Chapter Thirty-Six
Emma
I follow the ambulance to the hospital, its siren mimicking my beating heart. I scrounge through my bag until I find a pair of clean jeans and a T-shirt. I can’t exactly show up dripping wet. I empty the pockets of Aiden’s Marine jacket before carefully sealing it up in the garment bag. If there is any piece of clothing which deserves respect, it’s this. I change in the bathroom, throwing my black dress in the trash. I wring out my wet hair and comb through the tangles before I twist it into a bun. I wash the dirt from my face. My hands grip the basin as I lean my forehead against the cold glass mirror.
I’m going take care of this, Aiden. I won’t leave you.
I take a deep breath and walk to the hospital information desk with a confidence I don’t feel.
“Can you tell me where Harlan Sheffield’s room is? He was just brought in.”
The woman glances at me curiously. “He’s in emergency right now. Are you family? Only family can go back there.”
“Yes,” I lie.
“And who exactly are you?” There is something more than suspicion. She lowers her glasses, gazing at me in a way that makes me feel exposed. Her smile is wry and calculated. She wants the information, but not because she needs it. She wants gossip.
“I’m Amy’s daughter,” I say, hoping the admission will get me through the doors.
She quirks an eyebrow, her jaw dropping so far, the lines around her mouth smooth out. “Well, isn’t that quite something.”
“May I see him? I’m in a hurry.”
She clicks a few strokes on her computer. “Exam room 106. I’ll buzz you through the doors.”
This is the smallest hospital I’ve even seen. Only one story, yet the corridors are very long. My flip-flops squeak on the tile floor, and the flicker of the fluorescent lights causes my head to pound. I pass a few people, who all give me curious, unwelcoming glances, but for the most part the hospital is vacant…almost eerily so. There is something very wrong about this town.
But I march on because this is ridiculous. Aiden needs me. I need to talk to the one man who can set him free. Aiden said he’d rather go to hell than Linx. But he did…for me. Now, it’s my turn, even if it means reasoning with the devil.
Oh my God, we saved the fucking devil! The thought nauseates me. I swallow down the bile and square my shoulders. We had to do it. After all, isn’t that what makes the two of us stand on the right side of the judgment line?
Exam room 106 has a curtain around it.
“No good deed,” I mutter before I open it.
He’s lying in bed in a hospital gown. He’s just an old man. He looks weak and helpless. Get your shit together, Cooper. He may be the stuff of Aiden’s nightmares, but he isn’t dangerous. Not anymore.
“You’re Aiden’s girlfriend?”
“My name is Emma Cooper.” He stares vacantly as if it doesn’t mean a thing. Of course, he wouldn’t know her by her married name. “I’m Amy’s daughter,” I blurt out.
His jaw drops. “Amy’s daughter?” he repeats. “Your name is Emma Cooper?”
“Yes, after she got away from you, she rebuilt her life and married a good man. If my father knew what you put her through, he would have gutted you like a fish.” My voice is cold and distant as if someone else is pulling the strings. But I have to keep it that way because I can’t unleash the real fury building in me.
“Calm down and have a seat,” he says, gesturing to the chair. I take it. “Why are you here?”
“I want you to tell the police the truth. Aiden saved your life.”
“He pushed me into the water.”
“It didn’t happen like that. You tripped.”
“And why did I trip? Have you thought of that?”
A nurse pulls the curtain back, the rings scraping against the metal track. The sound might as well be nails on a chalkboard.
“How are you doing, Harlan?” she asks.
He pulls back the cover, lifting his leg. A monitor device is around his red, swollen ankle. “Please Margie, this really hurts. You need to take it off.”
“I have to call your PO, first. I can’t get a hold of him.”
“Margie, you know me, sweetheart. Although the law failed me, I will never fail it. Please, dear, help me.”
I watch her face. His sales pitch has hooked her. Her expression is one of sympathy. “Of course, Harlan. Let me get the doctor.”
He turns back to me, using the same tactics. “They let me out of prison early.” He gestures to his leg. “But they gave me this parting gift.” He lifts himself, wincing in pain. “How is your mother?”
The way he assesses me as if he’s trying to memorize my features sickens me. But there is something about his gray eyes that is oddly familiar, almost comforting in a twisted way. That sickens me even more. “I’m not looking to have a friendly chat with you. I want you to make the call and tell the truth.”
“Your truth?”
“There is only one truth. We were both at the dock. We both know what happened.” My fists curl around the arms of the chair. “All his life, you’ve tortured him. You got punished, but it was better than you deserved. Whatever sick, twisted revenge you have in mind isn’t going to happen. This ends now. You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Aiden.”
“I wouldn’t have spent twelve years in prison if it wasn’t for Aiden. I wouldn’t have lost the only woman I ever loved. I loved Amy with everything I had. It’s Emma, right?”
His words shock me so much that I almost forget how much I hate him. But I only have to conjure the image of Aiden’s body to remember. I nod in answer to his question.
“Who is Aiden to you? You must care about him very much to be here. You may not be here for a social visit, but you’re asking me to do something mighty huge. I need to have a few questions answered for myself. Where is your mother, sweetheart?”
“My mother’s dead. We were spreading her ashes. She had a great life after she left you. She met a man who treated her the way a woman should be treated. My father gave her enough love and courage so she could rebound from the horror of her life with you.”
I almost think I am having a hallucination as a fat tear rolls down his cheek. “I need you to tell me how you met Aiden. Don’t leave anything out.”
“I’m not telling you a damn thing.”
“Then I can’t help you.”
I give him a few short sentences about my parents dying and going to find Aiden.
“I’m so sorry about Amy. I did love her. It was a horrible life for her. I don’t blame her for leaving me.”
“You don’t beat people you love.”
“Did Aiden tell you I beat her?”
“Your handiwork is written all over his body. Don’t you feel any remorse?”
He leans toward me. “Emma, I need you to listen to what I’m saying.”
The nurse pulls back the curtain and holds up a drill. “I’m ready to take it off, Harlan.”
“Not now, Margie. Come back. I need a moment.”
She looks between us. “But you’re in pain.”
“I can live with this pain. There are some things I cannot live with. Please…give us some privacy.”
She steps out, enclosing us again.
Harlan turns his attention back to me. He reaches for me, but I scrape the chair back. “Aiden is not what he seems. It’s my fault. Because I should have sent him away to a place that could help him when he was child. But I loved him so much, I thought I could fix him. He’s been hurting himself his whole life. Your mother? She didn’t leave because of me. Aiden was only seven years old when he threatened her with a knife. She begged me to send him away, but I refused. That’s why she left me.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Did he tell you about his dog?” His raspy voice chokes. “He killed that dog. He killed a lot of animals. I figured if he had one to love he would stop. But it only made it worse. Aiden hated me his whole life because I hovered over him and wouldn’t let him harm anyone. So, when he was fifteen he came up with a plan to get rid of me. He told me he was planning to bomb the school. I couldn’t let him do that. I was the sheriff for God’s sake. He was talking so crazy. All I thought was I had to stop him. All those innocent lives would be lost otherwise. I was doing a greater good. I was gonna shoot him in the head and end his cruelty, but he had taken my guns. All I had was the knife. Aiden planned it all meticulously. He was never gonna bomb the school. He just wanted to get rid of me so he could be free to act on his impulses.” Harlan shivers and pulls the blanket up. “I have no idea how many people he’s hurt since then. He’s done an amazing job of acting normal and fitting in. Hell, he even fooled the US Marine Corps, but he’s brilliant that way. It’s all an act, Miss Cooper. I beg of you not to fall for it.”
He makes Aiden out to be a deranged serial killer. Aiden who rescues dogs. Aiden who is gentle and kind. I shake my head. “I don’t believe anything you say.” And it’s true, I don’t believe one word of it. I know the man Aiden is. The man I love. I am not scared of what Harlan says because my mother, sick or not, would never send me into danger. Aiden is the exact opposite of everything this man describes. But what does frighten me, chills my very core, is that I could see how people would believe Harlan. He is a master manipulator. He has a trustworthy face. He sounds so sincere I bet he could convince people Antarctica is the warmest place on Earth.
“I won’t listen to your sick lies.” I stand. “I was hoping I could appeal to your sense of decency. That you’d want to redeem yourself, but I see it was an error in judgment on my part. I’m going to the police station now. It’ll be my word and Aiden’s against yours, but I will get him released. When he is, he will be free of this horrible place and you.”
“Please, Emma, don’t go. Let me finish. I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you.”
I stand over him, wanting to run away, yet there is almost something hypnotizing about his voice, which makes the tile floors turn into quicksand. The devil could never change someone’s will without their permission, but he sure as hell could seduce them into giving it.
“I’ll make a deal with you, Miss Cooper. I will make the call and explain how it was all an accident. A misunderstanding on my part. How Aiden rescued me. And I won’t even give you any credit for that action, Miss Cooper, although I believe all the credit lies with you.” He smiles at me, but it never reaches his eyes. “You are definitely your mother’s daughter. She had the same compassion. Which is why she probably felt guilty for leaving Aiden and me. She loved him, too, but she had the good sense to get out and save herself. I never did. I mourn her death with you, but I am happy she found a life where she didn’t have to worry about being slaughtered in her sleep.”
“Shut up. Stop talking.” I put my hands over my ears to drown out his vicious lies.
“I can see you love him very much. Your actions speak louder than words ever could. I’m willing to end this as you said, because despite everything, I love my son. I loved Amy. You’re Amy’s daughter so I’m going to do this for you, but you have to do something for me.”
“What do you want from me?” This is the deal with the devil. My stomach twists. He is a good poker player. He has no tells…none at all. I feel the need to purge this conversation and run from this place, but I would do anything for Aiden. Just as he would do anything for me. He is my shield and I am his. Right now, I have no qualms about lying. I compose my face, hiding my disgust and disbelief. I need Harlan to see my own sincerity. To think he is chipping away at me.
“Get the hell away from Aiden. Don’t get me wrong. He is capable of love. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. He loved your mother and his dog. Hell, I even believe he loves me. But ultimately, he destroys everything he loves. If I do this, will you promise me you’ll leave him and never look back?”
At this point, I’ll promise to climb K2 if it means getting Aiden the hell out of Linx.
I pause so he’ll think I’m really considering it. I even conjure up tears. They are tears of exhaustion, but he sees defeat. “I promise you.”
“Are you a woman of your word, Miss Cooper?”
“I am.”
He looks at the phone next to his hospital bed. “I don’t think it dials out. This hospital is older than Moses.”
I take out my cell phone. “Do you have the number?”
“I worked at the Sheriff’s office for over twenty years.” He holds his hand out. “I am capable of dialing the number.”
I enter my pass code and hand him the phone. He presses a few buttons, looking more confused.
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry. I’m still getting adjusted to all this technology. The world changed a lot in the last twelve years. I’m playing catch up.”
I take the phone from him and enter the digits he tells me. When it rings, I hand it back. He asks for Deputy Franks. While he’s waiting, he fills the air with more of his nauseating poison. “Don’t worry, Miss Copper. John Franks was my deputy when I was in charge. He was the arresting officer.”
I listen as Harlan tells the good deputy about the misunderstanding. He asks for Aiden’s release. When he hands me back the phone, he announces that Aiden is free to go. I exhale the longest breath of my life. I don’t say good-bye.
“Remember your promise, Miss Cooper. Remember, you are a woman of your word.”
I walk much faster, almost running down the corridor. I make it to the bathroom stall just in time to throw up.