Chapter 40
Eric sprints toward Laelynn’s body and wades into the choppy water. He wraps her in his arms like a newborn and carries her to the sand, then drops to his knees, his jeans and T-shirt soaked through. His face twists in pain and shock as he stares at her mottled, sallow skin.
Time bends.
“Laelynn,” he says in a broken whisper as he clutches her hand in his. “Oh my God, my baby.” He kisses her gently, a string of spittle clinging to the lake water on her fingers.
I step back, my heart in my throat. Seeing Laelynn’s face in the dim storm light, I can hardly believe it’s her.
Her rich, dark skin now a sickly shade of blue.
Her bright brown eyes, sharp with intelligence, now cloudy and opaque.
Her body, a coiled spring, now bloated and stiff. How could this happen?
Tears crash down Eric’s face like rain, and he crumples over as if someone stabbed him in the gut.
His face is pure pain, stripped of hope or joy.
His cheeks sag and his eyes run red. He swallows as if he’s choking.
I step closer to comfort him, but then the smell hits me, a nauseating mix of putrefaction and stale water. I gag but do my best to hide it.
“Eric, I’m so sorry,” I say, placing a hand on his back. My words sound distant, and my limbs feel light, like I’m floating outside myself. His body trembles underneath my palm, soft, then hard.
I kneel next to him, my knee sinking in the cold earth, and that’s when I see it. Deep, choppy rope burns wrapped around her neck, her skin ravaged and raw.
Someone did this to her. Someone snuck up behind her and choked her until her trachea collapsed and the oxygen stopped flowing to her brain. The image captures me, and I swallow to force down the vomit.
He squeezes his eyes shut, holding in the tears. “We have to call the police.” He reaches for his phone but comes out with only lake water. “Shit, it fell in the lake. Do you have yours?”
I pull out my phone and dial 911, but there’s only a grinding beep of a lost signal on the other end. I shake my head. For a moment, I wonder if he’ll shatter.
A bolt of lightning cracks through the sky, and I hear another tree crash in the distance. The rain falls harder, fueled by Eric’s grief. Loose twigs and debris whip past us, carried by a vicious wind.
“We’ve gotta get back to the house. It’s not safe out here,” I say.
He looks at me, eyes bulging and blinking as if he’s been awakened from a nightmare. “What? Oh, yes. Of…of course.” His face is unrecognizable, broken into pieces by the memory of his loving wife. He lifts himself from the ground like an old man, sapped of strength.
He stands and places his hand under Laelynn’s armpits and nods to me to grab her feet. “Can you help me?”
I hesitate. “Um, aren’t we supposed to leave her here for the police?”
His face creases and his voice drops to a guttural growl, grief morphing into rage. “Charlotte, I’m not leaving my wife’s body out in the mud to be devoured by God knows what. Grab her feet.”
We lift, but between the weight and the slickness of her skin we can barely get her off the ground.
Her body pulls me down like she’s trying to bury me with her.
Together, we take the first steps back home.
Laelynn’s blank eyes stare at me, judging me like she always has, as if to say, “You did this.” The ground is soft from the rain, thick with leaves and mud.
My hands slip on the cold, wet skin of her legs, and the stench overwhelms me. My breath comes deeper and heavier.
After a few yards, the sky splits open.
Thunder explodes, rattling my heart, and the sky illuminates with electricity. With it comes torrential rain with drops so big they slam against our heads like marbles. I feel my feet slipping on the slick grass and watch Eric struggling to hold the body and keep his balance.
“We have to hurry. It’s getting worse,” I shout above the din.
He nods, but from the lost look in his eyes, I can tell he’s only half here.
We carry her a few more steps, but a sound stops me dead.
A groaning creek, followed by the splintering of wood.
I whip around to see a massive cottonwood, broken at its trunk, crashing toward me.
“Look out,” screams Eric.
I drop her and dive out of the way. The tree crashes to the ground, inches from me and Laelynn’s corpse. Shaken from his trance, Eric leaps to my aid and lifts me from the mud.
“We have to get inside,” he says, gently grabbing my arm and lifting me to my feet.
“What about Laelynn?”
He sighs, broken. “It’s too dangerous. We’ll come back for her when the storm clears. She wouldn’t want us to die out here. She’d want us to get back home and check on the girls.”
I glance at her, then back at Eric. I hate to leave the body here, but another gust of wind makes it clear. We can’t take the risk. Not in this maelstrom.
I nod, and we sprint through the mud as the storm shakes the world.
By the time we reach the porch, we’re drenched and caked in earth. Water drips from my hair, dirt speckles my face, and the revolting smell of Laelynn’s corpse clings to my nostrils. My chest heaves, and my fingers shake so violently I can barely twist the doorknob.
I step inside, and my insides crash.
The house is cloaked in darkness.
The power’s out.
Olivia runs down the stairs, her hands stuffed into the front pocket of her hoodie. Her eyes and mouth open wide when she sees me. “Oh my God. Are you okay? What happ—”
“Call the police,” Eric barks as he enters the house.
“Why? What’s going on?”
I pull out my cell phone and dial. I give him the thumbs-down. “Fuck,” he shouts.
Eric throws open the door. “I’ll check the toolshed. We might have a shortwave radio.” Before I can speak, he runs outside.
My mind spins, and my lungs heave. I have to tell Olivia, but I don’t know if I’m capable.
Your mother is dead. Strangled with a rope until her last breath.
Whoever killed her is still here.
I can feel it.
And then the worst thought of all tears through me.
They might be inside this house.