I was up before Adrienne and the sun.
I went to the bar expecting to find Kristen at breakfast, but there was no sign of her. Her cottage was empty, too, so I strolled down the path to the bluff that overlooked our beach and found her sitting atop a cropping of rocks. She held her sketch pad tightly to her chest as she stared out over the water.
“Feel like finishing our conversation?” I asked, startling her.
“Do you think I’m insane?” She looked up at me.
There was a time I would’ve said, yes, but after living with Adrienne, my mind was open to all sorts of possibilities. “No. No, I don’t.”
Kristen flipped open her pad and handed it to me. “He’s coming.”
A tiny whimper escaped me when I looked at the evil figure standing in an airport with ticket in hand. “Did you see him when you caught your flight?”
“No, and I was paranoid. I looked over my shoulder a million times. I even intentionally missed my flight and caught another one just in case he was following. I thought that might throw him if he was tailing me.”
“Did you tell anyone you were coming here? Someone who might’ve slipped up and tipped him off?”
“Abby, my ex, but I didn’t tell her why I was leaving.” Kristen bit her lip. “She wouldn’t discuss my whereabouts with a stranger.”
“Any chance you could draw his plane ticket to confirm where he was going for sure?”
Kristen looked thoughtful for a moment and shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I just know he’s coming…here.” She looked down at her hands in her lap. “Why are you so willing to believe me?”
I wasn’t about to let Adrienne’s cat out of the bag. She was very guarded about her ability. “It’s like you just said, ‘I just know.’”
“I’m scared.” Kristen hung her head. “Look at the rest of my sketches.”
I took a seat and began thumbing through them. There was me as a cat. A couple of the guests all looking joyful. I laughed at the one of Iris. There was a huge heart on her chest, and she had at least a dozen hands. And then there was—him. Pages and pages of his face, his evil deep-set eyes and a different woman—body—that had been brutalized. It nauseated me to look at them. I stifled a gasp when I turned to Adrienne’s page. Her drawing wasn’t a caricature like me, Iris, and the other guests. It was a gorgeous sketch that captured her beauty. Above her head were clouds like I’d seen in cartoons when the character was having an internal thought. There were dozens of them, but they were all empty.
“It’s like one gift sought out another,” Kristen said softly.
I looked up at her wondering if she’d overheard the conversation I’d had with Adrienne the previous evening.
“There’s something special about her, too, isn’t there?”
“She’s very special.” I didn’t elaborate.
Kristen sighed. “She’s lucky to have you.”
“What about you? Did you leave someone behind other than the ex?”
Kristen shook her head. “My other half hasn’t come to me yet, but she’s out there. Call me a romantic fool, but I’ll know her when I see her.”
“Look, why don’t you let me talk to Colie, Iris’s husband, about this? He’s very open-minded, and maybe he can help us out.”
“Us,” Kristen said as she looked at me. “You have a baby on the way. I need to get out of here, maybe find another island to hide on.”
Sadly, I wanted to agree with her, but something inside of me knew I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure why a total stranger was reaching out to me, and what mystified me more was my willingness to let her. “Safety in numbers. We know nearly everyone on this island, and we’ll all do what we can to protect you.”
Kristen looked away as she released a small sob. “Thank you.”
*******
“Houston, we have a problem.”
Iris looked at me in alarm. “Adrienne?” She clutched her chest.
“No, I’m sorry I startled you.”
“Evil, girl, just evil. What is it then? Did you drive through another wall? Fall through another roof? Burn down the laundry cottage again?”
“We both know that list can go on for days, and for the record, I didn’t burn it down completely.” Iris looked at me suspiciously as she sliced vegetables for the evening meal. “Is Colie home?”
She crossed herself. “Did you kill someone, girl?”
“Knock it off. I need to talk to him about a problem one of the guests might be having.”
“Might be.” Iris chewed on that statement as her eyes narrowed.
“I’d rather tell you both at the same time, so I don’t repeat myself. Where’s your husband?”
“He’s at the house. Call him.”
I went into the bar and made the call. After I explained that it was official business, he agreed to leave Teddy with the sitter. In less than fifteen minutes, he and Iris were sitting at one of the tables waiting for me to explain myself. After I’d recounted everything I knew and they had looked over the sketch pad, they sat quietly digesting it all.
“I cannot arrest a man based on drawings, unless of course, Kristen physically witnessed the crimes,” Colie said finally. “Do you believe this woman to be sane?”
Iris rolled her eyes. “You’re asking Hayden to determine the sanity of another?”
“You’re still mad at me for falling through the roof of that cottage, aren’t you? You’ve been busting my chops ever since.”
Iris glared at me in response. “You take too many chances. I took it in stride before, but now you have a baby to think about.”
“I promised Adrienne that I’d play it safe, so you can relax.” Iris rolled her eyes again, and I reared up to launch a tirade.
Colie put his hand on my arm. “Let’s keep our minds on the business at hand. What does Adrienne have to say about this young woman?”
I let out a long breath. “She is inclined to believe her. What would it hurt to take Kristen at her word? If we dismiss her claims, she could get hurt, and it’d be our fault.”
Colie nodded. “Then I’ll make a copy of her drawings and keep an eye out for this man.”
“Well, he doesn’t actually look like that,” I said. “The drawings are her perception of him. I can have her do something that is more to his likeness. What do we do if he actually shows up on the island?”
“We keep her hidden until we can figure out how to handle this.” Colie held up his hands. “That’s all I can say for now.” He stood and stretched the kinks out of his back. “Not everyone is the real deal like Adrienne,” Colie said before walking away.
“He’s not taking this seriously.”
“I am,” Iris said. “And he will when the storm comes.”
Chapter Seven
Birding isn’t for everyone, and I realized with a quickness that it wasn’t for me. Audrey, BJ, and I had hiked up a mangrove trail for what felt like miles. Light on their feet, they were only carrying binoculars, a camera, and a bird book. I was saddled with a backpack cooler like a pack mule. After an hour, I smelled like one, too.
BJ came to an abrupt stop that caused me to nearly run over Audrey. “Quiet,” she said as she held up a hand. “I see an olive capped warbler.”
Audrey and I stayed put as BJ moved off the trail to get a better look. “That’s not a warbler,” Audrey whispered. “She cheats and logs birds that we have most definitely not seen, but you can’t tell her that.”
I wanted to say, Well, hell, let’s just mark off the rest of the birds on the list and call it a day. I set the pack down quietly and took a seat next to it. I passed Audrey a bottle of water before downing one myself.
“Cat Island is an interesting name,” Audrey said. “What’s the story behind that?”
I grinned. “When I first came here, Iris told me that snakes and rats stowed away on slave ships that came to the island, so they had to import cats to control them. Cats took over the island, and that’s how it got its na
me. I always wondered why she laughed at me when I told guests that story. Adrienne was kind enough to enlighten me and explained that a pirate named Arthur Catt first discovered the island, hence the name.”
Audrey pulled a dainty kerchief out of her shirt pocket and dabbed at her brow. “We passed some ruins on the way in, and the driver told us they were old plantations. He said they grew cotton, pineapples, and something called sisal. I have no idea what that is.”
“It’s a plant used to make rope. You should take one of the tours. They’re very interesting.”
Audrey looked over her shoulder at BJ who was moving deeper into the thicket. Her silver hair was the only thing visible. “Lately, BJ has found it impossible to be still for even a minute. I’m sure we’ll have to scour the entire island.” She dabbed at her face with the cloth again. “She isn’t adjusting to retirement very well, and it’s making me crazy. I just want to relax, you know?”
I nodded.
“I suggested the birding,” Audrey said with a sigh. “I thought it was something we could both enjoy. BJ would be outdoors, and we could relax and watch the birds fly by. But she had to take it to the next level. Common birds in our area weren’t enough. We needed to catalog exotic birds that others in our community couldn’t brag about. We’ve been to Hell and back searching for birds, and when I say Hell, I mean we really went to a place named exactly that.”
Hell made me think of Kristen’s drawings and the thing that had no doubt crawled out of that pit. What a garish nightmare. I felt so sorry for the woman hiding at our inn. Then I thought about Iris’s bones and what they had to say. It all gave me chills in the midday heat.
“Are you okay?” Audrey asked.
I looked back at her, and she was staring at me in concern. “Sure,” I said with a fake smile.
BJ came back out onto the trail. “What’re you gals sitting down for? Let’s move.”
I felt sorry for Audrey, too, and even sorrier for myself as I hefted the pack onto my shoulders. We tramped down the trail for another hour, then Audrey talked BJ into birding from the Jeep. I was itching to get back to the inn and see if Colie had seen the man Kristen had drawn. She’d produced a sketch the previous evening, and Colie had circulated copies to those we trusted to be discreet. I’d spent half the day hauling BJ and Audrey around, stopping for every bird that had crossed our path. A couple of times, I “accidentally” blew the horn because I couldn’t bear watching another bird sit on a tree limb.
“Tell me, is there kite boarding on the island?” BJ asked when we had stopped at the beach so she could chase down a poor gull.
At first, I was tempted to say no, but then an evil thought crossed my mind as I saw BJ being blown out to sea.
Audrey’s eyes grew wide, and she shook her head until BJ looked at her.
“There are some people on the island that do it, but I don’t believe there are any rentals yet.” I winked at Audrey when her shoulders sagged in relief.
“Well, look at that.” BJ had spotted some sort of water fowl and moved slowly down the beach to get a closer look.
“Thank you,” Audrey said quietly. “I don’t mind the hiking for birds, but to be honest, she’s killing me. BJ never had a midlife crisis, but I think she’s having a late-life one now. On our last trip, she pleaded and cajoled me into going zip-lining with her. Do you have any idea how fast those things go?” Audrey asked aghast. “It took me a week to get my voice back.” She stabbed a finger in my chest. “If she suggests anything more than a sightseeing trip, I’m depending on you to tell her no.”
“I’ll make a deal with you. If we don’t make any more bird stops on the way back to the inn, I won’t suggest zip-lining down Mount Alvernia.”
*******
Adrienne was in the bar finishing up an afternoon snack when I returned. “Any word from Colie?” I poured myself a glass of tea.
“No, not yet.” Adrienne pushed half a sandwich in front of me when I sat. “Please eat that,” she said in a whisper. “Iris is stuffing me.”
“I’ll gladly take your leftovers. She’s trying to starve me. This morning, she gave me a plate with one orange slice on it.”
We both looked up when Kristen walked in with her sketch pad clutched to her chest. “Join us,” Adrienne said politely.
“Thank you.” Kristen took a seat, and instead of asking if we had any news on her guy, she asked to play a game.
The polite smile remained on Adrienne’s face, but I saw a quick flash of annoyance before she nodded. “Sure.”
Kristen tore a fresh sheet of paper from her pad, folded it in half, and slid it over to me along with a pencil. “Write a word, anything that comes to mind, but don’t let me or Adrienne see it. When you’re done, fold the paper again and pass it to me.” Adrienne and I exchanged glances, and she nodded once more. I scribbled my word and did as instructed. Kristen opened the paper and looked at it before asking Adrienne. “What does it—”
“Doughnut.”
Kristen didn’t appear surprised and passed the paper back to me. “How about a sentence this time?”
Adrienne smiled at me as I thought for a minute. I wrote a line and passed it back to Kristen, who looked at Adrienne expectantly.
“It says, ‘The little shit is on to us.’”
“I’m sorry,” Kristen said. “I know I’m being nosy and pushy, but since I’ve come to the island, I’ve only really been able to draw two people, the man and you,” she said to Adrienne. “My hand moves of its own volition. I don’t feel like I have any control over the images it creates anymore.”
“How many people know of your ability?” Adrienne asked.
“Aside from you, Hayden, and the police officer here, no one but my parents. I’ve learned the hard way to keep it a secret.”
“Then I presume you’ll respect the fact that I wish to keep mine a secret, as well,” Adrienne said with an expression that made Kristen shrink back a little.
“Absolutely.” Kristen nodded emphatically, making her ponytail bounce. She looked like a small child. “Please talk to me about it. I’ve never met anyone I could relate to.”
I understood Adrienne’s reticence around Kristen then. It peeved me that Adrienne had confronted me about holding things back, and she had done exactly that with me. But before my anger could take root, Adrienne looked at me and said, “I wasn’t sure she had me figured out until she sat down just now, Hayden.”
“Good save, love. I was about to start composing a new doughnut song with a really repetitive and grating chorus.”
“Do your parents have the gift, too?” Kristen asked as she fidgeted. “What about siblings?”
Adrienne shrugged. “I’m adopted, so I have no idea. What about yours?”
“No to both. I have one younger brother who has been tested and shows no sign of it.”
“Tested?” I said. “By whom?”
Kristen was literally bouncing in her seat as the information began to pour out of her like a fountain. “When I was in kindergarten, my teacher told us to draw anything we wanted to, so I drew her. She was crying, and a tiny baby was floating in the clouds above her. She pulled me to the side and asked me what it meant. I explained that she was sad because her baby had to go to heaven. She asked me to draw more things, so I drew a picture of the girl that sat next to me and her mom and dad with a black line between them and a house on either side of the line. When my teacher asked what it meant, I told her that Amanda’s parents were going to live in separate houses. No one knew about their separation, not even Amanda, but her mother had told my teacher.”
Kristen leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “I don’t really remember what happened next, but I think my teacher must’ve said something to someone at school because two men came to our house a week later. They wanted to run tests. My mother hit the roof, but my father agreed to it. They took me away to some sort of facility, and all I did was draw for hours. I wasn’t allowed to go out and play, and I only saw my mom
and dad for dinner each night.” She smiled wryly. “I may’ve been young, but I was not stupid. I stopped drawing the things I saw in my mind and drew bunnies and kittens instead.”
“So they let you go back home then?” I asked.
Kristen nodded. “My mom called it a fluke, and we really didn’t discuss it after that, nor did I draw. It wasn’t until I got to high school that I began sketching, then I kept them to myself.”
I was confounded. “But you do this for a living.”
Kristen looked at me sheepishly. “I make extra money drawing caricatures, insightful caricatures for people on the street. My parents have been supporting me while I pursued an art history degree.”
“So I take it they don’t know you’re here?” Adrienne said.
“No.” Kristen shook her head. “I could never tell them about this. I’ve tried to talk to my mom about what happened when I was in kindergarten, and she gets way too upset. I’ve approached it a dozen different ways, but she shuts me down, and my father pretends he doesn’t remember much about it.”
“Are you certain your mother doesn’t possess the same ability or some form of it?” Adrienne asked.
“I had the same suspicion, but it doesn’t come out in my drawings of her. I asked my aunt about it when she visited once, and she gave me the oddest answer. She said, ‘It’s best to leave the insanity in our family buried where it belongs.’ She’d suffered a nervous breakdown when she was young, and my mother told me she was…unstable, so I didn’t put much credence into what she said.” Kristen sighed and looked at Adrienne. “Please tell me your story.”
Adrienne rubbed her protruding belly and stared off into the distance. “There’s not a lot to tell. I discovered my ability in my teens. I think the first time I recognized it was in school while taking a test I had not studied for. I remember staring at the questions in front of me and knowing that I was going to flunk. My best friend was sitting next to me, and I could hear her reading the questions as if they were aloud, but the room was silent. And then came the answers in the same voice, so I wrote them on my paper.” Adrienne smiled. “I got an A.”
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