finn, dropped to his knees beside her.
“Sarah? Honey?” He couldn’t breathe, his chest constricted tightly.
She gave a low moan and that sound was like music to him.
“Sarah, sweetheart, open your eyes, darling.
Sarah opened her eyes and stared up at the dark canopy above her. Her mouth moved, just a little but no sound came out. As Finn crashed into the wood behind him, Isaac held her face, willing her to focus on him.
“Oh God, Isaac…is she okay?”
“Baby? Oh my God…please Sarah, promise me. Stay awake, please, please.”
She looked at him, focused for a second. She reached up and touched his face, gave a small smile then her eyes closed again and her hand fell away, limp. Isaac panicked, pressed his fingers to her neck. A pulse, weak, but there. He slid his hands under her and picked her up, a stunned Finn at his elbow. He carried Sarah back towards the house, Finn behind them calling for the air ambulance, calling in the emergency. Inside, Isaac wrapped her in a blanket, kept pressure on her wounds, Molly at his side, holding her friend’s cold hand. Isaac checked her for other injuries. He found her bleeding from a deep cut on the back of her head, multiple cuts and bruises. He took her cold face between his palms.
“Sarah? Honey, can you open your eyes for me?”
But she didn’t and his heart clenched and shuddered. He wondered what it took to bludgeon a woman like this.
“The fucking, cowardly motherfucker,” he hissed under his breath as he cradled his unconscious lover. Molly put her arm around his shoulder, her face deathly pale, her eyes red.
“She’ll be okay, Isaac, she has to be.”
Finn came in, looking as wretched as them. “Air ambulance is on its way. Jesus, is she okay?”
There was a silence then, in a broken voice, Isaac shook his head, never taking his eyes off the woman he loved, lying so still in his arms.
“No. No, Finn, she’s not alright. Not even one little bit. Oh God, Sarah, please….stay with me…”
The hospital was too quiet. In the small relative’s room, Isaac and Molly waited. Sarah had been in surgery for seven hours. When they’d brought her in, the look of concern on the emergency room doctor’s face scared them all. She was in a bad way, the surgeon had told them, the head injury serious but they were going to do absolutely everything to save her. They sat in the small room, watching every movement outside. At one point they saw a doctor run past, his arms full of blood bags and Isaac was terrified they were for Sarah.
He leaned his forehead against the cool window and shut his eyes. He tried to tell himself she might not make it, she might die so that if it did happen, he’d be prepared. But even the thought of Sarah dying was enough to make him want to scream and scream and never stop.
He heard a quiet knock behind him and turned. Finn. He’d stayed behind on the island to help the investigation Molly got up and went into his arms.
“Hey, sweetheart. You okay?” He looked over to Isaac. Isaac nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“She’s still in surgery,” Molly said, letting Finn go and sitting back down. “We don’t know if…” Molly’s face crumpled and she let out a sob. Finn put his hand on her shoulder.
“Look, we have to think that’s she’s going to be okay.” He looked at Isaac. “Dude, I’m here for you. We have officers fine combing around Sarah’s house, inside it. There’ll be some clue.”
Isaac sighed and stood. “Look, I just found out that Daniel Bailey is back in Seattle. He has been for a while.”
Molly gave a strangled gasp. “Oh god…he did this, didn’t he?”
“I don’t know for sure…but he’s the only person with any motive.”
Finn’s face was like stone and Isaac turned to him. “Finn, I just found out too that he’s been screwing someone. Someone who knew he was back before any of us.”
Finn gave a humorless laugh. “Caroline.”
Isaac nodded. Finn sighed. “Well, I hate to admit it but it’s kind of a relief. Another reason not to feel guilty about leaving her. I wish you had told us before, though, Isaac.”
Isaac half-smiled. “Another bad decision on my part.” His face clouded over. “I did this. I got her hurt.”
“No,” Molly stood and hugged him, “this is not your fault. It’s the asshole who did this. Whether it was Dan or not, I don’t know.”
They all looked up as the surgeon knocked on the door and came in. He was smiling at them, and the sense of relief was palpable in the room.
“She’ll be fine. She has a serious concussion and she suffered a small bleed on the brain but we removed the clot. It’ll take her awhile to get back to normal but we’ll keep her in for a few days for observation. You can see her in a while.”
Finn and Molly crept into Sarah’s room. She was turned onto her side, away from them. Isaac was sitting, holding her hand, his eyes never leaving her face. Finn moved around the b
ed. Her face, bruised, swollen and crisscrossed with butterfly stitches, was creased with stress. Finn pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down, his hand on her hair. Molly watched them for a while.
“Has she woken at all yet?”
Isaac shook his head. “Doc said they had to sedate her for surgery so she’ll be out for a few hours. Her skin tone is better, though, don’t you think?”
Molly couldn’t see it but she nodded to reassure Isaac. The tall man seemed shattered. This was one problem all the money in the world wouldn’t touch.
Finn cleared his throat. “Police want to talk to you, Isaac, and to Sarah when she’s up to it. I told them where to find Dan and they’ve gone to question him.”
Isaac looked at him. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“Why?”
Isaac’s face hardened. “Because I wanted to deal with him myself.”
Finn shifted. “Look, man, as your friend, as Sarah’s friend, I feel you. But as a cop, don’t let me hear you say that out loud again. Please.”
Isaac gave him a half-smile. “Sorry.”
Finn moved back into the hallway, Molly following him. He hugged his sister, feeling drained and exhausted.
And there was something else in the back of his mind too. Something he couldn’t tell anyone. Something he realized when he’d seen Sarah’s broken and bloody body in that wood, seen the bruises on her face, been terrified that she might be dead or dying. Something he’d denied for nearly his entire life.
He was in love with her.
Sarah was in a dreamy world of half-formed shapes and images she couldn’t quite access. There was tremendous pain, she knew that, as she began to surface from her deep coma, as she entered R.E.M. sleep and began to feel the effects of her assault.
Dirty Money Page 101
