Page 117 of A Deeper Darkness

Sam felt a horrid sense of foreboding come over her. “Taylor. He left more than five minutes ago.”

“Oh, shit. Okay, call him. Call him right now.”

Sam already had her cell out and was dialing. Simon’s phone rang and rang, then went to voice mail. She tried again. Same result.

“He’s not answering, Taylor.” Her voice had gone up an octave. She could hear Taylor barking commands in the background.

“Okay, honey. Relax. Cell service is spotty at best. The power lines are down in Bellevue, and so are the phones. The cell towers might be affected, as well. We’ll send someone his way. He’s probably already at my house.”

“But you said…”

“I’m sure I was wrong.”

Taylor wasn’t wrong. Fire and Rescue found Simon’s waterlogged car two hours later, wedged up against the concrete abutment by the Publix. The windows were down.

The car was empty.

Nashville, Tennessee

Dr. Samantha Owens

Current day

Sam stood at the base of her driveway. The red-and-white For Sale sign had a new addition that read Under Contract. The rooms were empty; the moving company van had just pulled away. She watched the truck turn the corner, and looked back to the house.

So many memories. Good. Bad. Sublime. Surreal.

It was time to say goodbye.

This was easier than she expected. She’d lived in Nashville her entire life, except for the years in D.C. while attending medical school. She’d lived there, loved there, married there, given birth there.

Stood vigil over the ashes of her family, her life, there.

Leaving wasn’t something she ever thought of doing.

But with the loss of her family came a fracture from her city, one so deep that she didn’t know if she could ever recover. She would visit. She would come back on holidays. But she could never live here again.

Her BMW was packed full of precious items she hadn’t wanted to entrust to the movers. Most especially, the black marble urn that held the remains of her family.

Simon’s will had stipulated that he be cremated. Hers did, as well.

But the twins. She couldn’t bear to put them in the ground. For them to be alone.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

It had been the kind man at the crematorium who’d made the suggestion.

You can’t tell anyone we did this, but we can bury them all together, if that’s what you want. They’re small enough….

Small enough, the two of them, to fit inside the thin cardboard coffin of their father. To be reduced to ash along with him, forever mingled, forever together.

It was illegal, but they’d done it, anyway. And deposited all three into the urn, sealed, like her heart, until she chose to open it and scatter their remains to the winds.

Simon wanted to be thrown into the air off the top of a mountain. Sam now had that place picked out.

A strong arm went around her waist. Bolstering her, just when she needed it. He knew. He always knew.

“Sam, are you sure? There’s no going back now.”