Read Love's Abyss (St. John Series) for Free Online

breath. She slowly closed her eyes and went limp in the arms of the man she loved.
    “Maggie. Maggie!” Alex said loudly and gave her a gentle shake. Alex looked at her lifeless body and held back his tears. He gazed at her beaten body and a slow boiling rage steamed up deep down inside him. He let out a loud “NOOOOO!” The mournful yell came from a place within that he didn’t know existed. It consumed his entire being.
    He slowly stood up with Maggie’s limp body in his arms, gently laid her on the bed, and studied her. She had been beaten fiercely. As he scanned her body, he noticed the multiple holes around the bodice and the torn fabric of her dress. He noticed the blood running down her legs. As his gaze slowly traveled back up her body, he noticed something was missing. Her necklace! The one he gave her many years ago for her birthday. He could see the red welt forming from where it was ripped from her neck.
    Alex heard a noise coming from the door and quickly turned towards it. “Mom,” he heard a quiet voice say. “MOM!” Alex crossed the room quickly to Samuel and turned the child’s head before he saw her tortured body. “Let me see her!” shouted Samuel. Alex looked down at the boy’s face. Samuel could see the words in Alex’s eyes and tears rolled down his face.
    Alex wrapped his arms around the boy. “It’s okay Samuel. Let it out.”
    “Noooo,” cried the boy as his fists pounded on Alex’s chest.
    Mr. Grimm returned with the doctor, but it was too late. Maggie had passed on. Grimm’s Tavern closed for the first time since opening its doors for business. Alex had Samuel stay with him aboard The Abyss that night. Maggie’s last words echoed in his head. “Samuel, he’s your son.” The words kept repeating themselves over and over again.
    Maggie was buried the next day. After the funeral, Alex and Samuel returned to Grimm’s. Alex looked down at the boy. “What’s going to happen to me?” he heard the frightened child ask.
    Alex took a long collective sigh. “Go get your things.”
    “Where are you taking me?”
    “You can’t stay here. You can stay on The Abyss for awhile.” The boy nodded and headed slowly up the stairs to the room he shared with his mother.
    Alex looked at Mr. Grimm. He had been acting strangely ever since he entered the tavern yesterday. “Mr. Grimm, we need to talk,” Alex said coldly, the pain in his eyes hidden by the hatred he was experiencing for whoever hurt Maggie.
    Mr. Grimm polished the glass he was working on nervously. “What is it?”
    “Who was she with yesterday?”
    Mr. Grimm didn’t look up; he just kept cleaning the glass. He was a doomed man no matter what he said. If he told Alex who was with her, then McClain would torch the tavern and kill him. If he didn’t, Alex would simply just kill him. “MR. GRIMM!!!”
    Mr. Grimm jumped at the forcefulness of Alex’s words. He gulped slowly and told his tale. “Commodore McClain came in. Maggie agreed to take him in the back. When they headed towards the back I left . . . went to the mercantile . . . that’s . . . that’s . . . all I know . . . honestly, Alex,” stuttered the fat bald bar owner.
    Grimm’s words brought back the memory of yesterday at the dock of Commodore McClain, and the look he gave Alex with the bloody marks on his face. Alex balled up his fist tightly. Before he knew what was happening, his fist connected with the corner of Grimm’s jaw. Mr. Grimm went flying backwards into the tower of glasses he just stacked. He slumped lifelessly to the floor.
    “That man is going to die at my hands,” exclaimed Alex matter-of-factly. He killed Maggie, the only woman he cared about. When Alex thought about it, he cared more for Maggie than he would admit.
    He walked slowly towards the stairs and climbed to the third floor. “Do you have what you need?” Alex asked Samuel. The boy looked broken-heartedly around the room. This was where he grew up. This