“I saw her, too. The woman in the nightgown last night.”
CHAPTER 19
Abigail took a breath. “How do you know about that?”
“Everyone here knows. That private detective interviewed me this morning. He didn’t mention you, but I saw you follow her last night. Across the lawn. I haven’t been sleeping and I was looking out the window. I know it’s strange.”
“Did you tell them that? Did you tell them you saw someone?”
“Of course. They asked me if it was someone I recognized, but it wasn’t.”
“You hadn’t met Jill Greenly?”
“She was a guest here?”
“Yes. That’s who I saw last night, but they told me she left the island yesterday afternoon, that it couldn’t have been her I’d seen.”
“They told you she’d left?”
“Yes.”
“How did they tell you she did that?” Eric said.
“What do you mean?”
“Did they say she flew?”
“Yes. That’s what they said.”
“She didn’t,” Eric said.
“How do you know?”
He took a step forward, and Abigail said, “Stay there. We’re close enough.”
“Okay,” he said, stopping. “Unless she left by boat, she didn’t leave the island, because no plane came to this island in the afternoon. After I saw you and your husband by the cove, I walked over toward the landing strip. There’s a spot where you can sit, and if you look really hard you can see a lighthouse on one of the islands in Casco Bay. I sat there till it was almost dinnertime.
There were no planes. I’d have seen them.”
“Maybe you—”
“I’m telling you, there weren’t any. There’s something wrong with this place. I felt it the moment I got here.”
“The moment you stalked me here.”
“I’m sorry … sorry for everything I’ve put you through. There’s no excuse for it now, I realize, but that’s the real reason I followed you here today. I wanted to tell you that I won’t bother you anymore.”
“What changed your mind?”
“When I saw you and Bruce yesterday, as you know, on that beach. I felt your anger, and I realized … I guess I realized that I was wrong about us. I really did think that we were meant to be together, the two of us. I think I went a little insane.”
“You think?” Abigail said.
Eric smiled, then looked down at the ground. His hands were now in the pockets of his jeans. “I went a lot insane. The thing is, you look like her. You look like …”
He hesitated, and Abigail said, “I look like your wife.”
“Not her coloring. She had bright red hair, and her skin was very pale, but your eyes are the same, and the way you talk is the same.”
“Well, we’re not the same,” Abigail said.
“I know. I’m sorry I came here. I’m sorry that I didn’t give up when I got your email, but I thought that if you saw me again …”
He shrugged.
“You followed me to New York, didn’t you? A few days before I got married.”
“I did. I just wanted a chance to see you, to let you see me. I thought you might be having second thoughts about the wedding.”
“Let’s get out of the woods, okay?” Abigail said, and began to walk back the way she had come.
“Can I come with you?” Eric asked.
“Just walk over there,” Abigail said. “I still don’t know if I trust you.”
“What are you doing out here? Are you looking for that woman?”
“I guess. I’m looking for any evidence that what I saw last night really happened,” Abigail said.
“Well, now you have me. I saw her, too.”
“But you didn’t recognize her?”
“I didn’t see her face, and even if I had, I didn’t know her.” He was walking parallel to Abigail, his hands still in his pockets.
“Why did you say that you think there’s something wrong with this place?” Abigail asked.
“Because there is. I may be insane, but I know that much. First of all, this resort is not a viable business. It can’t be. There are far more staff members than there are guests. And everyone seems to know each other—all the guests, I mean. I just think it’s some kind of front for something else altogether.”
“And all the guests are men.”
“Yes, I noticed that, too. Something’s off.”