“Food and water are becoming a problem,” Garret was saying. “We have to finish that water project this afternoon, and we’ve got to set up more animal traps.”
Malin gently moved past Elna and approached the table. “Guys, I think missing people are a higher priority than the water project,” he said. “Can’t we spend some time looking for Mr. Pasqualee first?”
“Surprise, surprise, we can do both,” Garret said, in his typical loudmouth way, speaking through a mouthful of chewed carrots. “A few of you head off after lunch to look for him, and the rest of us will stay behind and work.”
Elna couldn’t stop herself from smacking the nearby wall. “I’m going now. Whoever wants to come with me, let’s go. Otherwise, enjoy your carrots.”
And with that, she stormed out of the room. By the time she reached the tasting room, she realized Malin and Norman had both come with her. She detoured into the smaller pantry behind the bar, opening the drawer where she’d placed the .38 and the kitchen knives. She took the gun and gave the knives to Malin and Norman.
“Any of you know how to track?” she asked.
Malin shook his head and Norman shrugged.
“Never tried before,” Norman said.
Elna sighed and headed outside, cutting across the vineyard and moving past the shed. She had no idea which way to go, and she saw not a single clue on the ground. Everything just looked like grass and dirt. Still, she stalked across the property and entered the tree line, listening carefully for something, anything, out of the ordinary. She heard only their own footsteps and the ceaseless chittering of the shrikes.
“Which way do we go?” Malin asked, moving up beside her.
“I don’t know. Let’s start close to the vineyard. Walk a circle around the property. Look for any indication of…anything.”
She opened the cylinder on the revolver, spun it to make sure every chamber was loaded, then slammed it back in place. Gripping the gun tightly, she set off through the undergrowth, kicking through the heavy brush that pulled at her pant legs.
Elna was so disgusted, so angry, that she stood beside the water storage tank and shuddered. She’d spent hours traipsing all over the place. It was as if her father and Dominic had vanished from the face of the earth, as if aliens had sucked them up into outer space and flown away. She wanted to scream. She wanted to hurt someone. Instead, she could only stand there and feel helpless as the sun sank toward the western sea.
Norman had kept up with her for a while, but eventually he’d gone back to help finish the aqueduct. They were almost all the way to the water tank now. Elna heard the sound of the hammer, of wrenches, of softly spoken instructions. Malin had stayed with her longer, but once he started lagging, she excused him. Now, she stood alone.
“He’s out there,” she muttered. “He’s out there somewhere. The island isn’t that big.”
She had even gone down to the lighthouse and looked around among the old buildings. Nothing. No blood, no obvious footprints, no unusual sounds.
“How is it possible?” she said, smacking her forehead. “Pop, what did you do? Where did you go? There’s no way you would have gone willingly…is there?”
When she sensed someone moving up behind her, she wheeled about, reaching for the gun in her pocket. It was Selene. She was cradling Sniffy and giving Elna a sympathetic frown.
“He’ll be fine,” she said. “Dominic is a manipulator, but he’s not a murderer. He’ll hold on to your father to guarantee his own safety. I know him well enough to know that.”
“It’s getting dark,” Elna noted. “We’ll run out of sunlight soon, but maybe that’ll be for the best. We might hear them moving around easier in the dark. But maybe they’re not moving around. Maybe they heard us coming and relocated. I don’t know.”
“He’ll be okay, Elna. I really think he will.” Selene reached over and rubbed her arm. It was clearly meant to be a comforting gesture, but Elna didn’t feel comforted. “You should wait until morning to look again. It’ll be safer by then. Dominic might show up on his own. He’ll want to make a trade: your father for me. And then you can make your move.”
There was logic in what Selene said. Roaming the island at night with flashlights would only give their position away, and they were liable to get hurt. Suddenly, the world around her seemed extra quiet, so Elna turned. Norman, Malin, and Garret had all gathered behind her.
“Is the aqueduct complete?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Garret replied. “We haven’t opened the valve yet or pumped water from the shore, but we got the entire framework and waterway done. A little more work with desalination, and we’re good to go. No more worries about water. Good design, by the way.”
Garret was beaming. He seemed proud of his work, even happy, and it intensified her frustration. She’d missed out on the work, and her father was still missing. How could he stand there and smile? Elna felt the sting of tears and quickly brushed them away.
“Thanks,” she muttered.
“Look, we’ll all feel better knowing that our water problem is solved,” Garret said. “I’m not giving up on your old man. We’ll set out first thing tomorrow and scour every square inch of the island. If that punk has put so much as a bump on his head, I’ll gouge his eyes out and shove ’em down his throat, okay?”
Elna nodded, fighting tears.
“Elna, if you really want to look again tonight, I’ll go with you,” Malin said.
She bowed her head, trying to think past the emotion. It wasn’t so easy. Cut through the fear and use your brain, Elna. Come on. If Dominic intended to hurt your father, it’s too late for him anyway. If he intended to hold him hostage, then he’ll keep him safe until he’s made the offer.
“We wait until morning,” she said. “First light. I hope everyone will help, though.”
“We will,” Norman said. “the worthless Dulleses,” Garret said. “They seem to prefer being leeches on our hard work. Should we drag them along? They’re not disabled. They can walk around a little. It won’t kill them.”
“Maybe,” Elna said. “Let me think about it. We should take turns guarding the house tonight, just in case Dominic decides to come back while we’re sleeping. We set out at first light.”
Malin started to say something else, but Elna held up a hand and shook her head. She headed back to the guesthouse, dragging her feet through the dirt, slamming against one of the trellises in passing, hard enough to crack a piece off.
18
Elna took the last watch because she wanted to be awake at first light. Nobody was going to sleep in, not when her father was out there somewhere. She split her time between the tasting room and the lobby, staring through the windows into the darkness. It was amazing how dark the world appeared without electricity. She’d grown up seeing the haze of city lights from the mainland on the eastern horizon. Now, it was gone, as if the whole world beyond the bay had been erased.
The back windows in the tasting room were even more disconcerting because her father had always kept a light on in the vineyard at night. Now, there was nothing, and the moon was a sliver in the sky, providing very little light. Dread ate away at her as she paced, her hand going repeatedly to her pocket to feel the gun.
The western end of the island slowly emerged from the gloom as morning arrived. Elna waited just long enough for the sun to wink over the distant water before she went to rouse the others. Malin was already awake, sitting on the edge of his bed and brushing his teeth with a dry toothbrush. The others awoke and, fortunately, didn’t give her any trouble. Except for the Dulleses, who flatly refused to get out of bed.
“Rita’s not feeling good,” Joe croaked from the darkness of their room. “She needs to rest today, and I have to keep an eye on her.”
Elna didn’t want to argue with them, so she turned to leave.
“Good luck with your father,” Joe said, as she pulled their door shut. “I hope you find him, and I hope he’s okay.”
“Thanks,” Eln
a managed to say.
The rest of them congregated in the tasting room. They’d gathered weapons. Malin had his kitchen knife under his belt, while Garret had opted for one of the fishing gaffs with its sharp silver hook. Norman took Elna’s knife since she had the gun. Selene was reluctant to be armed, but she finally agreed to carry a hammer. Sniffy was already barking at the door, so clearly he thought he was a weapon unto himself.
“Let’s set out together to the lighthouse area,” Elna said. “Even though I didn’t find Pop there yesterday, it’s the most likely hiding spot.”
“The guy has got to realize that his only hope is returning your father unharmed,” Garret said. “If we see so much as a scratch, we’re going to skin him alive.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, Garret,” Elna said. For once, his abrasive personality seemed like an asset. In the dim morning light, he made an intimidating sight with his broad shoulders and big muscles, the red tint to his rough skin, and his bushy eyebrows. “Let’s go.”
She drew the gun from her pocket, opened the back door, and stepped outside into the crisp morning air.
Don’t let worry or fear make decisions for you, she reminded herself, even as she felt those very feelings curdling in her stomach. You have to think clearly. No idea what we’ll be dealing with today.
She headed down the east side of the island at a brisk pace, thankful that the others were willing and able to keep up with her. As she went, she gazed about, scanning for some sign—any sign—of Dominic and her father. It was a relatively quiet morning on the island, however, and nothing gave them away.
They reached the fence and the old military compound in record time. The sun was just barely over the horizon, casting its brilliance over the roiling Pacific. She hadn’t rooted completely through all of the buildings the day before, so that’s what they decided to do.
“Elna, why don’t you come with me,” Garret said, stepping forward. “We’re going to search the lighthouse. I think it’s our best bet. What do you say?”
Elna glanced at Malin. She wasn’t in the mood for friendly company, and things were just a little weird between them since his drunken episode.
“That’s fine with me,” she said. “Malin and Norman, you guys look through the barracks buildings first. Look for secret compartments, doors, anything. Search every square inch of every room.”
Norman tipped a salute. Malin frowned but nodded. Clearly, he didn’t like the arrangement.
“Selene, where would you rather go?” Elna asked.
Sniffy had been running free on his leash, but she stooped down and picked him up. “I don’t know.” Her eyes flitted from Malin to Garret and back. “I guess I’ll go with them.” She nodded in the direction of Malin and Norman.
“That’s fine. Everyone, be careful. If you find them, call for help.”
Elna headed for the lighthouse, as Malin, Norman, and Selene turned toward the first of the dilapidated military buildings. The lighthouse stood right at the edge of the rock promontory, but there was an attached guard house with an old wooden door and a single window covered by a filthy old cloth. She headed in that direction.
“You and Malin seem like you’re becoming pals,” Garret said all of a sudden.
It took her by surprise, and she had trouble adjusting her thoughts. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “He’s a friendly person. Easy to talk to. But I think he’s like that with everyone.”
Garret laughed. She didn’t like the sound of his laugh. There was something unkind in it. “Not to gossip or anything, but my boy knows what I said about Claire is true. That’s why he got so pissed the other day. Do you know how many times she rescheduled the wedding? Now it looks like God and North Korea were against the wedding as well.” He laughed again, too loud and too long.
This was the last thing she wanted to talk about at the moment. She didn’t need someone mixing up her emotions even more.
“You ever dated someone even though you knew it was a bad match?” he asked. When she didn’t answer right away, he added, “Come on. You’re a decent-looking girl. Surely, you’ve got a few relationships under your belt, and one of them had to be a bad match. That’s just the odds.”
“Yeah,” she answered, hoping that would be the end of it. When he gave her a questioning look, she added, “I got out of a long-term relationship not so long ago. He was a little too intense for me. Former military, just sort of cold and rigid. I stuck around longer than I should have.”
She reached for the lighthouse door, motioning for Garret to keep his voice down.
“See, there you go,” Garret said, though he did take his volume down a notch. “That’s what happens. Claire’s a great girl, but she’s not a good fit for Malin. I knew her before he did, and it was a surprise when they got together. I never understood it, to be honest.”
She touched a finger to her lips as she opened the door. Just shut up, please, Garret. Okay, you like Malin’s fiancée. I get it. Childish. We’re looking for my father. She didn’t dare say any of this, not to this particular guy.
The inside of the guard house was like a crypt, a single open room, all moldy and mossy and empty and smelling of wetness. There was no furniture, no remnants of human habitation outside of the building itself. At the back, stairs led up to the lighthouse. She moved in that direction, but as she drew near, the sunlight burning through the cloth curtain revealed that the stairs had collapsed, creating a big pile of debris that blocked the way up.
Is it worth it to dig our way through? she wondered.
She started to do that very thing, as Garret moved elsewhere in the room. After a moment, he called out.
“Not up there,” he said. “It’s blocked, and clearly no one has moved that pile of debris in decades. Dominic can’t phase through walls.”
“We have to look everywhere,” she said.
“Then start over here,” he said.
He was kneeling in the corner. It seemed like he’d located a loose floorboard and pulled it up, revealing a small compartment underneath. As he reached inside, she heard the distinctive sound of metal tapping against stone.
“This, on the other hand, has not been here for decades,” he said, producing a black, rectangular box. He set it on the floor. “Looks like a gun case. What do you think?”
She opened it. Indeed, it was a newer model gun case, the padding inside shaped to hold two small pistols. Both of them were missing. Elna tested the .38 and found it was a perfect fit.
“Did he have two guns?” she wondered aloud. “That means one of them is missing.”
Garret pulled a smaller box out of the hidden compartment and set it on the open gun case. A box of bullets for the .38.
“He came to this island prepared for a fight,” Garret said, “and if we find him, he’s going to get one.”
The two groups finally met up beyond the fence sometime in late morning. Elna had the gun in one hand, the box of ammo in the other, and she was more frustrated than ever. Other than the small compartment under the floorboard, they’d found no sign of Dominic or her father.
“Well, what’s next?” Malin asked. “We’ve got a whole island to search. What do you think, Elna?”
“The north shore is almost inaccessible,” she said, “but we should check it out. Also, there’s that.” She pointed to the northeast, where the island’s central hill rose seven hundred feet above everything else, an imposing rocky edifice, remnant of ancient volcanic activity. “It’s pretty inaccessible as well, but those are two places I didn’t go yesterday.”
“We should go together, then,” Malin said, stepping toward Elna.
“Nah, let’s keep our groups,” Garret said. “We can cover more ground in two groups. It’ll save time. We lost a whole night, remember?”
Malin scowled at this and turned to Elna, as if waiting for her to agree with him. She wasn’t about to get in between those two and, furthermore, Garret was right. Then again, losing a whole night had been Garret�
�s fault, hadn’t it? Thinking about it only made her angry, so she shrugged it off.
“Let’s keep our groups. Garret and I will search the hilltop. You three head north. Be careful.”
She didn’t wait to discuss it further but set off, shoving the bullets in her pocket. Garret muttered something then rushed to catch up to her.
Maybe this was a mistake, she thought. Maybe I should have gone alone.
No, Garret had proved he wasn’t much of a fighter, but his strength might come in handy. Plus, he was armed. There was no direct path up the mountain. The closest spot was a small gravel lot on the north side of the winery, a place sometimes used for parking by seasonal workers. From there, a steep climb, initially through heavy underbrush, would take them up the slope. Elma headed in that direction, following the dirt road.
“I can’t imagine what it was like to grow up on this island,” Garret said, after a few quiet minutes. “It sure as hell ain’t a nice place to get stuck.”
“It was okay,” Elna said. “A bit limiting, to be honest. Now, let’s keep it down while we walk, just in case we hear something.”
“I’m starting to think I’d do anything to get over those bridges,” Garret muttered, “even if the world on the other side is nothing but lunatics and fire.”
She didn’t bother following up on this comment. Something told her if she chased Garret down this rabbit hole, it would lead right back to Claire.
Judging by the rumbling in her stomach, it was close to lunchtime when they finally reached the winery on the far side of the guesthouse. From this angle, the mountain was an imposing shape, like the back of some sleeping giant. A chain-link fence stretched from the far end of the parking lot to the back fence behind the winery, blocking the way for all but the most persistent guests, but Elna knew a place where the chain links had come loose. A guest had pushed through it once upon a time, intent on getting to the highest point on the island to take pictures for social media posts. Pop had never bothered to repair the fence.
Island Refuge EMP Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 14
