Chapter 1 - THE RED LIGHT UNDER THE ISLAND
The saucepan hit the hardwood floor before David even stood up.
Hot beef stew poured over Evelyn’s gray hair, shoulders, and patterned cardigan. Raw eggs broke across the back of her neck and slid down the front of her clothes.
For one terrible second, no one moved.
The television kept showing football. The crowd inside the stadium roared. Warm kitchen lights shone across the island, the dark cabinets, the broken eggs, and the elderly woman shaking in the middle of the room.
Rachel stood above her barefoot, breathing hard.
“Get on your knees and clean it.”
Evelyn tried to rise. Her hands slipped in the stew.
David sat frozen at the dining table, one palm still wrapped around a coffee mug. He had seen Rachel angry before. He had seen her throw dishes. He had seen her slam doors hard enough to crack the frame.
But he had never seen this.
Evelyn managed to get one foot beneath her.
Rachel grabbed the front of her cardigan and jerked her forward.
Then she slapped her.
The sound cut through the kitchen.
Evelyn struck the island and collapsed onto one knee.
“You’ll regret this,” she whispered.
Rachel laughed.
“No one believes you.”
She grabbed Evelyn by the collar and shoved her across the floor.
That finally moved David.
“Rachel! Stop!”
He rushed forward. Rachel turned and ripped herself out of his grip so violently that he stumbled backward into a dining chair.
Evelyn reached beneath the kitchen island for support.
Her fingers brushed cold wood.
Then she saw it.
A tiny red light beneath the overhang.
Blink.
Dark.
Blink.
She went still.
Rachel followed Evelyn’s gaze.
Her body stopped in the middle of the kitchen.
The anger drained from her face.
She crouched slowly. The red light reflected in her eyes. Her hand reached beneath the countertop.
It stopped inches away.
David stared.
“What is that?”
Rachel did not answer.
Evelyn’s breathing steadied.
The light continued blinking.
Once.
Twice.
Rachel stood abruptly and backed away from the island.
Then someone knocked at the front door.
Three slow knocks.
David looked toward the hallway.
Rachel whispered, “Do not open it.”
The knocking came again.
This time a man’s voice followed.
“Mrs. Evelyn Mercer?”
Evelyn’s eyes lifted.
Rachel turned pale.
The man continued.
“My name is Detective Aaron Cole. We need to speak about the death of your husband.”
David stared at his mother.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
May you like
Her husband had been dead for eleven years.
And until that moment, David had never heard anyone call it anything but an accident.
