The Missing

by Kiersten Modglin

  “It’s…” The man looked behind him at the other silent members of the crew. “It’s not a public one. But it’s our only option. Once we arrive, our crew will see you safely to shore as we work to get it fixed and get everyone back aboard. There’ll be a beach there, room for you to get out and play. So, just think of this as an extra bit of fun.” He winked, but there was a sense of trepidation about him that matched my own. Something was more wrong with the ship than they were telling us, I could tell. Were they going to be able to fix it? What would happen if they couldn’t?

  “How long will it take?” one of the other passengers asked, a thin man with a clean-cut pompadour and glasses.

  “It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours,” he said. “Maybe even less. We won’t know for sure until we’re able to assess the damage. Worse case, we’ll call for another boat to pick you all up once we’re there. We’ll have you home before long, don’t worry. For now, we ask that everyone stay away from the railings, come down to the lower deck, and take a seat. We want to keep you safe, first and foremost.”

  He nodded slowly, waiting for us to move toward him, and as we did, I saw the relief in his eyes. He was worried. They all were. Each of the crew members had the same sickly look on their face.

  As they led us to the lower deck and we each took a seat on the padded benches around the edge, I pressed my back to the plastic wall behind me, taking deep breaths. Was this really all of us? It had seemed like so many people before, but I realized now that most of the passengers had been crew, caterers, and waiters. As it turned out, there were only five of us who were actually guests on the boat. Me and the Black woman with short, curly hair, the cocky Southeast Asian man who’d talked to me earlier, the skinny, glasses-wearing man who held a book tightly in his hands, and another young man with large biceps and wild and curly blond hair, who’d been joking around with the bartender for most of the ride, downing drinks quicker than even I had been. That man was staring at me then, apparently aware that I’d been studying him, and I looked away too quickly.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the time. We’d been on the boat for more than four hours, though it felt simultaneously much longer and much shorter.

  I glanced at the top corner, checking and confirming that I still had no service. Had he noticed I was gone yet? Did he even care?

  I shoved the phone back into the pocket of my bathing suit cover and closed my eyes just as the engine fired up again. When I opened my eyes again, the crew had disappeared, and we were left alone.

  They hadn’t turned the music back on after it had been cut off with the engine dying, so we sat in agonizing silence, watching the waves as we rode over them carefully. What had once seemed beautiful and peaceful now carried an ominous tone.

  Half an hour later, I saw the outline of a landmass forming in the distance and stood without thought. I lifted a hand to my eyes, trying to shield them from the bright sun directly behind the land as I tried to make it out.

  I heard footsteps and glanced beside me just as the woman approached me. She gave a halfhearted smile and nodded her head toward the port. “Is that it?”

  “I’m guessing so,” I said. Up close, I realized she was even younger than I’d initially thought. If she was twenty-one, it’d be a shock to me. How had she ended up on the boat? Which one of the men was she traveling with?

  Though it must’ve been longer, it seemed like only minutes had gone by when I could finally make out the shoreline and the lack of a port. The island, green with vast wilderness and untouched mountains, had a large stretch of beach, but no sign of civilization anywhere.

  “That doesn’t look like a port, does it?” the thin man with glasses said as he made his way to stand beside me. He squinted his eyes, staring out over the water as he voiced what I knew we were all thinking.

  “No,” I said simply. “It really doesn’t.”

  “What’s going on here?” the cocky man who’d been talking to me earlier asked loudly. We turned around to see him confronting one of the crew members as he walked out across the deck.

  The man stared at him, not speaking, and so the one who was a passenger went on, growing angrier. “Where are you taking us? What’s going on?” He gestured toward the island as we grew closer.

  “Land,” the man said, with a strong accent, as he wagged a finger toward land. “We make land.”

  “But where the fuck is that land? They said we were going to a port! There’s no port here. Where are we even at?”

  “I…” the man’s face contorted as he tried to understand what he was being asked. “I…sorry. Little English.” He smiled politely but shook his head. He used one hand to sail through the air, as if it were the boat, docking carefully next to the other hand. “You be safe.”

  “How do we know that? We need to speak to the captain. This isn’t what I signed up for,” he demanded, growing more agitated.

  The crewman looked terrified as he forced a smile and took a step back. “I…sorry…Captain very busy.”

  “Like hell he is!” the man screamed, taking an aggressive step toward the trembling crewman.

  Without thinking, I rushed forward, grabbing the passenger’s arm to stop whatever was about to happen.

  “Ease up, will you?” I demanded harshly. “He obviously doesn’t understand what you’re saying.”

  Taken out of the moment, he stared down at me, confusion weighing heavily on his expression before he jerked his arm from my grasp.

  “Little Miss Terrified suddenly got some nerve, didn’t she?” he snarled, the warmness from our earlier conversation gone.

  “Just let him get back to work.”

  Without another word, he grumbled under his breath and walked away. The crewman scurried away from us just as quickly, and I turned back to the rest of the group. They’d been watching with intensity, and I couldn’t help noticing a hint of shock and worry in their eyes.

  A few minutes later, the engine had been shut off again, and we were floating on the tide to get near the shore. I walked back toward the railing, leaning out over it slightly. Once we’d come to nearly a complete stop, I watched as several members of the crew launched themselves over the railing, splashing into the chest-deep water as they began pulling out ropes from the sides of the boat.

  What were they planning to tie us down to? There was nothing here…

  “If I could just have you all direct your attention over here,” a voice called from behind us, and we turned around. The crew member who’d told us about the problems earlier was standing behind us, looking very serious. “While they’re getting us secured, I’m going to have you five guests go ahead and board the dinghy so we can get you to safety and get everything repaired as quickly as possible.” He gestured toward the opposite side of the boat where I saw a ladder hanging over the edge.

  One by one, we disembarked from the ship, climbing into the small, inflatable dinghy with barely enough room for the five of us, plus the man already on board.

  I was third to climb down, the boat shaking and swaying under my feet and causing me to feel seasick and nervous all at once. I put my hand over my pocket, checking to be sure my phone and Kindle were still there.

  The crewman sat in the back, one hand on the tiller, and instructed us on how to distribute our weight evenly, directing the first man on the left side, since he was on the right, and the next on the right, then me, on the left next to the man I’d spent my morning talking to.

  We sat on the edges, our feet tucked under the inflatable sides, as we waited for the young woman to board. Once she was on, sitting next to me, we were ready to go, and I heard the small engine start up.

  We were off in a flash, and this ride, were it not for the circumstances, was actually a little fun, despite the fact that I kept worrying I was going to fall overboard with each curve, turn, or wave.

  He steered us around the boat silently, his gaze trained on the land up ahead, and within minutes, we’d reached the s
hore. He cut off the engine and stood, leaping over the side and onto the wet sand. He held out a hand, helping the young woman and me off the boat before the men stood. The thin one took his hand, wobbling out of the boat carefully, but apparently he had taken too long, as the other two men jumped out around him, causing the boat to shift and him to fall. His body launched forward, and though the driver tried to catch him, his face slammed into the side of the boat.

  “Oh!” I cried, reaching for him as I tried to get him to stand up. His upper lip was bloody already, but he swiped it away.

  “My bad, bro,” the blond one said through his giggles.

  “I’m alright,” he said, his cheeks pink with embarrassment. He stepped overboard gently, and I glared at the men, not a hint of regret in either of their eyes. I couldn’t wait to get away from them.

  Once we were all safely on land, the man climbed back on the boat.

  “You’re leaving?” I asked.

  “I have to help…” he said softly. “I…be back soon. Relax.” He gestured toward the beach. “Have fun.” With that, the engine started up and he was backing away. We watched him zip off toward the yacht, and I turned back to the group.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked the man with glasses.

  He nodded, rubbing a finger over his swollen lip again. “I’m fine, thanks. Just a bump. I bleed easily.”

  I nodded. “So”—my gaze fell to the rest of the group—“what should we do?”

  “I don’t know,” said the blond man. “But I need to take a leak.” He walked away from us, hurrying across the beach toward the tree line. I looked to the girl, who appeared the most frightened of us all.

  “How are you doing? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, but there was no confidence in her tone.

  “Well, while the three of you sit around and cry, I’m going to take advantage of swimming in uncharted waters,” the cocky man said, darting away from us and farther down the beach. He tore off his white T-shirt, leaving just the red lifeguard shorts, and yipped and yelled as he ran into the water. Once he was out far enough, he dove down underneath it, resurfacing with a loud and proud whoop.

  “Well, this is going to be fun, isn’t it?” The man with glasses laughed, still holding his lip to stop the bleeding.

  “Apparently so…” My gaze fell on the girl, who’d hardly said a word, her eyes still wide with shock and worry. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m not feeling super well,” the girl said, touching her chest suddenly. “I’m lightheaded. Do you think I could lie down?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Let’s move up to dry sand.” I put an arm around her waist, and the man moved onto her other side, doing the same. Together, we led her farther up the beach and laid her down. “Here you go.” I pressed a hand to her forehead. “You’re trembling… Are you nauseous? Weak? Do you have any health conditions?”

  “No,” she said, blinking her eyes slowly. “It just hit me all of the sudden… Adrenaline, I guess. I’m feeling dizzy.”

  The man spoke up. “Have you eaten anything today? The heat could’ve caused you to become exhausted. Or your blood sugar could be dropping.”

  “Just snacks on the boat. Cheese and some of the fruit. I’ll be fine, honestly, it’s probably just the heat.” She tried to sit up, but shook her head, practically dropping back onto the sand.

  “Okay, well, don’t try to overdo it. Just rest. I’m going to go and see if I can get someone’s attention to bring you some water. You may be dehydrated.”

  “I can go,” the man said, his hand brushing hair out of her face. “If you want to stay with her.”

  “Okay, sure, that’d be great,” I said. “Just tell them we need some water. Maybe some crackers too, if they have any.”

  “Thank you,” the girl whispered, meeting my eyes with embarrassed tears in her own. “I feel so stupid. I don’t know where this came from.”

  “You don’t need to feel stupid. We’re all out here drinking in this heat. It’s bound to happen. And being on the dinghy could’ve made you sea sick, too. There’s a lot at play here.” I patted her arm gently as the man stood.

  Suddenly, he yelled. “Hey!”

  I looked up at him, then followed his gaze. “What is it—”

  My stomach dropped.

  The men were no longer in the water.

  The boat was drifting away from shore.

  No.

  I stood up next to him. “Hey, wait!” I called, waving my arms in the air. What was happening? Did they need the boat farther out to fix it? Why hadn’t they told us that?

  Noticing what was happening, the other two men rushed toward us, screaming and waving their hands, too. The cocky man, still sopping wet, jumped up and down, his hands in the air. The blond cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting after them.

  “Don’t forget us!”

  “What are you doing?”

  “We’re still here!”

  “Hey! Wait!”

  We shouted and waved and hurried across the sand, our cries becoming more and more panicked. I kept waiting for someone to come out onto the deck and announce that everything was fine, that they just needed everyone on board to fix the issue, but it didn’t happen.

  Instead, as we neared the place where the sand changed from white to tan, dry to wet, I heard a sound that sent chills down my spine.

  The boat’s engine started up.

  “No, please!” I shouted, feeling my knees grow weak underneath me.

  My first thought was of my husband.

  Then my parents.

  What would they think?

  Would they ever know what had happened?

  Would they find us?

  The boat sailed farther away, no bodies moving on the decks to see that they’d left us. But they had to know, didn’t they? How could they have possibly forgotten?

  But, if they hadn’t, could they really be doing it on purpose?

  As I watched it sail into the horizon, growing smaller and smaller as it picked up speed, my gaze fell to the man I’d spoken to on the boat. He leapt into the water and was attempting to swim out after the boat, his head the only thing visible as he screamed after it. The rest of us stood on the shore, watching our worst nightmare unfold.

  At least, we thought it was our worst nightmare.

  Watching that boat sail away, knowing we were stranded on the island, was just the beginning.

  We had no idea what was coming.

  Chapter Three

  BEFORE

  I stared at the clear ceiling of the lanai, watching as the clouds passed overhead, giving way to the bright sun and covering it back up moments later. I squeezed my eyes shut when it came into view, then feeling the warmth leave my skin, opened them back up. My hands were outstretched to my sides, drifting under the water’s surface and back up, the pool water engulfing each of my fingers slowly like spider’s webs. I was mesmerized by the addicting way it felt, only getting better when I slowed my movements down. So, I lifted them again, holding them out like a claw and dipping them back in the water at a snail’s pace.

  If someone were to look out the window of the house, they might think I was dead. I’d been floating for hours now, my fingers and toes pruney, and the only sign that I was actually alive was the fact that I kept moving my fingers in and out of the water. I never wanted to leave.

  Suddenly, as if conjured there by mere thought, I heard a voice. It was muffled, as my ears were underwater, but I knew what I’d heard.

  “Ma’am,” it came again.

  My eyes drifted downward, making out the shape of a woman dressed in a white, thigh-length dress, her hands folded in front of her. Her dark hair was gathered around her shoulders.

  I let my feet drift down until they hit the concrete pool bottom. When they did, I stood, staring at her. I shook the water from my ears. “Yes?”

  “Ma’am, your guests have arrived.”

  I glanced at the clock on
the wall next to the grilling area, surprised to see that it had been more than just a couple of hours, but closer to five, since I’d gotten into the pool. I ran a drenched palm over my face and cleared my throat.

  “Thank you, Belinda. Could you get them set up in the sunroom and offer them refreshments while I get changed into something more appropriate?”

  She hesitated only for a moment, then jumped into action and walked back into the house. I made my way out of the pool, wringing my thick, blonde hair dry over my shoulder and lifting the folded towel, all fresh and warm from the sun, and wrapping it around my waist with ease.

  Then, I slid into my sandals and walked across the lanai, entering the house through the side entrance so I wasn’t forced to face my guests while still in a bathing suit and all wet.

  Once inside, I climbed the stairs silently. I could hear Belinda in the sunroom, offering them lemonade and caramelized onion and feta canapés as I walked across the second floor and into the master bedroom. I cleaned my face and lotioned my skin quickly, brushing on a bit of mascara and blush. The one thing I loved about summer was how the sun always managed to keep my skin flawless, which meant I could skip the foundation and powder I would’ve usually put on before meeting with a client.

  Once I was done, I ran the blow-dryer over my hair, drying it as quickly as I could and pinning it out of my face. I put on bright red lipstick and changed into a solid white jumper and a pair of Tory Burch sandals, spritzed perfume on my wrist and topped off the ensemble with a simple, elegant diamond necklace.

  Then, as if I hadn’t just rushed through the entire process, I walked out of my bedroom and made my way down the grand staircase as if I had all the time in the world. I walked across the foyer and into the sunroom slowly, a bright smile already plastered on my face.

  When I entered the room, Belinda set the pitcher of lemonade down, though she’d been refilling one of the guest’s drinks and had not yet finished. She cleared her throat and gestured toward me.

  “Ms. Sheridan,” she said, my name a full sentence as the guests stood as well. “This is Lester and Tom Allen.”