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Mark’s watching me. Someone taps on the door. He talks in a low voice, buying me time.
“Keep her at The Grove. Paulson and Gentian can keep her safe,” I plead. I’m not above begging. Not when it comes to Lindsay.
“That’s not the plan.”
“Then your plan will kill her, Harry.”
“Says the man who sliced her brake lines and threatened and -- ”
“You know this is all too convenient, Harry. I didn’t do any of that. You’re smarter than this. Don’t believe their bullshit.”
“Besides, it’s too late,” he says. My heart squeezes.
“What?”
Mark walks back to me, watching closely.
“She’s already on her way to the Island.”
“Does she know that?”
Silence.
“Fuck, Harry. You can’t -- ”
“Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do. Paulson just left on the helicopter with her.”
My heart stops. Just stops, like a deer walking calmly through a dewy dawn, ears perked by a sudden interruption, a pending doom.
I stare at Mark, half-listening, blood starting to boil, mind turning into a tornado. “What?”
“You heard me. Paulson said this was the best approach, so he’s escorting her personally. Anya arranged it all.”
“Say that again.” I can hear my voice drop like a drawbridge.
Mark’s brow furrows and he mouths the word, What?
I’m staring at Mark. He’s staring back.
“Anya arranged for Mark Paulson to transport Lindsay back to the...coffee plantation,” he says, annoyed. “Look, I don’t have time for -- ”
“That’s impossible, Harry,” I grind out.
“What are you talking about?” His reply is impatient. He’s done with me. I’m a bother and if I don’t get him to realize what he’s doing, more than one person is about to die.
Or worse.
“There’s no way Mark Paulson just got on that helicopter to escort Lindsay to the Island.”
Mark’s mouth opens with shock, then snaps shut.
“I talked to him on a cleared, secure line. Anya arranged it. Hell, I just watched them from across the grounds, climbing aboard the chopper. Don’t tell me it’s impossible.”
“Harry, you just sent her to her death,” I shout. I’m shaking uncontrollably, and I can’t look at Mark. Who do I trust? Mark made me leave The Grove last night, telling me it was for everyone’s good, that I needed to let the dust settle on all the media craziness. Then he hinted I should go to Jane’s apartment. Gave me her address. Was that all a lie?
My friends from high school turned on Lindsay and me four years ago.
Is Mark not what he seems, too?
