The Dead Woman

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"You sure you don't want to go to the emergency room?" Dale asked. "That's quite a bump."

"I've had worse," Matt replied, eyeing the lump in the passenger mirror of Dale's cruiser. It was true. After all, he'd died, hadn't he? What's a lump on the head after freezing to death under a thousand tons of snow and ice? "I'll be fine." In truth, it didn't hurt as much as it should. Probably another benefit of his situation. He seemed to heal a lot faster than normal these days.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I just need to get something. Then I can go."

They drove on for a few minutes in silence. Several times, Dale looked over at Matt, but he never said anything. Finally, they pulled into the parking lot of Abbey's Antiques. The lights inside were off. Abbey was probably out again. Dale swung the car around to the side of the building and shut off the engine.

"Look, Cahill," Dale said, "for what it's worth, I'm real sorry about everything."

"It's all right, Officer."

"No, it ain't. This ain't like me. I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay." Matt knew what had come over him, but he wasn't about to tell Dale he'd been attacked by a shadow man. The guy'd been through enough already. All Matt wanted to do now was get his ax and get the hell out of Crawford.

"Probably stress," Dale mused. "I've been tracking that damn serial killer for months. It's one of the reasons I'm never home. That's probably why Abbey..." He didn't finish the thought, but Matt understood well enough. Dale blamed himself and his job for Abbey's infidelity. Matt would have offered him something comforting but wasn't sure what to say. Hell, for all he knew, Dale's assessment was right on target.

"Stress can fuck a person up pretty good," Matt said. So can a baseball bat, he added mentally.

"You sure you don't need a ride anywhere else?"

"No," Matt replied. "I'll just grab my ax from the shop and walk to the next bus terminal."

"But that's in Cranston. It's ten miles away."

"I'm used to walking," Matt replied. In truth, he'd have loved a ride to Cranston, but not from Dale. Who knew what would happen if the green sore came back?

It's only halftime.

Matt didn't want to find out. With any luck, he'd catch Abbey, and she could give him a ride. That is, if she would talk to him. He had his doubts, but he meant to try. He needed to talk to her about her husband and Mr. Dark. She claimed to have never seen him, which was probably a good thing, but he needed to warn her about him just in case. Besides, his ax was back at her place anyway, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to mention that to Dale.

"All right, then," Dale said. "Have a good life, Matt Cahill. Sorry about your head."

Matt got out of the car. "Sorry about your wife."

Dale held up his left hand. Matt noted the man was no longer wearing his wedding ring. "Soon to be ex-wife. You're right. She's just gonna keep doing it. But I don't have to live with it. Or her addiction."

"Addiction?"

"Yeah, Xanax or Keflex or something. I can't remember what it's called, but those damn little bottles are all over the place. Abbey says it's a sedative. She uses it to fight off panic attacks and shit like that. If you ask me, she's messed up enough without it."

Matt nodded. He had to agree. He opened the passenger-side door and stepped out, careful not to bump his head.

"By the way," Dale said. "That back door is probably locked. Here." He tossed something to Matt. It jingled in his fist when he caught it. A key ring. "The big one is the key you're looking for. Just leave them in the shop when you go."

"Any message for Abbey if I see her?"

"Give her the keys. She'll know what it means." Dale put the car in drive and wheeled slowly out of the parking lot. A quick left and the lawman was gone, leaving Matt alone in the back of Abbey's Antiques with the keys to the store.

He let himself in the back, shaking his head. Dale trusted him with the keys to his wife's business, even after everything that happened. Not that there was much left in the place to steal. Matt and Abbey had pretty much cleaned the whole place out. There were still a few things that needed to be moved, but Abbey should be able to take care of them herself. She could probably even return the box truck. Most of the remaining pieces should fit in the back of her van.

Matt stepped into the back room and walked towards the cot. His bag with all his things was still at Abbey's house, along with his ax. He'd have to wait for Abbey to show up. Sooner or later she would stop by to check on the shop, and he would try to talk to her then.

Matt settled down to wait.

It didn't take very long. About twenty minutes after he arrived, a pair of headlights shone in the front window of the store. They were high off the ground and far apart, just like they should be for a truck or van. Matt stood up and moved into the hallway. When the lights outside cut off, he heard the slam of the van's door. He was just about to say something when he heard another door slam, and then voices came to him from the front of the store.

Matt ducked back into the office. Abbey had someone with her? Who? It couldn't be Dale.

The tiny bell at the front door rang, and Abbey's voice followed it.

"...coming. I feel safer having someone with me," she said.

"I understand," came a second voice. A female voice. Matt thought it sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. "I'm glad to help."

"He seemed like such a nice guy," Abbey said.

"He sure did," came the reply. "It must have been terrifying to learn you had a murderer at your very own house."

They were talking about him, Matt realized. His heart sank. Abbey wouldn't be giving him a ride tonight, or any other. Damn. He needed that ax. He couldn't bring himself to leave it behind.

"I should have known," Abbey said. "The way he stared at me when I asked him to chop some firewood. Gave me the creeps. I thought I was imagining things, but now I wonder."

"No use second-guessing yourself now," her guest said. She sounded younger, like a woman in her late teens or early twenties. "You're safe, and he's gone."

"Yes," Abbey said. "But I'd still appreciate it if you came home with me. You know, safety in numbers..."

The soft, sultry tone of her voice sent a shiver up Matt's spine. So Abbey played for both teams... interesting. He supposed it shouldn't come as such a surprise, but he hadn't really expected that. There would be more going on at Abbey's tonight than making sure it was safe. Poor Dale. He was right. Abbey was quite a vixen.

"Of course I will," the voice said.

"I just need to grab a few things first," Abbey said. "Will you wait here for a second?"

"Sure."

Footsteps approached from the front of the store. Matt looked around for a hiding place, not sure how she would react if she found him in her store waiting for her. He ducked behind a shelf full of old clocks and waited.

Abbey walked by, wearing her tight jeans and thin T-shirt. Her tennis shoes made almost no sound as she walked by Matt's hiding spot and into her office. She passed close enough so that Matt could almost have touched her, but she wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were focused ahead, not to the side, and Matt got a good look at her face as she passed.

Damn, she was gorgeous.

The memory of her face between his legs the night before came unbidden to his mind, and he found himself getting aroused. He shut his eyes and forced the image away. This would definitely be a bad time.

While she rattled around in her office, Matt poked his head around the back of the shelf and caught sight of the person with her. It was the young woman from McDonald's. Annie. She couldn't be more than twenty years old. Abbey was really robbing the cradle tonight.

Matt couldn't help but smile. Young Annie was in for quite a workout.

The sound of footsteps brought his mind back to the present. Abbey was leaving her office. The light clicked off, casting the whole building in darkness again, and Matt ducked back down behind the shelf.

Wait, he thought. It's just Annie. Matt knew he could handle the skinny girl from McDonald's. He was more worried about Abbey. She was solid and strong and could no doubt pack a good punch. With him already weak and reeling from his stint as a piñata, he didn't think he could fight off both of them. Still, he needed to get his ax. Maybe he would try to talk to her, after all.

He was just about to stand up when she walked by him again, and Matt's breath caught in his throat. He'd seen her right side as she walked into her office. Now, as she was walking out, he caught sight of the left side of her face.

And the large green sore on her left cheek.