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7
CASS
The world moves around me as if I’m still underwater. Voices hit my ears as low murmurs, the clarity of the words lost to the ocean.
Because in my mind, I’m still there, staring at those big blue eyes, that fine, delicate hair, that familiar face. Doomed to meet the same fate as Robin.
“Cass.”
The voice is gentle but insistent, as if this isn’t the first time it’s said my name. My eyes take several blinks to come into focus, but when they do, I register Neil, bent down, looking at me with concern.
“Are you okay?”
I want to laugh. I’m the furthest thing from okay. I just stared death in the face for the second time in my life. And for the second time, I can’t fight the persistent thought that it was somehow my fault.
The message on my doorstep the other day. Someone on theisland figuring out who I am, just as another innocent girl dies. It can’t be a coincidence.
And then there’s the object I found next to Lucy’s body. The one I haven’t told anyone about yet. How could it have ended up down there?
A fleeting panic strikes me at the realization that I may have said all this out loud, but Neil just stands there, forehead scrunched.
“Okay,” he says, “I’ve got Tamar and Ariel set up at the restaurant for the time being, with orders to Sengphet to keep the free food and drinks coming. They seem like they’re hanging in there.”
Neil’s words still mean little to me, but for the first time, I register where I am. My back is pressed against something hard that feels like wood, my wet legs sticking to a cushion beneath me. I twist my head around, taking in the octagonal room. The teak walls are barely visible, nearly every inch covered by hanging masks and fins, with tanks, vests, and various tubes stacked precariously against them.
I’m sitting on the bench in the dive shop, but I have barely any memory of getting here.
“I just got off the phone with Frederic,” Doug interjects from behind the desk. “I figured it was better to call him before the police. He okayed Tamar and Ariel’s upgrade to the honeymoon suite and Daniel’s upgrade to the second-best ocean room. We can reimburse them for their full stay and dive package and Daniel’s medical expenses, of course.”
Neil nods, but I just continue to stare at them. They sound so normal. Like they’re checking items off a to-do list. I want to scream. But I don’t. I sit there quietly, staring.
“Frederic will be here tomorrow morning. He’s catching a flightfrom Bangkok tonight and then getting on the first ferry from Koh Samui. We just need to keep it together until then.” Doug waits for our response. When none comes, he picks up the phone again, evidently calling the police.
A steady stream of Thai flows from his mouth within seconds. My brain tries to grab hold of the syllables, but the words slip past—vowels my mouth has never been able to grasp, sounds that seem to originate far too deep in the throat for me to imitate.
As the door creaks open, I realize that my fingers are subconsciously stroking the scar that lies above my heart. With a jolt, I drop my hand as Brooke walks in, her face hesitant. “I just wanted to let you know that Daniel made it to the medical center.”
Neil places a hand on her shoulder to thank her, and when she turns to see me, an emotion I can’t quite grasp flashes across her face. Then she’s next to me, her arm on my shoulder. And for the first time since I saw Lucy, I feel some semblance of comfort.
“Oh, Cass. I’m so sorry.”
Her words prick at the backs of my eyes, and before I know it, the floodgates open, tears rushing down my cheeks. Through it all, Brooke sits there, her T-shirt growing damp with my tears, her hand never straying from the circular pattern it rubs into my back.
The next several hours pass in a blur. Logan and Greta arrive at the dive shop together, Logan rushing to my side, forcing Brooke from her comforting duty. I bury my head in his shoulder, inhaling his familiar scent. The smell of home. I listen as he tells me everything is going to be okay, and I try to believe him. But I know better.
At some point, the police come. At first, it’s difficult to cling to the passage of time. Everything seems to be happening all at once yet hours apart. But eventually, with Logan whispering calming sounds in my ears, things begin to acquire a sequence, and the world slowly adapts to normal.
“How about some air?” Logan asks eventually.
I nod silently, and he helps me up. My legs feel sturdier beneath me than I expected, and with Logan’s help, I make it the few steps to the door. The sun burns my retinas as we exit the shop, forcing me to blink several times. As the beach slowly comes into focus, it’s completely unfamiliar. Yellow caution tape is looped around the perimeter of the dive shop and a few dozen meters of sand. Onlookers have sidled up as close as the tape allows, cautioned by black-clad men I’ve never seen before.
As if on cue, all heads turn in the direction of the water, and a low murmur starts among the crowd, eventually growing into a din that seems to drape over the entire length of the beach.
“Maybe we should go back inside,” Logan says, nudging my arm toward the dive shop.
But I ignore him and turn in the direction where the crowd is looking. With a sharp inhale, I see a boat carrying three men—Doug in a dive shop–issued wetsuit, with two strangers dressed all in black—approach the beach. As they kill the engine and step out onto the sand, I can tell they aren’t alone. They start to pull an object in a large black bag out of the boat. They’re joined a few seconds later by more men dressed in black who are quick to cover the object, and I finally understand what it is.
Lucy’s body.
