Suspicious Origin

by MacDonald, Patricia

  There was a brief silence. Then Caroline said, “They’re not going to go for it again.”

  “You leave that to me. I can handle a jury. You, of all people, should know that. You were extremely stressed out. And they were in your house, threatening to take your child away from you. Any jury would be sympathetic to that.”

  “Not for a second time,” she said.

  “They won’t be allowed to introduce the first time into evidence,” he said. “You were acquitted, remember? The jury will never know about it.”

  Oh my God, Britt thought. What had she been on trial for? What had Caroline done?

  “But we’ve got to let Greta’s sister go. Because if something happens to her…She simply wouldn’t fall into the same category,” Kevin explained.

  What? If what happens to me? Britt thought. Oh, yes. Listen to him. Let me go. Please, God, make them let me go.

  “There’s no way I can argue that it was impulsive, or reactive. It’s going to look premeditated. That’s first degree,” Kevin continued.

  Premeditated. First degree. Britt felt goose bumps running up and down her arms. There was no way to tell herself it was anything else. They were talking about murder.

  “We’ll make it look accidental,” Caroline insisted.

  “Darling, listen to yourself. You’re talking about taking a human life. In cold blood,” he added.

  “It’s too late to worry about that,” Caroline said dully.

  “What? Because of Vicki and that shiftless boyfriend? Honey, that’s different. You were pushed to the breaking point. It was self-defense, pure and simple.”

  “Like when I shot Tim,” she said.

  Kevin’s voice faltered slightly. “Well… sort of.”

  “But, if we let her go, she’ll tell everything,” Caroline protested.

  “She doesn’t know anything right now,” said Kevin.

  “She knows Vicki’s in the trunk,” said Caroline.

  Kevin did not reply.

  They rode in silence as the car bumped along. The road they were on was getting worse, dipping and rising, shaking the car with repeated jolts. Britt’s heart was pounding and her stomach was doing flips. Don’t vomit, she thought. You’ll choke. Try not to think about it. But in her minds eye she kept seeing that little woolen triangle, caught in the trunk lid. She tried to move her hands again, and again felt the rope, binding them. She wondered if anyone was looking for her, but realized how unlikely it was. No one was expecting her, at home or at work. And as far as Alec and Zoe were concerned, she had left for the airport and home this afternoon. How long would it be, she thought despairingly, before anyone even knows I’m missing?

  Finally, Kevin said, “Caroline, for pity’s sake. What kind of a life can we have, always wondering if someone is going to find out? What kind of life can Kent have?”

  Caroline turned her head sharply and stared at him. “We’re not going to tell him about any of this. How will he ever know?”

  “I’m talking about a level of tension,” Kevin said. “I’m so afraid it will poison our…love. Our life. But if we go back and turn ourselves in and face the consequences…”

  “Turn me in, you mean,” she corrected him. “It’s my life we’re talking about.”

  “Baby, I don’t have a life without you,” he said. “You know that. You are my life.”

  “Me and Kent, you mean,” said Caroline.

  Kevin was silent.

  “Kevin,” she demanded. “What about our baby? Isn’t he your life, too?”

  “Haven’t I moved heaven and earth to get him for you?” Kevin asked dully.

  Caroline was silent for a moment. Then she spoke. “Are you saying that you could get me acquitted? No jail time?” she asked.

  “We have a very strong argument. The strongest. A mother trying to protect her baby. I’ll have the jury cheering for you before I’m done. You know I’m good,” he said. “No one knows that better than you.”

  “You are,” she murmured. “I know you are.”

  “It might be like the last time,” he admitted. “A treatment program.”

  “I’d have to stay in a hospital, you mean.”

  “Maybe, for a little while,” he said.

  Caroline’s reply came in a small but firm voice. “I can’t, Kevin. Not now. I have to think of the baby. My baby needs me. I can’t be separated from him. These are the most significant months and years of his life. No. I can’t.”

  Kevin turned to face straight ahead. “Then we’re ruined,” he muttered in a hopeless voice.

  Britt, who knew her own fate was hanging in the balance of this argument, felt as if she was going to pass out. Don’t give in, Kevin, she thought weakly.

  “Honey, this will work, believe me,” Caroline pleaded. “These logging roads are treacherous. You know they are. If anyone even finds them up here, it will just look like they got confused in the dark and went off the road and had an accident.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he cried. “They have forensic science these days. They can pinpoint these things.”

  “Somebody had to make a plan,” said Caroline indignantly.

  “Why couldn’t you let me handle it?” he shouted. “Why did you have to kill them?”

  “You just said I had no choice. You said it yourself. What else could I do?” Caroline cried, affronted by his criticism.

  The baby in the car seat let out a thin wail. Britt started, and then hunched down in the back, closing her eyes.

  “Now you’ve got the baby crying. Please Kevin, stop your shouting,” said Caroline. “You know I don’t do well with stress.”

  “Right,” said Kevin grimly. “Who would know that better than me?”

  Caroline kept her eyes on the road, but turned her face slightly in the direction of the baby. “Don’t cry, sweetie,” she crooned. “We’re almost there.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Annabel Stern ladled some soup into a bowl and then sighed as she heard knocking at the door. Without missing a beat, she picked up the bowl and poured the steaming soup back into the pot.

  Ray rose from his seat at the kitchen table. “Won’t be a minute,” he said.

  He tossed his napkin down on the table and walked through the house to the front door. He opened it, and saw Alec Lynch and his daughter, Zoe, standing on the front porch steps.

  “Alec,” he said. “What’s up?”

  “I’m sorry to bother you at home, Ray. I’ve got a problem,” said Alec. “Can we come in?”

  Ray knew perfectly well that Alec wasn’t sorry. In fact, Alec felt as if the police chief owed him, and perhaps, Ray thought, he did. Ray shrugged, and stepped back so they could enter. “Can I take your coats?”

  Alec shook his head, and remained standing, wearing his jacket. “Look. I’m here because I’m a little concerned about my sister-in-law.”

  “I thought you two had buried the hatchet,” said Ray.

  “No, no, it’s nothing like that.”

  Annabel Stern came into the foyer and looked quizzically at her husband.

  “Do you want to come into the kitchen? We were just about to eat,” said Ray.

  Alec shook his head, intent on his mission. “This won’t take long. It seems that Britt didn’t get on her flight to Boston today. And she didn’t turn in her rental car.”

  Ray frowned at him. “Maybe she changed her mind about leaving.”

  ‘“Well, it’s possible,” said Alec. “But I can’t help worrying that something happened to her.”

  “I guess it’s only natural for you to be a little jumpy After all that’s happened to your family. But I’m sure there’s some perfectly reasonable explanation.”

  “Just to be on the safe side, I wanted to do some checking on her,” Alec said stubbornly.

  Ray assumed a more professional demeanor. “You mean, a search?”

  “Just some checking,” Alec said.

  “Alec,” said Ray, “your sister-i
n-law is an adult. She’s allowed to do as she wants. An adult is not considered missing for at least seventy-two hours. I’m sure you’ll hear from her in the next day or two. If you don’t…”

  “I’m not asking you to call her a missing person,” said Alec.

  “Well, what then?” Ray asked.

  “What about credit cards? I know you can check pretty easily to find out where she has been using her credit cards. If you run a check on that for me, and it turns out she’s used her cards somewhere within driving distance, then I’ll know she’s okay.”

  “People have a right to privacy, Alec,” said Ray. “This is crossing the line. If she ever finds out…”

  “I’ll take responsibility,” said Alec.

  Ray shifted his weight uncomfortably from one leg to the other. “That sounds good in theory. But the fact is, if I do it, then I’m the one who’s responsible. Have you tried her cell phone? Have you called her home, or her place of business?”

  “Of course I have. Ray, do you think I’m out here dragging my daughter around in the cold just for my own amusement?”

  “I don’t like to abuse my authority,” said Ray.

  “And I would hate to have to sue the police department for false arrest,” said Alec.

  “No need for threats,” said Ray coldly.

  “I didn’t think so,” said Alec.

  Ray hesitated. Then he turned and led the way down the hall. “Come on through.”

  Alec and Zoe followed the chief down the hall to the kitchen. Annabel looked sympathetically at Zoe. “How about some soup?” she asked.

  “What kind?” said Zoe.

  “Chicken noodle,” said Annabel.

  “Yes, please,” said Zoe. She shrugged off her parka and sat down at the table.

  Ray picked up the phone and called the station.

  The car stopped with a jerk, and Kevin got out, slamming the door. Caroline got out on the drivers side. Britt closed her eyes and willed her body to go limp as she heard the back door open on the side where the baby seat was attached.

  She heard someone rummaging around, and the baby wailing softly. She squinted up and saw the baby, still buckled into his seat, being lifted, seat and all, from the car. Then, the door opened behind her.

  “Britt.” Kevin shook her. Britt feigned unconsciousness, let her head loll as he tried to shake her awake. Britt could hear Caroline singing a lullaby, “Hush little baby,” somewhere on the other side of the car.

  Kevin let go of Britt’s shoulder and she slumped back down into the well. She could hear him, still near the open door beside her, but she could hear little else except for his labored breathing. Her head felt as if her brain had been rattled inside her skull after he had shaken her. Even her hair seemed to hurt. All of a sudden, there was movement around her and then, with a shock, she felt something icy cold and wet against her face and neck.

  Britt gasped, unable to control her response, and tried to cry out. The duct tape muffled the sound, but there was no use pretending she wasn’t awake. She blinked and looked up at him balefully. Kevin was brushing the remaining snow off his ski-gloved hands. Britt felt the snow on her neck melt and trickle down beneath her turtleneck.

  Kevin sighed and met her gaze. “Come on,” he said. “Get out of there.”

  How am I supposed to do that, she thought. She tried to say “How?” but it came out sounding like a grunt.

  Kevin reached down to pull her out of the car. Britt tried to resist his tugging. Kevin released her and rested his arms on the door frame of the car. “Look,” he said. “Don’t make this more difficult. If I have to jerk you out of here I will. That’s only gonna hurt both of us more.” He rubbed his down parka in the area of his ribs. “I want to help you, Britt,” he whispered.

  Britt stared back at him implacably She wasn’t about to help him.

  Kevin leaned into the car, his reddish-blond crew cut glinting golden under the car’s overhead light. He glanced up to see if Caroline was watching him, but she was in a kind of trance, walking the baby back and forth in the moonlight.

  “Britt,” he said, and she could see sweat trickling down the side of his face, “we’re on a trail that runs along a mountain ridge. Now, this car is about to be sent over the edge of that ridge. It’s a steep drop, a free fall to the bottom, and you’ll have no chance to survive if you end up down there. So, do yourself a favor, and help get yourself out of the car.”

  Britt thought about what he was saying, and knew that he was not making it up. She understood what their plan was now. And he was right. She didn’t want to go into the ravine with the car. They might not let her live much longer, but she had to at least try. She could tell that Kevin did not want to kill her. She had to make a decision and she decided that her best bet was to follow his advice.

  With that, she wiggled around as best she could, and threw her bound ankles over the door frame. Then, using her elbows she managed to push herself up into a sitting position at the door. She looked up at Kevin, imploring him with her gaze to help her but he turned away.

  #»

  She marshaled her strength, and forced herself to lunge forward. Her shoulder and upper arm cracked against the door frame, and she cried out behind the tape. She bounced against the door frame and forced herself to fall forward, out of the car, landing on the side of her face in the packed snow. Kevin stood immobile and did nothing to help her.

  Britt’s face was freezing. She managed to pull up her legs and her knees, and roll up off her side to where she was kneeling in the snow, her hands and feet still bound behind her.

  “Get away from the car,” Kevin barked from above her. “Get over there.”

  There was no use in cursing him with her gaze. She was intent on following his instructions, in the hope of saving her own life. She managed to shuffle on her knees, a short distance away from the car. In the dark, she could see that they were on a wide, packed trail, but not much else. She looked up at Kevin, who was staring at her from his position beside the open door of the car. He had an angry, tormented expression in his eyes, as if he were a fellow prisoner. He turned, and left her kneeling there.

  Caroline came around the side of the car and glanced at her briefly. She had the baby in her arms and was calmly giving him a bottle. While Caroline crooned to the baby, bouncing him lightly in her arms, Kevin leaned up against the side of the car, and slowly began to unfasten the skis and poles which were secured in the rack atop the car. He carried them awkwardly in his arms and laid them down near his wife’s feet. They landed with a clatter. “Careful, honey,” Caroline said, as she placed the baby on her shoulder and burped him.

  Skis, Britt thought. What the hell are they doing?

  “This is never going to work,” said Kevin angrily.

  “Of course it will, darling,” said Caroline. “That baby seat turns into a carrier. You can wear it on your back.”

  “Caroline, I can hardly breathe now.”

  “Well, on my back, then,” she said. “I’m strong. And I’m every bit as good at cross-country as you are.”

  “I don’t know if I can,” he said, shaking his head. “My ribs.” “Come on now. We’re almost done with this. It’ll be fine. If anyone goes looking for them, or if anyone saw the car, it’s just one car, one set of tire tracks that has gone seriously off that logging road in the dark, and accidentally driven over the edge of the ridge. The head injuries will be perfectly plausible. I tell you, it’s a good plan. Now, look, I know your ribs hurt, but you’ve got to put mind over matter here, just until we can get them set up in the car. Come on now, honey.”

  Without another word, Kevin went around to the back of the car. Caroline cooed to the baby as her husband threw up the lid to the trunk and began to drag out the first body Dave was still wearing his army-drab parka, though now it was spattered with huge, dark spots. His pale complexion was striped, in the moonlight, with meandering dark streams of dried blood. Kevin pulled him out and dumped him on the ground. The
body landed with a thud. Then, Kevin returned to the trunk and pulled out his next bundle. Vicki’s eyes were open, but she could see nothing. She, too, had dark rivulets, like long locks of dark stringy hair, all over her face. Many of them terminated in the loops and folds of the scarf that she wore around her neck. The scarf Zoe had made. It was saturated, stained beyond repair. Kevin set her down beside Dave and stooped over, gasping and holding his ribs.

  “I need a hand here, Caroline,” he said grimly. “I can’t do it.” “Oh, for goodness sakes,” said Caroline. “Here, you hold your son.” She handed the baby to Kevin, who managed to stand up straight enough to cradle him in his arms. Caroline walked over to the bodies that were slumped beside one another in the snow Closing her eyes against the unpleasantness of the task, Caroline reached under Vicki’s armpits, and began to drag her, heels scraping the ground, and heave her through the open door into the driver’s seat of the car.

  Caroline grunted as Vicki landed with her face against the steering wheel. “She’s still so heavy.” She smacked her gloved hands together and then went back to where Dave was splayed out in the snow

  “Kevin, you’re going to have to help me. Set Kent down in the carrier for a minute. I can’t pull this guy around the car by myself.”

  Britt looked at Kevin, who was standing, round-shouldered, over Dave’s body, clutching the baby to his chest. The infant began to wail and flail his tiny fists.

  “Don’t cry,” Kevin murmured, shaking his head as he stared at the sight of the baby’s father, dead on the ground. “Please don’t cry.”