I take a breath to settle my nerves, but it has no effect at all. “We went looking for you down there. It was empty.”
Liam frowns. “So it wasn’t you who I heard outside?”
“It couldn’t have been. We only went outside once we realized you were gone. Robert was out there, though. He chased me but I got away, obviously. It was probably him trying to draw you out.”
He leans his head back against the wall. “I’m sorry, Pais. We ran outside because I thought it was you all. It was him. I could’ve gotten everyone killed.”
“You didn’t know, dude. We all made the decision to go,” Gibson says, clapping him on the shoulder.
They were really running after the killer.
I take a seat next to Reeve to keep an eye on him, but I address Liam and Gibson. “Did you see anyone or anything?”
Liam shakes his head. “Malcolm, Gibson, and I split up and regrouped by the big coaster. We realized that something was wrong when the shouting stopped suddenly at the same time we heard you screaming Reeve’s name.”
“Was it Reeve you heard shouting?” I ask. “We heard him on the radio and that’s when I came outside. Robert was waiting.”
Gibson frowns as he thinks about if it was his friend he heard. Wouldn’t you know that instantly? We did, but I suppose we weren’t in the storm. “It was too hard to make that out. I was too far away to make sense of the voice.”
“So, you were all running around separately?” Harper asks as if that’s the dumbest thing she’s ever heard.
Liam scowls at her. “We were worried one of you was being murdered. We split up to find you faster. Paisley almost died!”
“Knock it off. We’re not arguing over this, and we don’t need to justify anything to you,” Gibson says. “Now that we’re all back together, we need…Wait, where’s James?”
Ava sobs at the sound of his name and curls into a ball in the corner of the room. She puts her head against her knees. Harper is on her in a second, wrapping her arm around her shoulders to comfort her. She’s a good friend, but I can tell she’s getting annoyed with the dramatics.
Harper doesn’t seem to have much time for emotion. She, like me, just wants to figure this out.
There will be plenty of time to process later. Good thing I have money now because therapy is going to be expensive.
“Um. James…” I can’t say the words, and I can’t believe it was only an hour ago that he was murdered. It feels like days already.
“What?” Malcolm clutches a fistful of his gold sweater over his heart. “No. Please don’t say…”
“He’s dead.” I tell them what happened back in the lobby, about the electricity cutting out and us finding James dead when it came back on. I leave nothing out.
Which leads to a follow-up question.
Where was Reeve when the lights went out?
Malcolm is the one who asks, and I’m so glad that he did because I don’t want to sound like I’m accusing him. Reeve has done nothing but be open and honest with me and try to protect me.
“It’s a valid question, Reeve,” Malcolm says, following a glare at his accusation. “Where did you go?”
Reeve disappeared without a word and then James had a knife in his chest.
Reeve points to the white bandage taped to his head. “I was jumped.” There’s a slight red tint to the center of the bandage already.
“When and how?” Malcolm asks. He sounds like he’s already decided Reeve is the killer.
Reeve leans forward, his elbows on his legs. “The lights went out. I felt this presence beside me, so I called Paisley’s name. I thought it was weird because she was on the other side of me when we came back into the lobby. I knew I had to try to get the power back on, but the next thing I knew, I’m waking up in the kitchen with a pounding headache. The hotel was empty, so I came outside looking for…anyone.”
All right. That kind of makes sense, but there’s something that bothers me. “That must have been the first thud I heard, someone hitting you. But you didn’t make a sound.”
To that he shrugs one shoulder. “I was out the second he hit me. I remember pain and nothing. Not even hitting the floor. He must’ve caught me. I don’t know.”
“He?” I ask.
“Oh, I dunno, Pais,” he replies, exasperated. “I assumed because this asshole had to have dragged or carried me to the kitchen, but it could’ve been anyone with the strength to do that.”
“Why would he murder Will and James but only hit you?” Harper asks Reeve. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“He’s not an influencer,” I say. The killer was coming for me.
Ava gasps. “You think this person is out for us?”
“I’m not sure. That’s just one difference between Reeve and Will and James.”
“Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter now. I thought we needed to find this cell jammer,” Harper says. “Have we forgotten about that?” She looks over at me. “That was a theory, right?”
Of course we haven’t forgotten.
Ava snorts. “That could be anywhere, and I don’t exactly want to go back outside.”
Reeve replies, “No, Harper’s right. We know that to cover the range that this jammer’s reaching, it can’t be a handheld device. Not something you could hide in a plant pot. If we find that…”
Gibson points to his friend. “See. He’s good with this stuff and he thinks it’s our best chance. Even with a brain injury.”
“I don’t have a brain injury!”
Camilla holds her hand up. “But there’s someone out there who is…well, you know what they’re doing.”
It’s both an obvious and a good point.
“We have to weigh our options. We can either try to find the jammer and turn it off so we can call for help, or we find somewhere in the hotel to hide out until someone realizes we’re not coming back,” I say.
On Monday.
Malcolm’s red face doesn’t like either of those options. “There are other boats we could use.”
Gibson’s shaking his head before Malcolm’s even finished speaking. “In this weather? We’d capsize in minutes, hopefully before the boat hits the rocks and kills us. We can fight a person. We can’t fight an ocean.”
“You think we should fight?” Harper asks. “I do Krav Maga.”
“Respect the sea,” Reeve mutters to himself, as if he’s heard speeches like that from Gibson hundreds of times.
“I’m not drowning in this hell.” Ava’s words are muffled with sobs. “I just want to go home. I don’t want to die.”
Malcolm clenches his jaw. She’s getting on his nerves too.
“We’ll be okay, Ava,” I say. “I think our best plan is to wait until daylight so we can find this jammer.”
“There’s something else we need to discuss,” Reeve says. Right before his head lolls to the side, he murmurs, “Robert.”
His chin touches his shoulder, and I immediately think he’s dead.
What the hell!
“Reeve!” I gasp, leaning over to lift his head.
There’s a flurry of activity as everyone crowds him, trying to figure out what’s wrong and how we can help.
He groans and lifts his hand to his head, only out for a second. “I’m okay.”
“Hey, talk to me, dude,” Gibson says, his eyes wide and afraid. “Stay awake. You can’t sleep. Wow, you really don’t look great.”
Reeve chuckles but it sounds a bit like he’s underwater. “That’ll be because I don’t feel good.”
“Gibson’s right. It’s important that you stay awake. Okay?” I tell him.
“You think I’m going to die.”
It’s an accusation.
I place my hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him, even though I’m the one who needs the reassurance. “No, I don’t. You’re going to be okay. We just need to keep you awake.”
“He needs water,” Gibson says.
Malcolm stands. “I will go and get water.”
He sounds far too calm. No hesitation, no sign of being scared that the killer will get him. He’s either much braver than I thought or stupid.
“You can’t!” Camilla leaps up and grabs his hand. “It’s not safe for you. This is your island, so killing you is probably what this person wants. I’ll go.”
She wants to go?
“This is my island, and he is my employee.” In a lower tone that we can still all totally hear, he adds, “We’re the adults and we have to protect them.”
Liam mutters, “Protect his reputation, more like.”
Ava and Harper nod in agreement.
Liam’s only saying what everyone else thinks.
Malcolm hasn’t been particularly helpful so far and he’s let us lead on figuring this thing out. Now he wants to play the hero. He wants to be able to tell the press that he risked his life to save Reeve.
Damage control for having a murderer on his fancy island.
“All right. We’ll go together. There’s safety in numbers,” Camilla replies.
I half expect him to say no. He should. Camilla is also his employee, but he agrees, and they walk up to the door.
Reeve and I exchange a glance. The slight lift of his brow tells me that he’s thinking the same thing. Camilla is just a little too anxious to leave this room. After being an advocate of staying in it.
“Don’t open this door to anyone else.”
It’s quite possibly the dumbest thing Malcolm has ever said.
Liam opens his mouth, but I nudge him before he can speak. He smirks.
“Gibson, keep an eye on them” are his final words as he and Camilla disappear into the torrential rain and pitch-black night.
Gibson is the one to lock the door once they’ve left.
Now it’s just the six of us alone.
Reeve puts his head in his hands, careful not to touch the wound on his head.
“How long do you think they’ll be?” Harper asks.
“It’s not far, but the weather will slow them down,” Gibson replies.
That and the knife-wielding murderer.
“It’s weird how easily they both decided to go,” I say.
“They’re weird,” Gibson replies.
Ava shrugs Harper’s arm off her shoulder and gets to her feet. “And if they don’t come back?”
“You’re not helpful, Ava,” Gibson snaps.
“I have a right to complain! My friend is dead.”
His laughter sounds harsher than it needs to be. “You mean the guy you’ve known for two days? Grow up.”
“How dare you! He’s dead, Gibson!”
“I know, Ava. We can either sit down and moan about it or we can work on getting out of here.”
“We go out there and some psycho kills us!” she screams.
“All right! Stop!” I shout, stepping between them. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”
Ava folds her arms over her chest. “You’re too calm.”
“I’m sorry, would you prefer me to freak out? Because that would be so helpful. We have to keep our heads or things are going to get much worse.”
Gibson turns around, shaking his head. He’s mad at her, but we need to bring this back.
I can tell the others are wondering how much worse it could possibly get. We’re already being hunted.
“Let’s not argue with each other. It’s not going to help.”
“I’ve got a banging headache,” Reeve says. “Can we please get back on track?”
“That track being Robert?” Gibson asks. “You said that name before you fainted.”
“I didn’t faint. I was conscious the whole time.”
“Who is Robert?” Gibson asks again.
“We think he’s Camilla’s son,” I say.
Harper says, “Huh.”
Liam sits up straighter. “Her son. What the hell does he have to do with this?”
“Before Reeve and I went to check the CCTV, I overheard Camilla and Malcolm whispering. She looked scared and said his name a couple times. Malcolm was trying to reassure her.”
“That’s a bit of a reach,” Liam says.
“Did I say I was done?”
“Fine. Go on,” Liam says, raising his palms.
“We found Robert in the staff files. His last name is the same as Camilla’s and his staff photo had been deleted…or was never there in the first place.”
“What the hell? Did you check the trash?” Gibson asks.
“Dammit, why didn’t we think of that…,” Reeve mutters with as much sarcasm as a person can muster.
Gibson rolls his eyes. “All right, you did. What else did you find out?”
“He punched out earlier in the week and hasn’t punched in since.”
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t come back,” Liam says. “Dude could be running around the island with his weapons.”
Reeve points at him. “That’s what we were thinking. It doesn’t help that we don’t know what he looks like, to find him on CCTV. Gibson, do you know a Robert?”
“Not a clue. I don’t pay much attention to the male staff.”
Gross.
“He was wearing a black ski mask, anyway,” I tell them.
Liam’s lips curl. “What the hell?”
“Great, so we’re not going to know who he is anyway,” Gibson replies.
“Hold on,” Ava says. “We’re stuck on an island with Camilla’s murderous son?”
“I think you’re supposed to say allegedly if you’re unsure. Paisley?” Gibson says. He’s making jokes and trying to keep this light, but his eyes flash with fear.
“That’s what we think is going on here,” I clarify. “We could be wrong, and to be fair, it doesn’t matter who this person is. We’ve got to figure out how to get help.”
Reeve lets out a breath I didn’t know he was holding. He expected me to mention the convictions folder that had details of his time in juvenile prison.
Maybe I should. They deserve all the information too. But the way Camilla is acting makes me believe that Robert is behind this and not Reeve. Besides, it would be difficult to cause your own head injury and fake the drowsiness.
“Why didn’t you confront her when she was here?” Liam asks. “Now she’s gone and who knows if they’ll come back.”
“I’m sorry, that wasn’t my priority when we were scared to death and Reeve needed help. My mind was a little frazzled. We also don’t know if she’s in on it, but if she is, she might be armed. Well, she would probably be armed. Did you see how fast she wanted to get out of here after Reeve said Robert’s name? I thought it was strange when they volunteered to go so fast.”
“I don’t want that woman anywhere near me. We don’t let them back in,” Ava says.
“Do you think Malcolm is in on it?” Liam asks. “You said he was reassuring her and he left too, but this is his island. He’d only be screwing himself out of money, and I don’t think he’d want that.”
“Yeah, I agree. Not only is it bad press but it’s also jail time. He did seem to know Robert or at the very least know of him, so I don’t understand why he would keep quiet.”
“When was this, exactly?”
“Right before I went to the security room with Reeve, and you went searching for wire with Gibson.”
That must have been a few hours ago. I check my watch and see that the stupid thing is already dead—the battery only lasts half a day now. I wish I’d bought a replacement before coming here.
I stifle a yawn.
“Hey, what are we doing about Robert?” Gibson asks.
“I think it’s safe to say that the only people we can trust are in this room,” Reeve says. “Therefore, we stick together. Camilla and Malcolm are mixed up in this somehow.”
“We don’t think Malcolm is, though,” Harper cuts in.
Reeve shakes his head. “But he knows that Camilla is worried about Robert, and he didn’t say anything to us. That’s suspicious as hell.”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t he mention it?” Liam asks. “That’s the part that doesn’t make sense. Unless he doesn’t think Robert is involved. Maybe Camilla is worried about not being able to contact him or something innocent like that.”
“I don’t know,” Reeve admits. “But do you want to take the chance and let him back in here?”
Liam pushes his tongue into his cheek. “No.”
“All right, then. So we all agree we’re not letting Malcolm and Camilla anywhere near us?” Gibson asks, standing up and looking at us all individually for confirmation.
No one disagrees with him.
“They should be back by now. It wouldn’t take that long even if they’ve been slowed down by the wind,” Reeve says. “That means we’re definitely on our own and we need to move.”
“Hell no!” Ava shouts.
“They know we’re here. There are other places we can go for safety, where we’re not sitting ducks.”
I’ve felt like that since we found the boat missing and lost cell service, but I don’t argue with Reeve. This whole island is our duck pond. This guy has proven he can get into anywhere.
“Where do you want to go? We have no control at the hotel, not after the light show you guys got earlier,” Gibson says. “There’s the main restaurant in the park, the Black Tulip. The sun will be up soon, and you can’t see in well from the outside.”
“Sunrise? What time is it?” I ask.
“Five-ten a.m.,” he replies.
We’ve been running around the island for hours. A lot of the night was spent waiting in the lobby too, I suppose.
“The Black Tulip’s also pretty central and has windows from every angle.”
We haven’t been there yet. Kenna served our meals in the hotel restaurant.
“Plus, we’ll be able to get something to eat and drink,” Liam says. “I know now is probably not the time, but I’m starving and thirsty. We all need the energy.”
“He’s right,” Reeve says, pushing up to his feet. He’s surprisingly steady. “We’re not getting through this without anything in our stomachs. Sunrise is in an hour and thirty, and by the sounds of it, the rain has slowed a bit. We’ll have as good a view as this sick asshole.”
The killer won’t be able to sneak up on us. We’ll have a better chance moving around the island and making sure we aren’t followed.
“I just want to say on the record that I think leaving this building is a terrible idea.” Ava folds her arms but she’s on her feet, ready to follow us. Is she just disagreeing for the sake of it?
I grab a few bandages and stuff them into my pocket.
“I’ll re-dress your wound when we reach the restaurant,” I tell Reeve.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“Yeah, I’d believe that if you didn’t wince every time you speak. Grab the pill bottle—you can have some more in a little while.”
We’re lucky he doesn’t need stitches.
Gibson picks up my hammer and turns to us. “Liam, grab that wrench and stay at the back. Everyone else, grab what you can to defend yourself and stay between me and Liam.”
“I’m not dead yet,” Reeve says, sounding frustrated to be treated like he’s not strong enough to defend us.
“Bad joke, bro.”
I open the door and Gibson steps half out first. He looks around and says, “Clear. Let’s roll.”
The sky is starting to lighten, and the clouds are clearing. Heavy rain has eased slightly, but it’s still bouncing off the ground.
With my heart in my throat, I follow him into the open and hope we’re not being hunted.
