The Cabin by Carla Neggers

didn’t answer at once. “No particular reason.”
    What was that supposed to mean? Jack Galway
    didn’t do anything for no reason. Everything he did and
    said had a purpose. He was the most deliberate man Su-

    The Cabin
    55
    sanna knew. She felt hot, jittery, as if he had her in an
    interrogation room and she was lying to a Texas Ran-
    ger, not just having an ordinary conversation with her
    husband. “Well, I hope Alice Parker gets her life back
    on track. Do you want to talk to the girls?”
    “Sure,” he said, his tone impossible to read. “Put
    them on.”
    She handed the phone to Ellen and ran into the
    kitchen, diving into the half-bathroom. She splashed
    her face with cold water. Her eyes were hot with tears.
    She was shaking, her reflection pale in the small oval
    mirror. She touched her lips with wet fingers and could
    almost imagine it was Jack touching her. She’d loved
    him so hard, so long. What had happened?
    Susanna, Susanna…you don’t believe I killed my wife.
    Beau McGarrity. She could still hear his cajoling,
    hurt voice that day in her kitchen. He’d never made an
    overt threat against her or her children. It was in his ges-
    ture, his tone, the fact that he had walked into her
    kitchen from her patio, without knocking. She’d been
    doing a tai chi tape in the family room. The girls were
    at theater and soccer practice. She hadn’t thought to lock
    the patio door.
    She’d started the recorder, not knowing what he
    meant to do or say. At first, she didn’t even know who
    he was, except that she’d spotted him twice before that
    week, once in town, once at the school. Susanna had told
    herself it was coincidence and chided herself for start-
    ing to think like a jaded law enforcement officer, tak-
    ing the routine oddities of life and turning them into
    something potentially sinister.

    56
    Carla Neggers
    She hadn’t known Alice Parker was being investi-
    gated—or that Jack would arrest her that afternoon.
    Giving her the tape when she showed up at her front
    door had made sense at the time.
    Saying nothing to Jack about Beau McGarrity’s visit
    had, too.
    When he came home that evening and told her about
    Alice’s arrest and never mentioned the tape, Susanna as-
    sumed the tape was no good, completely irrelevant—
    and that Alice hadn’t mentioned it to him. Why should
    she? She was on her way to prison, her career ruined.
    If there’d been anything useful on the tape, she’d have
    turned it over, if only to nail Beau McGarrity and prove
    herself right.
    Jack had been so taciturn that night, even more un-
    communicative than usual. He was glad to have the
    Alice Parker investigation over with. The local police
    department would continue with the investigation into
    Rachel McGarrity’s murder. He’d opened a beer, took
    a long drink and laid back his head, shutting his eyes.
    All Susanna could think about was how he’d react if
    she’d told him Beau McGarrity had been to their house.
    His work had never touched his family this way. Never.
    They were both accustomed to her being afraid for him.
    But not for herself, not for their daughters.
    She’d found herself unable to tell him what had hap-
    pened. She didn’t know what he’d do.
    Her own fear was irrational, visceral. Just pretend ev-
    erything was okay and go to Boston with the girls, let
    the dust settle, clear her head…then tell him.
    Now Alice Parker was out of prison, and Susanna still

    The Cabin
    57
    hadn’t told her husband what had happened on that hot,
    confused day over a year ago.
    But she loved him.
    Oh, God, she loved him.
    “Mom!” It was Ellen yelling. “Dad wants to talk
    to you!”
    Susanna dried her face and hands and slipped out of
    the bathroom. The girls were in the kitchen, and Ellen
    handed her the phone, whispering, “We told him about
    the cabin. We thought he knew.”
    “He’s pissed, ” Maggie added, more as a point of fact
    than a warning.
    Susanna nodded and ducked back into the