He Had Me Drowned, Then Wept at My Grave novel · Chapter 12 of 24
Chapter 12: The Long Way Round
Callie's door was locked, and Leo's key opened it.
I went in alone at noon, with the house empty around me, and shut it behind me.
It was a girl's room, kept like a shrine.
A narrow bed with a white quilt.
A shelf of paperbacks in Greek and English and a tin of hair clips.
A cork board hung over the desk, with ticket stubs and a photograph of the two of us on the dock at my wedding.
We were both squinting into the sun.
I hadn't known she'd kept it.
The air smelled of lilies and of a woman who came here to sit.
There was a small wooden chair by the window with a cushion worn flat.
On the floor beside it stood a cardboard box with its flaps folded under.
I knelt and opened it.
Inside lay a second yellow slicker, new and still in its store fold, the twin of the one on my grave.
Under it was a plastic bag with a white county tag on a wire.
I turned the tag over.
My finger wouldn't hold still.
*Pinellas County Medical Examiner. Female, approx. 20-25, recovered at the causeway. Personal effects: one hospital-style bracelet, one gold chain, one yellow rain garment. Released to family: R. Vasilakis, who identified the remains.*
Under the line, in blue ink, a second hand had written a name and crossed it out.
The crossed-out name was Kalliopi.
Above it, in the same hand, was mine.
The chain was a thin gold one with a tiny Greek cross.
I knew it.
I had watched it swing against her collarbone when she bent over the steering wheel in the storm.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of He Had Me Drowned, Then Wept at My Grave are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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