“Kyle?”
He straightened back up, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. “I can’t stay here.”
“We don’t have a choice,” I said, steadying myself against the wall, keeping a careful eye on the floor. “There are worse things than being seasick.” I was having trouble thinking of any of them at the moment, but, you know. “We need to stay here. It’s safe-ish, and we can’t cross the lake yet.”
“Are you sure it’s safe? Somebody broke into that gun locker.”
“I don’t know. Give me a second,” I said, roughly rubbing my face with both hands. “I just need to think this through.”
I didn’t like staying here either. Eventually whoever had done all this would come looking for us, and we wouldn’t see them coming. But on the other hand, we had shelter, and if help ever arrived, we’d be right here to welcome it.
And maybe it would be Grady.
I was working so hard not to think of the worst case scenario of this night, but it was always there. Right on the fringes. Man, there was so much I wanted to do if we got through this. First and foremost, I’d make things right with Grady. No holding back this time. Rhonda was right, he deserved somebody that was all in. And it was time that somebody was me. Next, there was my mother. We certainly had our issues, but in a moment like this, I needed to know that she knew I loved her. And we could find a way to do this whole mother-daughter thing better. As for Freddie …
Nah, Freddie and I were good.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Please, just give me one more shot.
“Hey,” I suddenly said, tuning back into the moment. “You okay over there?”
Kyle nodded.
I had just remembered what Rhonda had told me about the arsenic. Maybe Kyle’s being sick had more to do with that than the motion sickness. I needed to get him to a doctor. But the lake was just too rough to cross. I’d end up killing him before we made it to the hospital. “Don’t know if it will help you, but just now I was thinking about what I’m going to do when this is all over. It might help to keep your spirits up.”
Kyle made a noncommittal noise.
“Seriously, what’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a painful-looking shrug. “Take a whole bunch of money out of the bank, put it on my bed, and roll around in it?”
I chuckled. “Fine. You’re right. It’s not my business.”
“No, I’m being serious.”
I dropped my chin to my chest.
“Well, it’s not like I have any family anymore. Rayner’s dead. The rest want me dead.”
“What about on your mother’s side?”
“Nobody. I’ve been in foster homes since I was two,” he said, face devoid of emotion. “Then, you know, Rayner found me.”
“Wow. I take it he didn’t know about you before that?”
“No,” Kyle said, eyes looking faraway. “I think he did. He just wasn’t interested until he knew Ronnie couldn’t have any more kids. I think bringing me into the picture was his way of sticking it to her.”
“What? Kyle, that’s terribl—”
Suddenly a bang sounded in the distance. I jumped to my feet to stare out the window into the darkness. It could have been lightning. Maybe. It was possible. This storm was crazy like that.
But I knew better.
Rhonda.
Frick! Frick! Frick!
“Erica?”
“Okay, Kyle,” I said turning back around. “I think you’re right. Maybe we need to keep moving.”
He raised his eyebrows, still looking nauseated.
“I told you there’s another cabin on the island.”
He nodded.
“I thought we couldn’t make it before, but now I think it’s time we go for it. Who knows when help will get here. We can’t stay.”
He put up a finger for me to wait, swallowed, then said, “Okay, where is it?”
“We have to go back up the steps, past the retreat, to get to the trail.”
He smacked the back of his head against the seat. “Can’t we just go by the shoreline?”
I shook my head. “The brush is too thick. The trail is our best bet.”
He looked at me a second then said, “Tell me the truth.”
“What?”
“The gunshot,” he said weakly, pointing a finger at the window. “You’re going to stow me away in this place, then go after your friend.”
Well, crap. This kid was too smart for his own good. That’s exactly what I had planned. I couldn’t stand the thought of Rhonda being up there by herself. If I could just get Kyle someplace safe, then I could help her.
“Kyle…”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No way.”
“You’re the one who keeps saying someone planned all of this. If they did, they know about the other cabin. I’m in danger there too.”
I sighed. He had a point.
“I say it’s time we fight back.”
I held up my hands. “Okay, easy there, Rambo.”
He looked at me quizzically.
“Rambo? Sylvester Stallone? Anything? How old are you?”
“You’re so weird.” Kyle closed his eyes and clutched his stomach before he added, “There were lock cutters in that shed.”
“Lock cutters? You mean for a weapon?”
“No, to open the safe in your mother’s office. Unless you have a key.”
I felt my eyes narrow. There was a safe in my mother’s office. An old safe with a padlock on the floor behind her desk. “How do you know about the safe?”
“Because it’s where she put Brody’s gun.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
“You saw my mother?” Something both hot and cold surged through my body.
“No. I heard Brody talking about it to Ashley,” he said, gripping the edge of his seat. “I tried to tell you before Brody came smashing through the window, but you were all Adults talking, Kyle.”
“Oh, sorry about that.” So my mother had been at the lodge … maybe was still there somewhere. “And wait, Brody’s gun? Brody has a gun?”
“Your mother took it from him. Said it was a rule or something for the retreat.”
Yeah, it was. I wrapped my fingers around a hand grip as the boat tipped over another small swell. My mother did not like guns. I didn’t either. But what if Rhonda needed my help? “Kyle, I’m not taking you back to the lodge. I can’t. It’s too dangerous.”
“But we need a gun.”
“And what? You think we’re just going to waltz into the lodge with a big pair of lock cutters, and the killer isn’t going to notice?”
“No,” Kyle answered. “You know this place. We scope it out and sneak in.”
I didn’t say anything, just buried my free hand farther under my armpit, shivering.
“Besides, maybe we don’t have to do anything. Maybe your cop friend has already been shot by the murderer.”
“Hey!” I said pointing a finger at him. “Not cool. Don’t even say that.”
“I’m sorry, okay!” He shook his head, then clenched his jaw like he might be sick again. “You said you don’t like being scared. Well, you’re not the only one. You keep telling me to trust you, but I don’t know anything about you. You want me to feel safe? Then let’s get the gun, lock ourselves in a room at this other cottage, and point it at the door. That’s what will make me feel safe. Or at least let me do that and then you can go get your friend or whatever.”
“I still don’t know about all this.”
“Look,” he said. “I’m going to fill this whole cabin with barf if we don’t get off this stupid boat. Let’s just go up to the retreat and see what’s going on. If it looks bad, we go to your neighbor’s cabin.”
“I just can’t help but think—”
Kyle’s stomach clenched again as a disturbing burp escaped his mouth.
“Okay, fine!” I said, throwing my hands in the air.
“You win. Let’s go.”
Chapter Thirty-nine
Kyle and I battled the storm once again on the steps. Going up was definitely harder than getting down, and that was saying something. Before we crested the hill, I turned off Rhonda’s flashlight. I’d had it half-shielded by my jacket because I didn’t see the good in advertising our position, but we’d needed it on the stairs.
Once we made it to the top, I scanned the clearing, and for a second, I thought I saw something by the canoes; but the canoes were near the boulder, so I wasn’t about to investigate.
In minutes, we had made it back to the shed and got the lock cutters off the wall. Either the storm was easing up or we were just getting better at navigating in the dark. It had to be after midnight now. Maybe hours after midnight. Time didn’t seem to make sense anymore.
I took Kyle in a wide circle by the tree line to the rear of the lodge. I was planning on eventually creeping up onto the back porch because even with the wind, I was worried someone might hear me if I got too close to the busted kitchen window.
After a few more minutes of walking, I yanked Kyle down to crouch with me under a cluster of small trees.
“Okay,” I said in his ear. “You stay here until I check it o—”
Suddenly a tree cracked right above our heads.
We clutched each other, falling to our bellies.
I blinked my eyes open to see Kyle’s face just inches from mine.
He mouthed the words, “Yeah, no.”
I let my forehead thunk onto the ground.
“Listen,” I said, before having to stop and spit out the dirty snow I had just taken in. “I need to keep you out of harm’s way. The odds of you getting hit with a tree are small. The odds of you getting murdered if we go up there are pretty good.”
Just then another gunshot sounded, and I caught a flash of light from inside the lodge.
“Your friend must still be alive,” Kyle said looking back at me. “And she’s in trouble.”
God, what was I supposed to do? What if she did need my help?
“Okay,” I tried again. “I’m gonna go check it out. You wait here.”
“No way! Not going to happen!”
“I won’t be long,” I shouted, getting to my knees. “Wait for me to come back or … or if you see me stand up in front of that window,” I said with a point. “That’s means it’s safe. You come.”
“Erica—”
“I’m not arguing with you anymore.”
“But—”
“Stay put!”
“I—”
That time I just cut him off with a look.
He didn’t try again.
I pushed myself up to my feet and crouch-ran across the lawn. I stayed low, and when I got to the back steps, I climbed up them on my hands and knees. After that, I stayed on all fours and crawled over to the closest window, which was my mother’s office. I wanted to peek up into it, but I was really afraid that when I did, someone might be looking back at me with a gun pointed at my face. I suddenly understood why snails had eyes on top of those long tentacle things on their heads. They would be really useful right now. I turned my face to the side and slowly inched up to look into the room.
Nothing. Empty.
I eased back down and—
“Kyle!” I shout-whispered. “I told you stay in the woods!”
“I thought you stood up!”
“You just—argh!” I resisted the urge to grab him by the collar and shake him around. Why didn’t they make inescapable playpens for teenagers?
I gritted my teeth and sharply waved my hand for him to follow me. We crawled slowly down to the corner of the lodge. I peeked around. Nothing. The one window on this side was my bedroom’s. It was still dark. I risked a look in anyway.
Nothing.
I dropped back down and continued the crawl.
When we made it to the end, I stopped and put my hand up for Kyle to follow suit.
The front stretch of the porch would be the most dangerous. We had to be careful.
I peered around the corner. The light from the inside of the retreat cast enough of a glow that I could see the porch was empty.
I brought my face up close to Kyle’s. “You stay here this time, or so help me, I’ll be your biggest problem on this island.” I guess my eyes had finally achieved the level of scary I was going for because Kyle nodded tightly.
I nodded back and slowly edged my way around the corner. I crawled underneath the bottom of the first window of the common room. I reached one hand up to grip the window sill, pausing to close my eyes and take a breath.
There was no telling what would be waiting for me in there. Seeing the body of a stranger was pretty freaking bad, but if I saw Rhonda … after she had tried to save me …
No.
I blinked my eyes opened and slowly eased myself up to peer into the room.
It was exactly as we had left it.
The fire was still casting flickering shadows over the walls. The electric lanterns were still glowing their harsh light. Kenny still lay unconscious on the sofa, but …
Everybody else was gone.
Chapter Forty
I dropped down, leaning my back against the wood of the lodge.
No Rhonda. No Julie. No Ronnie.
Where did they all go?
I eased myself back up again.
Nope. Still empty.
I sank back down, furiously trying to think through what this all meant. Ronnie I could see not being there. She might have decided to go look for Ashley. Rhonda, maybe, had gone after the bodyguard. But Julie? She wouldn’t have left Kenny. At least not by choice.
I scuttled back over to Kyle around the dark side of the porch.
“You don’t look good,” Kyle said in my ear. “Is your friend…?”
“No, it’s not that. Everybody’s gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“Gone. Kenny’s still there, but everyone else is just … gone.”
Kyle nodded. “Please tell me this means we are going to get the gun now.”
“We’re going to get the gun now.”
Chapter Forty-one
Kyle and I hustled back around the porch to my mother’s office, and I peeked in the window.
All quiet. Kind of like a graveyard.
Now was the time.
I debated once again trying to convince Kyle to stay hidden somewhere outside, but I knew there was no point. He had imprinted himself to me like a baby duck—a baby duck who had half a billion dollars on his head.
“Are you sure nobody is in there?” Kyle whispered.
“Nope. Not at all,” I said, struggling to push the near-frozen window up as quietly as possible. Once I had it, I dropped back down and closed my eyes for another moment. I couldn’t help but wonder how bad of an idea this really was. Going back into the lodge right now could get us killed, but if we got to the gun, we’d have a better chance surviving this night. I didn’t know what the right move was, and it wasn’t just my life at stake. Kyle was—
Suddenly my eyes popped open.
Kyle was already inside.
Okay then. Decision made.
I climbed in the window after him, sliding the window shut behind me.
Kyle and I stared at each other a moment. Both of us frozen.
“It’s so quiet,” he whispered. “I mean compared to outside.”
I nodded.
He chewed his bottom lip as his eyes trailed around the room. “It’s kind of freaking me out.”
“You and me both.” I shuffled my way over to the safe on my knees and set about adjusting the blades of the lock cutter around the small metal loop of the padlock.
“No, I mean like it’s really freaking me out,” he went on.
I didn’t say anything, just fiddled with my hold.
“It’s kind of feels like someone is listening to every sound we make,” he whispered. “Like you’re making a ton of noise right now.”
> “Kyle!” I hissed.
“What?”
“You’re not helping.”
“Sorry.
“Just hold the flashlight up a bit will you?”
He tilted the beam.
Now, you would think a tool with a name like lock cutters would just cut through locks, no problem.
Well, it didn’t.
I wrestled with the long, awkward arms for about five minutes before realizing that it was hopeless.
“What’s wrong?” Kyle asked.
“It’s no use,” I said, wiping my brow with the back of my gloved hand. “I’m not strong enough.”
“What if I take one side?” Kyle moved to push at one end of the lock cutters while I pushed the other, but that only resulted in us both doing the strange lock-cutter dance.
“They’re rusted out,” I said, shaking my head. “Probably haven’t been sharpened in about fifty years.”
“Well, now what are we going to do?” Kyle asked, suddenly looking really put out.
“I don’t know. Maybe we could … wait!” I pushed past him toward one of my mother’s double-stacked bookshelves.
“What are you doing?” he asked coming up behind me.
I reached up, stretching my hand over the top of the bookshelf and patted around. “One year my mother’s psychopathic cat—”
I dropped back down for a moment and looked around. Again, where the hell was Caesar? Not that I didn’t have enough to worry about, but surely the killer wouldn’t have…? No. No. I shook the thought away and resumed my pat down of the bookshelf. Satan would never let harm come to one of his own.
“Um, hello?”
“Oh, sorry,” I whispered. “One year my mom’s cat found a nest of baby foxes under this evergreen, which caused all sorts of drama. She didn’t want babies there the next year, so she got a saw to get rid of the lower branches, and my mom never puts anything away so—Bam!” I shout-whispered bringing the handsaw down.
Kyle threw me an unimpressed slow-blink. “You could have just said there was a hacksaw up there.”
“You so need a nap.”
I hustled back over to the lock and dropped to my knees. The lock was flimsy enough that it just might work. I planted the fine teeth of the saw on the nick I had made earlier with the cutters and gave it a pull back.
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