The Night Swim(95)
Rachel decided to delay her departure even though she’d hoped to get out of town before the highway snarled up with cars leaving before the storm hit. Rachel stored her bags in the hotel luggage area and followed Alkins out to the street where he’d parked his black Jeep. They drove south along the beach road. Alkins didn’t say where he was taking her. She didn’t need to ask.
When they arrived at the Morrison’s Point beach, he parked right next to Detective Cooper’s car. She saw the glint of the detective’s blond hair at the end of the jetty, where he stood looking out to sea. The sky was overcast and forbidding. There were no boats in the water. It wasn’t sailing weather. Fishermen were scattered in their usual spots across the jetty, their lines hanging into the rough water. A couple of teenage boys jumped into the waves, despite the old warning sign.
“Dumb kids,” a fisherman complained. “They’re scaring all the fish away.”
Detective Cooper turned and waved to them as they approached. Standing alongside him was Hannah. She was wearing a striped gypsy skirt and a cropped denim jacket. Rachel could see a hint of a black henna tattoo going down the back of Hannah’s neck as she leaned over the edge, throwing flowers into the water.
Rachel had last spoken to Hannah in the hospital. She’d been sitting up in bed picking at her lunch tray when Rachel came into her room with a big bouquet of get-well flowers. They’d talked for a while, until visiting hours had ended.
Hannah had told Rachel that she wasn’t sure if she’d slipped into the water that night, or if her arms had given out, or, she conceded, if she had finally answered the beckoning call of the ocean. “Regardless,” she’d said, “I’m so grateful to you, Rachel. You risked your life for me.”
Hannah turned and smiled at Rachel when she realized that she’d joined them on the jetty. She handed Rachel some flowers and together they tossed the remaining daisies into the water. When they were done, they stood together watching the floating petals get consumed by waves until they disappeared under the surface.
“I can drop you off at Kitty’s house on my way back,” Rachel offered. “There’s a storm coming. You might want to get out of here now while the going’s good.”
“I don’t want to leave so quickly. Storm or no storm, I’m going to stay for a while,” Hannah said. “Maybe I’ll do some painting. There’s a gallery owner who’s been pestering me to have an exhibition, and I was thinking I could put together a collection of paintings of Neapolis to go with my other work and hold an exhibition next spring.”
She turned to Rachel and touched her arm. “I want to apologize. I manipulated you with my letters so you’d help me find Jenny’s murderer, and then I brought you to the jetty and put your life at risk. I had no right to put you in such danger. I was so focused on trying to get him to confess that I didn’t consider the possibility that he might kill us both to make sure his crimes stayed a secret.”
“Fortunately, that didn’t happen. We’re both alive and well,” said Rachel. “And now, when he’s caught, I can testify to his confession.”
“Didn’t you hear?” said Hannah uncertainly, glancing over Rachel’s shoulder at Detective Cooper.
“Hear what?” Rachel asked.
“Dan Moore’s body was found early this morning,” Detective Cooper said. “He was in the water, tied by a rope to one of his boats. He tried to make it look like a boating accident, but he was an experienced sailor. A man like that with all his naval experience doesn’t get caught in rigging and drown. Not unless he intends it.”
“I guess he did it for his daughter?” Rachel said. “So she wouldn’t have to cope with him being put on trial after everything else she’s had to deal with?”
“Probably,” said Detective Cooper. “It’s unfortunate, though. Dan Moore deserved to be punished for what he did to Jenny, and to Bobby Green. He knew Bobby Green never killed those boys in that car crash, but he let him serve years in prison for it. Ruined his life,” he said, shaking his head. “I spoke to Bobby earlier and told him he was never responsible for those boys dying in that accident. I told him what really happened that night and how he got burned. He sobbed like a baby.”
“He ruined my life, too,” whispered Hannah. “Not anymore. From now on, I’m doing right by my sister and my mother. I’m going to live a full life instead of one consumed by guilt.”
“You have nothing to feel guilty about. You never did anything wrong, Hannah,” said Rachel softly. “You were a kid.”
“I know that now,” Hannah said. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you did for me, Rachel. You could have ignored me, put me down as a crazy stalker, but you believed me and you were there for me that night on the jetty. We finally know what happened to Jenny.”
“I’d like to show you something,” said Mitch Alkins, his voice husky. “You too, Rachel.”
He led them all down the jetty until they reached the halfway point. Embedded in the timber handrail was a brass plaque commemorating the death of Jenny Stills. It was signed The People of Neapolis.
“It was engraved immediately after the mayor signed off on it yesterday,” Alkins said. “He wanted to honor Jenny’s memory here at the place where she was murdered. He said it was long overdue.”