The Shadow Box(97)

“They killed Daddy! And they tried to kill her!” Gwen said.

I hugged her as she wept into my shoulder. I felt her shaking with grief and horror.

“Is it true?” I mouthed, looking at Conor. He nodded, and I could see the emotion in his eyes.

“Gwen,” Conor said after a few moments, crouching beside us. “I’m going to take you and Charlie to your Aunt Lydia. She is going to be so happy to see you.”

“You look like Tom,” Charlie said.

“Yep,” Conor said. “He’s my big brother.”

“They shot him,” Charlie said.

“He’s going to be okay,” Conor said. “Jackie’s at the hospital with him right now.”

“Bring Maggie to him,” Gwen said, lifting her face from my shoulder, shuddering as she tried to stop her sobs. “She will help him get well. She always makes him smile. We’ll share her with him.”

I held Gwen’s and Charlie’s hands, and we walked with Conor around the big house I had lived in with Griffin, past the old barn where he’d nearly killed me the first time. The turnaround was full of emergency vehicles. I saw Ben Markham put handcuffs on Griffin. I left the children with Conor and walked over to stand in front of Ben and Griffin. Griffin glared at me, his pupils fully dilated, his eyes gleaming black.

“Thank God you’re okay, Claire,” Ben said.

“I’m better than okay,” I said, never taking my gaze off Griffin.

“Get me away from her, Ben,” Griffin said.

“Seems she has something to say to you,” Ben said. “So you’re gonna listen.”

“Prison,” I said to Griffin in a quiet voice. “I wonder what that will be like for you. I hope when you get to the lockup today, you’ll think about what I said back there on the lawn. I hope you’ll remember, then and forever, the moment it all changed. And I hope that when you close your eyes, you’ll see us. Me, Ellen, Marnie, Spencer, all of us. That’s my wish for you, Griffin.”

Then I nodded at Ben, letting him know I was done, and he opened the door to his police car and locked Griffin into the caged back seat.

Other officers surrounded Ford, Alexander, Emily, and the Lockwoods. Conor walked toward me with Gwen and Charlie. A female EMT came over and knelt down beside the children, gently asking them if they were hurt.

“I want you to get checked out too,” Conor said to me.

“What about the kids?”

“I’ll drive them to Shoreline General. And we’ll call their Aunt Lydia,” he said. “She’ll meet us there. She doesn’t even know about Charlie yet. You don’t have to worry, Claire. She’s their guardian now. She’s ready for this.”

“I hope so,” I said, thinking of all they had lost, what they were about to face. Then, I suddenly thought of Jackie, of how she had supported me, been there for me, and how I had hurt her by hiding out so long. “Did Jackie call you?” I asked. “To tell you I had come back here?”

“It was a race,” Conor said. “Between Jackie and your other friend.”

“Excuse me?”

“Spencer Graham Fenwick,” he said. “She gave me a quick rundown about Griffin, and she told me to watch out for you. She was afraid he’d try again.”

“Spencer did it,” I said. “Without her, there’d be no justice. She gave me the key to why he did it all.”

I closed my eyes, thinking of the sisterhood: all of us who had been affected by Griffin’s violence. I wasn’t sure when Spencer planned to leave Charlestown. I knew she had important work to do, but I hoped she would stay for a while at least. We had so much more to talk about. I wanted to learn all she knew about monsters—men like Griffin. I hoped that maybe I would be able to help somehow. Justice was its own art, shining light into the shadows, complex yet ultimately as simple as can be: bringing balance, making things right. Helping women know that their experience, no matter how horrific, was their strength. It showed them that they were their own superheroes.

“There’s someone else,” I said. “Evans Coffin—Max’s wife. You’ve got to get to her, protect her. She gave me this.” I reached into my pocket, handed Conor the letter. “You’ll understand when you read it. Her husband and his brother were in on this too.”

Conor nodded. “We’ll pick them up,” he said.

“Just make sure Evans and Spencer are safe. Griffin and his friends are after everyone who knows.”

“I will,” he said. “Spencer is coming to the barracks, and I’m going to take her statement. And I’ll read the letter and go see Evans.” He gazed at me for a long moment. “You’d better call Jackie.”

“I will,” I said, smiling.

“Yeah,” he said. “You’ve got a team rooting for you, that’s for sure. No one was going to let up.”

“Thanks, Conor,” I said.

Then I saw him lift his gaze, looking past me toward the beach. It was only then that I realized the sound of the boat engine had stopped. And when I turned around, I saw the skiff’s owner hurrying toward me, huffing and puffing like any other self-respecting scientist with a big belly.

“Nate,” I said.

“You’re alive, you’re alive,” he said, grabbing me hard, rocking me back and forth in a massive hug. “Do you know what I’ve been thinking? The world went so dark for a while because there was no Claire. I thought I’d never see you again.”