The Tide — Ancient Highway, Hampton Beach
The Tide — Ancient Highway, Hampton Beach
Jenny pulled down the road to the private beach only the locals and their relatives knew.It was a well kept joke of a secret but she knew almost anyone could park there in the middle of the night as long as they stayed out of trouble. It was 75 degrees and foggy. You could barely see the light and the steps that led over the mound and down to the sand.
Billy was in the passenger seat almost in tears. The grief from his loss did not abate in the six months since he lost her. It would come in waves and lock him into a set he had to ride out.
“I love you Billy,” she said softly, reaching over and touching his arm and running it down his leg.
He looked into her deep blue eyes, and ran his hand through her brown chestnut hair. She leaned into his hand and she leaned over and kissed him with her full firm lips.
“I love you too,” he said. He was starting to feel that love as well.
Jenny crawled over the console of her new Lexus SUV and into his arms. She was lean and kept herself fit accompanying him on hikes and going to the gym.
Billy held her against his aching heart. He remembered her coming to a party for an old classmate two months ago. She was another friend’s date but their body language said she wasn’t too fond of him. She wore Bebe and Armani suits and they wrapped her in perfect tailoring. There had not been much then and she had been forgotten while he dealt with the day to day life of two young boys who were a source of great joy. Getting him to come out on a Wednesday night was like pulling two healthy wisdom teeth.
He kept all women out of his home. There had been just a few but he knew Jenny was something special the moment she saw him and locked eyes with him. He went out to see his friends and dance. There were offers from the regular easy girls but he didn’t want to be in that group and made it a rule to never have sex with a drunk lady if he was sober.
Jenny watched him dance and he kept glancing to see if she was looking. Their eyes would meet over and over until they were dancing face to face. The movement and the touching to music was his weekly heaven. They kept going until the lights went up and it was time to go. He walked away to get his jacket and when he turned she was right there with a hand. When she touched him, it sent shivers up his spine he didn’t know was possible. “Come on,” she said and he followed willingly.
Jenny lay against his body for another minute and pulled the lever opening her passenger door. She got out and led Billy out. He didn’t resist. Despite the pain, he went where she took him. She was so beautiful. The fog was so deep but she knew the way, coming up to run several times per week. They went up the steps and looked around. There was the glow of a beach fire and several people talking softly but nothing could be seen. She pulled him down to the beach, took off her shoes and ran along. Billy left his next to hers and followed. She was free and loved the feeling that came to her as she danced in the sand. He watched her and smiled staying close but then losing her in the fog. He could hear the crashing of the small waves and saw the light post of the steps and walked until the water touched his feet. She darted in and out of his view and finally came to rest in his arms. “I brought a couple of nips,” she said softly.
“Whiskey?” he asked.
She handed him the bottle already opened. “Thanks,” he whispered and drank it in one pull.
He held her in his arms and just enjoyed the feel of her warmth and the sounds of the ocean. In a minute he felt his body grow tired and then limp as he sat down and laid back in the sand. “What’s happening? I didn’t think I was this tired,” he said.
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “Oh Billy, I am just doing my job. I am so sorry I have to do this,” she said.
“Do what?” he asked but he was about to fall asleep. He felt the cold water touch his legs and he snapped his eyes open to see hers. “Do you love me?”
“More than you’ll ever know my love,” she replied.
“Then why?”
“You shouldn’t have talked about that Air Force project you saw in 2013. They send you those in secret,” she said, tears flowing hard on to his face.
“I didn’t think it was real,” he said and fell into a deep sleep.
Jenny looked around. No one came near. The party walked off to the north and left the smoldering fire to be doused by the tide. She carefully walked to the remains and sat there. She thought about the future Billy desired. She never had a mark hit her soul the way he did. She was a great actress who couldn’t get a role in Hollywood. She had killed an abusive husband in such a well patterned design she was recruited by the best. She was so convincing they offered her a lifetime in prison or to come to work for them. She chose the latter. She sad and cried as quietly as she could manage. Real tears flowed down her face but she had no choice but to succeed. No one gets to talk about things that affect national security even when they seem like science fiction. She sat there for an hour until she felt the water touch her feet. The spot she left Billy was now six feet under water. She walked and heard nothing. The fog was still thick as she walked in the water. She picked up her shoes leaving his alone in the sand. That brought a fresh batch of tears but she quickly wiped them away. She took out a silk cloth and ran it along the rail she touched on the way in. It was too wide a walkway to touch both. She looked around and could not see anyone on the wide deck of the cottage to her right and the one on her left was too far to see anything. She walked without stopping and got in her car. She drove to the basement studio of the company house at Kennedy Point and went to sleep.
In the morning, she put on running clothes and started the mile run to the spot she left Billy. The sky was clear and sunny and the beach was open wide. She ran to the steps and at the top there were many policemen and firemen surrounding a body laying on the sand. “Whoa there miss!” an officer ordered, surprising her.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“A guy drowned out his sorrows and passed out on the sand. The tide swallowed him and as you can see, spit him back out dead,” the officer said.
“You come here often?” he asked.
“I run here several times per week in the summer,” she said.
“Oh yeah, where you from?” he asked. It was casual. Just making conversation.
“Originally from California but I live and work in Boston most of the time,” she said. It wasn’t a lie. She had an address and room on Chestnut hill that sat empty except when operatives were in town for business or pleasure. She had burned her old credentials and had Massachusetts license, plates and passport.
“Oh yeah,” he said.
“Captain, we are set here. Doesn’t appear to be any foul play. Just an accident,” a paramedic yelled up from the side of the dead man.
“Were you here last night around midnight?” he asked. There was nothing in his eyes to think she was a suspect.
“The fog was pretty bad when I went to bed. I couldn’t even see the street,” she replied.
“Like pea soup. Well young lady I need you to enter the beach up at the Plum. Just for today.”
“Okay no problem,” she said and smiled. She turned around and began to walk when she heard the captain say to another officer, “Poor bastard, he had a big diamond engagement ring sitting in his pocket. She must have said no.”
She ran off back to route 1 and continued her run north for another mile and stopped. She was at the top of Little Boar’s Head and looked out over the edge of the cliff before she lost it. The pain shooting from her heart and her gut. She wanted to have babies someday. She wanted a normal life. She called Billy’s name and jumped off the cliff shattering her skull on the rocks below.
