by Mille West
“I know you’re tired, but while you eat, please tell me what the lieutenant had to say. As far as we know, the two policemen and Jeff are missing, and we need to protect Cooper from further false accusations.”
“Lieutenant Barnes said that a woman’s remains were found at the bottom of an abandoned well on the Camp property that Cooper just purchased. Two men—who make an annual fishing trip to this area—identified Jeff as being with Elise on the morning of her disappearance. Barnes said there was other evidence and claimed that he could prove that Jeff was having an affair with Elise. Dr. Will, he asked Jeff if he killed her in a drug-induced rage.”
“My Lord,” Williston responded.
“Jeff told him that he had never intentionally hurt anyone.” Mills paused for a moment and said, “The lieutenant asked Cooper if he determined how he became ill while diving last summer in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Cooper was so tired, and he lost control and attacked Jeff. They beat each other unmercifully.”
“I could tell by looking at Cooper. I’m afraid the lieutenant allowed the situation to get out of control.” She patted Mills on the hand. “When you get enough to eat, I’ve placed water upstairs in one of the bathrooms for you. Charles has put your suitcase in one of the bedrooms and I think you should sleep. Charles and I will watch Cooper closely tonight, and we won’t let anything happen to him, I promise.”
“I’d like to sit with him for a while, if that’s all right.”
“I’m sure he’d like that.”
Mills didn’t wake until almost noon the next day. When she rose from her bed, she lit a hurricane lamp in her bathroom and washed her face. Her hair was matted from Cooper’s blood and when she lifted her shirt, stains were on her chest. The water in the sink turned red as she rubbed her skin with a washcloth. She tried to scrub the dried blood out of her hair, but had little success. Instead, she pulled her hair back in a ponytail and decided not to think about it for the time being.
After she changed into fresh clothes, she went downstairs to check on Cooper. The shutters were closed in his bedroom and the IV bag still hung between the posts of the rice bed. Williston was sitting in a chair close to him and she spoke quietly to Mills when she became aware of her presence.
“He was restless for part of the night, but he’s doing better this morning.” Mills moved to the side of the bed and took his hand in hers. His warmth comforted her as she watched him sleep. The beard on his face was now thick and his right eye was swollen from the blow that Jeff had delivered.
“There’s a pan on the stove with potatoes in it. Why don’t you go fix yourself something to eat and then you can sit with Cooper.”
As she started to leave the room, Mills asked, “How did you get the medical supplies?”
“Charles walked to my clinic and brought back what I needed in an ice chest. For the time being, my generator is refrigerating the medical supplies. Cooper donated the money to have an automatic transfer system installed a few years ago. When the electricity failed, the generator came online.”
Mills ate some of the potatoes and then went into Cooper’s bedroom to relieve Williston. As she rose from the chair, Williston stretched her muscles and said, “I’m going to lie down. I’ll be upstairs. Come and get me if you need me.”
After sitting with Cooper for a couple of hours, Mills found herself becoming drowsy. She began to hear a knocking sound. At first she thought it was part of a dream, but the sound persisted, and she rose from her chair to investigate. Charles passed her in the foyer. “Miss Mills, let me handle this.”
She closed the door to Cooper’s bedroom and stood with Charles in the foyer. Two Charleston County police officers were on the porch and they provided identification to Charles. They explained they were there to follow up on a frantic radio call for help and two missing policemen. The men looked exhausted and their uniforms were soiled with mud.
Charles invited them into the house and the officers asked to speak to Mills Taylor. Before Mills could respond, Williston descended the steps and introduced herself. She offered the officers a drink of water, which they gladly accepted. Once in the kitchen, Mills explained what had transpired at the farm before the storm and that Jeff, Lieutenant Barnes, and his deputy had vanished after the shooting.
Charles interjected, “Mr. Heath’s boat, the Miss Elise has been taken.”
“I’d like to see Cooper Heath,” an officer named Gonzales insisted. “I can have you all evacuated by helicopter.”
“Mr. Heath is in his room, and I would prefer he not be moved at this time.”
Williston led the policeman to Cooper’s bedroom. He attempted to step close to Cooper, but she blocked his path. “There are system failures at the local hospitals, and he’s fine where he is. If you need him, you know where to find him,” she said firmly.
Williston went to the kitchen and returned with a plastic bag that contained the bullet she had removed from Cooper’s side. She asked the policeman to place several phone calls to let friends and relatives know they were all right, and handed him a list of phone numbers. He graciously agreed to do what he could, and then Charles accompanied them to Lieutenant Barnes’s storm-ravaged police car.
In the late afternoon, Cooper was awake long enough to eat a bowl of soup, but he could not remember the hurricane or his fight with Jeff. After eating the warm food, he fell asleep almost immediately.
Mills pulled the covers up on his chest and then joined Williston on the front porch. As they stood together looking over the wind-damaged yard, Mills asked, “Are you worried that blame could be placed on Cooper for the altercation?”
“I know firsthand that in the wake of tragedy, there is often confusion over what is right or wrong. He was provoked. Eventually, we’ll find out what happened to the others.”
That night, when Mills took her turn sitting with Cooper, she laid her head on the side of his bed to rest her eyes. She had fought fatigue all day and she was having a difficult time staying awake. Tears came to her eyes as she thought of his suffering. While she rested, she began to feel his hand gently caress her head, and she looked up to see him awake. She hugged him as carefully as possible, and he whispered to her, “I love you. Please don’t leave me until we can walk out together—promise me.”
“I promise.”
CHAPTER 28
The Choice
T he next morning, when she entered Cooper’s bedroom, he was flat on his back with his eyes closed. Empty breakfast plates were on a tray near the bed and he was clean shaven. She quietly walked to the bed and placed her hands near his. Without opening his eyes, his hand slid over and took hers.
“I recognized your footfalls,” he quietly said. His eyes slowly opened, and he managed a slight smile.
Mills bent over and kissed him on the lips. “How are you feeling?”
“Like warmed over death.”
Mills remembered she had described the way she felt after being stung by yellow jackets in a similar fashion. “That bad?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
“Can I get you anything?”
“No, I just had breakfast. Go get something to eat.” She kissed him again.
“I’ve had a s
have this morning, so I expect more kisses,” he said, closing his eyes.
Williston had breakfast of grits and eggs on the stovetop, and she helped Mills with a plate. “We’ve moved as many perishable items as possible to the refrigerator in the barn. Charles has a generator powering it.”
She ate breakfast, and realizing that over the last two days, the workload had been handled by Williston and Charles, she offered to wash the dishes.
“We’ve been using the manual well in the courtyard to get water,” Williston told her.
Mills went outside and pumped the handle repeatedly until she filled a large cooking pot. She boiled the water on the stove and washed the dishes, stacking them on the side of the sink. As she cleaned them, she decided that she could use the well pump to wash her hair.
Returning to the courtyard with a rinsing pot, towel, and shampoo, she started to pump the handle until she filled the pot with water. She wet her hair and splashed water on her face before taking some in her mouth; it was cold and stimulating. When she finished washing the blood from her hair, she sat down in the courtyard to rest. She felt renewed; it was like being baptized, and she thanked God for looking after them.
As she combed her hair, she noticed an unusually loud volume of bird calls coming from the waterfront. She decided to investigate, and she walked in the direction of the noise, being careful to avoid downed tree branches. Numerous birds were circling and diving toward a target along the bank of the river.
As she got closer, she realized birds were sitting on top of the object that had been caught between the branches of a downed tree limb. A sickening odor permeated the air.
Suddenly, she realized that the shape intertwined in the tree branch was the body of a man. His arms were spread out from his torso, his legs pulled by the current, and his flesh seemed to be in motion. The birds were mutilating his face and insects were crawling on him. Horror-struck, she became uncontrollably nauseated and collapsed several times on her way back to the house.
When she reached the courtyard, she used the manual well pump to wash her face and get water. Williston saw her from the house and ran outside. Mills could barely speak, but eventually she was able to explain about the unfortunate man by the waterfront.
Williston hugged her and then summoned Charles to accompany her to the river. Before they left, Williston asked Mills to go and sit with Cooper. She felt sick and taking deep breaths was not helping. She went to Cooper’s pantry and took a fifth of bourbon off the shelf and poured a shot. The effect of the alcohol was swift on her now-empty stomach, and she sat down at the kitchen table to calm down.
As her nervousness subsided, she went into Cooper’s bedroom and sat down in the chair near the bed. Hopefully, she could regain her composure before he woke.
When Williston returned, she informed Mills that the body was that of the deputy who had accompanied Lieutenant Barnes on the day of the storm. “Poor fellow, I fear he drowned,” she said. “Bless Charles; he’s retrieving his body from the river.”
That afternoon, two policemen arrived, the same ones who had visited them the day before. Mills was sitting with Cooper when the kitchen door slammed and the sound of distressed voices came from the rear of the house. She went to the kitchen, and Williston was attending one of the men, who had become nauseated when he viewed the corpse. She put a damp cloth on the back of his neck, and he sipped a glass of water, but his face was white like snow.
The other officer, Gonzales, began to tell them the news they had come to report. “Lieutenant Barnes was found yesterday by a tree removal crew on Wadmalaw Island. He’s hurt pretty bad and has a head injury. Cooper Heath’s boat, the Miss Elise, was found partially submerged near Rockville in Bohicket Creek. Divers are going to search the area, but with all the strong currents we’ve had the last few days, who knows if they’ll find anything.”
“Have you found Jeff, my cousin?” Cooper inquired as he stood in the kitchen doorway using the frame for support.
Shocked, they all turned to look at him, and Charles was at his side within seconds.
“Cooper, what are you doing? That wall is not going to hold you up,” Williston said.
Charles helped him to a chair, and he winced with pain as he sat down. Mills grabbed a quilt from the back of a chair and put it around his shoulders.
“Mr. Heath, there’s no sign of Jeff Radcliffe. I’m sorry.”
“Yes, and I’m sorry about the lieutenant. What about the other officer?” The two policemen looked at one another as they realized that the information about the deputy’s death had not been shared with Cooper.
Williston put her arm on his shoulder and said, “Cooper, I’m sorry, but the deputy’s remains were found this morning. We didn’t want to upset you.”
“Where did you find him?”
“His body was caught in a tree branch along the waterfront of your property.”
Cooper leaned forward resting his head on his hand and said quietly, “I’m very sorry to hear that.”
“Son—let us help you back to your bedroom,” Charles said.
He looked up at Williston and Charles and nodded. They assisted him into the room, and he asked to sit in an armchair.
“Charles and I are going to help the policemen with the deputy’s body, and we’ll be back as soon as possible. Cooper, please stay seated until we return.”
Cooper stared into space, and Mills pulled up a chair to sit beside him. Tears were beginning to well up in his eyes and he said, “That man’s body washed up in front of my property and that’s where it belongs.”
“You didn’t harm anyone.”
“My cousin, whom I have considered my brother, betrayed me, along with my wife. I failed at the most important thing in my life—my marriage. How could I have been so blind?” His voice began to quiver. “Mills, when my father and brother were killed in the boating accident, I could have saved them. The first wave knocked Jeff into the water, and I went in after him. I made a decision to leave the helm and rescue Jeff. If I had stayed at the controls, I could have maneuvered the boat to counter the wave that capsized her. All I could do was watch as the boat took on water and my father and brother drowned. I should have saved them first. Don’t you see? I’m responsible for their deaths.”
“You had no way of knowing that the boat would be hit by another wave. You acted on instinct to save Jeff. I would have done the same.”
“My father dove into shark-infested waters repeatedly to save the lives of men he didn’t even know, but all I could do was cling to the side of the boat and watch. They died because of me. I’ve never told anyone this before.”
“Stop blaming yourself for events and behavior that were beyond your control.”
He struggled to get out of the chair and stood facing her, utter madness in his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“Britton was correct. I had no right to take you as my lover. My behavior is no better than theirs.”
“Cooper, I fell in love with you. We chose to be together.”
His face became pale and he collapsed to the floor and continued to murmur to himself, “I failed.”
Mills ran to the rear courtyard and
yelled to Williston and Charles to come to the house. When they saw Cooper unconscious on the floor, Charles lifted him like a child back into this bed.
“Cooper, you’re not helping yourself,” Williston told him, as she looked at his side.
When Williston finished examining Cooper, she took Mills by the hand and led her to the front porch. They sat down together on the front steps and Williston put her arm around her.
“What happened to him?” she inquired.
“He thinks he’s responsible for the deaths of his father and brother. He told me if he had remained at the helm of the sailboat instead of saving Jeff’s life, he could have kept the boat from capsizing.”
“There’s no way to know if he could have saved them . . . my poor tortured boy.”
“He also said he failed in his marriage to Elise.”
“I don’t like to see him tormenting himself. He’s never failed anyone.”
A heavy rainstorm on Monday brought more misery to Low Country residents who had already suffered from the hurricane. Mills sat on the screened porch watching the rain fall when she saw two figures approaching from the waterfront. At first, she thought they were the two policemen who had come twice to the house, but as they approached, she recognized Cooper’s Uncle Ian and Britton Smith. They wore rain gear, and she held the door open when they reached the screened porch.
“Mills, where is Cooper?” Mr. Heath asked.
“He’s in his bedroom.”
“I had a visit from two policemen who told me that Cooper was injured in a shooting incident.”
Both men removed their gear and went inside the house. Williston was sitting with Cooper, and she rose from her chair when they entered his room. Ian patted Williston on the back and then bent over Cooper, taking his hand. “It’s your uncle. How are you?”
