Sage shoved her hair out of her face and darted a glance toward the sky. Clouds darkened on the horizon. The promised rain in the forecast was finally making good on its threat.
I handed her the phone. “She’d betterbe at the spa.”
Sage snorted. “I wish she was getting a couples massage next to the hot cabana boy, but Valerie never made it back from her hike this morning.”
“Hike?” The wrench in my stomach clawed its way up into my chest. “It’s been over six hours.”
“I know.” Sage pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ve been texting her, but she must not have service out there. I’m about to tell resort security.”
“Where did she go?”
But even as I asked, I knew. That crudely drawn map she’d shown me yesterday on a cocktail napkin flashed in my mind. The so-called scenic trail wasn’t so scenic, considering every path through the jungle on this island was best traveled with an experienced guide.
But she wasn’t with a guide. And now the sun was vanishing behind angry clouds, and the woman who took pleasure in driving me off a cliff was somewhere out in the jungle, probably hanging off the ledge of one.
“Report her missing,” I said, already reaching for a couple of water bottles sitting on the bar. “I’m going after her.”
“Grant, it’s not safe,” Sage said, casting another frown toward the sky. “I can hold off the storm for a little while, but it’s too strong. My magic will only buy you time.”
My pulse kicked hard. “Then I’d better take a jacket.”
“Take mine.” The bartender appeared, arm slipping from around the lifeguard’s shoulders as he ducked behind the bar. He grabbed a raincoat and tossed it to me. “She asked me about the wishing waterfall yesterday. It’s a two-hour hike inland. No cell service and rough terrain near the falls.”
I caught the raincoat and shoved my arms through the sleeves, my chest tightening until it hurt. This shouldn’tmatter so much. Valerie was a grown woman, fully capable of ruining her own life without my help.
“You have directions?”
He nodded, scribbling a more detailed map on a cocktail napkin. It was a cruel echo of the one Valerie had shown me yesterday. Did the woman even know how to draw a tree?
“This is the path she likely took. But there are a lot of crisscrossing trails. It’s easy to get turned around. If she made it to the waterfall, she’ll end up closer to Sacred Spell.That’s the couples resort on the far side of the island. You should head there. They’ve been running shuttles between the two resorts this week for some overflow wedding guests staying here. Just follow the signs. It’ll get you back to civilization faster than doubling back through the jungle.”
“Thanks for the tip. Anything else I should know? You guys don’t have leopards out there, right?”
The bartender scratched the back of his neck. “They don’t like movement.”
A prickle raced down my spine. “What, leopards?”
“Yeah. Stay calm. And whatever you do, don’t run.”
I scoffed, more for my benefit than his. “I’ll be the meal that doesn’t move. A leopard’s dream.”
I shook my head, pocketed the napkin map, and stalked toward the trailhead. If a giant cat didn’t get her, and she wasn’t hanging off a ledge, it would be a miracle.
The sky had darkened, thunder rumbling as if the island itself was warning me to turn back. The air smelled sharp and metallic, the way it always does before a storm hits.
I shoved through the first line of brush, following the narrow strip of dirt into the jungle. It felt like stepping into another world, the endless stretch of beach gone, the crashingwaves replaced by singing insects. My shoes sank into the spongy ground, mud splattering up my legs instead of warm sand sifting between my toes.
She’d been gone for six hours. Six. That number kept circling in my head—the worst number in the world. No, that would be any number after six if she wasn’t found. Guilt ate like acid in my stomach lining. I’d moped around all morning, stewing and plotting revenge, and now here I was, risking dengue fever (did they have that here? No way to check, no cell service) and big-cat mauling, because the idea of her lying somewhere out here, hurt and scared, wasn’t something I could sit with.
A drop of rain splattered against my cheek, and another rolled down the back of my neck. The storm was finally here; the boom of thunder cracking overhead.
And just like that, I was back there—half-drunk, passed out on a stranger’s couch, with the smell of stale beer in my nose. Someone’s laughter echoed from the other room. The buzz in my head barely dulled when my phone rang.
Everything went still as I stared at the glowing screen. My grandfather’s number. He never called. And no one ever called this late with anything but bad news.
His voice on the other end said Matt’s name, and the roar in my ears drowned out the rest. My cousin—my opposite in every way, and still, somehow, my brother—was gone. A split second, and his life had just ended.
I hadn’t been there. If he'd needed me… if I could have done something. The regret had swallowed me whole.
