A string of curses followed.
My heart jumped a gear. Someone was out there. And we stood, tools in hand, over the recently uncovered skeleton of a murder victim.
Instinctively, the four of us knotted close.
The startled primates disappeared into the foliage. Whoever was out there had accidentally driven them to our location, warning us.
The woods went silent.
"What should we do?" mouthed Shelton. A three-quarter moon was rising and I could just make out my companions. Beyond them, nothing but black.
I gestured for silence. We needed to pinpoint the source of the noise. Pulse thumping, I held my breath and listened.
Pop!
My head swiveled.
Pop!
One-eighty from the first.
Shit! More than one!
Questions winged in my brain.
Why no lights? Why two directions? How many? Who?
LIRI personnel never prowled the island at night. Sneaking through the woods without a flashlight was not normal behavior.
Hi was on the same page.
"This is wrong! Let's bail!"
"Quiet!" Ben hissed.
Too late.
"Over there!" A male voice. Deep. "In the clearing!"
Branches crashed. Feet pounded. Three beams flared to life, probed the darkness. A motor fired up.
The beams closed in.
"Run!" I shout-hissed. "To the boat!"
I didn't know where the path was or how to find it. But I understood one thing with bone-deep certainty. Capture wasn't an option.
With only a vague sense of where Dead Cat lay, I pounded for the tree line.
Three figures emerged from the trees, black cutouts against the blacker forest. No way these men were scientists.
One figure raised a hand and pointed in my direction. Then he froze, arms straight out and clasped in front of his face.
Crack! Crack!
Overhead, a branch exploded. A lone monkey screamed and bolted in panic.
GUN! GUN! GUN! GUN!
My brain, understanding bullets, surrendered the Tory Machine to its primitive instincts. Spurred by a massive dose of adrenaline, I sprinted into the night.
Though I never finished the story, you know what happened next.
My blind flight succeeded, and I found Dead Cat Beach. Shelton, Ben, and I crouched inside Sewee praying for Hi to appear.
Terrified, my thoughts went nasty places. A thousand questions jockeyed for attention.
What were armed thugs doing on Loggerhead? Why did they shoot at us? Did they know about the body? Did they know who we were?
One thought dominated: Someone just tried to kill me.
Murder me. Dead.
A murderer shot a gun at my head, trying to end my life.
The reality threatened to trigger my panic button.
You escaped. You're okay.
But not everyone had made it to the boat. Where was Hi? Seconds ticked by. I barely dared to breathe.
"Start the motor!" Shelton was trembling.
"They'll hear it," said Ben.
"They've already got Hi!" Shelton sounded near hysteria. "Hi's been shot!"
I shook Shelton by the shoulders. "Get it together! Hi will come to the beach. He knows where the boat is." To Ben. "Can we at least pull the anchor?"
Ben did as I requested, then hopped into chest-deep water to steady the boat.
"Where the hell is he? He always gets lost!"
Shelton had a point. Hi could be anywhere. The longer we waited, the more uncertain our fate.
And another thing worried me.
I'd left my archaeology kit by the grave.
I searched my memory. The bag was not monogrammed and contained only equipment. There was nothing to tie it to me.
Minutes dragged by. Five. Seven. A thousand. We couldn't stay there forever. Sooner or later, we'd have to go.
As I was losing hope, Hi appeared, his pale face barely discernible in the moonlight. He darted from the undergrowth, eyes frantically seeking the boat.
Despite Ben's efforts, Sewee had floated some distance offshore. We splashed our hands in the water to get Hi's attention. His head whipped seaward as he dropped to a crouch, prepared for fight or flight. Shelton and I waved madly in the dark.
Relief spreading his face, Hi crossed the sand and launched into the surf. Ben pulled himself aboard, then reached down to drag Hi over the gunwale.
"You didn't leave!" Hi gasped and spit seawater. "Oh thank God! Thank God, thank God, thank God!"
"No way, buddy," said Shelton. "Never considered it!"
"You're lying, but I don't care!" Hi flopped onto the deck. "You guys are the best. I was sure you'd be gone."
Ben turned the ignition and the engine gunned to life. Anyone close would have heard.
We watched, terrified.
No one emerged from the woods.
Ben dropped the hammer and we shot from the island, leaving pale ribbons of froth in our wake.
CHAPTER 26
"We should go to the police right now!"
Hi said it for the third time. He sat with his arms crossed, back pressed to the bunker wall. "We're in way over our heads."