Anyone but Kit.
I can tell by the way that Gordon meets my eye, unblinking and indignant, that he doesn’t know what happened to me last night. Raeanne isn’t smart enough to be the brains behind any operation. She’s a private, not a general. I want to sink to the thawing snow.
“Teacher was right, per usual,” Gordon says. “I would have protested an extended absence, but had I known she felt that unsafe, I’d have helped her plan a short-term getaway. She must have known that.”
How could you? I think. You left me in the woods to freeze to death.
“In seven years, I’ve never gone this long without speaking to her. The first week we made do here. By the second, I sensed something was off, though Kit had warned me Teacher could be gone for months. I made a couple calls and began taking the boat out. I visited other islands and the mainland, asking around. No one has seen her.”
You knew taking my phone would make me sick, the memory it would dredge up.
Gordon removes his glasses and rubs his eyes. “This morning I was patrolling and found this.” He pulls the scarf from my shock-frozen hands. “On a buoy.”
I clear my throat, find my voice. “She could’ve lost it in a gust of wind. While Kit was driving her.”
A pained expression crosses Gordon’s face. “The buoy was six miles in the opposite direction of Rockland.”
My mouth falls open. He pinches the skin at his throat, then pushes past me. “I have to find Ms. Collins.”
I follow him, unable to make the facts compute. It’s possible Rebecca’s with her family, and they’re shielding her from Gordon so she doesn’t get pulled back in. (I would do the same given the chance.) Or Rebecca could have grown tired of Wisewood and had Kit cover for her. Or maybe there’s been an accident, one that Kit is scared of getting caught and punished for. Could my sister have come up with this convoluted cover story, fooling everyone for weeks?
Gordon lifts a fist to Kit’s door. I stand close behind him. “No touching.” I back away a few inches.
We both still when we hear raised voices coming from inside.
“You need to get out of here today,” Kit says.
“I would’ve gladly left weeks ago,” a man says. “But I’m not leaving without you.”
“I’ve told you a hundred times—I’m not going anywhere. I swear to God, if you don’t go now, I’ll tell Gordon who you are.”
Gordon pounds on the door. The argument ceases immediately. Seconds later the door swings open.
“Who exactly would that be, Jeremiah?” Gordon says.
Kit’s eyes blaze like a cornered animal’s. Beneath the fear I see exhaustion, sorrow, a need for a hug. My sister couldn’t have ordered Raeanne to leave me in the woods; she must have had something less severe in mind, and Raeanne got carried away. The Kit I know wouldn’t be able to stare at my bloodied, swollen lip, knowing she’s responsible for it. The Kit I know would’ve drowned me in apologies by now.
The man she’s arguing with is the burly one who confronted Gordon when I first got to Wisewood. Both he and Kit assume stony expressions, refuse to say a word.
Gordon shoves the scarf toward Kit. “I found this on a buoy east of Wisewood.” She gawks at the fabric. When she doesn’t say anything, he adds, “Ohio is west of here, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“This was Mom’s,” she says to me as if I wouldn’t remember, as if we’re alone in the cabin. My chest tightens. She tries to take the scarf from Gordon.
He yanks it back. “How do you explain this turning up so far from Rockland?”
Kit peers at him. “What are you suggesting?”
Gordon’s face turns aneurysm scarlet. “I called Teacher’s sister in Ohio. They haven’t heard from her in years.”
Kit studies the old man. “I dropped her off at the harbor. She told me she was going to Ohio, but maybe she didn’t.” She bites her lip. “Why would she lie?”
What have you done?
“Was she sick of Wisewood?” she muses.
“This place was Teacher’s home,” Gordon says. “We meant everything to her. She wouldn’t desert us, especially not for the mainland. She said she would never go back there, not so long as there was breath in her lungs.”
“Yet that’s exactly what happened.” Kit jabs a finger at Gordon’s chest without actually touching him. “You’re letting a fear of abandonment control you. I told you she wants us to keep Wisewood going. We have to do that whether or not she comes back.”
“Wisewood is nothing without Teacher,” Gordon rails.
“What do you suggest we do? Send everyone home? Wait around and cross our fingers that she turns up?”
“I say we redirect our manpower toward finding her. And don’t stop until we do.” He glares at Kit. “You’re awfully composed for having lost your mentor.”
“One of us has to be. Seven years pursuing fearlessness, yet you’re sniveling over the first setback.”
“Sounds just like her,” Jeremiah says under his breath.
Gordon wheels around and puffs out his chest. “And you. I know all about you.”
Jeremiah raises his eyebrows, unimpressed.
“Teacher knew something was off. You were always asking about her past, dodging quests, nosing around the office. She insisted I dig into you. I should’ve done a more thorough job before she disappeared, but once she’d fled, that got my attention. Do you know what I discovered, Jeremiah?” He emphasizes the name.
No one speaks.
“That you enrolled here under a stolen identity.” I blink, but the others don’t appear surprised. “Your name is David Cooper.” Gordon pauses. “And Cooper happens to be the last name of Teacher’s former assistant.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jeremiah says.
“Gabriel was your older brother. He had an accident while working for Teacher. Fourteen years later you show up on her doorstep, and now she’s gone.” Gordon takes a threatening step toward Jeremiah. My head spins, trying to keep up. “What did you do to her? Where is she?”
“I have no clue,” Jeremiah says, “but I’d like to kill her myself when I find out.”
Gordon glances back and forth between Jeremiah and Kit. “Have you been working together all along? Plotting her demise from day one?”
Jeremiah snorts. “You’re off your rocker,” he grumbles at the same time Kit says, “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Gordon takes another step forward, and is now nose to chest with Jeremiah. In spite of their height difference, I fear for Jeremiah more than for Gordon. “You will leave this island immediately,” Gordon says, “but know that for the rest of your days, I’ll be watching. If you switch jobs, if you remarry, if you have children, I will know. You won’t be able to buy a coffee or push your kids on the swings without feeling my eyes on the back of your head. I will follow every single move you make, and when I find out what you did, you will pay.”
Jeremiah crosses his shaking arms. “Unless Kit comes with me, I’m not going anywhere.”