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“No,” Luke said. “We will get off, but it may take a couple of days.”
Phoebe cleared her throat. “How, exactly, are we going to get off?”
“My friends know we are here on Night Island,” Talia said quickly. “If we don’t contact them in the next couple of days they will charter a boat and come looking for us.”
“I doubt we’ll have to wait for them,” Luke said. “We’re not sitting on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific. We’re in the San Juans. There are boats coming and going within visual range every day. All we have to do is get the attention of one of them.”
“I knew that,” Talia muttered.
“Of course you did,” Luke said. “You’ve just been a little stressed lately. Sometimes it’s hard to focus on the obvious when you’re under pressure.”
He did not actually pat her on the top of her head, but he did not need to. The pat was there in his voice and the quick flash of amusement was in his eyes. Luke humor.
Talia narrowed her eyes. “Careful. You’re on thin ice, pal.”
“I’ll remember that,” he said.
Phoebe frowned. “How are we going to signal a passing boat?”
“With a fire,” Luke said. “No one ever ignores fire.”
Talia looked at the fireplace. “There isn’t a lot of wood left, and those plants out in the gardens don’t look like they will burn well.”
“The cabins are old,” Luke said. “They’ll go up like matchsticks. There are ten of them, so we’ve got ten chances to hail a passing vessel. But before we start signaling for rescue I want to take a look around the cabins that Gill and the Venners used. We need as much information as we can get.”
“Good idea,” Talia said. “Gill had to work quickly when he decided to shut down his project. He may have left some evidence behind.”
“You two stay here,” Luke said. He took the gun out of his jacket and handed it to Talia. “I won’t be gone long, but if you get nervous, just fire a shot.”
“Okay.” She took the weapon, surprised at how heavy it felt in her hands. “While you’re gone I’ll see what’s left in the way of good food.”
Luke startled her with a quick grin. “Have I ever told you that I like your priorities?”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Luke stood inthe doorway and opened his senses to the atmosphere inside Nathan Gill’s cabin. His intuition whispered that there was nothing useful to be found there, but old training habits kicked in, reminding him he had to take a look.
It didn’t take long to confirm his initial assumption. Gill might as well have been a ghost. He had been prepared to leave in a hurry and he had left nothing of himself behind. The closets and drawers were empty. The bathroom had been cleaned out. The bed was neatly made.
Luke went outside and took the path through the gardens that led to the Venner cabin. When he opened the unlocked door two things became clear. The first was that Clive Venner’s body was gone. It was unlikely that it had been taken back to the mainland for burial. Gill had probably dumped it. There were so many options—the labyrinth gardens; the conservatory; the deep, cold water of the Sound.
The second thing that was obvious was that Octavia had notmade it off the island. Her clothes were still in the closet. A suitcase was open on the bed, but there was only a handful of items inside.
Luke went out onto the front steps, closed the door, and started toward cabin eight, the one he and Talia had used. On his way through the gardens he tried to decide if he should ask Talia to find the Venners’ bodies. He knew she would do it if he told her it was important, but it would be hard on her and she had been through a lot lately. He remembered what she had said about the owner of the forensics investigation agency she consulted for in Seattle.Sometimes I catch him looking at me as if I’m a member of the Addams family.
“I don’t think you’re Wednesday Addams,” Luke said under his breath. And, really, what was the point of locating the dead couple? The Venners had been pawns for Gill. Alive they probably could have provided some useful information—that was why they had been killed—but there was little to be learned from their bodies.
No, Luke decided, he would not put Talia through the ordeal of finding two more dead people.
He realized he was suddenly desperate to make sure she did not classify him in the same category as the Seattle forensics investigator. He assured himself he wasn’t using her. She had a vested interest in the outcome of the investigation here on Night Island.
Yes, they had started out as allies—yes, they had been using each other back at the start—but things were different now. The sex had crystallized his new reality. His life had changed in ways he was only beginning to comprehend—because of Talia.
He opened the front door of cabin eight and moved inside. His attention went straight to the still-tumbled bed. Memories of yesterday morning hit him in a wave of heat. He forced himself to focus.Talia said he was good at compartmentalizing. Time to do some of that.
The cabin had been searched. Gill had evidently taken a look around, but he hadn’t spent much time on the business, probably because he hadn’t expected to find anything useful. He had been right. The important things were safely stowed in the day pack.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
