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“No luck, I assume,” Marcella said, sounding resigned.
“Afraid not,” Luke said. “It was a long shot.”
“We got more bad news while you were out,” Jasper Draper grumbled. “The ferry was canceled. There’s no escape from Night Island today.”
Oliver Skinner looked up from the game of solitaire he was playing on the card table. “To prove that things can always get worse, we were informed there’s a good chance the ferry won’t be operating tomorrow, either. The storm system, we’re told, will persist for a while. The termatmospheric riverwas used.”
“I’m not surprised the ferry isn’t running,” Luke said.
Talia walked across the room and handed him the mug of coffee she had just poured. “This is probably a good opportunity for all of us to practice positive thinking.”
“Fuck positive thinking,” Marcella said. She got up to select a volume from the small bookcase on the far side of the lobby. “Every book here is about the power of mindfulness, or yoga, or meditation, or herbal remedies. I’d kill for a good murder mystery.”
“We’ve already got a dead body cooling in one of the cabins,” Oliver said. “Don’t know about you, but one’s enough, as far as I’m concerned.”
Marcella winced. “You’re right. Poor choice of words on my part.” She selected a book and went back to her chair.
Luke glanced around. “Speaking of the power of positive thinking, where’s our local guru?”
“He and Chef Octavia are in the office,” Talia said. “Morning meditation was canceled along with the ferry.”
Luke’s expression sharpened. “Where did Gill disappear to?”
“He probably went back to his cabin to meditate on the power of nature,” Oliver said. “You know, like you were supposedly doing. Maybe he’s got a secret cell phone connection.”
Luke looked at Talia. “How long ago did he leave?”
“About fifteen minutes ago.” Talia gestured toward the dining room. “The eggs Florentine are gone, but there is still some of the polenta, feta cheese, and eggs casserole left. The feta is made from real sheep’s milk, by the way. It’s not the cow version.”
“I take it that’s a good thing?”
“Yep. Also, you’re in luck, because I saved a croissant for you.”
“Thanks,” Luke said. He picked up a plate and helped himself to the last of the polenta casserole. He added the croissant and a slab of butter and sat down at a table.
Talia refilled her coffee and took a chair across from him. She reminded herself that the guests scattered around the lobby could overhear whatever she said. “When you’re finished I thought we could take one of the board games back to the cabin and kill time until lunch.”
“Sure,” Luke said, forking up a large bite of the polenta dish. “Sounds like a plan.”
“The excitement never ends here on Night Island,” Jasper Draper sniped from the other room. “Personally, I think I’ll take a bottle of whiskey back to my cabin and get drunk.”
The door of the office slammed open. Clive Venner’s angry voice boomed the length of the hall.
“One more fucking month,” he raged. “That’s all. You can damn well stick around for four more weeks. We signed a contract, remember? Focus on the money, you stupid bitch. It’s the score of a lifetime for both of us. Just one more month.”
Heavy footsteps thudded on the floorboards. A moment later the rear door of the lodge opened and slammed shut.
Talia realized she and Luke were not the only ones staring at the entrance of the hallway. The other guests were equally riveted.
“I guess that does it for positivity practice today,” Marcella said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Keever’s body disappeared?”Talia stared at Luke, stunned. “Why would anyone move it?”
There had been a brief lull in the storm after Luke finished breakfast. They had used the opportunity to grab a board game and make it back to her cabin before the next squall line struck.
The cloud cover seemed darker than ever. She could have sworn that the plants in the gardens had grown taller, the leaves more massive, in the past few hours. The vines growing up the walls of the cabin were starting to obscure the windows, cutting off a lot of what little light was available. Claustrophobia was gnawing at the edge of her awareness.
