by Dale Mayer
“Without your permission?”
“Exactly,” she said in a wry tone. “I admit I wasn’t happy when I saw him there at the boat. They kept telling me that he hadn’t cheated on me. But I saw Scott with that woman. I’d told him—and Brenda—that a friend of mine had seen him with her, had seen them going into our apartment in the middle of a workday, but it was me who saw them. I just didn’t want to say it.”
“Usually the truth works out better in these instances.”
“There’s no ‘in these instances,’” she said. “How the hell does anybody know how to respond when something like that happens?”
“Good point,” he said.
“It’s not easy to deal with relationships. At least, not for me.”
“No, it’s not. And, in a case like this,” he said, “there’s absolutely no way to practice how you’ll respond.”
“Betrayal always sucks,” she said.
“It does,” he said, “but don’t let it get you down.”
“Well, if it wasn’t for him, maybe we wouldn’t be here.”
“Do you think so?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “because, when you think about it, I wouldn’t have been on that boat if I’d known he’d be there. And, if he hadn’t been there, maybe we wouldn’t have gone out quite so far. He’s the one who urged us out into deeper waters. He wanted a great sailing day.”
“So are you thinking that maybe he wanted this to happen? Maybe planned it?”
“No, I can’t say that,” she said, “but I don’t know.” She rubbed her face with both hands, confused. “Don’t worry about what I’m saying. I’m sure it’s just the trauma of everything getting to me.”
“Maybe. Maybe not,” he said. “We’ll keep it in the back of our minds anyway.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m sure he would deny it all.”
“Yes, I’m sure he would too, so it depends on whether anybody else knows or saw him.”
“That would mean Greg. And I highly doubt he would say anything about Scott because they’ve been best buddies forever.”
“So, for now, maybe we should just deal with the problems we have at hand. It seems like we have enough of those already.”
“I agree,” she said. “Not the least of which is that Brenda really needs medical attention.”
He glanced around and said, “Well, I need to take a look at her first.”
“Sure,” she said. “I can walk over there, but I don’t know how to get you there without being seen.”
“I’ll risk it,” he said, “because it has to happen sometime.” He walked up along the edge of the cliff and around to the corner. Then, at the last bit, he ran around until he was at the center of the double doors. He stepped inside and crouched beside Brenda.
Sandrine was at his side instantly. “She’s been like this since I woke up. Sometimes sleeping, sometimes delirious.”
“Give me the symptoms,” he said.
She gave him the little bit she knew and said, “I don’t know how badly hurt she is.”
“That sounds like a concussion, but the injury itself doesn’t look too bad. She may sleep this off and wake up feeling pretty decent.”
“I hope so,” she said, “because this really sucks.”
“I know,” he said. “Let’s just stay positive.”
“Well, I was feeling positive until somebody cut your damn rope,” she said. “After that, I didn’t feel very positive anymore.”
“I have complete faith in Lennox,” he said. “It would take a lot for somebody to take him down.”
“Not really,” she said. “Bullets would do that just fine.”
He looked at her, his gaze narrowed. “Did you see a gun on that man?”
She looked up at him in surprise. “Didn’t I say so?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Oh, crap,” she said. “He’s dressed like a soldier and had a handgun on his hip.”
“Shit,” he said. Pulling out his phone, he sent Lennox a message, but, as he looked at the rock walls all around him, he knew his call or text wouldn’t go through. “I wish I had known that before,” he said.
“Yeah,” she said. “I do too. I’m sorry. What about your friend? Will that be a problem?”
“No,” he said. “It is what it is. It would take an awful lot to knock Lennox off his feet permanently.”
She swore softly. “So we’ll just sit here and wait?”
“Have you tried to get around at the edge of the beach?”
“No,” she said. “I tried to go both ways down the beach but was cut off by the waves and rocks. Then I climbed some oddly natural-looking stairs in the cliff, but I didn’t want to go too far and to leave Brenda for too long.”
“Good point,” he said. “Are you okay to stay here while I explore?”
She sucked in her breath but quickly realized they really had no options. “Fine,” she said, “but please come back.”
“I will,” he said. “I promise.”
She winced at that and asked, “What if that guy comes back here?”
“You stay right here beside your friend. If he asks if you saw anybody, just say that I fell and then got up, holding my head and ran.”
“Ran where?”
He looked around, then pointed at the ocean and said, “Right into the water.”
“He won’t believe me.”
“Maybe not, but he’ll head in that direction.”
She shrugged and said, “If you think so.”
“Well, if you come up with a better idea,” he said with a laugh, “you go for it.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, that won’t be so easy. Please, just be careful.”
He gave her a quick smile and said, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Keane took off toward the beach. He had tried not to let her see it, but he was definitely worried about Lennox. Whoever that asshole was who cut Keane’s rope had never intended for Keane to get back up onto the top ledge. Now Keane had other gear with him, but it still wouldn’t be easy to get back up to where he was. That’s why the rope was cut in the first place.
As he made his way along the rocky edge down to the small beach, he took a look around. From where he stood, he saw absolutely nothing but the gray wet and drying stone rock face. It was a bizarre little inlet here, but perfect for the two women to be safe. The fact that this guy had delivered food meant that he hadn’t wanted to kill them. At least not yet. And he had released them from their little prison.
Keane had taken a good look at the lock on it too, and it would have been hard for a woman to get out of there. A strong man probably could break apart the wood and gotten out that way, but the women were already weak from their ordeal and were small to begin with. Plus, with one injured, the other one was unlikely to leave. Sandrine probably wasn’t thinking about shattering a wooden door either.
He, on the other hand, could feel his temper rising, and it would explode if he found out anybody had hurt Lennox. They’d been good buddies for a long time, but this was a very strange scenario. Lennox also had the equipment to get a message out, and that message was imperative at present. Keane checked if his phone had service now that he’d moved, but he had no bars. He had equipment back at the Zodiac to set up offshore communication to the coast guard, but he had to get there first.
When coming on a trip like this, he had to minimize the amount of gear he would carry because every pound would impact how far he could go each day. As it was right now, Keane and Lennox had made the decision to leave almost everything with the Zodiac. But, if this asshole got there first, he could completely demolish everything they had and leave them stranded too.
That wasn’t a big concern for Keane, as several people already knew where he was, and, if he didn’t report in, the coast guard would send out another team. His immediate concern was flushing this guy out, taking him down and finding Lennox.
Keane stood at the edge of the rock, but the waves l
apped up along the sheer sides, giving him no break to walk around. He didn’t give a shit about getting wet, but if it was sheer rock all the way on the other side too, then returning to where the Zodiac was beached would be a whole different story. He also would have to strip down and leave whatever gear he had here. Also not a good idea. He found the stairs that Sandrine had mentioned, and, as he crept his way up, he found it interesting that the stairs were mostly naturally hewn. Maybe somebody had come along with an ax and had chipped off a bit more to make it a little more stable, but these were natural for the most part.
When he came to where it widened, he slid along the side and stepped out to where he could see the lower platform. And it was completely empty. Was this where the asshole had been when he had cut Keane’s rope? As Keane headed to the side, he realized this part didn’t drop over to the edge; it just came up against more rock.
He searched the area but found nothing that worried him. He kept on moving toward the Zodiac, hoping to find a way to traverse the uneven cliffside to get where he needed to go. His only other option was to backtrack down the stairs, then strip down and swim around to the Zodiac. The problem with that was a storm was out there right now, with the potential for another to pop up at any time during the day. The waves bashing up against the cliff were strong and would have no problem picking him up and tossing him against the rocks over and over again. He could handle a few blows, but, at some point in time, his body would wear down, and the damage would be too severe. He needed to find another way around if he could.
This guy obviously knew his way around the island, so it would just take a little more time. Keane tapped the comm device he kept in his ear but got no answer from Lennox. Keane didn’t let himself get too worried about that because the harsh rocky conditions made technical communication difficult in the best of times. He kept walking through the trees all along the edge of the cliff, looking for another way down, sure there must be another pathway. Ten minutes later he almost missed it.
He thought he caught a flash of light as he walked past. Stopping, he slowly backtracked, looking carefully, and saw just a cut into the rock. He had to shift sideways in order to make his way through. The flash of light he’d seen was from a bit of shiny black rock at just the right angle to make a reflection.
He crept around the corner to see the island opened up and another small plateau rose before him. Surprised and delighted, he searched the area first, then made his way up on top and over to the edge. From there he could see a series of slopes that led down toward where the Zodiac was. What bothered him was that he saw no sign of Lennox. While still up top, Keane tried calling Lennox, texting him and using the comm radio, but got nothing in response. Keane frowned and made his way slowly and carefully down to the Zodiac, watching the storm out on the ocean, hoping it stayed away for a little bit longer.
When he got to the Zodiac, he swore. The tubes had been completely deflated. Cut with a knife so they could never be repaired. He was as stuck as the women were, and that was a game-changer. Pissed, Keane checked his gear under the pontoons. Expecting to find it gone, he realized that whoever had damaged the Zodiac hadn’t seen the large bag underneath. He pulled it out and quickly set up the offshore communication and contacted the coast guard.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t get through because of the static. He tried several different methods and still got no connection.
Finally, he sent a Morse code message, repeating it several times before hoisting the bag on his back like a backpack, looking around for any sign that Lennox had been here. But there were no new tracks. Which meant he hadn’t made it this far. Keane backtracked the way they had gone up in order to see if he could trace his buddy. Keane headed up the original pathway they had taken, grunting with the extra weight on his back, but not daring to lose it. He also had a handgun pocketed close enough that he could access it if needed.
When he got to the cliff where his rope had been secured earlier, he was tired, worn out and knew that hours had passed. Sandrine had to be completely terrified that he hadn’t returned yet. He stood at the top of the cliff and stared down.
He could see the little shelter and the door partially open. His grapple hook was still where he’d left it but with no rope attached because, of course, it had dropped to the bottom when it was cut. He picked up the grapple hook and hung on to it. From here he followed Lennox’s tracks back. No sign of him so far. It took another twenty minutes before Keane found his friend, unconscious and lying under some brush. Keane quickly checked Lennox’s wound to see a bullet hole high in his shoulder.
Swearing, Keane unpacked his first aid kit, and, keeping his handgun close by, he quickly patched up his buddy. Then he found a head wound. Now he had two seriously injured people, both on separate levels geographically on the island, both in danger of more trauma from being moved. And no way to get immediate help. He checked out the head wound the best he could and tried to wake up Lennox. “Hey, buddy. Can you wake up?”
Lennox murmured.
“More than that please. I need you awake.”
Lennox opened his eyes and stared at him. Then they narrowed, and he whispered, “Please tell me that you got that bastard.”
“Not only did I not get him,” he said, “I haven’t seen him. He cut my rope when I was climbing down, and he must have taken you out shortly thereafter.”
Lennox looked confused, but then it seemed as if the tumblers clicked into place, and he whispered, “You survived the drop?”
“Yeah. Once I realized somebody was up there, I scrambled down as fast as I could,” he said. “I still fell about ten or twelve feet, but I’m fine. He dropped a bunch of rocks down after me too.”
“Bastard.”
“It’s been hours since you left me though,” he said. “I found the two women. One’s got a head wound, and so do you, by the way,” he said.
Lennox reached up and touched his head, then shrugged and said, “I can’t really feel much. Always been a bit of a hard head when it comes to this stuff.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re injured and that we’ve got a wild card on the loose up here.”
“We need to get help,” Lennox said.
“That’s not happening,” Keane said. “He killed the Zodiac tubes.”
“Jesus,” he said. “What a pain in the ass. Now what?”
“I want to get you down where the women are,” he said. “I’ve got the bag of gear we had stowed under the Zodiac. He didn’t find that.”
“Good,” he said. “That at least has the blankets, a few emergency rations and the sat phone gear.”
“Exactly. Can you stand up?”
Immediately Lennox tried to sit up, but he put his weight on his bad shoulder and collapsed back down again. “Son of a bitch,” he said. “What’s wrong with my shoulder?”
“He shot you,” Keane said briefly. “Through and through. In the fatty part of your shoulder.”
“You mean, the muscle in my shoulder,” Lennox corrected.
“Dude, whatever,” he said with a grin. “Use your other arm and see if you can get back up again.” Moments later, with Lennox standing, albeit a little shakily, Keane studied the rest of his friend and told him to take a couple steps.
He took several shaky steps and moved his legs around a bit, saying, “I could use some food and water, but I’m not doing too bad.”
Keane handed him a protein bar and said, “We don’t have much, so rations are definitely at a premium.”
Lennox nodded and ate the bar slowly. “The shoulder’s a bitch though,” he said. “Everything here we’ll need ropes for.”
“Yeah, the shoulder’ll hurt, but it doesn’t look like the bullet did any real damage.”
“So he hit me over the head and shot me?”
“I think he probably shot you, then came over and smacked you one for good measure. You went down, and he left you there. Or maybe he hit you from behind, then shot you and left, thinking he’d killed y
ou.”
“Seems a funny place to go down, with the bushes and all.”
“He may have dragged you out of sight, so I couldn’t find you,” Keane said.
“Makes sense. So is this little asshole still here on the island, do you think?”
“I don’t know,” Keane said. “I haven’t found him yet.”
“Well, that seems like the first order of business.”
“The first order of business is to get you down with the women,” Keane said. “I can’t keep running back and forth between two places.”
“Right, but I’m not that badly injured,” Lenox said, flexing his muscles and rotating his shoulder gently.
“Good,” Keane said cheerfully. “Because you know I can’t nursemaid you.”
Lennox snorted. “The day I need a nursemaid—”
“I know. I know,” he said. “Let’s get you down to where the other two are.”
It took twice as long, since they had to go a little slower to baby his shoulder and head and because they were constantly looking for whoever had shot him. “Do you even know if the women are still okay?”
“No. Not yet,” Keane said. “I hope they are though.”
“This guy thinks he’s just gonna pick us off, right?”
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “When you think about it, the whole thing is just weird.” Keane had to lead Lennox back around the long and slow way that he had found. It took several hours, and it was late by the time they finally made their way to the beach. He stopped, waited for Lennox to catch up and then pointed out the double doors that were opened.
Lennox shook his head. “Who the hell would even build that?”
“And why?” Keane replied. “I didn’t get a chance to take much of a look inside. But we’ll do that now.”
“And how do you know she’s even there?”
“The only way to know,” he said, “is to walk over there and hope the asshole isn’t waiting inside for us.”
