Like A Charm

Abby jogged down the driveway towards Dea

'-accident – help-'

Abby gestured at the house. '-911 -?' She didn't have a cellphone, hated them.

Dea

Then Abby did what Gregory knew she'd do. She followed Dea

Dea

'I think that's enough, my dear,' Gregory said, stepping from the bushes.

He tossed Dea

Dea

Gregory grabbed the knife.

'I'll wake her-'

Dea

Dea

'Don't!' Gregory said. 'She's tied. She's not going anywhere.'

Dea

'I'll get that,' Dea

As she pushed to her feet, Gregory took her place, and loomed over his terrified wife.

'Ah, now she's afraid,' he said, smiling down at her. 'Smart girl. Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit.' He gri

'Gregory?' Dea

His lips tightened at the interruption. He turned to her. 'What?'

'Yesterday you asked if I was looking forward to this. I said I wasn't.' She bit her lip, looking sheepish. 'Well, I just wanted to let you know, I lied. We are looking forward to this.'

'Good. Now-' He stopped. 'We -?'

Dea

'Yes,' she said. 'We.'

He turned, following her gaze. Behind him, Abby sat up, tugging the rope from her wrists.

'Wha-?' he began.

Something cracked against the side of his head. He stumbled and managed to turn just enough to see Dea

Abby and Dea

'You're sure he won't wash up on shore?' Dea

'Which way is the tide going, hon?' Abby asked gently.

'Out. Right. You said that. I forgot. Sorry.'

'That's OK. You did a good job.'

Good, but not perfect, Abby thought as she bent to wipe a smear of blood from the deck. She'd have to treat that later. If the first blow had succeeded, there wouldn't be any blood. It took a second hit to the head to induce bleeding. But Dea

She stood to see Dea

'It's OK, hon,' Abby said. 'He's definitely heading out to sea and will be for a few hours yet. Even if he does eventually wash up on shore, it won't be near here.'

'But they'll identify him, won't they?'

'Yes. But then what? He wasn't shot. He wasn't stabbed. He hit his head and drowned. Happens all the time. Even if they suspect something, it can't be linked to us. We were careful.'

'You're right,' Dea

Abby walked to Dea

She put her arms around Dea

Abby reached down to the bottom of Dea

She wrapped her hands in Dea

She put her hands around Dea

Abby walked to the back of the boat and pulled up the anchor. In the water below Dea

'I can't swim!' Dea

'Yes,' Abby said. 'I know.'

She walked into the cabin and started the engine. She moved the boat out of Dea

Thursday, August 20

Abby parked at the top of the driveway and she rubbed her hands over her face. God, she was so sick of playing the distraught wife. How much longer did she have to do this? The last week had seemed endless. Pretending to look up expectantly each time the bells chimed over the gallery door. Murmuring 'I'm sure he will' whenever someone reassured her that her missing husband would come home soon. Enduring Zack's constant, mooning 'I'm here for you' glances.

It hadn't taken long for the police to discover that her missing husband had been renting a cottage outside town for his mistress, who was, conveniently, also missing. A quick check of their shared bank accounts showed that Gregory had slowly drained out nearly ten thousand dollars over the last month. That had been Abby's idea, passed through Dea