The Next Best Thing

by Wiley Brooks

  Joey kissed Jessica awake. When she opened her eyes, he was there smiling down at her.

  “Good morning,” he said. “I have an idea that I want to talk with you about.”

  She sat up and he told her he thought they should leave on the first ferry back. They’d be in Kuala Besut by mid-afternoon. Then he told her why.

  “Listen, I think you were probably right,” he said. “I bet Mason went to the mainland to call the cop in Penang. They could be here by the afternoon. They’ll arrest me, Jess. I’m being framed. I just know it. You do to. I know you do.”

  “Running only makes you look guilty,” she answered.

  “This isn’t America. I could be convicted and hung before we know it.”

  Jessica was not all in, though. The doubt was written all over her face. Joey pressed on.

  Bob, he told her, would probably wait for Mason, but they shouldn’t tell him – or anyone, for that matter – that they were leaving. They should just abandon their stuff in the bungalow and leave.

  “Seriously? I don’t know, Joey. You know how that makes us look?”

  “Well, let’s not say anything for now. Let’s go eat breakfast. Who knows, maybe Mason is back. After breakfast, I’ll run to the jetty and get our ferry tickets. We can decide after I get back if we want to say anything.”

  One cabin over, Bob was awake and worried. It was highly unlikely that Mason had gone to the mainland. And he certainly hadn’t been out last night chasing a skirt. No, Mason would stay close to Joey. Bob was sure of that. It only left one real option. Joey had done something to Mason. He was most likely dead. It was a cold, sobering thought.

  Bob headed to the restaurant to find Umar. None of the other guests seemed to be up yet.

  “Good morning, Mr. Bob,” Umar said cheerfully. “What you want for breakfast?”

  “Just coffee for now, Umar. Listen, Mason’s still not back. You said you saw him head up the beach yesterday afternoon. What’s up there?”

  “D’Lagoon. People go there to snorkel. Snorkeling very good.”

  “Did Mason look like he was going to snorkel?”

  “No. He just walking. Maybe he take trail to other side of the island.”

  “There’s a trail up there?”

  “Yes. About fifteen-minute walk to trail. Trail go back into jungle, then becomes two trails.” He made a V with his fingers.

  “The trail forks?”

  “Yes. Right trail goes to D’Lagoon. Left trail crosses island. Trail not used, though. Much better trail there.” Umar pointed to where Bob had seen Joey approach from the day before.

  Bob had a sick feeling. He was all but certain now Joey had found a way to lure Mason to the trail and kill him. He was unsure what to do. That’s when he saw Joey and Jessica walking toward the restaurant for breakfast.

  “Hi Bob. Any sign of Mason?” Joey said, much more chipper than yesterday.

  “No. Still not here. What do you make of it?”

  “Beats me. Maybe he met someone.”

  Bob gave no reaction.

  “I’m sure he’ll come rolling in sometime today,” Joey added.

  He and Jessica sat in their usual seats and told Umar what they wanted. Bob decided he should eat something, so he ordered a couple scrambled eggs, toast and a plate of fruit. Umar refilled his coffee.

  Jessica was silent. In fact, she didn’t utter a word the entire time they were eating. Joey made comments from time to time, but even he stopped. Finally, Joey stood and Bob heard him tell her, “Listen, I’m going to go do that thing we discussed.” He turned and walked to the beach. He flagged a young man in a boat and headed south toward the jetty.

  As soon as Joey was on the boat, Bob moved to Jessica’s table.

  “We have to talk,” he said. “Did Mason tell you why he was here?”

  “Yes.”

  “How much did he tell you?”

  “All of it, I think.”

  “And…”

  “Joey says it’s not true.”

  “Wait, you told Joey? Did Mason tell you to do that?”

  “Mason said not to, but I’ve gotten to know Joey and I don’t see how he could possibly be the right guy. Then he and I talked about it yesterday and I know what probably happened.”

  She told him the story about the tailor and Joey being framed.

  “It all makes sense,” she said.

  “No, it doesn’t. Joey is lying to you. He’s never even been to America.”

  “Yes, he has. He spent most of his childhood there. That stuff about living at a church school in Melaka is crap.”

  “Jessica, let’s go look in Mason’s cabin. I’m sure he has a photo with him of Joey at the school when he was sixteen.”

  She stared at him a moment, then said. “Okay.”

  They got up and walked to Mason’s bungalow. Inside it only took Bob a moment to find Mason’s file. Stuck in the file was a blow-up photo of Joey, one of the Pastor and his wife, and a class photo. It was clearly taken in Malaysia. There were about a dozen kids in the picture, all but Joey looking 100 percent Malaysian. It was taken outside, and she could see a Malaysian sign in the background.

  She sat on Mason’s bed, staring at the picture. It was true. Joey was raised in Malaysia. Tears welled up in her eyes. Suddenly, she doubted everything he had told her. No, she was beyond just doubting him. In that moment, she realized Joey had killed those girls, had taken Bob’s daughter’s life.

  She looked up at him. Tears streaming down her face.

  “Where is Joey going?” Bob asked her.

  “To the jetty to get ferry tickets for the first ferry. He wants us to sneak away later this morning.”

  “Go put on some walking shoes and meet me back here. Quickly.”

  She left and Bob glanced around Mason’s cabin. He knew Mason would have a weapon somewhere and that he probably didn’t have time to grab it when he followed Joey up the beach. Bob was certain now that Joey had killed Mason. He had to find Mason’s gun before Joey got back.

  He looked first in Mason’s backpack, but nothing was there. He next checked the tiny bathroom. Not there either. There was a small closet area that Mason had hung a couple shirts and a pair of pants. Nothing. He was getting frustrated.

  Think, Bob told himself. Mason would want the gun where he could grab it quickly if he needed it. Near the bed, in all likelihood. He checked the mattress and discovered a Glock 17 with a clip in it and a second clip lying next to the weapon lodged between the mattress and the wall. He took the Glock and the extra clip. He pulled a big shirt from Mason’s closet and put it on. It hung baggily and covered his pockets. No one would be able to tell he was armed.

  He heard Jessica come back up the steps and joined her.

  “We’ve got to get moving. Umar saw Mason head up the beach a few minutes after Joey yesterday. The only thing up there is a trail that either goes to a place called D’Lagoon or across the island. Umar said no one uses that trail. Then, right after I got here, I saw Joey come from the other trail across the island just below the Turtle. We got to go find Mason before Joey gets back.”

  Bob and Jessica headed up the beach, just as Joey, then Mason had the day before.

  “Do you know where this trail is?” he asked as they neared the point.

  “I think so. We’re almost there. Joey and I went snorkeling up here yesterday with Mason. I remember seeing it.”

  A minute later, the trail entered the jungle to their left. Bob couldn’t tell where it went once into the jungle. The trail seemed to head toward a hill that rose at least one hundred feet from where they stood. They headed into the jungle.

  There was an eeriness about the jungle. It took Bob back to the war. There were all those sounds that Bob figured to be monkeys, birds, bats, millions of insects and even frogs. It can be disconcerting to go from the sound of the gentle surf to the symphony of the jungle in a mere hundred feet or so. But that’s how overwhelmingly dense jungle can be.

  Bob and
Jessica headed up the trail. Walking the path required looking down because of a thick undergrowth of roots. But looking down was also where they might see hints that Mason had come this way. You couldn’t focus just on the ground in front of you, though. This was the jungle and you didn’t want to stumble on to something that might hurt you.

  Most animals are not aggressive unless provoked. Bob remembered from his Vietnam days that he didn’t want to spook a giant monitor lizard. They were docile – until they weren’t. If they sink those razor-sharp teeth into you, you’re going to end up in bad shape. Same with monkeys. Who knew what other creatures might be nearby? He could certainly hear scurrying just out of sight. Probably the monitor lizards, he told himself.

  They were about ten minutes up the trail, just passed the fork and near what appeared to be the top of the hill. They crested it and Bob stopped. He saw signs of blood on the trail. He squatted and looked closely. He brushed aside leaves and saw the ground stained dark in about a three-foot circle. He knew from his days in Vietnam that it was blood – a lot of blood.

  “This isn’t good,” Bob said to Jessica. She knelt and as a surgical nurse immediately knew Bob was right.

  “Oh God. Where is he?” she said, standing to look around.

  “Mason!” Bob called out, but they both knew Mason wouldn’t be answering. Bob surveyed the jungle around them. He saw the flora squished and torn in a narrow path moving away from the trail. They peered into the jungle but didn’t see anything.

  “Wait here,” Bob said. “I’m going to see where this leads.”

  “I’m a nurse, Bob. There’s a chance he’s still alive. I need to be there.”

  They worked their way through the jungle vegetation about fifty feet off the trail and found Mason. His throat had been slashed just like the girls. The eyes in his lifeless body stared up at them.

  “Oh fuck,” Bob mumbled. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  Jessica started to sob, the enormity of everything crushing in on her.

  “Nothing we can do,” Bob said, answering her unasked question. “There are no police on this island. I say we get out of here and back to the mainland as soon as we can. We’ll call Bo – he’s the detective in Penang Mason was working with. He’ll take care of it.”

  At that moment, Joey seized Jessica from behind. His powerful left hand held his knife to her throat.

  “I’m sorry about this Jess,” Joey whispered into her ear. When I said I loved you, I meant it. I really did. But now you know the truth. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, Jess, but it’s not going to happen now, is it?”

  Bob couldn’t believe he didn’t hear or sense Joey sneaking up on them. He must have been returning from the jetty and saw them heading up the beach. He probably had the boat drop him at the D’Lagoon. They had been so focused on Mason and the jungle was, well, loud. They just tuned everything else out. He looked over at Joey holding Jessica. They were just four feet from him.

  She squirmed and he held the knife tighter against her throat. A small amount of blood started dripping down her shirt. She wasn’t crying. Her eyes were wide open and what he saw in them was anger more than fear.

  “You can’t do this, Joey,” Bob said, holding his hand up, palms facing toward Joey, before lowering them. “Put down the knife so we can talk.”

  Joey looked at Bob.

  “Come on, Joey. Let’s talk this out.”

  “I have nothing to say to you. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to do Jess. When I do, you’ll lunge at me. But I’m a lot younger and stronger than you. I’ll sink my knife into you. I’ll pull it out and do it over and over again. You’ll both die right here.”

  The look on Jessica’s face changed. The reality of the predicament she was in wiped away the anger so that only fear remained.

  “You don’t have to do this, Joey,” Bob said. As he spoke, he nonchalantly slid his right hand into his pants pocket and felt the cold metal of the Glock. “What do we both want? You want to get away somewhere where you won’t be found. I just want Jessica safe.”

  His hand encircled the pistol’s grip. His finger went into place. The Glock has no safety. If it is ready to fire, it would fire once he pulled the trigger. Bob had chambered a round and cocked it back in Mason’s cabin. Doing that had made him nervous, but he had figured it was worth the risk. It was a good call. The gun was ready, if he were.

  “Let’s call a truce, Joey,” Bob said as he stared not into Joey’s eyes, but Jessica’s. “If you agree to let her go, we can let you leave the island and find a good place to hide. Hell, I’ll even give you money. I’m a rich guy, you know. How about a million bucks? We can all just walk away.”

  Joey seemed to give it some thought. It didn’t take long, though, to realize that Bob would probably spend another million tracking him down.

  “That’s not going to happen, and you know it,” Joey said. Bob, who had not taken his eyes from Jessica’s, gave his head a sharp downward shake and yelled “now!” She got the message. Jessica violently twisted back and away from Joey. Bob pulled the Glock from his pocket and rapidly fired a round. It struck Joey in the upper shoulder and he went down in pain and disbelief. Bob stepped on his left forearm while pointing the Glock at Joey’s head.

  “Take the knife,” he said to Jessica. She bent to remove it from his fingers. Joey gripped it tighter, so Bob applied more pressure through his shoe to Joey’s arm. Joey cried out and released the knife. Once Jessica held it, Bob removed his foot from Joey’s arm.

  “You’re bleeding, I think you might be bleeding enough to bleed out. What do you think, Jessica? You’re the nurse.”

  “I think if he doesn’t get help, he’ll die,” she said, a coldness in her voice that Joey had not heard before.

  “So, Joey, you’re the piece of shit who killed my daughter.”

  “Fuck you,” Joey uncharacteristically said in a hiss. The pastor and Mrs. Helen would have sent him to bed without dinner for language far less foul.

  Joey pulled himself into more of a sitting position. It freed him to move his left hand up to press against the gunshot wound in his right shoulder. He thought the pressure might stem the bleeding.

  “I’m sure you remember Amanda Anderson. Sweet girl. She was the light of my life, you piece of shit. She was all I had left in the world. What was she to you?”

  Joey said nothing.

  “You don’t know? You fucking don’t know? Here’s how it went down, Joey. You screwed my little girl, then you slit her throat just like you were about to slit Jessica’s. You watched without feeling a goddamn thing as the life left her body. Why would you do that?”

  Joey shook his head, but not with remorse.

  “Sure you do, you motherfucker. You cleared a couple thousand dollars through that fat Thai back in Penang. You killed my little girl for two grand.”

  He turned to Jessica. “He’s pretty strong. I don’t think this gunshot wound is going to do the job.”

  She just shook her head.

  “Hmmm,” he said, bending over and pulling Joey’s hand from the wound so he could inspect it. “This hole is too clean.”

  At that moment, Joey lunged for the gun, summoning all his strength. The unexpected move threw Bob off balance. He tumbled to his butt, dropping the gun. Joey stood up and shakily staggered toward the Glock. At that moment, Jessica picked up a stone and swung it at Joey’s head, connecting with his right temple. Joey went down in a heap.

  Jessica stood over him, crying softly. Bob picked up the pistol. They stood there solemnly for a moment.

  “I have to finish this,” Bob softly said to Jessica. “You should start heading back down the trail.”

  She looked at Bob through tearful eyes and gave a small nod. She turned and made her way back to the trail, then down the hill toward the beach. She steeled herself to hear a gunshot at any moment.

  Bob saw Joey’s pearl-handled knife on the ground. He was sure that it was the knife that Joey had used on A
manda, all the other young girls and most certainly Mason the day before. He picked it up and felt the weight of it in his hand. He knelt over him as the younger man started to regain his consciousness.

  “Oh good. I wouldn’t want you to miss this,” Bob said. He held the younger man’s gaze, showing him the blade. Terror seeped into Joey’s mind.

  “Is this the knife you used to kill my little girl?” Joey gave a small nod. “I thought so. Rot in hell,” he said as he pulled the blade across Joey’s throat. He leaned into it to make sure that the cut was deep. Joey’s eyes widened and Bob realized that Amanda had probably made the same face at Joey. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he was gone.

  Bob wiped the knife on Joey’s shirt, then closed it and put it in his pocket. He also pocketed Mason’s Glock. He wasn’t sure what he would do with either, but that decision would be for another time.

  He moved swiftly back to the main trail, then jogged down it to the beach. Jessica was there, ankle deep in the surf.

  “Is it over?” she asked him. He nodded that it was. Bob rinsed his hands in the surf to remove the blood, He pulled the gun from his pocket, leaned back and tossed it as far as he could out into the South China Sea. He then did the same with the extra clip. Finally, he took the knife from his other pocket. He cocked his arm to throw it, as well, then stopped. He slipped it back into his pocket.

  In a strange yet powerful way, the knife was his last physical connection to Amanda. He just couldn’t throw it into the sea.

  Jessica told him that he couldn’t wear the bloody tee-shirt back to the Turtle. He took it off and rinsed it in the surf, as best he could. The blood was fresh, so a lot of it came out. Not enough, though. He’d carry it back then burn it later that evening.

  “You ready?” Bob asked Jessica.

  She nodded yes. Fifteen minutes later they were back at the Majestic Turtle. The walk was long enough for Jessica’s tears to stop flowing.

  “We need to decide what we do next,” Bob said outside her bungalow. “But I need a few minutes.”

  “Me too,” she answered softly.

  They agreed to meet in the dining area in thirty minutes and each went to their huts.