Page 48 of Dearly Departed

I go down the list one by one. After Cancer, a voice breaks through.

“—island?”

“Yes, I’m on the island,” I answer. “Our plan went down here. The pilot is trying to find us. To kill us, I mean. Not to save us. I don’t know what the name of the island is.” Phone. I need my phone. I yank it out of my bag, frantic. It takes forever for it to turn on. “Shit. I still don’t have any service. I don’t know where we are, but the radio was here. And we have to go home. Did you hear me? Are you still there?”

No answer.

No answer.

No answer.

“That’s better than nothing. It’s so much better than nothing.”

I move on to Leo.

There are few more quiet voices that must be too far away.

I go through the entire list, then go through it again, then hold the walkie-talkie and wait for ten minutes, as per our plan.

Nobody answers.

Tired, disappointed tears fall out of my eyes, but this isn’t a loss. I pack the radio stuff into the case and the case into my bag. We can try again tomorrow.

It’s well after sunrise, and I need to get back.

I find southwest on the compass and start walking.

Downhill is easier, although my feet slip on a couple of the boulders. It’s so quiet. The insects hum like they’re on vacation. All that rain, and it’s just gone.

I can’t see the ocean, but I can hear it.

I can’t see the cabin, but the gunshot?

I hear the crack, and the strangled scream.

“No,” I shout through the echoes. “No, no, no.”

I only know of one gun on this island. I only know of one man who wants to use it, and I only know of one man he wants to kill.

I run without thinking. I run without breathing. I run so fast that when Raymond Harris steps out into the path, I can’t stop.

He grunts when I collide with him, but his arms lock around me like a cage, and they won’t let go. I don’t know what I scream at him. I only stop because he leans back and slaps me across the face.

“That’s a waste of energy,” he scolds. “Save it for the walk.”

“I’m not going with you.”

“There’s nowhere else for you to go.” Because he killed Jacob. Because he just shot Jacob and killed him. That’s why he’s so sure. He found the cabin and he killed my husband Jacob was only there alone because I left him. “Come on. I don’t have all day.”

14

JACOB

The gunshot startles me out of a dream. The scream that comes afterward guarantees I won’t sleep until Catherine’s back.

I don’t know that I’ve fallen asleep until the crack echoes through the clearing. It’s a punch to the chest. I sit bolt upright in the chair by the window, adrenaline hitting like a lightning strike.

She’s not there.