A New Beginning in Coventry Beach: A Larissa Carpenter Mystery by Darlene Duncan

Author:Darlene Duncan [Duncan, Darlene]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2021-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Despite the summer heat, Ariel Fenton shivered as she slowly moved another spade of beach sand from the hole Edith had ordered her to dig.

Edith Bates sat several feet away with a gun in one hand and a whiskey bottle in the other.

Other than Edith’s small battery-operated lantern the full moon that moved in and out of the clouds was the only light to see by on this deserted stretch of beach. The park just beyond the dunes had closed at sunset and the houses on the other side of the street beyond the park were dark. Either they were unoccupied, or their residents had already gone to bed.

“Keep digging. I want to get this over with so I can go take a shower.” Edith menacingly pointed the gun in Ariel’s direction.

Ariel paused and leaned on the shovel handle for a moment. “I thought we were friends, Edith. Why are you doing this?”

Edith snorted a laugh. “Friends. Hah! If you were my friend, you wouldn’t have slept with my husband.” She planted the whiskey bottle in the wet sand next to her chair and rose on unsteady legs.

Ariel threw the shovel to the ground and with her hands on her hips said, “You’re the one who asked me to test his faithfulness. You said you wanted to know if he would cheat on you.”

Edith’s voice was calm and cold. “Pick up the shovel and keep digging.” Ariel crossed her arms and didn’t move.

A wicked smile, that didn’t reach her eyes, moved Edith’s lips upward, as she aimed the gun at Ariel. “Pick, it, up.” She enunciated each word individually. “Or…”

“Or what?” Ariel did her best to sound confident, in spite of the terror she felt. “You’ll shoot me? But then who will dig the hole? What will happen to your little game of terrorizing me?”

Edith smirked as she lowered her aim from Ariel’s chest and pulled the trigger. The bullet shattered Ariel’s left knee and she collapsed to the sand screaming in pain. The sound of the gunshot, along with Ariel’s cries were carried away by the wind.

Ignoring Ariel’s screams, Edith moved the chair further away from her victim, took a swig from the whiskey bottle and placed the gun on the seat of the chair. She picked up the shovel and began the work of finishing the hole.

After a few moments, when Ariel’s screams had subsided to moans, Edith looked up from her work and said, “Does this answer your question? Did you really think I would let you off with an easy death?”

Even though she was digging the hole in the hardpack of the beach, the sand was soft compared to the metal blade of the shovel and in ten minutes the hole was complete. After all Ariel was barely five feet tall. Edith straightened up, dropped the spade next to her beach chair, and took a long drink from the whiskey bottle.

Lying on the sand trying to crawl away from the hole Ariel screamed, “You’re insane! You’ll never get away with this.

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