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I went to him and threw my arms around him. He didn’t move. I wrapped my arms around him tighter still, pulling him down to me, pressing my warm cheek to his cold one.
“I love you. I love you, okay? We’re going to get through this.”
It took time, a full minute, maybe, before something released in him and he sagged out of his rigid stance, his arms coming around me and finally hugging me back. I held on for as long as I could. When we let go, we both turned to look at the plastic-wrapped body that lay on the stone floor of the porch behind him. I shuddered. The reality of it was a mind fuck. Andy had found painter’s tape and plastic bags from somewhere, and he’d done a good job wrapping Simon’s body. It made it easier, that I wouldn’t have to see Simon’s face, or his clothes even. I told myself that what was lying in front of me was just a package. Just a package to be disposed of.
“Are there any cameras?” I asked. “Security cameras, I mean?”
“I’ve been all around and I didn’t see any. None inside either.”
“How did you get inside? Did you break a window?”
Andy shook his head. “They used to leave a spare key in the hollow of a tree at the back of the property. It was still there when I checked. I put it back.”
“Okay. And you wiped the key down?”
“Yes.”
“Right. Good.” I went to pick up one end of Simon’s body—what seemed to be his feet—but Andy held out a hand to stop me.
“No.”
“You’re exhausted. I can help.”
“No,” he said, almost fiercely. “I don’t want you touching him.”
I didn’t argue, I just stood back and waited and watched while Andy heaved the body into his arms. He struggled, clumsy with tiredness, but I didn’t try to help again. I opened the trunk of my car and Andy put the body inside. He had to bend the legs to fit them in. They bent easily. I felt queasy. Was it too soon for rigor mortis? It must be. A thought struck me.
“Are you sure he’s dead?” I asked.
Andy didn’t look at me. He stared into the trunk at the plastic-wrapped body. “I’m sure.”
I nodded. I reached inside and tucked the tarp I’d brought around the body, then I took Andy’s hand and squeezed it.
“Baby, you’re going to have to get in there.”
His hand jerked out of mine. He looked down at me like he didn’t know who I was.
“It’s the only way I can get us back to the house without you being seen. If you lie down in the back, the journalists at our house might see you. And everyone has to think that you were home all night. That we were both home all night. Everything relies on that.”
“What about the back seat, under a blanket or something?”
“I don’t have one, and even if I did it would be too risky.”
“What about...” He gestured toward Simon’s body. “We need to bury him. Did you bring shovels?”
I shook my head. “We’re bringing him home.”
“What?”
“We have to get home right now. Do you understand? We don’t have time to go somewhere for an hour to dig a hole and... whatever. We need to get you home right now, and you need to make some phone calls from the house or walk around outside where the press can see you, or both. And I need to make some calls of my own. Okay? Look, I have a plan, but I don’t have time to explain. Please get in. Please, Andy.”
He turned and looked back at the body. The trunk of my car was big enough for both of them, but only just. Andy clenched his fists, then did it. He climbed inside. He had to almost tuck himself around Simon’s body to make himself fit.
When I hesitated, he said, “Close it, Lee. Right now. And get us home. I can’t do this for very long.”
I did what he said. I closed the trunk, got in the car, and drove away. Before I got to the end of the driveway I stopped the car, turned the engine off, and opened the window. I listened hard, made sure that I couldn’t hear any other engines approaching, then I turned the key in the ignition and drove again, fast this time, but not too fast. The snow was falling heavily, and snow tires can only do so much. If I ran the car off the road, we could not recover from that. But I made no mistakes. I drove the car, fast but carefully, home. When I approached the driveway there were only two cars parked there, and there was no sign of the red jeep. I did not slow as I passed them.
I drove the car into our barn and closed and bolted the barn doors before I hurried to the trunk and opened it. Andy scrambled out, half falling and frantic. I reached for him.
