“Of course it’s not his. Half of the people who were here are already dead. There’s blood all over the island.” Ava’s pacing back and forth in her pink Converse. “Can we just do this thing and get out of here?” She throws her hands up in the air.
Reeve runs his hands through his hair. The bandage we put on him earlier is seeped through with blood. “What happened?”
His eyes are wide like he’s just seen something horrific. And he has. “Camilla’s dead,” he tells us. “Her body…she’s lying in the middle of a path. I went to see if she was alive, but there was so much blood. No pulse.”
He looks down at his bloodstained T-shirt.
Up close I can see that the stain is kind of a handprint, like he’s had her blood on his hands, panicked, and tried to wipe it off.
I swallow hard and look at Gibson. Camilla was murdered in front of us and it’s not something that I want to explain again. The cops will make me go over it more than once, I’m sure.
Gibson seems to understand that I don’t want to talk and gives me a small nod.
“Paisley and I saw her die,” he tells Reeve.
Murdered, I correct him in my head.
Reeve’s jaw goes slack. He lets out a gasp. “You saw it. Are you okay?”
“No, not really,” I reply. “But things have moved on since then. We don’t have time to go over trauma.”
Gibson takes over, putting his hand on my shoulder for comfort. He knows how horrifying it was to see Camilla being killed. “We found the jammer and Robert was standing near it. Paisley and I had a plan. I was going to distract him while she broke it. Before we could act, Camilla came walking up, hands raised. They spoke, she was trying to stop him, we think, and he stabbed her. He moved the jammer.”
“The look on her face,” I whisper. I don’t dare close my eyes as I know I’ll see Camilla’s shock and devastation as she realized that her son had stabbed her.
The image flashes in my mind so vividly it makes me gag.
Well, I guess I don’t need to worry about closing my eyes because I can see her anytime.
Stop thinking about it.
Gibson clears his throat. “She screamed something, we think Robert’s name, but he just stood there, watching her bleed out and die.”
I press the pressure building up in my forehead. “She bled out and we ran. We ran.”
“You love all this murder stuff, right? So this is probably just a regular weekend for you,” Ava says.
Really? I take a breath and try not to let Ava add to the stress of this situation. I’m going to have one hell of a headache soon.
“Uh, hardly,” I snap. “I saw a woman get stabbed right in front of me. I’ve seen Will’s and James’s and Kenna’s bodies. We don’t know where Robert is anymore, we don’t know if Malcolm is alive, and we’ve got a fire to set.”
That about sums it up.
Liam wraps an arm around my shoulder and gives me a squeeze. “It’s okay.”
I avoid eye contact with Reeve.
“I still think it’s a bit suspicious that Gibson and Reeve have never seen Robert around,” Ava mumbles. She glances over at Gibson and does a little half-shrug.
“Say that again,” Gibson demands.
I move forward and push his chest when he goes to take a step, but he looks at Ava. “Do you know how many people work here? We’re not fully opened, and we’ve never had every member of staff here at once yet. There are plenty of people who work here who we don’t know. So shut your damn mouth.”
Ava glares but she doesn’t argue with him.
I’m not sure what to believe anymore. My brain hurts from constantly stressing about it.
“When did Robert start?” I ask. “Do you remember?”
Gibson shakes his head. “No. Reeve said there were inconsistencies with his file. But knowing that information isn’t really going to help us with what we need to do now.”
The others look at me for a second. They’re all thinking the same thing.
“We have no idea where he is,” I say. “We tried to watch out for him from the club room, but nothing. He could be anywhere. He could be in the hotel watching us.”
“We’ll be fine, Paisley,” Gibson says.
“We can’t wait around here for another night,” Reeve says.
Ava rolls her eyes. “I’m not swimming ever again. We’ve ditched worrying about the jammer and you should hear the crazy new plan.”
Harper takes a deep breath. “Will you just shut up.”
Reeve scowls at Ava and turns to us.
“Hold on. What are we doing with fire?” Reeve asks.
“Before we tell him our plan, can we find out what the hell happened to him?” Ava asks.
And to be fair, it’s a smart idea. I can’t see how it can be Reeve, but it would be pretty irresponsible of us to not even find out.
“I lost Liam looking for you guys. I’ve been all over. The rowboats are gone, by the way.”
“Yeah, we found that out earlier, right between finding Kenna dead and taking a dip in the ocean. It wasn’t a surprise,” Gibson replies.
Reeve swears under his breath. “Okay. What about this fire?”
“We want to set off the fire alarms, so we’re setting fire to the check-in booths,” I say matter-of-factly. “Without cell service, it’s the best we can do. We have a shopping list, so let’s grab what we need.”
Reeve does a double take, trying to catch up with us, but he isn’t quite there yet. “Wait, what?”
Gibson and Liam walk around the bar. Harper and Ava help by finding bags to carry the alcohol.
Reeve blocks my way with his arm as I go to help. “Wait a second. We’re setting a fire and you watched someone get murdered. And you were in the sea?”
I give a firm nod. “Correct. You’re all caught up now.”
“Paisley, this fire idea is crazy.”
“Yes. And that’s why it’s brilliant. Robert expects us to try to contact the outside world, fix the wiring, find the jammer, everything we’ve already been doing. What he won’t expect is this. To beat him we need to surprise him.”
“But this is arson,” Reeve points out.
I blink at him. “To stop more murder. I think I can live with that. Malcolm has insurance, and our crimes pale in comparison to Robert’s.”
Ava picks at her nails, preoccupied with a chip in the pink paint. “We don’t know if Malcolm’s even alive,” she says, not looking up from her manicure.
“Or if he’s in on this,” I add. “I get that this is his island, but think of the publicity if he’s a survivor of a murderous weekend. Everyone would be talking about his amusement park.”
Reeve runs his hand over his hair. “Would he go that far?”
Liam shrugs. “Do we try finding him? We’re about to set part of his island on fire.”
Gibson shakes his head. “Going after someone is another thing that Robert might expect. We’ve done that before.”
So we really are giving up our humanity to save our lives.
Is it a fair trade?
I’m not sure, but I don’t see many other options anymore. It feels like something I might regret, but at least I’ll be alive to have regrets.
“Kitchen,” Gibson says.
We follow him even though it’s a bit ridiculous for six people to get one box of matches. We’re also not doing the splitting-up thing again—like Robert expects.
“Why did you and Liam split up in the haunted house?” Ava asks Reeve.
He slowly tilts his head. “It wasn’t a conscious decision. Anyway, who are you to judge when all you do is hide and expect everyone else to save you?”
Her cheeks flush bright red, but I think it’s more from anger than embarrassment. “I’m just saying. You’ve been alone every time something bad has happened. Do you expect us to believe that’s a coincidence?”
His dark eyes turn black as he stares at her like he could strangle her on the spot. “Watch your poisonous mouth. All I’ve tried to do this weekend is keep you all safe. I’ve risked my life running into buildings because I’ve thought you were in danger. I should’ve swum to the mainland this morning and left you to deal with it.” He takes a calming breath through his nose. “I lost Liam in the haunted house. When he didn’t answer me, I assumed he was coming back here. I’ve been working my way back since. Okay?”
Reeve looks at the rest of us as he’s giving us the explanation. He doesn’t care what Ava thinks about him, but he doesn’t want us to think that he’s a killer. Despite doubting him at times, I’ve always come back to what I feel. Reeve is a good person.
“That’s a great story,” Ava mutters.
“What’s up with her?” Reeve asks, tilting his head toward Ava.
Gibson rolls his eyes. “Ignore her, man. We need to get outside and get this fire started. Keep trying Malcolm on the radio, Reeve. He’s alive until we find a body.”
“Would he really hide while we’re out here dying?” I ask.
Reeve lifts my chin and for a second, I drown in his eyes.
This is not the time for a crush.
Ignore the crush!
“We’re not going to die,” he says.
“I bet Will, Kenna, James, and Camilla thought that too,” Harper says.
“Can we please stop arguing? We have what we need, so let’s move out,” Gibson says.
When we get outside the hotel, it’s like hours have passed. The sun is hidden behind a thick layer of snow-white cloud. There’s no rain forecast, so nothing should interfere with visibility and our fire.
Reeve lets us through the gate separating the hotel and the park.
“Where’s Robert?” I whisper.
Slamming the gate behind us, he replies, “I don’t care. I’ve had enough of this. The bastard is going down. Now.”
Okay, I care where Robert is.
I side-eye him and notice that Harper is doing the same. From the suspicion painted all over her face, I can tell that she’s thinking the same thing. Reeve is angry.
As we get closer to the entrance, I can smell the sea. It’s oddly comforting, and I hope it’s a good sign.
Gibson and Liam walk ahead like they’re on a mission. They look like guys in action movies when they’re walking away from explosions. We’re about to go start one.
Reeve hangs back with me, frowning.
“You all right?” I ask.
“Not sure. Something’s off. I’ve felt it all day, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“In addition to the murder spree that’s going on?”
He lets out a wry chuckle. “Yes, in addition to the murder. Don’t you feel it? We’ve only ever seen one of them, masked. Never Robert and Camilla together.”
“I have.”
“When he killed her. Was she dressed in black, then?”
Huh, good point. “Yeah, but it was the same black pantsuit that she was wearing this morning. If she was the one in the ski mask and cargos, she changed after.”
“How have we not seen Robert more?”
“He doesn’t want us to. I’d be sneaky if I was on a killing spree too.”
He laughs again but he’s not amused. There’s not a lot to find funny here. “Yeah, I guess.”
“He’s alone now. Maybe he’ll trip up.”
“Camilla had a cool head. Before Robert started killing, anyway,” he says. “This guy doesn’t. You could be right, but do we really want him to go off the deep end?”
The skin on my forearms prickles with goose bumps. The thought of that happening makes my blood run ice cold. I don’t want this guy to be any angrier than he already is. If we worry about that too much, we’ll only end up dead.
“What we want and what we’re going to get…” I trail off as we reach the booths by the entrance to the park. The steps leading to the jetty are just beyond that.
Gibson puts the bag on the ground and we each grab a liquor bottle.
The wooden booths have carved gargoyles and the name of the island set into them. Someone spent a lot of hours crafting this and we’re just going to burn it to the ground.
A pinch of guilt works its way into my head, but I shake it off.
This is necessary.
I’ll burn down whatever I have to in order to get off this island. I can’t spend another day here.
I unscrew the cap on the vodka, hold the bottle up, and pour it inside the first booth. The liquid splashes onto the floor. I shake it to cover as much of the walls as possible.
“This feels so wrong,” Harper says, following my lead.
Her words don’t quite match her actions, she’s flicking the bottle all over the place with bright eyes. I get it: we’re about to take control here.
It’s like going to one of those plate-smashing places. Blaine went to one of those with some friends on the last day of high school.
My heart aches as I think about my brother. Everything I’m doing now is so I can get home to my family. My parents are never going to let me out again after this. To be fair, I don’t think I’ll ever want to go out again anyway.
“Stand back,” Liam says.
He and Gibson each hold up a lit match. I watch the little twin flames. With a flick of the wrist, they both chuck the matches into the booth.
A second later, orange flames rise and quickly take the first booth.
