Death by Proposal (20 page)

“I
do,” said Cindy.

 “She
said that to me, too, in exactly the same voice,” Clay remarked, growing edgy.

“Who
said that?” asked Cindy, “Kate?”

“No,
not Kate,” Clay threw his head back and looked up into the sky. “April, my high
school sweetheart. She said she was my friend, but she wasn’t. She made fun of
me behind my back. My mother found out about it finally, and let me know.”

“I’m
sorry, that sounds awful,” said Cindy.

“Awful
is putting it mildly,” Clay seemed suddenly sad. “My mother warned me that you
can’t trust any of them. I kept trying though, I didn’t want to believe her for
a long time.”

“Your
mother said you couldn’t trust any women?” Cindy was horrified.

“Yes,
and she was right,” mumbled Clay.

“That
must have been hard to live with that idea,” said Cindy.

“Very,”
Clay raised his head and tossed it backwards again, as if scanning the sky for
something.

“What
are you looking for, Clay?” asked Cindy.

“Traces
of love, long left behind,” he murmured. “Where did it go?”

Cindy
shuddered again. He seemed disoriented. Was he reciting a poem? Had the loss of
Kate unhinged him?

“Are
you reciting a poem?” asked Cindy softly.

“A
poem I wrote long ago,” said Clay, looking back down at her. “I love my poems,
I read them over and over. When I can’t sleep at night, I write new ones.”

“Do
you have trouble sleeping at night, Clay?” asked Cindy, curious.

Clay
looked at Cindy oddly then. “Most nights I do,” his voice dropped so low she
could barely hear him. “Did you know that the night is a dark and dangerous
time?”

“I
didn’t know that,” said Cindy, coming closer, but afraid to get too near to the
edge of the precipice they were standing on.

“My
mother told me to be careful at night when I was little, but it took me years
to realize it was true,” Clay went on. “Bad things happen at night when you’re
sleeping. You always have to be on guard.”

Cindy
wanted to ask what happened to Kate at night, how the danger happened, but she
backed off. It would be too much to confront him just like that. He knew
something had happened though. Obviously, he’d blocked it out.

“How
do you stay on guard at night, Clay?” Cindy continued.

“I
sleep and wake and wake and sleep during the dangerous night,” he practically
whimpered, moving closer to her.

How
could he have possibly slept through Kate falling from the patio, then? Cindy
wondered.

“You
hear every little noise in the room when you sleep?” Cindy spoke to him as
though he were a child.

“I
walk in my sleep all the time,” Clay said, matter of factly. “I have since I
was a little boy. I walk and guard my family against danger.”

“You
sleepwalk?”

“All
the time,” said Clay, looking proud of it.

Cindy
gasped. Did Clay harm Kate while walk in his sleep and not even realize it?

“What
happens when you walk in your sleep?” Cindy’s voice grew more shaky.

“I
don’t know,” said Clay, “I can’t remember. “But I know that it’s dangerous for
me to sleep any place but home. Sometimes I do, though.”

Cindy
felt the blood rush from her face. “No one knew you were coming to Aruba to
sleep over here, did they, Clay?” she asked.

“No
one but Kate,” said Clay then, turning to Cindy with an eerie smile.  “Kate
knew it, she was excited. Kate loved me so much. She was thrilled.”

“And,
where did you sleep when you came up to New York to visit Kate?” Cindy asked.

“I
slept at a motel nearby. Nothing bad happened then,” said Clay.

Nothing
bad happened, it surprised Cindy to hear him say that. At least he was aware
that something bad had happened this time.

“Did
something bad happen this time, Clay?” Cindy asked pointedly.

“I
think it did,” said Clay. “Something happened to Kate. Someone took her away
from me,” his hands clenched into fists as he said that.

“Who
did it?” Cindy shot out.

“I
have no idea,” Clay wailed.

In
the flash of a moment Cindy realized that he did know somewhere in the back of
his mind. He couldn’t remember though, he was hiding from it. Cindy felt a glimmer
of light was about to dawn for both of them.

“Did
Kate realize that the two of you were about to become engaged down here on
vacation?” Cindy continued, trying to jog his memory.

At
that, Clay stopped talking, swiftly turned, and pointed to the papers in his
hand.

“Did
she?” Cindy insisted.

“I
thought she did,” Clay suddenly growled. “I wrote that she did in my diary,” he
held up the papers high. “I wrote here that she loved me and would be thrilled
with the beautiful ring I got her.”

“You
gave Kate a ring?” asked Cindy, startled. There was no picture of a ring on
Kate’s hand in any of the photos. Cindy had thought Clay hadn’t bought it yet.

“Of
course,” Clay insisted, “I gave her an incredible ring made of diamonds and
mother of pearl. Just like the kind my grandmother wore her whole life long.”

“Where
is that ring now?” asked Cindy, breathless.

Clay
looked at her blankly.

“I
didn’t see it on Kate in the photos,” Cindy turned up the heat.

Clay’s
face suddenly grew dark and ugly. “Because Kate never put it on,” he suddenly
flung out into the increasingly hot and sultry day.

“Why
didn’t?” asked Cindy, terrified at the wildness that flared up in his eyes.

“Because,”
said Clay, as something suddenly rustled behind them.

Cindy
turned swiftly and there was Carl, standing a few feet behind them, listening
to every word.

“Kate
never wore the ring because Kate never said yes, did she?” Carl marched boldly
up to Clay.

“What
the hell are you doing here now?” Clay jerked away. “There’s a posse after me,
chasing me, blaming me for everything.”

“Did
Kate say yes to the proposal?” Carl demanded in horror.

“I
won’t talk anymore. I want my mother,” Clay stamped his foot on the ground.

“Let
me see those papers,” Carl lunged towards them.

Cindy
got in the way and stopped Carl immediately.

“Back
off, she said, abruptly. “Clay is a good boy.”

Clay
looked at Cindy, grateful and shocked. “I am a good boy, I am, I am,” he
insisted.

“I
know you are,” Cindy stepped closer to him, “and I know you’ll answer our
questions yourself.”

At
that Carl grabbed his papers tighter and began ripping them into shreds. Then
he tossed the ripped shreds wildly over the edge of the cliff. Cindy watched
them blow in the wind on their way down into the roaring sea.

“Kate
betrayed me,” Clay called out over the ocean as the papers flew away, “how dare
she lead me on like that?”

“Lead
you on?” Carl was beside himself. “It’s you! You killed her, didn’t you? You
pushed her over the patio.”

“I
never killed her,” Clay swayed like a branch in the wind, “I loved Kate. She
disappeared, she abandoned me.”

Carl
took a step closer then. “You posted those messages on Facebook, didn’t you?”
his voice boomed like a cannon shaking both Cindy and Clay.

“What
messages?” Clay looked genuinely confused.

“The
messages on Kate’s Facebook page that announced your engagement,” said Cindy.

“There
were?” Clay was amazed by it.

Carl
and Cindy threw each other a quick glance.

“He
doesn’t know what happened,” said Cindy. “He’s a split personality, delusional,
he sleepwalks.”

“And
he kills in his sleep,” Carl growled louder.

“We
can’t be sure yet,” said Cindy.

“You
killed Kate in your sleep,” Carl hollered, “You killed my precious girl.” Then
he lunged at Clay violently.

As
Carl came flying at him, Clay grabbed him around the waist with terrific
strength, and as if he were picking up a branch from a tree, flung him straight
down over the cliff.

“Help,
help,” Carl’s screams echoed in the air as he fell.

Terrified,
Cindy tried to run to the edge of the cliff to help him, but Clay caught her
midway.

“You’re
next,” Clay said, glaring at Cindy.

“We
haven’t done anything to you, Clay,” Cindy begged. “It was Kate, she did it.
She abandoned you.”

Clay
loosened his grip, just a little then.

“It
was Kate who led you on,” Cindy cried out.

“She
did, she did,” Clay called louder. “Kate made me think she loved me, but she
didn’t. I couldn’t be shamed like that before the entire world.”

“So
you posted those photos to let everyone think you’d gotten engaged,” Cindy
said.

“Right,
and I’m glad I did,” Clay conceded.

Cindy
longed to break loose from Clay and run to Carl. She could hear him moaning and
calling and thanked God that he was alive.

“I’m
coming Carl,” Cindy called.

“No
you’re not,” Clay shook her whole body. “You’ll never see him again. Just like
I’ll never see Kate again, either.”

“Hold
on Carl, just hang in,” Cindy kept calling.

“Kate
abandoned me, she abandoned me,” Clay shouted for all he was worth as Cindy saw
someone else approach. Who was it? Had Carl told the police they’d be there?  Cindy
craned her neck backwards and to her shock, saw Mattheus running, full speed,
towards them.

“Jesus
Christ, Jesus Christ, what’s going on?” Mattheus was breathless. “Clay’s father
called up to the room and told me to get here fast as I could. Carl talked to
him this morning.”

“Clay
threw Carl over the cliff,” Cindy yelled, “and he’s got me.”

“She’s
next,” Clay murmured, glaring at Mattheus.

“That’s
what you think,” Mattheus’s face flushed with rage, as he turned into a
mountain of strength, taking solid steps towards Cindy and Clay. “It’s over,
Clay. Let her go.” 

“Nothing’s
over,” Clay said, holding Cindy more tightly. “Nothing will ever be over. I’ll
always hurt.”

“No,
you won’t,” said Cindy softly. “We’ll get you help, Clay.”

Suddenly
Clay started sobbing.  “I loved Kate with all my heart.”

“Let
Cindy go, Clay,” Mattheus spoke in a commanding tone.

“Why?”
Clay growled again. “You can’t trust any of them, you just can’t.”

“Your
father is on his way here right now,” Mattheus said then. “What will he do if
he sees you hurt more people?”

That
startled Clay. He began backing away, dragging Cindy along. “He’ll punish me,”
Clay started whimpering. “He always punishes me, whatever I do.”

“I
spoke to your father this morning,” said Mattheus. “He was upset, he was crying.”

“No,
he wasn’t,” Clay flung back. “My father only punishes, he never cries.”

“This
morning he was crying,” said Mattheus, approaching carefully. “He told me he
was sorry about everything. He told me you sleepwalked.”

Clay
became absolutely still. “My father told you that?”

“Yes,
he did,” said Mattheus.

“He
never tells anyone,” Clay rambled. “It’s our family secret.”

“But
he told me,” said Mattheus, as someone else quickly approached in the distance.

Cindy
turned and saw Dan, Clay’s father, running over to them quickly. Shaken and
devastated, Dan went straight to Clay.

“Make
Clay let me go,” Cindy pleaded desperately.  As the sounds of Carl moaning
below started fading she felt panicky. She had to get to Carl fast.

“Let
Cindy go,” Dan demanded, stepping closer still.

“It’s
not my fault, I didn’t do this,” said Clay, avoiding his father’s eyes. “She
came after me. She attacked me. She’s blaming me for Kate’s death.”

“Let
Cindy go,” Dan demanded, stepping closer still.

“How
do you know we can trust her?” asked Clay, trembling.

“Let
her go,” Dan repeated and I’ll tell you.

Slowly,
Clay loosened his grip.

Cindy
broke free of him and fled to Mattheus, who opened his arms to welcome her.

“I’m
sorry, I’m sorry,” Mattheus was deeply saddened, “forgive me, I’m sorry.”

Cindy
was shaking from head to foot. “Carl’s down there,” she pointed to the bottom
of the cliff. “Clay threw him down there.”

“My
God,” said Dan.

Mattheus
let Cindy go and rushed to the edge of the cliff to look down.

“Help
him, “begged Cindy.