Relative Silence Read online

  Dedication

  To Frank, who launched me on this journey and inspired me to continue.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  Author Note

  Discussion Questions

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Praise for Carrie Stuart Parks

  Also by Carrie Stuart Parks

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Curlew Island, South Carolina

  Fifteen years ago

  The piercing scream ripped up my spine. I dropped the spatula and spun.

  My almost-three-year-old daughter, Dove, stood at the door to the kitchen and held out her favorite toy, a tattered stuffed bunny she’d named Piggy. Piggy’s ear was hanging by a thread with stuffing protruding from the opening.

  “Mommy,” she sobbed. “P-P-Piggy’s hurt.”

  I turned off the blender. I’d told Mildred, the housekeeper, I was going to make dessert and was elbow-deep in half-whipped meringue for the banana pudding now cooling next to me.

  “Come here, Dove, and let Mommy see.”

  Still crying, Dove launched herself at me.

  I lifted her and checked my watch. No one was at the family’s Curlew Island home at the moment except my husband, Ashlee. He’d said he would look after Dove while I did some cooking. Yet here she was with a damaged toy and in need of comfort, while he, as usual, was absent.

  “Sweetheart, Mommy will have to fix Piggy in a little bit. Where’s Daddy?”

  She shook her head. Her sobbing settled into hiccups and loud sniffles.

  Shifting her to my hip, I caught sight of movement in the foyer. “Ashlee?”

  The front door clicked shut.

  Still holding Dove, I charged through the house and opened the front door. Ashlee was just climbing into a golf cart, the only transportation on the island. “Just where did you think you were going? You’re supposed to be watching Dove.”

  “Don’t give me a hard time, Piper.” His face was pale with beads of sweat on his forehead. “I have an errand to run on the mainland. Mildred can watch Dove.”

  “Mildred’s getting groceries and I’m cooking. Take Dove with you. You don’t spend nearly enough time with your only child.”

  “Look, Piper, this is important and I don’t—”

  “So’s your daughter. Or maybe we should all go to the mainland together if something is that important. Better yet, you finish dessert and I’ll get to play with Dove.” I was heartily tired of Ashlee’s constant racing off to “something important.” His work as head of marketing at the family business, Boone Industries, was stressful and kept him busy, but this was getting ridiculous.

  He took out a handkerchief and swabbed his sweaty brow. “N-no. I’ll take her.”

  Dove had relaxed against my shoulder. “She’s overdue for her nap, and the boat always puts her fast asleep. Just be sure to put her life jacket on. There are snacks on the boat if she gets hungry.”

  Ashlee opened his mouth, then shut it. A vein pounded in his forehead.

  “Dove, sweetie,” I said. “Go for a boat ride with your daddy. I’ll take care of Piggy, okay?”

  She nodded under my chin and allowed me to hand her over to Ashlee.

  “Will you be long?”

  “As long as I need to be.” Without another word he got into the cart and drove toward the dock. The late October day was pleasantly warm, and although Dove wore a white T-shirt and short skirt, she could always crawl under a blanket in the saloon if the boat ride was too cool.

  I took poor Piggy back into the kitchen and placed her on the end of the counter, hoping the meringue was salvageable. I topped the banana pudding, stuck the dessert into the oven, set the timer, and moved to Dove’s room to change the sheets. Finishing just as the pudding was ready, I placed it on the counter to cool.

  After washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, I still had laundry to do. How could I be washing more clothes than we’d packed?

  Once a year the entire family would gather on the private island for a stockholders’ meeting and retreat, joining the year-round staff. I’d like to say that seeing my family together in this beautiful paradise was a special treat. Unfortunately, I was closer to the housekeeper than to my own mother. At least the beach was sandy, the ocean refreshing, and the house spectacular and spacious. Dove, of course, was perfect. And Ashlee? Back to the laundry.

  After shifting a load from the washer to the dryer, I made my way past the workout and sewing room toward the kitchen. Could a rabbit ear be repaired on a sewing machine? Ha! I didn’t even know how to thread a bobbin. I found Mildred in the kitchen, checking a store receipt. “I didn’t know you’d returned. Do you need help with the groceries?”

  “Already done.”

  “Then I timed my offer perfectly. Do you know how to thread a bobbin?”

  “Have you been out in the sun too long?”

  “It’s a rabbit-ear question.”

  “Next time wear a hat.”

  I grinned at the older woman. “To thread a bobbin?”

  “You are the oddest child,” she muttered, then nodded at my banana pudding. “But you do make the most beautiful desserts.” We busied ourselves preparing dinner. The stockholders’ meeting was tomorrow, and the remaining members of the family would arrive tonight.

  “Strange,” Mildred said after the pot roast had been placed in the oven.

  “What?”

  “I’d have thought everyone would be here by now.”

  I glanced at my watch. Ashlee and Dove had been gone for five hours. Dove would be starving. “I’m sure—”

  The phone rang.

  “That’s probably them now.” I picked up the receiver. “Boone residence.”

  “Piper!” It was my older brother, Tern. “Oh, Piper, I’m . . . I’m at the hospital. It’s Ashlee.”

  I squeezed the receiver tighter. “What’s going on? Is Dove okay?”

  Tern groaned.

  I reached for Mildred. She took my hand, then put her arm around me to keep my knees from buckling. “Tern? Tern!”

  Tern didn’t answer. A male voice took over. “Mrs. Piper Yates? This is Officer Stan Gragg of the Marion Inlet Police. There’s been an incident involving your husband. He was attacked on the dock and your family’s yacht was stolen. He’ll be fine, but we’re having the doctor check him out—”

  “What about my daughter, Dove?” I tried to keep my voice under control, but the words came out shrill.

  “We believe she was still on the boat. I’m afraid she’s missing.”

  Chapter 1

  Marion Inlet, South Carolina

  Present Day

  I couldn’t breathe. A man’s weight across my body cr
ushed me to the sidewalk. The grit of the cement and shattered glass dug into my cheek. My ears rang with the craack, craack of gunfire and the screams of the wounded. A thousand bees stung my ankle. I kept my eyes tightly shut. If I opened them, I knew I’d see the sightless gaze of my friend Ami, stretched out beside me. Even with my eyes closed, I could still see Ami’s face. I should be the one lying dead.

  I tried to cover my ears.

  “Don’t move.” The man’s voice whispered in my ear, his breath stirring my hair.

  I froze.

  A final craack!

  The man jerked. The shooting stopped. Like the eye of a hurricane, silence. Then the screaming resumed. In the distance, a siren, then a second.

  The man didn’t move.

  My shoulder felt warm. Something wet slithered around my neck.

  In spite of the man’s warning, I inched my hand upward and touched my shoulder. I opened my eyes and looked at my fingers. Blood.

  Adrenaline shot through my body. I was boxed in, closed off. My claustrophobia took over, shoving aside my fear of the gunman. I shoved upward, shifting the man sideways.

  He groaned.

  Sliding from underneath him, I had a chance to see who’d knocked me from my chair and covered me with his body when the gunman opened fire. He was about my age—midthirties—dressed in a light-tan cotton sports jacket and bloody jeans. His gray-white skin contrasted sharply with his shaggy black hair. He opened his eyes briefly, revealing ultramarine-blue irises, before closing them again. Blood streamed from a gash on his forehead. More blood pooled around his right leg.

  I was breathing with fast, hiccupping breaths. I wanted to put my hands over my ears to block the screaming, but they were covered in blood. Maybe this is a movie. Patriot Games. Harrison Ford . . . No. Movies don’t smell.

  What year was Patriot Games made? I couldn’t remember.

  The distant sirens grew overwhelming, then stopped. Police officers, guns drawn, swarmed the overturned chairs and tables of the outdoor café. Swiftly they checked the motionless dead, the sobbing survivors, the wailing injured.

  “Help! Here! Over here!” I waved my arm to get someone’s attention. Sliding closer, I lifted my protector’s head onto my lap, smearing his cheeks with blood. Wait. Was his head supposed to be below his heart? “Please help me!” A female officer raced over. “He’s shot.” I cradled his head in my lap. “Hurry. Please hurry and get help.”

  The officer spoke into the mic on her shoulder. “Dispatch? Where are those ambulances?”

  The reply was a jumble of words and static.

  “Okay, ma’am,” the officer said to me. “Stay calm. The ambulances are on their way. I need you to put your hand on your husband’s leg and apply pressure to slow the bleeding—”

  Her mic squawked again. “Ten-four,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “He’s not my—” The officer raced off before I could finish. “Husband,” I whispered. I pressed a trembling hand on the man’s injury. Please, God, don’t let him die like this.

  He moaned but didn’t open his eyes.

  Another officer, this time male, came over. “Are you injured? You’re covered in blood.”

  “It’s his. At least I think it’s his.” Was I hurt? I didn’t like this movie. It was filmed all shiny. Everyone moved in slow motion.

  “Did you see the gunman?”

  “Briefly.”

  He nodded, then waved his hand to get someone’s attention. An EMT appeared and crouched beside me. “Are you okay?” His voice was distant and slow. “Laady, aarre yoouu ooookaaaaaayy?”

  “Y-yes, I think so. He’s . . .” My vision narrowed. Blackness lapped around my brain. “Lunch . . . we were having lun—”

  The blackness took over.

  * * *

  I opened my eyes. Above me was a green canvas umbrella. Did I have an umbrella in my bedroom? I didn’t think so.

  What a strange dream.

  My bed was hard. And gritty. And smelled of fried fish mixed with . . . the pungent stench of body fluids.

  Turning my head, I blinked to make sense of what I was seeing. Overturned tables, chairs, a purse. Golden brown with the letter C forming a pattern. Coach purse. My purse. Spattered by a shattered bowl of creamy shrimp and grits.

  Not my bed. Not a dream. Not a movie.

  Sound finally registered. Talking, more sirens. Yelled directions.

  I slowly pushed up to a sitting position. Uniformed officers were corralling witnesses, and EMTs were treating the wounded. Next to me was a pool of blood. The man—Harrison Ford? No, he was an actor. The man who’d saved me was gone.

  When I looked the other way, Ami came into focus. Her eyes were open, looking beyond me. Beyond this life. A pool of her blood had reached the puddle from the man’s injury.

  All my senses had returned, but I still felt . . . detached. Should I make a list? Write down what happened and make everything neat and tidy? I’d been having lunch. At a café. A gunman opened fire. That’s right. And my friend . . .

  I reached over and took Ami’s hand. The warmth had already left it. She wore coral nail polish and an engagement ring. Did we talk about her engagement?

  A giant lump in my throat made it difficult to swallow. She’s so still. Just a few minutes ago she was animatedly talking to me, like Téa Leoni in Spanglish. 2004. See, I remembered the year that movie was made. Why couldn’t I remember Patriot Games?

  Why was I obsessing over movies now? And lists?

  Movies and lists are safe.

  My eyes burned, but no tears appeared. I hadn’t cried in more than fifteen years. “I’m so very sorry, m’friend. I . . .” I shook my head and placed Ami’s hand gently on the sidewalk.

  The shooting. The blood. My dead friend. It was all real.

  Looking away from her, I spotted the man being placed into an ambulance. He saved my life and I didn’t even know his name.

  I started to get to my feet. An EMT raced over and gently placed her hand on my shoulder, easing me back down. “Easy there. It won’t be much longer. We’re just getting the badly wounded off first—”

  “I’m fine,” I lied. “Harrison Ford—”

  “What?”

  You’re not in a movie. I pointed. “Um, that man, the one being put into the ambulance—who is he?”

  The woman looked in the direction I was pointing. “I don’t know.” She called to the EMTs loading the man. “Hey, guys, what hospital are you going to?”

  “Mercy.”

  The EMT glanced at me. “Got that?”

  “Thanks. Look, I’m not shot. I need to thank that man and make sure he’s going to be okay, then tell my family I’m not hurt.” I tried to stand again. “I promised I’d—”

  “Sorry, honey.” This time the EMT pushed me down. “But you’re not going anywhere right now. You passed out. We don’t know if you sustained a head injury. You have a lot of blood on you, and your ankle is cut. And that officer”—she jerked her head—“said you’re a potential eyewitness. He said you can’t leave.”

  “Please. I’m not injured—”

  “We’ll decide that.” The EMT signaled the officer. “She’s awake. We’ll be moving her soon.”

  The officer came over and squatted beside me. He looked to be in his early forties, lean and athletic. His name tag identified him as S. Gragg. “Miss Piper Boone? I’m Lieutenant Stan Gragg. I understand you may have seen the shooter.” His voice was soft and soothing.

  “You know my name.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Marion Inlet is a small town. Hard not to. And”—he looked away—“I was on the department here . . . before.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you.”

  “Long time ago.”

  “Yes. Mr. . . . Lieutenant Gragg, I have to cover her face. It’s not right, her just lying there.” I started to take off my jacket.

  The officer stopped me. “Now, Miss Boone, I know it doesn’t seem respectful to your friend, but
this is a crime scene and we have to secure and preserve it until the crime-scene folks can process it.” He glanced over my shoulder. “Looks like your ride is here.”

  “Really, you’re making a big fuss. All those other people—”

  “Just being cautious.” He stood and stepped away.

  An EMT took his place. I grabbed my heavy, oversized purse and clutched it while they arranged for my transport to the hospital.

  The nearest medical center was normally a twenty-minute drive, but the ambulance cut the time in half. I was raced into a small room, placed on the examination table, questioned about my injuries, and prodded. They cleaned and bandaged my ankle. The last of the feeling of detachment left with the scrubbing of my ankle cut. That hurt.

  During one of the lulls when the doctor or nurse wasn’t tending to me, I pulled a notebook and pen from my purse and started a list.

  Look up the year Patriot Games was made.

  I stared at that a moment. That didn’t matter. It was a movie, and it had a bombing, not a café shooting. I drew a line through it.

  Call family and tell them I’m okay.

  Contact Ami’s parents and offer condolences. Take food to the house.

  Order flowers.

  Offer to help with funeral arrangements.

  Retrieve car.

  Lieutenant Gragg entered. “How are you doing?”

  “A few bumps—nothing really.” I looked down at my list.

  “Are you writing down what happened for me? Your statement?”

  “Oh. No. Making notes on what I need to do. You know. With Ami and all.” Heat rushed to my face. “Writing things down keeps me . . . sane.”

  “And Ami is . . . ?”

  “Oh, sorry, Ami Churchill. The woman I was having lunch with.”

  “I see. Maybe before you forget anything you could tell me what happened.”

  I nodded. “Okay.” The blood had dried on my jeans, blouse, and jacket. I breathed through my mouth to not take in the metallic odor. I just want to get out of these clothes. I bit my lip at the uncharitable thought. The blood was from the man who saved my life.

  Lieutenant Gragg took out a small notepad and pen, checked the time, jotted something down, then looked at me.