Mourning After – Bonus Scene

Carlton crouched low beside the barbecue truck, his mind racing nearly as fast as his heart. Lights flashed, red and blue, making his head spin. Despair hunched a spine already bowed by age. His wife was in that squad car, and he didn’t have a clue what to do next other than watch the four women who approached the lone police officer.

He strained to hear the conversation between the police officer and the woman who spoke so urgently, but couldn’t make out much more than a few words: Tommy O’Malley, cabin, Cleo.

The officer’s head swiveled toward the truck, his flat gaze taking in the closed sign and the absence of its proprietor. Carlton felt rather than heard Tommy’s body sliding into the shadows next to him. Both men watched and listened as Zack Roman asked dispatch to send a deputy for Effie, then tore off in the direction of the marina with the four women behind him.

The side-by-side ATV Carlton had left parked nearby seemed his only chance. He scrambled from his hiding spot, heart pounding harder than a hammer on a steel drum. The yards felt like miles. Each step stretched into eternity as he broke into a shuffling run for it, desperation driving him onward. He’d get Effie out of the cruiser and hit the trails, circling back to the cabin they’d rented. If they worked together, it wouldn’t take long to pack up and get out of town.

With his plan firmly in mind, Carlton finally reached the ATV and slid into the seat. His hands shook as he inserted the key, and before he could turn it, a shadow loomed. He felt a hard shove against his shoulder, and Tommy’s voice followed him to the ground. “Not so fast, old man.”

Carlton sprawled in the dirt, the blow nearly taking his breath from him. Tommy took off in the ATV, leaving the older man to pick up the pieces of his plan.

A Good Samaritan rushed over and helped Carlton to his feet. “You okay, sir?”

“Never better,” Carlton grunted, brushing the dirt off his pants. He looked toward the squad car, knowing Effie waited inside, then back at the ATV that was now just a speck in the distance.

“Thanks, partner,” he told the stranger and took off again, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He wasn’t going to lose Effie, not like this.

When he yanked the cruiser’s door open, Effie blinked at him in surprise, her eyes wide. “Carlton? What on earth—?”

“No time, darlin’.” Fumbling, he helped her out of the car before his eyes lit on the handcuffs people would definitely noticed if they just walked away now. Frantic, he searched the car for anything useful and, finding nothing, stripped the shirt off his back and draped it over her shoulders, pulling the front closed around her. “Let’s move. Come on, now. The deputy will be here in a couple of minutes. We need to be long gone by then.”

Effie’s eyes softened with worry. “I don’t know if I can move that fast.”

“You can.” Carlton helped her out of the car, urging her to take cover in the shadows behind Tommy’s truck while he adjusted the shirt until Effie looked less like a fugitive and more like a woman who wanted to keep the sun off her arms.

“Where’s the ATV?” Effie looked at the empty space where it had been parked.

“Don’t ask. We’ll have to rent a boat, but not until that cop and his hens have gone.”

Still keeping to the shadows as much as possible, Carlton guided Effie to a spot where he could keep an eye on things and watched while Zack waited his turn at the pumps. Once the police boat left the area, Carlton put an arm around his wife, plastered a smile on his face, and walked with her as if they hadn’t a care in the world.

The marina wasn’t far, but every step felt like a marathon. Carlton’s breath came in short bursts, and he struggled to keep the shirt in place as they hurried along the crowded street. Effie’s pace was slower than he liked, but despite everything, she smiled.

“One more grand adventure, eh?”

Carlton managed a grin, even as his lungs screamed for air. “Ain’t nothin’ gonna stop us now.”

At the marina, he rented a fishing boat with an outboard motor.

“Let’s get you in.”

Effie hesitated, but the urgency in Carlton’s voice spurred her into motion. He took most of her weight as she awkwardly stepped into the boat. Pulling away from the dock, Carlton glanced over his shoulder, expecting sirens and flashing lights to close in at any moment. But the shore grew distant, and no one followed as they sped toward the cabin.

“You’re something else, you know that?” Effie said, leaning back in the seat.

Carlton’s grin widened as he focused on the open water ahead. “Ten-four, darlin’. Ten-four.”

 

***

 

Taking the most direct route, Tommy raced down streets and through backyards in the ATV, leaving a cloud of dust and frustration behind him. The vehicle’s engine screamed like a wild thing as he pushed it to its limits. He knew exactly where the cop was headed, and he aimed to get there first.

The ATV bounced over curbs, nearly shaking him loose as he gripped the steering wheel with determination. A pedestrian appeared out of nowhere, and Tommy swerved, narrowly missing the startled figure. He didn’t slow down, didn’t look back. Time was too short for regrets or apologies.

After blowing out of town, he hooked a right onto the access road skirting the lake and blasted past a row of occupied camps. Anyone outside watched with wide eyes as he sped by. Dust rose in thick clouds, marking his passage and leaving a gritty film on everything in its path. Someone shook a fist at him, but Tommy didn’t care. Let them wonder. Let them talk. He had one goal, and he wasn’t stopping until he reached it.

If he could get to the cabin first, he’d grab Cleo and take off, leaving no evidence of her behind. Any idea what might happen after that was little more than a misty blur as his vision tunneled down to not getting caught.

Once past the line where all maintenance stopped, nature had already begun to reclaim the road. Saplings lined what narrow tracks of gravel remained. Branches littered what could now barely be described as a path. Years of rain and snow melt had dug deep grooves that caused Tommy to wrestle with the steering, his teeth rattling as the ATV navigated uneven terrain. He’d known the road wasn’t passable by car, but he hadn’t expected it to be this degraded.

Then, without warning, a downed tree blocked his path completely. He cursed and yanked the wheel, veering sharply to avoid it. The ATV skidded, then caught traction again as he took a jagged, direct route through the trees and brush.

The ride was brutal, jarring, and every bounce sent a jolt up his spine. The far end of the lake curved off to his right. A break in the trees opened up giving him a good view of the cabin. It loomed across the short expanse of rippling water, remote and quiet. Except for a lone boat tied to the dock.

Dammit. He recognized that boat.

Stunned, Tommy let off the gas and the ATV lurched to a stop. The engine sputtered, then died, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. “Dammit,” Tommy cursed and swung off the vehicle, his eyes darting around as he looked for something he could use as a weapon.

The locked storage container mounted in the short bed of the ATV was his first stop. He yanked the keys out of the ignition, unlocked the compartment with very little hope, and rifled through the clutter inside. A grim smile tugged at his lips as he found what he hadn’t expected. Carlton, the old coot, had been packing.

Tommy took the gun, the weight of it hard and faintly unreal. Could he use it? Could he actually point it at another human being and pull the trigger? If it came down to that or going to jail, he decided he probably could.

A burst of determination fueled him as he gripped the gun tightly and ducked through the trees. Thinking they’d probably heard him coming, he decided he’d better go in through the low window at the back. He circled the cabin, his footsteps silent on the worn ground. From time spent here in his youth, Tommy knew every angle, every approach. There’d be no surprises this time.

Not a sound came from inside. At the window, Tommy paused, letting his breathing become steady and controlled then he slid the pane up and slipped inside.