There are times, I could come to you and hurt you
«I hate this!» he whispered to her, clutching her hand. She turned around, seeing tears in his eyes as he stared at the place where JD was killed.
«JD's wharf. I, I hoped I'd never see this place again, ever!»
She had no response at all for this, just stroking his arms, feeling like crying herself. Oh, JD – so much pain in life, and such an awful death. And...
«Did you hear what he said to me, before he died?» she asked, looking down.
«Yeah. Don't think about it, Abby, don't blame yourself! Even if.. it somehow, if...Wakefield... thought – it was never your fault. You're not the one who did this.»
She sighed raggedly, hugging him, before saying «Thanks, I needed to hear that.» Lifting her face to him, she met his eyes, and she could see his grief plainly, and... something else. She could only describe it as a need, a longing. Oh, poor Henry, missing JD like that! Closing her eyes to his grief, she could feel him stroking her hair softly.
«The scene is yours, Henry. Tell us where and what happened,» Detective Anderson said. With warmth in her voice, she added: «Just take your time. We all understand that this is difficult for you.»
Henry straightened, squaring his shoulder with a pained expression.
«I was on my way to the docks to try to stop Sully, Cal, Chloe and Beth from leaving. Madison was still gone, and we... we feared for her life as we had been told that she'd die if anyone left. I was running, coming from the Candlewick - out from the woods approximately here», he pointed.
«Go on, where did you see JD?»
«I didn't see him at first, I heard a kind of noise – like scuffling. Then I saw JD running, and someone else right behind him. I can't say who though, it was too dark. So I followed, but I was far behind. But then....» his voice broke, and Henry hid his face in his hands.
Abby took a step forward, patting his back slowly, and he spun around, embracing her and hiding his face in her hair. She could feel his body shake, and she tried to comfort him, mumbling: «It'll be alright, Henry, it's over, there's nothing we can do anymore, in time it'll be better, Henry...». She rubbed his back soothingly, and at last he let go of her, turning around looking decidedly shamefaced.
Anderson stepped forward, saying: «It's alright, don't think about it, we know that this is hard,» smiling encouragingly.
Xxx
He gathered himself, continuing: «I stumbled over JD. He was right here, on the ground, bleeding from his stomach and..he had blood around his mouth. I knelt, touching him, and thought he was dead. Then JD opened his eyes, pointing in this direction, and whispered "That way".
Taking a ragged breath, he said faintly with downcast eyes: «And I just left – I couldn't take it, seeing him like that, I ran off in the direction he pointed. I..I didn't see anyone.» He was so overwhelmed by his grief for JD, he had never meant to kill him, but he supposed he made a truly convincing show. Crying like that in front of Abby, it kind of hurt his male pride... She didn't seem to mind it, though.
«And then you met Abby?»
«Yeah, I thought he was dead, I dreaded going back, so...so I didn't hurry! I... And he was my brother, and I...stalled returning. I should have stayed with him. Maybe I could have helped....» His voice was full of regret and grief, and it was the plain truth – he hated the fact that his brother had had to die. But it had been necessary.
«No, Henry, we've been over this», Anderson said gently, «The coroner said that the one who stabbed him, did a thorough job. You couldn't have saved him.»
«I could have been there, comforting him! And when I came back, Abby was there, and JD... died.»
«Abby, will you tell us what you experienced..?»
Abby sighed, and started her story. He sat down on the wharf, staring down into the water, head in his hands. Done. Finally – this was the one thing he had been worried about, fearing that he'd slip up by sheer sorrow. The rest was all lies, and therefore easy. This – JD – had been real emotions too, and much more difficult to control. As he «hadn't» been present when Trish died – they all thought it was Wakefield – there would be no need to go through that again.
Xxx
The weekend had been great, he thought. Except for Saturday, of course, having the funeral for Abby's Dad. But then again, she'd cried a lot, and he could hold her close and comfort her as much as he wanted. In the evening, they just rested on the couch, and she was tightly ensconced in his arms until bedtime.
Sunday morning, she had said to him: «I can't do it right now. I.. I have to do it later on.»
«Do what?»
«You know, start... with Dad's house, going through stuff, clean up... everything that belonged to Dad and Mom. I can't do it now, Henry, I had planned to do it today, but... No, I can't!»
And to him it was another chance to hold her, to kiss her hair, to be close to her. This was...addictive. He could never stop, he could never go back to NOT having her this close all the time. Never.
Xxx
«I can stay here until Tuesday» Shea said Monday morning, «Madison wanted to stay with a friend tonight. I don't want to deny her that, she deserves a little fun these days. So we can keep on somewhat longer today, I've informed Anderson.»
«Oh, that's...good», Abby said. «Where will you be staying?»
«Candlewick. The room next to Anderson. She promised to hold my hand if I'm scared in the night», Shea laughed a little self-deprecatingly.
«Why don't you come over to our place for dinner? Henry will cook something amazing as usual, I'm sure.»
Shea stared at Abby. «Your place? You mean... Henry's house?»
«Yeah – his place, I mean... I'm staying there too, you know...» Abby said, a little flustered.
«Well, of course, I'll be delighted.», Shea answered politely.
Xxx
«So, which room is yours? Are you that tidy, Abby? I'm impressed, it looks like no one has ever lived in this room. How do you do that?» Shea looked admiringly at her.
She felt a faint blush creep up over her face, and she avoided Henry's eyes before answering:«I... just like to keep everything nice and clean.» If Shea had known her better – God forbid seen her apartment – she'd have no trouble spotting the lie. But there was no way she could tell Shea that she didn't sleep alone. Abby was absolutely sure that Shea would not understand. At all! She prayed that she hadn't messed up Henry's room too badly – her anxiety conjuring up underwear spread haphazardly all over the big, fourposter bed.
As they moved across the hall to Henry's room, she tried to interrupt the tour, saying: «I'm hungry, why don't we go downstairs and start dinner? Bedrooms aren't that exciting, are they?»
«No, I'd love to see the whole house", Shea said to Henry, «to see how you planned this for you..and Trish.»
In his bedroom, Abby could see her open suitcase by the bedside. Thank God, she hadn't left anything...incriminating in the rest of the room!
«This got to be your suitcase, Abby. Why is it here?» , Shea inquired a little sharply.
«Aaah, I borrowed his bathroom this morning! He's got the biggest tub in the world, I can swim in there!» Abby answered brightly, happy that she had a good answer for this one. Behind Shea's back, she could see Henry shake his at her, smiling knowingly. Her cheeks colored furiously, realizing that he thought her lying about their living arrangement was funny.
Xxx
At dinner, Shea told them that one of the crew members on the boat she used was missing.
«And as you can imagine, everyone became a little upset. People disappearing at Harper's these days is something one notices.»
Oh well! Would they investigate? He was quite sure he hadn't left any tracks, but still...
«But then the captain said that this was the most untrustworthy deckhand he'd ever had, and that he probably had gone hunting or fishing or something. He wasn't willing to report him, as this guy had disappeared and reappeared any number of times.»
He was relieved – it wouldn't look good in the eyes of the world if more people died at Harper's. He had to keep all future killings on the mainland. It wasn't worth the risk.
As the evening wore on, he became increasingly annoyed with Shea. Stealing Abby's attention all the time, just like she did in the daytime. Her whole, uptight personality irritated him as much as ever. Hogging Abby like that, chattering about her creepy little brat. There would be no snuggling into Abby on the couch tonight. Damn Shea!
Xxx
They were finally wrapping up the reconstructions. He was so relieved, thinking he'd done great throughout the whole week. Abby was exhausted, after two harrowing days of going through her father's and Jimmy's death – plus the rest. Personally, Henry had had so much fun showing everyone where Jimmy died and what an evil little bastard Sully was. He just loved it – Sully killing Jimmy had opened up so many possibilities for him. And his control over his facial expressions had been pitch perfect all the time – just the right mix of grief, disbelief and horror.
But Abby was tired, sitting slumped in a chair at the Candlewick. He massaged her shoulders gently, looking down at her head with a loving expression. She was so beautiful, so strong even after weeks of emotional hell!
«Will you stop that!» Shea's voice cut through the air. Henry gripped Abby's shoulders in shock, seeing Shea glare angrily at him.
«Just that», Shea spat, «can't you even wait until Trish has been buried? Try to show your dead bride a little respect before you find another woman! I've watched the two of you during the last week, and yeah, I've noticed a thing or two!»
Abby was staring dumbfounded at Shea, her mouth hanging open. Henry withdrew his hands from Abby, and said: «No, Shea, you misunderstand. It's not like that!» His voice shook a little, he could hear it, but he hoped Abby ascribed it to shock and not rage. Damn! He wished he hadn't let his father decide, his Dad had such a soft spot for the creepy, little kid. And that had meant sparing Shea too, to keep Madison happy. Damn, he should just have whacked her over the head far earlier. What kind of damage control would he have to do now?
Xxx
Abby felt anger take over after the initial surprise, and shouted at Shea: «How can you say that! Henry is my only living friend in the world, and he loved Trish! Don't you dare to accuse him of forgetting her!»
Abby heard Henry take a deep breath, and he said shakily: «I, I'm sorry that you feel like that, Shea, but believe me, it isn't so. Abby and I are just friends. As you, we have both lost almost everyone we know, and what you see is nothing more than two friends trying to comfort one another.»
She felt tears spring to her eyes by the thought of their loss, and reached out her hand to pat him on the shoulder. Catching Shea looking furiously at her, she pulled her hand swiftly back.
«Is everything alright here?» one of the detectives asked, looking searchingly at all of them.
Shea swallowed, before saying: «Of course. Emotions just got the better of us – it's nothing.»
The officer was satisfied, turning away, but Shea wasn't – Abby could tell. Her glare was just as furious as before. Her words was just the Wellington way of protecting the family reputation.
Xxx
They were walking slowly back to the house from the Candlewick. He was so anxious, Abby was quiet, pale and avoiding meeting his eyes. What was she thinking? After his slip up in the kitchen, there would be no wonder if she thought Shea had a point. Why, why, why had he done that? And Shea, having the nerve to ruin everything for him!
He swore to himself: I'll kill Shea at the first opportunity! Madison too – finishing the original plan. And if Abby left him, he'd certainly... But she couldn't leave him – to be without her now, it wouldn't be possible for him to live without her!
Desperately, he took her hand, willing her to look at him. She twitched visibly, jumping in shock away from him. His gut clenched in fear, and it became almost painful to breathe. No, she was going to leave him, she didn't want him!
Trying to calm his racing heart, he thought through his possibilities. There was only one solution he could see. He had to lock her up in the house. With him. It would be noticed when they both were missing from the Wellington funerals in two days, but apart from that they were as good as finished with any official business. He could pull it through, hiding her from the outside world. She'd be angry and hurt, feeling like he'd betrayed her, but this was the only way. He wouldn't tell her everything - needless to say – but he would keep her there until she realized they were meant to be.
Arriving at the house, they went inside. He took a deep breath, locking the door behind them. Turning around, he was prepared for the questions and the anger that would come later. She stood in the middle of the kitchen, finally looking at him. Her eyes were like dark, bottomless pools, standing out as immense from her pale complexion.
«Henry,» she said. «There's something I've got to tell you. I, I don't know how to say this really, but I have to tell you,» she said slowly.
God, here it comes, she'll tell me that she's leaving! He steeled himself for what surely had to come.