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She takes three steps and collapses in a heap. I jolt, as if from a stupor.
Sadie is there. Right there. Collapsed from pain and exhaustion and God knows what else, and I’m just standing here watching.
I run from the laundry room. In the hall, I stop short, my bare feet squeaking on the polished hardwood.
Voices sound overhead. Jayla and Madison upstairs, down by Madison’s bedroom. I pause for two seconds. Then I veer into my office on the way to the back door. I grab a pen and stickie pad from the desktop. As I run to the door, I write “Sadie is outside. Getting her. Stay in here!”
I slap the stickie note on the patio door. Then I set the alarm to rearm once I’m out. I yank on my drenched sneakers, open the door, dash through, and lock it behind me.
As I race across the patio, a voice whispers that it would only have taken a shout to bring Jayla and Madison. Less time than it took to write a note.
I can tell myself I didn’t have time to explain, but the truth is that I don’t want Madison out here with Sadie until I know it’s safe. I am not being reckless. I am tipping the balance of risk from Madison to me.
I run over to where I saw Sadie.
She isn’t there.
I’m in the wrong place. All I saw was that she came out of the forest over here somewhere. The angle is different. She must be on the other side of that bistro set—
She’s not there, and once I’m standing in that spot, I see blood to my left, in the direction of the laundry-room window. More blood is smeared on the paving stones.
I turn, and it really seems like twilight here, in the gloom of the trees under a gunmetal-gray sky. I can’t see—
There! I catch a glimpse of Sadie’s white shirt, moving erratically into the forest.
I glance over my shoulder at the house.
I shouldn’t go far.
I should have brought Jayla. Insisted Madison stay inside and brought Jayla.
Oh, hell no. I’m not leaving Madison aloneanywhereon this island.
I look between the house and Sadie’s retreating form.
I can do this. Sadie’s lurching, barely mobile. No more running and climbing for her. I can catch up with her easily.
Should I? What if she attacks me again?
She’s barely moving, remember?
I remember her face, twisted with rage.
You promised to look after me. I gave you everything, and you made an oath, and you broke it. Youbrokethe pact.
I remember the feeling of her fingers digging in. I have bruises on my forearms from her grip. I have bruises on my back from hitting that tree. That wasn’t normal strength.
Make up your damned mind. Are you going after her or getting the others?
My feet are answering for me, have been since I saw Sadie’s retreating figure. I’m already at the edge of the forest. I can still see her lurching away. I take a deep breath… and then I run in after her.
TWENTY-TWO
I’ve lost Sadie.
I don’t know how the hell that’s possible. I had her in my sights, and then I stumbled over a fallen branch. It really was no more than a stumble, with a quick recovery, but when I looked up, she was gone.
I know she didn’t race off with a sudden burst of speed. She must have fallen. The damned forest is nearly night-black again, and I’m stumbling around without a flashlight, hoping to catch a glimpse of her white shirt.
