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The jetty groaned under the assault of wind and midnight tides as Rachel walked into the black mist that shrouded the coastline.
When she reached the end of the jetty, she looked out to sea but saw nothing. It looked as if the ocean and the sky had merged into a black abyss. She stood with both hands on the rail, her face whipped by the icy Atlantic wind as she enjoyed the sensation of being alone with the elements.
A sliver of moon from a shifting cloud eased the darkness enough for Rachel to see her surroundings. That’s when she realized that she wasn’t alone. A figure in the corner had been observing her.
Hannah was shorter than Rachel, with cropped dark hair and bright eyes. She wore a black crocheted cardigan that reached down to her knees, and dark jeans with black high-heel boots. She waited shyly for Rachel to approach, uncertain of what reception she’d get.
Rachel moved toward her wordlessly. When they were close, she wrapped her arms around Hannah in a warm embrace.
“I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” said Rachel, her voice thick with the sadness that had clung to her since she’d read Hannah’s final letter.
“I’m so grateful that you came,” said Hannah. “I was worried that I’d have to do this alone.”
They rested their backs against the jetty handrail, buffeted by wind, as they looked out to shore, waiting for Jenny’s killer to arrive.
“Maybe it’s not him,” said Rachel with a shiver when minutes passed and he still hadn’t arrived. A breaking wave splashed across the weathered timber beams, soaking her sneakers and wetting her jeans. She zipped up her waterproof jacket and put the hood over her head to cover her auburn hair, which had become unruly in the wind.
Hannah shrugged uncertainly. “We’ll find out soon enough. If he turns up, it will confirm that he did it. Only a guilty man would come here tonight. Let’s wait a little longer.”
“What are you hoping to get from him? And me?”
“I want him to confess. And I want you to be a witness to his confession. It might be the only evidence we ever get.” Hannah hesitated. “If you feel like it’s too dangerous, you can go. I’ll wait. I’ve waited a lifetime. I can wait a little longer.”
“I’ll stay,” said Rachel. “I’ll be your witness. I won’t let it be your word against his.” She crossed her shivering arms to stay warm as she looked out in the direction of the beach. The sweeping coastal landscape that had become so familiar to her had turned into a vast swath of impenetrable darkness in the night.
Minutes later, they saw two bright orbs moving along the coastalroad. The orbs slowed down and turned toward the beach parking lot. They were car headlights. The headlights stopped moving, but they remained lit as they pointed toward the jetty on high beam. The driver had parked the car facing the ocean, looking for them. Eventually the lights turned off and everything was dark again.
Rachel and Hannah both knew that he was walking toward them, even though they couldn’t see him at all in the dark. Nor could they hear his footsteps over the howling wind. Rachel had retreated to the far corner of the jetty so that he wouldn’t realize that Hannah wasn’t alone.
It was only when he’d reached the end of the jetty and he was close enough for Rachel to see his face that she felt a coldness in the pit of her stomach. It couldn’t be him. It had to be a terrible mistake.
“I got your note. I came to say that I’m sorry,” he said to Hannah. “And to ask you to leave the past alone.”
He hadn’t yet noticed Rachel, who had blended into the thick fog of night in her dark clothes and upturned jacket hood and collar. She stayed silent as she listened to them talk, discreetly opening the voice recorder app on her phone in her pocket so that she could record the conversation.
“How have you lived with yourself all these years, after what you did?” Hannah asked.
“I was a different person in those days. A kid. Messed up on drugs and alcohol. I hated the world,” he said. “I’m ashamed of what I did. I hate who I was in those days. I’m nothing like that person anymore.” His voice cracked with emotion. “I’ve agonized over what happened every day since.”
“You raped and murdered my sister,” said Hannah.
“What makes you think I killed her?” he said. Hidden in theshadows, Rachel couldn’t help noticing that he hadn’t denied the first accusation.
“I know it was you. Why did you do it?”
Finally, he broke down as he spoke in a choking voice. “I didn’t plan to kill her. It just happened,” he said. “We left her lying on the sand while we carried Bobby to the truck to drive him to the hospital. I panicked and told my friend Lucas to pull over at the next beach. I realized that she was evidence of what we did. That we’d go to prison because of her. Either for her rape, or Bobby’s death if he didn’t make it. Or both. She was what my father called ‘a sloppy loose end.’ I carried her onto the jetty. Just over there.” He pointed to a side rail in the middle of the jetty, his face pained. “And I dropped her into the water and returned to my friends in the truck.”
“You’d already hurt her so much,” sobbed Hannah. “Why did you have to kill her? Why did you have to take her from me?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry for all of it.”
“If you really are sorry, then you’ll tell the cops what you did,” said Hannah.
He rubbed his agonized face with his hands. Then slowly, as if fighting his worst instincts, he put his hand in the back of his jeans and removed a handgun from the waistband. He pointed it at Hannah with a hand as steady as his voice.
“I won’t be doing any confessing,” he said. “Why couldn’t you leave the past alone?”
“Because it’s time the truth came out. It’s time that everyone knew that Jenny didn’t drown. That she was gang-raped and murdered here. By you and your friends.”
