The Lifeguard

by Richie Tankersley Cusick

  “So, what do you want to know?” he asked.

  Kelsey took a deep breath and plunged in. “I know everyone’s saying that Beth had an accident That she—”

  “Drowned,” Neale finished for her, and she realized she was looking for something in his face—remorse, sorrow, something—but there was nothing that hinted of any emotion, “You don’t have to be so careful. Facts don’t shock me at all. Besides, I’ve pretty much accepted it.”

  It was a strange kind of acceptance, Kelsey thought, as if it hadn’t taken much effort on his part. “But Justin hasn’t accepted it—”

  “Yes, I’m sorry for Justin. And for my father. Isn’t that what you want me to say? I’m sorry for anyone when tragedy comes.” He leaned back into the corner and propped one foot on the edge of the seat, draping one arm across his knee. “And tragedies do happen. To all of us, sooner or later.”

  In spite of her windbreaker, goosebumps broke out over her arms. Kelsey rubbed them, met his level gaze, saw that his walls had gone up again, “But you don’t think she drowned, do you?”

  A seagull called in the distance, a lonely cry beneath the relentless rush of the waves. From somewhere far away came the solitary wail of a boat whistle.

  “I think she drowned,” Neale said at last. “I don’t think it was an accident.”

  In one split second Kelsey felt all her fears congeal like ice around her heart. She scarcely trusted her voice to speak. “Then…you think…”

  “Someone killed her.”

  The surf roared in her head…or was it the wind roaring…or just his eyes, boring into her and through her, with that blackness that was so…inhuman? She tried to swallow over the lump in her throat. “But…why?”

  “Why?” Neale repeated. He looked down at his hand slowly tightening into a fist. “Because she was there. Because it was a good night to push someone off a cliff. Take your pick.”

  Kelsey didn’t like the tone of his voice, so casual, so detached. He leaned forward, very, very slowly, until his eyes were inches from hers.

  “And you think she was murdered, too.” His eyes were almost amused. “Don’t you.” It was a statement, not a question. She watched his hand loosen…clench…loosen again upon his knee.

  “And it makes me wonder why you think that,” he said quietly. “Why you would ever think that Beth might have been murdered.”

  She stared hard at a spot on the windshield, wishing she had never brought it up, never gotten into this jeep, never come to this stupid island— “I don’t think anything,” she said. “I’m just trying to understand it, that’s all.”

  “Don’t.” He twisted back into driving position, but his hand stopped halfway to the ignition as he glanced over at her. “Don’t make it your business. You’ll just end up getting hurt.”

  Kelsey’s heart tightened unmercifully. She wanted to look away from him, to jump out and run from him, but his eyes held her there, compelling her to look back. “You’ll just end up getting hurt…”

  “Can we go back now?” she heard herself mumble.

  He revved the jeep into action, reaching the cottage within minutes. Kelsey didn’t say anything more to him, and Neale drove away without a backward glance. “You’ll just end up getting hurt…” His words hung there in the pale mist, adding another chill to the morning. She pulled her windbreaker tightly around her and sat down on the steps, trying to think. Why is Neale so convinced that Beth’s been hilled? She was glad when Donna strolled up the drive, lugging a picnic basket.

  “What did you do? Clean out your whole restaurant?” She waved and was answered by Donna’s contagious giggle.

  “This should hold us till the beach party tonight.”

  “What beach party?”

  “Oh, didn’t the guys tell you? They have to work tonight for a party. A bunch of people from the mainland reserved the beach for some big special deal, and the law says they have to have lifeguards there.”

  “So why are we going?”

  Donna’s eyes twinkled. “We’re dates. Don’t tell me you haven’t been asked yet—”

  “Donna!” Kelsey shook her head. “What are you up to?”

  “Nothing, I swear. Only sometimes Justin’s just so shy he needs a little help, is all. Isn’t that right, Justin?”

  Kelsey spun around, startled, as Justin came down the front steps. He looked sleepy, his hair still rumpled, and embarrassed at having been caught.

  “’Morning, sleeping beauty,” Donna teased him. “Aren’t you a little late this morning?”

  Justin nodded. “Guess I overslept. Have you seen Neale?”

  “I passed him on my way. He’s got East Beach today, he said. And by the way, isn’t there something you wanted to ask Kelsey? About tonight?”

  “Donna!” Kelsey turned on her, but Donna only laughed and gave her a big wink.

  “The beach party,” Donna prompted him. “Bringing along a date. Stuff like that.”

  A sheepish look crept over Justin’s face. “You’re doing such a good job, Donna, I thought I’d let you ask her for me.”

  Donna was totally unruffled. “I did. And she said yes.”

  “Oh, Donna,” Kelsey groaned, and Justin tossed her a quick grin as he ran by.”

  “See you later!” Donna called and pulled firmly on Kelsey’s arm. “Come on, I know this great little place—we can eat and get some sun and eat and talk and eat—”

  “You’re impossible.” Kelsey couldn’t stay annoyed with her when she giggled like that. “And pretty presumptuous.”

  “Who, me? No, the word is perceptive, I think. I’ve seen the way Justin acts around you, in case you haven’t.”

  “Justin’s got too much going on in his life right now to even be thinking straight,” Kelsey said absently. “Especially about me. Or girls in general.”

  “And what are you thinking about?” Donna asked, peering at her intently. “Besides Justin, I mean. That look is awfully serious.”

  “Donna,” Kelsey began, and saw her friend staring back at her in concern, as she reached out for Donna’s hand. “Donna, I’m really scared.”

  “Kelsey, what is it—”

  “Something’s going on that I don’t understand. I’ve got to tell you.”

  Donna nodded, her face full of questions, but she kept them to herself until they reached the picnic spot hidden back beyond the dunes. Kelsey frowned when she saw the lighthouse rising, spectrelike, on the cliffs behind them.

  “Do you believe in that legend?” she asked, helping Donna unpack the basket. “About the drowned souls luring people to their deaths?” She shaded her eyes and looked up at the rotting tower tilting above them.

  Donna followed her gaze. “I don’t know. I think probably someone started it to keep trespassers away. I expect it could just crumble away anytime. But it still looks kind of noble, don’t you think? Like some brave last stand against time?” She chuckled and took out a plastic jug and cups. “The floors have all pretty much collapsed, I think. No telling what kind of critters are holed up in there—” she shuddered. “I’ve always had this fear, you know, that one granddaddy of a storm could do the whole thing in.”

  With an effort Kelsey wrenched her eyes away. For just one second she’d had that creepy feeling again of being watched.

  “You’re the only one I can trust, Donna,” Kelsey said, staring straight at her. “I think something awful is going on.” She took a shallow breath. “I don’t think Beth had an accident.”

  “What?” Donna sat up, rocked back on her bare heels and rested her palms on her knees. “You’re really starting to scare me now, Kelsey—you better tell me everything,”

  So Kelsey did—beginning with her first day on the island and the notes she had gotten from Beth…the one frightening note with its message of death…the laughter in the lighthouse…her meeting with Isaac and his strange conversation…someone being in her room…Isaac waiting for her again outside in the dark…her discovery that Beth’s note was m
issing, and finally her realization that someone had listened in on the phone. Donna sat there, eyes huge, lips slightly parted, never saying a word, not even moving, and Kelsey gave a long sigh to show she had finished.

  “What should I do, Donna? I feel like I should tell someone about the note. I’ve felt so guilty about it ever since I found it—but I wasn’t sure it was real, and I didn’t want to get everybody all upset—”

  Donna’s head moved, puppetlike. “Especially since they all think it was an accident.”

  “And now I can’t do anything about it.” Kelsey looked miserable. “I can’t just go to Eric, can I? Or the sheriff? You said yourself he’d think we’re crazy—he’ll want proof and I haven’t got any.”

  “Oh, God…” Donna mumbled and suddenly her eyes went twice their normal size—“Oh, God, Kelsey…if it wasn’t an accident…do you think someone killed her?”

  Kelsey avoided Donna’s stare and scooped up a handful of sand, letting it sift slowly through her fingers. “Neale does,” she said.

  “Neale, of course,” Donna snorted. “He would think that. It’s in keeping with his character.” Her attempt at humor fell flat, and she ducked her head, chewing thoughtfully on some windblown wisps of hair.

  “But if he’s right, Donna.” Two sets of eyes lifted…met…held…

  A warm breeze sighed around them, shapeshifting the dunes that closed them off from the beach, but not the lighthouse. Kelsey forced herself not to look at it.

  She still had that feeling.

  Like someone was up there, watching them.

  Oblivious, Donna opened some yogurt and shook her head. “Who would kill Beth? And why? Beth was so sweet, she wouldn’t have hurt anybody, so why would anyone want to…?” Her hands fluttered uselessly, as if to pluck answers from the air.

  Kelsey’s mind raced—back through the events of last night, the agreement she’d made with Neale—and finally she gave in. “Listen. You don’t know everything about what happened last night.”

  “Oh, no. What do you mean?” Donna seemed to physically brace herself against another onslaught.

  “Neale said Justin was just carried away by the undertow,” Kelsey said slowly. “But Justin’s a lifeguard, right? He’d know better than to go in the water if it was dangerous. He said himself East Beach is his favorite beach—he must know everything about it.”

  “I thought about that,” Donna admitted, “but Justin didn’t argue with Neale so…” She shrugged, looking totally baffled.

  “No, Justin didn’t say anything then—but later on he told me he’d felt something grab him and pull him under. And,” she went on reluctantly, “I felt something bump against me, too. And there was something in the water.”

  Donna went stiff all over. “You don’t mean—a shark! Oh, God, Kelsey, if you saw a shark I’ll just—”

  “That’s just it,” Kelsey said miserably, “I know I saw something and it looked like a fin—but Neale says maybe it wasn’t—that real sharkskin would have cut me—and it was dark out there, and I was pretty scared—”

  Donna nodded slowly. “What about Justin? Did he see anything? Anything at all?”

  Kelsey shook her head. “But Donna, the more I think about it, the weirder it gets. What if Neale was right? Would we have both been that lucky—both of us—if there was a shark out there? I mean, what are the chances of a shark coming after both of us and not attacking?”

  Donna’s eyes narrowed. “What are you getting at?”

  “I mean, what if someone was just trying to scare us? I don’t know how they did it—but—what if somehow they made it look like a shark attack?”

  Donna’s burst of laughter was completely humorless. “Why on earth would anyone do that?”

  “I don’t know…” She stared down at the growing pile of sand beneath her fingers, but what she saw instead was the wet beach in the moonlight, and Justin sprawled there, gasping for breath, his eyes glazed with fear, his growing panic over Neale. “Where was he when I went in the water…you don’t understand…Neale…where were you…Neale…”

  “I think I know,” Donna said quietly, and Kelsey watched as mingled amazement and horror crept over her face. “Oh, Kelsey…I…”

  “Donna, tell me—”

  “Maybe they weren’t after Justin, Kelsey. Maybe they were after you.”

  Fear gripped her with icy tentacles. She stared at Donna, the world receding around her in a curious haze. Donna leaned forward, her hands gripping Kelsey’s knee.

  “Kelsey, you’re the one who had Beth’s note. You’re the one who had some proof that she might have been killed—”

  “But I don’t have it anymore,” Kelsey moaned. “Someone—oh, Donna—”

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “It has to be him. Everything points to him.”

  “Isaac,” Donna whispered.

  “He knew I was staying with them,” Kelsey said dully. “He knew about Beth…he told me she was dead. And it must have been him who listened in on my phone call with Jenny…Neale said Isaac had just been in Eric’s house to use the phone—he probably picked it up while I was on the line—and then he searched my room…and took Beth’s note.”

  Donna reached out, her cold fingers clamping around Kelsey’s wrist. “But you said he denied killing her, even though—”

  “Well, what’s he gonna do, turn himself in for murder? You said yourself he’s the one who found the drowning victims on the beach. Didn’t anyone ever suspect anything—”

  Donna looked distraught. “Oh, they questioned him, but he always had an alibi, and I don’t think anyone ever really believed there was foul play involved! I just don’t get it—why would Isaac go around killing women? And even if he did, then why would he stay on the island where they could catch him? It doesn’t make sense—”

  “Then why was he on the beach last night after Justin’s accident?” Kelsey asked tersely. “Why was he sneaking around and trying to break in the gate? He couldn’t have gotten rid of me very easily with everyone else around—”

  Donna’s face was growing paler by the second. “I don’t know,” she moaned, and her eyes lifted suddenly to the tall tower above them, fixing it with such a look of shock that Kelsey’s head snapped up.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Oh, God—someone’s up there—someone watching us—”

  Kelsey cupped her hands around her eyes, squinting against the glare of sun and sun-bleached rock, trying to make out the top of the lighthouse amidst its crumbled stones and splintered railings. “Are you sure?”

  “Someone was up there, I swear it. Not now, but he was—” Donna scrambled to her feet, grabbing the blanket, the cups, flinging everything into the basket. Kelsey had picked up the jug without even thinking and now stood watching her friend in dismay. Something came to her just then—something Neale had said only an hour ago—something that confirmed all her growing fears—“Don’t make it your business…you’ll just end up getting hurt…”

  And then it hit her.

  She looked up again at the lighthouse, felt Donna grab her by the shoulders and turn her around so they were face to face.

  Of course, Kelsey thought, and her mouth dropped open with the clarity of it all—of course…Neale knows that someone killed Beth…Isaac must know that he knows…he was trying to kill Neale, not Justin…Neale and me…and Justin was simply a case of mistaken identity…

  “Kelsey,” Donna was shaking her, “we’ve got to tell someone about all this—we—”

  “But how can we? We have absolutely no proof. Nobody will ever believe us.”

  “You can’t go on now without someone knowing,” Donna insisted desperately. “It’s not safe for you—”

  Not safe for me, Kelsey thought, “you’ll just end up getting hurt…” She stared at Donna, her face turning the color of chalk.

  “If he tried something once, he might try it again,” Donna said slowly. “He might just be waiting till y
ou’re alone, Kelsey—don’t you see?”

  But of course she did see…she saw the truth of the situation…saw herself caught up in a web of endless, endless fear…

  Donna shook her again. “Kelsey…that body we found—he must have done it—and now he knows you know.”

  Chapter 14

  THE LIFEGUARD TWIRLED THE paper between his fingers.

  He loved to play games, and this one was turning out just as he’d planned.

  Kelsey was so pretty. And so gullible.

  So easy to scare.

  He’d had fun writing that note and leaving it under her pillow, and he’d had fun slipping into her room and taking it back again.

  She was even prettier when she was frightened.

  They all were, really

  He got a kick out of their fear and their helplessness and the slow, desperate way they eventually realized he was after them…

  Except for Beth…

  Beth had ruined everything because she’d come after him…

  And he didn’t want to kill her, but he had to, because she knew…

  He pressed his hands to his head, squeezing…squeezing…until the mixed-up darkness began to fade from his mind.

  And then he read the note one more time.

  Kelsey…I think someone is going to kill me.

  The lifeguard laughed to himself and set the notepaper on fire, watching it burn to a soft gray ash

  He wouldn’t hurry with Kelsey.

  He’d just take his time and enjoy it.

  Chapter 15

  KELSEY DRAGGED HER FEET through the sand. Donna had gone on to work promising to see her tonight at the party, where they could talk some more. Until then Kelsey knew her own mind would be a blur. She could hardly even concentrate now, and swore to herself as she suddenly tripped over someone’s foot and fell forward.

  “Excuse me, lady, but we don’t allow accidents on this beach.” A pair of strong arms righted her, and she found herself looking up into Skip’s grin. “I suggest you get your own personal lifeguard. I recommend myself.”