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“What are you going to do, flood it with water and let me drown?”
“Give me some credit. All you’d have to do is keep treading water till it got to the top.”
“Then what’s the point?”
Parker set off another of the charges. “There are twelve more like that, Noah. But long before I’ve set all of them off, you’ll already be choking. Smoke inhalation doesn’t have quite the drama of ocean water flooding your lungs, or being eaten by a shark, but it’s pretty damn effective, wouldn’t you say?”
“Ooh, you’re scaring me, Parker. You expect me to believe that you would let me die down here?”
“Why wouldn’t you believe it? I’m a killer. You said so yourself. Remember? Come on, flex the old memory muscles. I’m sure you’ll remember. After all, you must’ve rehearsed that blubbering speech a thousand times. The tears were a convincing touch, I must say. Even I came close to believing you. We were David and Jonathan until that day on the boat. Then I turned devious, lecherous, and murderous. Does that jiggle your memory?”
“I was… I was…”
“You were sentencing me to prison. Since I did the time, I think it’s only fair that I commit the crime.”
Noah was silent for a moment, then said, “I think my ankle’s broken.”
“You’re breaking my heart.”
“Listen, Parker, I’m in pain down here.”
“Don’t even go there, Noah.”
“Okay, what I did… it was wrong. I got scared. Froze up. Ran away. Once I realized what I’d done, there was no way out for me but to do what I did. I can understand your carrying a grudge. But you’ve made your point.”
“Like you could have made yours by leaving me in the ocean to die. Wasn’t that enough? Did you have to let Mary Catherine die, too?”
“You won’t get away with this,” Noah said in a new tone of voice.
“Oh, I think I will. You did.”
“People will see the smoke, call the fire department.”
“It’s on the other side of the island. You’ll suffocate before they get here.”
“And you’ll be blamed.”
“I don’t think so. Everyone inside Terry’s heard your cruel remark. They know your wife’s been living under my roof for a couple weeks. They’ll figure you came down here from Yankeeland to bust my ass. But to them I’m the poor crippled man who lives down the lane. Now, who do you
think they’re going to believe? Who do you think they’ll choose to believe?
“All I have to do is tell them the truth. We had words. You attacked me, and I’ve got the bloody nose to prove it. You lost your balance and fell into the well. Unfortunately, I had already set off the charges and couldn’t stop the inevitable. I tried to save you, but it was no use. I’m a cripple, remember?”
He peered over the rim and smiled down at Noah, whose face was a pale oval looking up at him from the bottom of the dry well. “It’s as plausible as the story you told the Coast Guard, don’t you think?”
“Parker. Parker. Listen to me.”
“Excuse me just a moment.” He depressed a button and another charge sparked. By now flames were eating the wood on the outside walls in two places, working their way up toward the loft.
“Stop this, Parker.” Noah cried.
“No.”
“For God’s sake!”
“For God’s sake? Don’t you mean for your sake, Noah? I think even God would understand and forgive anything I did to you. I thought of shooting you and getting it over with. I’d’ve pled self-defense and would have gotten away with it.
“But then I thought about the hours I flailed about in that fucking ocean before I was rescued. I thought about the hours I spent in excruciating pain in rehab hospitals. Somehow shooting seemed much too good for you. I had to wait fourteen years for this. If you met death quickly, it wouldn’t be nearly as gratifying. I considered cutting off your balls and letting you bleed out, like I nearly did. But that would have been messy and I couldn’t think of a reasonable defense.
