The Cabin. Carla Neggers

was her focus.

      With freezing rain forecast for the evening, the bar was relatively quiet, the television tuned to a repeat of an old Red Sox game. Davey Ahearn was staring up at it, his broad back to Alice as she eased onto a stool at the bar. Jim Haviland put a bowl of chowder in front of her even before she’d ordered it.

      Definitely, something was up.

      She’d never had particularly good instincts, but prison had taught her to tune in to her environment, notice the undercurrents, see trouble before it happened—not wait to get her ass kicked. She’d been trying to show her best side in Boston. She found herself wanting Iris Dunning to think well of her. It was as if she were adopting the new persona she would use in Australia—letting her real self out. That was what she used to tell herself about her parents. When they were sober and straight, that was their real selves. That was who they really were. Not perfect, but decent, interested in her.

      When they were drunk or high on drugs, they weren’t their real selves. Her grandma said it was the devil, but Alice didn’t believe that. She could never see the devil in her mother and father, even when they were passed out in their own vomit. They weren’t mean, just a couple of no-accounts.

      She wasn’t like them.

      Her real self was pleasant, optimistic, empathetic, kind to old people and not one to hold a grudge. Sure, she was still trying her damnedest to extort fifty thousand dollars from a murderer, but she’d also learned in prison that she had to be practical, use what she had. Attainable goals. She hated to involve Iris and the Galway women in her scheme, but that just couldn’t be avoided.

      If she had to sit in judgment of herself—well, she’d opt for forgiveness. She’d see a woman who’d been through a lot and was just trying to get to a point where she could make a fresh start, maybe put the screws to a murderer who was otherwise getting off scot-free. That wasn’t so bad.

      Beau was still dragging his heels—but he’d crack. He was getting close. He asked questions about Susanna Galway. He repeated things he’d said to her in the kitchen that day, insisting he hadn’t said anything bad. But he wasn’t sure—he wanted to hear what was on that tape.

      Every week, Alice told herself, okay, one more week. She had to stick to her guns, because it wasn’t a good idea to waffle with Beau. She couldn’t give up too soon or he’d wonder, and that’d make him dangerous. He’d wondered what she and Rachel were up to, wondered if they were plotting to kill him and get his money—wondered about Alice’s remark about smothering him.

      Boom. Next thing, Rachel was dead, and Alice’s monogrammed change purse was floating in her blood.

      What Beau needed was some encouragement—maybe she just needed to get on with it, break in to Iris’s house, search Susanna’s room and pretend she’d found the tape. Then tell Beau she was bringing it to him or the Texas Rangers, either one. Maybe the media. Something that’d rattle his cage.

      She was dillydallying, she knew, because of Iris and clam chowder nights at Jim’s Place, fooling herself into thinking she could start over here, in Boston, and maybe not have to go all the way to Australia. That was her greatest weakness, always looking for the easy way out. She’d fall short of her goals and say it was good enough. Why be a Texas Ranger when she could be a small-town cop? Rachel McGarrity used to tell her to recognize that tendency and fight it. If she wanted to be a small-town cop, great—mission accomplished. If not, then go after what she wanted.

      Alice hadn’t touched her soup. The pat of butter had already melted. She tore open her packet of oyster crackers. She had the most awful feeling of foreboding. She tried smiling at Davey Ahearn, but he wasn’t looking at her.

      “I didn’t want to believe it.”

      Alice recognized Susanna Galway’s voice and felt a little like she did that day Lieutenant Galway had pulled her aside to ask her a few questions about the Rachel McGarrity investigation. A Texas Ranger, on her case. She knew it’d only be a matter of time before she was charged with official misconduct, or worse.

      But this time, Alice didn’t bother trying to hide what she’d done. “Mrs. Galway, please, I know this looks bad.” Alice kept her voice respectful, but wondered if her cheeks were red or pale, revealing anything about how frightened and awful she felt. “I don’t mean you or your family any harm.”

      Susanna tilted her head, her long black hair hanging down her back, her green eyes half-closed, but Alice could see she was rattled, scared. “You used a false name.”

      “I’m in the process of legally changing my name to Audrey Melbourne. I want a fresh start.”

      “Here? You didn’t just happen to show up in the same neighborhood as the family of the Texas Ranger who put you in prison—”

      “Lieutenant Galway didn’t put me in prison,” Alice said. “I put myself there through my own actions.”

      Jack Galway’s wife inhaled sharply. She was so tall and limber—Alice felt tiny next to her. She’d always wanted to be more of an über-girl. She almost didn’t make it as a police officer because of her size. People liked to tell her she was cute. She didn’t have Susanna Galway’s dramatic good looks.

      “If you wanted a fresh start,” Susanna went on tightly, “you wouldn’t be here in Boston, in my neighborhood. That just doesn’t wash, Miss Parker.”

      “I know.” She spoke quietly, respectfully, aware of Jim Haviland and Davey Ahearn watching her, listening, ready to act if she did anything stupid. She had rehearsed this moment a thousand times in the past few weeks. “I came up here because I wanted to make up for any damage I’d done. I heard you’d left your husband after I got arrested—”

      “That had nothing to do with you,” Susanna said stonily.

      Alice wasn’t so sure about that, but she nodded anyway. “I can see that now. I probably knew it even before I got here.”

      “But you stayed.”

      “Where else was I supposed to go? I’m saving for Australia. Did Iris tell you that? I like her a lot, Mrs. Galway. I’d never do anything to hurt her. I mean, if I were up here to get revenge, I’ve had weeks.”

      Susanna went slightly pale at Alice’s last words.

      “Please believe me,” Alice said quietly, earnestly.

      “It doesn’t matter what I believe or don’t believe.” Susanna stuffed her hands into her coat pockets, everything about her rigid, serious, determined. And scared, Alice thought. Susanna Galway wasn’t one who liked admitting she was scared. “I don’t want you anywhere near my grandmother or my daughters.”

      Alice nodded. “All right. I understand.”

      But her tone didn’t come out quite right, and she could see that Susanna had read her words the way Alice had really meant them—defiant and in-your-face defensive. She didn’t have to stay away from anybody. She was a free woman. She hadn’t threatened Iris or Maggie and Ellen Galway. She hadn’t stalked them. She hadn’t broken the law. Her presence in Susanna’s neighborhood was provocative, yes. But it wasn’t illegal.

      “Stay away from my family,” Susanna said.

      Alice didn’t argue, although she couldn’t imagine not seeing Iris again—at least to explain who she was, why she’d lied to her. She didn’t want Iris to think badly of her. She didn’t know why, but the old woman’s opinion mattered to her.

      Susanna swept out of the bar, and Alice looked up at Jim Haviland, feeling her eyes fill with tears. “I suppose you think I’m pretty awful.”

      “I think you’re scaring the shit out of Susanna Galway and used an innocent old woman—”

      “I’d never hurt Iris. Never. I consider her a friend.”

      But she could see she wasn’t getting anywhere with him, and down the bar, Davey Ahearn looked ready to take her out and shove