by Linda Gerber
Seth glanced back over his shoulder. “What?”
“The ravine. I pushed the log off the ledge.”
“No problem. We’ll just—”
“It wouldn’t have been easy hauling her across anyway, but without the log—”
“We don’t need the log.”
“What are we supposed to do? Swing across on vines? We’re going to have to find another way. We—”
“Aphra,” Seth cut in, “shut up, would you? Just follow me.”
Like I had a choice. He led the way uphill along the lip of the ravine. The space between the two sides seemed to be getting narrower. Not seemed to, was. Huh. For all my exploring, I had never come up this far.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“How did you think I crossed it the first time?”
The gap narrowed until the two sides were two or three feet apart—close enough to jump, but far enough apart that you could still fall down into the crevice if you weren’t careful. I swallowed dryly, remembering how the log had smashed when it hit the bottom.
“How are we going to do this?” I asked. “With Hisako, I mean.”
“Very carefully,” he said.
He set Hisako’s stretcher down and I did the same. I flexed my fingers, trying to work some feeling back into them.
“Here’s what we’re going to do . . . ” Seth sounded like he was making it up as he went along, but seeing as how I didn’t have any better ideas, I was more than happy to give him the responsibility.
He cleared the gap in one easy jump, and then knelt on the edge, facing me. He reached out a hand. “Okay. Slowly, now.”
I pushed Hisako, feet first, toward him. Inch by inch, her stretcher extended over the void. The further out she got, the more the balance shifted until I had to practically sit on the handles to keep her from upending and toppling downward.
Finally, Seth was able to grab hold of her from the other side and pulled her toward him—quickly, not slow and careful like I had been doing. My breath caught as the end of the stretcher slipped out of my hands and off my side of the ravine, but just as quick, Seth had yanked her over to his side and sat panting as she lay, oblivious, beside him.
I took a couple of running steps and jumped over the gap to join them. In the fading moonlight, Seth’s face looked especially pale. The fabric I had wrapped around his shoulder glistened darkly. He was bleeding again.
“Do you want to rest for a minute?” I asked.
His lips set into a grim line. “No. Let’s just go.” He pushed to his feet and picked up his end of the stretcher. I scrambled to do the same on my end, my hands past feeling by that point. Once again, I followed Seth through the jungle.
By the time we made it down the hill, the gray light of predawn lined the horizon. Soon a new day would be here, and this nightmare would be over.
Or so I thought.
Dr. Mulo was the first to see us coming. He had been standing near the lanai doors and nearly tore them off their hinges to get to us.
He helped Seth carry Hisako inside, checking her vitals along the way.
“This is your friend?” he asked me. “Your Hisako? What has happened to her?” They laid her on the wicker couch in the reception area. “Elena! The lamp!”
Mrs. Mulo quickly appeared at our sides, holding the lantern high. That’s when she saw her son’s arm. “Seth! What have you done?”
“It’s nothing,” he said. “I’m fine.”
“That doesn’t look like nothing to me.”
“Really, I’m okay.”
“Victor . . .”
“Elena, leave the boy alone.” Dr. Mulo completed his examination of Hisako before turning to Seth himself. “Now,” he said, “suppose you tell us what happened.”
Seth gave him the SparkNotes version of the night’s events, leaving out the part about his nearly dying, I noticed. When Seth told him who Hisako really was, his dad uttered what I am reasonably sure was a very bad swear word in his native tongue.
“My dad,” I said. “Is he—?”
Mrs. Mulo laid a hand on my arm. “He’ll be fine. He’s resting.”
I nodded, numb with relief. “I . . . I’m sorry I lost your coat.”
“Coat? Aphra, I don’t care about the coat. You could have been killed!” She shook her head. “Why? After all the worry we’ve caused, why would you do that for us?”
I straightened. My mom had shown me by example what it was to be strong. All those things we did together . . . she was teaching me, guiding me to be like her. Though I hadn’t known it until a few hours ago, she had sacrificed everything to save the lives of the people she was sworn to protect. I realized that I had just done the same. Why would I do that? I raised my chin proudly.
Because I’m my mother’s daughter.
CHAPTER 17
Once Hisako was taken care of, Dr. Mulo began to examine Seth’s wound, and soon Mrs. Mulo’s attention was drawn to what they were saying. I took the opportunity to slip away from them and go looking for my dad.
He wasn’t in the office, though I found Darlene in there, slumped over the desk, snoring softly with her head on her arms. I tiptoed over and touched her shoulder.
Darlene startled and jumped up from the chair as soon as she saw it was me. “Oh, Aphra! Honey!” She nearly tackled me as she gathered me in her arms. Her shoulders shook as she hiccupped and sobbed. “I thought you were gone to us.” She pulled back, cupping her hands around my cheeks. “Don’t you ever sneak off like that again! I couldn’t bear it if we lost you.”
I wiggled free, assuring her I was fine. “Where’s my dad? I need to talk to him.”
She dabbed a tissue at her eyes. “Not until we get you cleaned up. He’s had a rough night of it. Your Dr. Mulo says we shouldn’t upset him. He’ll have a heart attack as it is when he sees what you’ve done with your hair.” She gingerly lifted an uneven lank and eyed it with disapproval.
Darlene said Dad was asleep in his bed. I did as she said and took a quick shower. I toweled off, staring at my reflection in the mirror. It wasn’t pretty. My face was covered with scratches and mosquito welts, and the dark shadows under my eyes made me look like some kind of ghoul. At least, if I slicked my hair back, he might not be able to tell how badly it had been hacked.
The first weak rays of morning sun lit my room as I dressed in clean clothes. Finally, as presentable as I was going to get, I tiptoed to my dad’s door and cracked it open.
He lay on his bed, propped up with pillows. White gauze encircled his neck like a priest’s collar. A plastic tube ran from the front of the bandages to some kind of contraption on his nightstand made out of mason jars and yet more tubing.
I stepped inside the room. The hinges squeaked, and I made a mental note that I really would have to get them fixed.
Slowly, Dad opened his eyes.
“Daddy!”
I couldn’t help it. I ran to his bedside and laid my head on his chest, blubbering incoherently as he stroked my short, wet hair.
Only when Dad made a weird noise in his throat did I raise my head. “Are you all ri—” I followed his gaze to see Dr. Mulo and Seth standing at the door. Gripped with a sudden shyness, I lost my tongue. Dad motioned for them to come in.
Seth had cleaned up and changed into faded blue jeans and a soft white T-shirt. I would like to have gone to him to find out just how soft, but Darlene and Mrs. Mulo followed close behind.
“I told your father the truth about why we came here,” Dr. Mulo said to me. “I think all the misunderstandings between us have been cleared up.”
Dad nodded, though he grimaced in pain as he did so.
“Please, tell us once again what happened last night— for your father’s benefit.”
One more time, Seth and I recited the events as they had transpired, from the moment the lights went out at the Plantation House until we returned with Hisako, each filling in gaps that the other left out. I learned that Seth had seen me slip out into the storm and had followed me
right from the start.
My dad listened silently—not that he could have talked if he’d wanted to—gesturing when he needed us to back up or explain something more clearly.
When we concluded, Dr. Mulo shook his head. “One thing I do not understand,” he said. “Aphra, last night you warned us that we were in danger because a man had come to the island and was asking questions about us, and yet the alleged assassin lying on the couch downstairs is most assuredly a woman.”
“Oh, no! I forgot all about Mr. Watts!”
At the mention of his name, Dad became very agitated. He tried to speak more than once, but only managed choking noises. I rummaged through his desk drawer and grabbed him a note pad and a pencil.
Watts agency, he wrote.
“Oh. Oh, my.” Darlene pressed her hands to her face. “Jack, is this the man you told me about?”
Dad nodded as best he could.
Looking from one to the other, Dr. Mulo asked, “What?”
Darlene cleared her throat. “Jack, uh . . . Wow, how do I say this? He called the CIA when you arrived.”
Dr. and Mrs. Mulo exchanged grave looks.
“He was worried.” Darlene rushed to explain. “You have to understand. Knowing the . . . element Natalie works with, he had to be sure you weren’t dangerous. He called the agency to verify that Natalie had sent you.”
Dr. Mulo shook his head. “She no longer works with the CIA.”
Darlene worried the hem of her uniform blouse. “But . . . Watts was her partner.”
Mrs. Mulo grasped her husband’s arm. “Oh, Victor. If the agency found us, then—”
Mr. Mulo nodded. “The Mole won’t be far behind.” He turned to me. “Where is this man now?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. He wasn’t where I left him. He couldn’t have gone far, though. I . . . I kind of drugged him.”
"You what?”
"Well . . .” I twisted my hands. “I thought he was after you. I just gave him something to help him sleep until you had a chance to get away.” An awful feeling gnawed at my gut. “There’s something else. I told Hisako about him, and she said she had already drugged him. What if what I gave him accidentally . . . um . . . finished him off ?”
Dr. Mulo pressed his lips together. He turned to Mrs. Mulo with a grim look on his face. “Elena, come with me. Seth, you keep watch over Miss Shimizu.”
“I’ll have to show you where his villa is.” I rose to my feet. Dad squeezed my hand, and I looked down at him, a lump rising in my throat. “I’ll be right back.”
We hurried down the path, the silence weighing on me every step of the way. I was afraid we’d walk into the villa and find Watts dead.
Dr. Mulo finally spoke as we turned off the main path. “What exactly did you use to drug this man?”
I told him as much as I could remember, and he nodded but said nothing.
We knocked on the door when we reached the villa, but, as expected, there was no answer. My hands trembled as I slid the master key into the lock. I opened the door but couldn’t bring myself to go inside. Mrs. Mulo stood with me on the lanai as Dr. Mulo searched the premises.
He returned rather quickly, one hand to his face. Took me a moment to realize he was chuckling.
Seems I’d chosen a bad combination of herbs. Agent Watts had spent a very long night—not asleep, as I had intended, but in the loo with an awfully bad case of Kapua’s revenge.
It must have chapped Watts to have his quarry right there in front of him and not be able to do anything about it. If he’d had the energy, I’m sure he would have attempted to drag the Mulos in right then like a good little agent.
As it was, his temporary weakness bought us some time. Not much, though. Frank had said Junior would be coming back from the city with the police. Now that the storm had passed, they could arrive at any moment. We hurried back to the Plantation House.
Mrs. Mulo leaned close to her husband. “We are no longer safe here.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. It felt like a nail being driven into a coffin. “You could hide. We can tell Agent Watts that you’ve already gone, and then once he leaves—”
She shook her head. “Both Hisako and Watts found us. Others could, too. It is time for us to move on.”
As much as I didn’t want to hear that, I knew she was right.
Dr. Mulo agreed. “We don’t have much time. As soon as Agent Watts regains his strength, we are lost. We need to leave immediately, but how?”
“Frank can take you,” I offered.
“No good. He has suffered a concussion. He’s not fit to fly.”
“Better not let him hear you say that. Frank’s a combat veteran. I’m sure he’s flown with worse than a bump on the head.”
“Excellent.” Dr. Mulo brightened. “Then I should check in on him now.”
My shoulders drooped. I was going to have to stop volunteering information that would help send Seth away.
Back in the lobby, he stood guard over Hisako’s prone body. I trudged over to join him. She was still sleeping, her eyes bandaged and the vines around her hands and feet replaced with nylon cording.
“My dad gave her a sedative,” Seth said. “She should be out until the CIA comes to get her.”
“If he’s not openly practicing, where does your dad get this medication?”
Seth grimaced. “Don’t ask.”
I watched Hisako’s sleeping face. She looked so innocent and peaceful when she was unconscious. “Do you think we did the right thing? What if she has some kind of permanent damage from oxygen deprivation or something?”
“I don’t know what else we could have done. She was trying to kill us, Aphra. At least we didn’t sink to her level. The authorities will take care of her.”
“But how will they know to be prepared? To take her into custody, I mean. We’ve no phones, no power—”
“Hell, I already roused the cavalry.” Frank stood on the stairs with Darlene close behind, fussing over him and holding an ice pack to his head.
“Hey, Frank. You feeling okay?”
“This thing? It’s just a bump.” He pushed aside the ice pack as if to illustrate his burliness. “I radioed Junior this morning. He’s on his way with a whole passel of law folk.”
Radio. I’d forgotten Frank had a short wave in his helicopter.
He looked to Seth. “Get your gear together. We’d better get moving.”
“You’re going to fly them to the city?” I asked.
“I’m goin’ to fly ’em somewhere.”
“So soon?”
“Way I hear it, there’s no time to lose.”
I felt hollow. It was all happening too fast. “I’ll come help.”
“Shouldn’t you watch the lady?”
My heart sank. I wasn’t ready to say good-bye to Seth just yet.
Darlene cleared her throat. “I’ll watch. Go.”
As it turned out, Frank didn’t get much help from either Seth or me. We tried, but kept tripping over lines, fumbling with latches, and generally messing things up until he told us to get out of his way. We stood together on the landing pad, silent. There were just too many things to say and not enough time to say them.
Seth’s parents arrived within just a few minutes, carrying their luggage. Mrs. Mulo wore a light blue floral-print dress and had brushed her hair into short, soft waves. Dr. Mulo had also gone casual, in jeans and a golf shirt. I liked them much better this way. They looked . . . regular.
Mrs. Mulo gave me a quick hug. “I want to tell you something,” she whispered close to my ear. “I knew your mother well enough to know that she loves you very much. She’d be proud of what you’ve done.” She tucked a piece of paper into my pocket. “I think you’ve earned this. I don’t have to tell you how important it is that you keep it secret.” She gave me another little squeeze, and with that she pulled away and climbed on board the helicopter, where Dr. Mulo already sat, motioning for Seth to join them.
The whine of t
he engines raised in pitch as the rotors began to move faster.
“All right,” Frank yelled. “Let’s go!”
My throat closed up. I could hardly breathe, let alone say good-bye. Biting my lip, I looked into Seth’s eyes one last time.
“I have to go,” he said.
I nodded, still unable to speak.
“Seth!” Dr. Mulo called.
“I guess this is good-bye,” I managed to whisper.
“For now, anyway. Remember, I know where you live.”
I laughed. “I’ll never forget you, Adam Smith.”
He took my hand and pressed something hard into it. “Aphra, I—”
“Seth!”
He pulled me close and brushed his lips against mine. “Remember,” he whispered, and ran for the helicopter.
I opened my hand, and a lump rose in my throat. Seth’s ring. Gold and garnet never looked so beautiful. I hugged the ring to my chest and waited for the pain I knew was about to come.
Seth climbed inside and closed the door behind him. The tug in my chest grew stronger as the helicopter lifted into the air, as if a part of me was attached to the runners and was slowly unraveling as they pulled away. But I didn’t crumble as I had expected. If anything, I felt stronger.
A part of me had gone with Seth, but a part of him had stayed behind. It salved the growing ache, warmed me, made me smile. I slipped Seth’s ring onto my finger, turned my face to the sky, and waved farewell.
EPILOGUE
I was Still Standing on the landing pad when the authorities arrived. They weren’t just police like Frank had said, either. When Junior crawled out of the helicopter, he was followed by three men wearing dark suits and serious expressions. They introduced themselves as CIA agents.
I may have forgotten to mention to the agents, until well after they had come down to the Plantation House and interrogated Darlene, my dad, and me, that the Mulos had left the island. The agency was not happy. . . . Especially when Watts filed his report. He claimed I had tried to poison him.
I never did learn where the Mulos went after they left our island. All Frank could say was that he dropped them in the city.
The doctors said Dad should make a full recovery, but it will take some time. Until then, he can’t work, and he can’t travel. He spends his days at the beach. Darlene is running the resort until he gets better.
