Chapter 47
FORTY-SEVEN
I did not expect Megan to bring Gabriel with her. I thought she would come alone or with her guard.
But when the door opens, there he is. My lying, cheating husband, behind him the same guard, who is almost double his size.
Gabriel’s face is flushed and the wrinkled dark forest-green shirt he is wearing and the rough stubble on his chin makes him look like he slept on the streets.
When he sees Sadie, his hands fly to his face and a sob escapes his throat. He lunges forward, but the guard blocks his path with one arm. Gabriel’s eyes narrow to slits.
I know that look. Over the years, I became an expert at detecting the warning signs of his temper: the tightened jaw, the slight tremor in his hands.
I’d seen that same look directed at waiters who mixed up his order or drivers who cut him off in traffic.
A gentle touch on his arm was usually enough to defuse him.
But after Sadie vanished, there was no containing his rage.
When we went back to the apartment after they said our daughter possibly drowned, he exploded.
He woke up in the middle of the night Sadie was meant to be home with us and went to the kitchen.
I can still remember the sounds of glass shattering, and him howling like an animal.
But I could not stop him then, because I felt the same rage.
To think that he knew all along what happened, the truth behind all this. It makes me want to wrap my hands around his neck. But there’s no time for that. We have to work together to correct his mistake and get our daughter out of here and to safety.
I’m just hoping that Megan will keep her promise not to do anything to them, that they will leave these grounds safely.
Megan quickly tells me that she filled Gabriel in on our plan and the money has been transferred. When she’s done, she blows out a long breath. “We have a bit of sad news, Gabriel. I’ll leave Judy to tell you. It’s to do with Scarlett Grant… your lover.”
What does this woman not know about us? Perhaps she also saw Gabriel and Scarlett kissing on the beach that night.
“Go on, Judy, tell him what happened to Scarlett.”
“Scarlett.” I force her name past the knot in my throat before I deliver the blow. “She’s gone. She’s dead… killed.”
“What?” Gabriel jerks his head toward Megan, his whole body tensing. I’m not close enough to see his nostrils flare or his jaw clench, or the small muscle twitching at his temple, but I know it’s all happening.
Before he can do anything, the guard’s huge hand clamps down on his shoulder, restraining him the way I once did with just a touch. Here, in the presence of a dangerous woman and her guard, his anger means nothing.
Gabriel crumples before my eyes, and his shoulders cave inward as if someone had punched him in the stomach. Tears streak down his face, glistening under the harsh light as he mourns for Scarlett.
Watching him, an ache pulses in my own belly.
How much did he actually feel for her? The possibility that he might have truly loved her twists inside me like a knife.
Megan gives him a small pat on the shoulder. “Now let me make this perfectly clear. If you go to the police or try to return here, something terrible will happen to Judy. If I were you, I would never come back to this town.”
Gabriel stares at her for a long time, like he’s seeing her for the first time, then narrows his eyes. “It was you. You suggested I buy an apartment in Saltspray Cove. Your hair was different, but it’s you.”
She’s been moving us around like chess pieces for years.
“It was me,” she admits, her voice flat like she’s bored. “And you did the right thing following my advice back then. I suggest you do the same now. Leave town with Sadie and never return.”
Gabriel wipes his eyes and runs a hand through his disheveled hair. “People think Sadie died. They’ll have questions when she suddenly shows up alive. And Judy, where will I say she is?”
“You are a lawyer. That means you are not stupid. Disappear. Change your names. Start a new life with your daughter somewhere far away. Nobody ever has to know who she is or what happened to her—”
“Can I get my daughter now?” Gabriel cuts her off. He’s just as desperate as I am to get her out of here and out of harm’s way.
“Sure,” Megan steps inside. “Come on, Sadie. Come to your father.”
Before Sadie leaves, she hugs me again and whispers very softly in my ear. “Soon.”
Then they are gone and the door is closed. I pray they will make it out alive.
I sit down on the bed, holding what Sadie gave me, the syringe that was in Megan’s pocket, the one Sadie stole from her when they hugged.
Did Megan plan to use it on me? Was she going to kill me just like she did Scarlett? I think she knows that I won’t just give in and pretend she isn’t a murderer.
The bigger question is, how long will it take her to notice the syringe is gone and to figure out what happened?
Staring into the darkness, I rock back and forth like Sadie did, and wonder when I will see my daughter again, whether I’ll even see her again.
Time passes slowly. I can almost hear the ticking of an invisible clock.
Finally, I hear movement outside and the door opens to reveal Megan, my old friend, the murderer.
She’s beaming at me. “They have left. They will start a new life together, and so will we.”
“Thank you.” I rest my hand on the syringe next to me. “Thank you for letting them go.”
“I did it for you, Judy.” She leans against the doorframe. “My advice to you now is to stop thinking about them. Try and be happy here. Soon, this place will be ours. We are Mrs. Potter’s girls, and this is our home. And we will help so many kids.”
At hearing her speak, my fingers curl around the syringe. I can’t use it. Not yet. I need to be careful, to make sure I won’t fail. This is my last shot. And she’s too far from me. Lunging for her from across the room would not end well.
“So, what’s next?” I release my grip on the deadly weapon until it’s time.
“For you, nothing yet. As much as I want to trust you”—Megan crosses her legs at the ankles—“we haven’t been in each other’s lives for many years. I don’t really know who you are. And after what you did, I don’t think I can trust you just yet.”
“But you asked me to stay.”
“I did, but we need to rebuild trust, and that might take a little while. This won’t work unless I can trust you fully.”
I nod. “What can I do to prove myself?”
“I’m afraid I’m going to keep you in here for a while. Just so you can do some thinking and get your priorities straight. Then you will formally apply for a position as our in-house child psychologist, a position I will immediately approve.”
Before she can continue, the same guard who took Gabriel and Sadie away shows up in the doorway.
He announces that a new guest has arrived and Megan is needed in the reception lounge.
“I’ll be there soon.”
Megan looks back at me and I feel her slipping through my fingers.
She smooths down the sides of her jacket, and does not seem to notice that the syringe is gone.
“I’ll be right back for our heart-to-heart.”
When she leaves, I breathe in the musty air, counting the time again in my head.
A few minutes later, I hear a sound outside and the door is opened only briefly. It’s long enough for me to see the plastic tray of food slipped inside. I catch sight of Quinn’s face before the door is closed.
She had already given me tainted coffee. There’s no way I will touch the food or drink in this place again.
When Megan comes back, maybe an hour later, I’m even more faint with hunger and thirst.
Her eyes flick to the untouched food. “You haven’t eaten your food. We both need to make an effort here. I’m trying to trust you, and you need to trust me enough to know I didn’t put anything in your meal.”
“I’m not hungry,” I lie. “I’m fine.”
“We both know you are not. You need to drink at least.”
“I’m feeling fine,” I repeat. “I’m just a bit lonely in here. Would you mind… would you sit with me for a while?”
She looks surprised by my words, but then she clears her throat and nods. “Sure. I’d love to continue catching up, rebuilding trust.”
She comes to sit next to me. Before her guard shows up again, I reach my hand under the pillow and clutch the syringe, which I have already uncapped.
“You need to know that I really did miss you, Megan. Over the years, I thought about you and wondered where you ended up. I’m happy that you are happy here. I hope I’ll learn to be as well.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.” I can hear the tears in her voice. I can’t believe how attached she is to this place and to me. It’s a sickness that can only be healed one way.
Making my plan so much easier for me, she opens her arms for a hug.
I wrap my arms around her and, just as we are pulling apart, I take my chance, jabbing her in the side of the neck, squeezing whatever poison she put into the syringe into her body.