Matt made the call, and Brett did his best to listen to the conversation. He could hear distant noise coming from Matt’s phone—music, he realized, and it must be loud if he could hear it over the phone—but he couldn’t make out what Grady was saying.
“Good to hear it went so well,” Matt said. “Listen, Grady, we need to make sure everyone there is safe.” A second later, he said, “Yes, yes, there are police cars on the way.” There was more noise from the other end. “Grady, listen to me. Are your sponsors still there? The big-money guys?” He put his hand over the phone and said, “They’re still around somewhere. He’s asking Sonia Larson if she’s seen them.”
They were already on the causeway, and Diego was sliding around other cars with ease, definitely ignoring the speed limit.
Brett couldn’t tamp down the sense of deep unease that filled him.
Nothing had changed except that now he knew those men had been at the hospital. And he was certain that the “zombie” experiments had begun because someone was looking for a cure, someone who had connected with one of the higher-ups in the Barillo empire. Someone with money.
And Lara wasn’t answering her phone.
“Ask him about Lara,” Brett said. “And Meg.”
Matt did, telling Grady that both women had gone down to the back lagoon and why, and that they might still be there.
“Grady says that the cops have arrived and told him they’re checking out the place for safety.”
“Tell him to get the cops down to that lagoon now,” Brett said. “They’re at the far lagoon? No one can see them there, right?”
“Grady,” Matt said, “this is important. Ask the cops to head straight to the back lagoon and make sure everyone out there is fine. We’ll be there in a matter of minutes. Get one of them to call Brett or me right away. Thanks, Grady.”
There was a knot in the pit of Brett’s stomach as Matt rang off. Something was wrong; he could feel it.
He was pretty sure that Matt did, too.
“One of those bastards is in with the Barillo family,” Brett said. “The real family. He’s promised to cure Anthony Barillo.”
“We can’t know that. Not just from a hospital visit,” Matt said.
“We’re there,” Diego announced.
He’d barely said the words before Brett was out of the car, running toward the gate. As he ran, he heard sirens in the background.
The entry through the gift shop was still open; he burst through it.
The Navy anthem was playing as he tore through the store and ran straight to the path out to the lagoon.
When he got there, he found utter chaos, cops on walkie-talkies, people milling around. Brett reached the first cop. “What’s going on?” he demanded, flashing his badge.
“An ambulance is coming. There are two people out by the lagoon.”
“Women?”
“A man and a woman. He got a good bash on the head, possible skull fracture. We’re not sure about the woman.”
“What about Lara and Meg?” Brett asked, then realized this man wouldn’t have any idea who he meant. He started running again, his steps crunching on the gravel of the path until he reached the long dock that led out to the sandbar island at the far lagoon.
Matt and Diego were right behind him when he got there. Grady and a cop were kneeling down beside a body. He quickly realized that the body was Dr. Amory.
Grady looked up at him, his features solemn. “Someone hit him. Hard. And Adrianna... She’s breathing, but barely moving, just staring at the sky.”
“Lara?” Brett said. “Lara and Meg?”
“I don’t know,” Grady said. “I just don’t know.”
Paramedics were running down the path toward them, carrying stretchers.
“The woman on the dock has probably been injected with puffer fish poison,” Brett told them, fighting to control his panic.
Where the hell were Meg and Lara?
He knew the answer right away.
Because he saw Miguel Gomez. The ghost was walking up and down by the platform, pointing.
Pointing out to sea.
A boat. The place had always been vulnerable from the bay.
“We need the Coast Guard,” Matt said.
“I’m getting Lieutenant Gunderson. This is his area,” Diego said.
Brett couldn’t wait for the Coast Guard. “Grady, you’ve got a boat?”
“Yeah, a little Donzi.”
“Speedboat? Perfect. Where?” Brett asked.
“There’s a small dock on the other side of the lockers,” Grady said. He pulled a massive ring of keys from his pocket. “It’s this one,” he said, and handed the whole thing to Brett.
“I’m going with you,” Matt said, turning to Diego with a question in his eyes.
“I’ll handle things here and come with the Coast Guard,” Diego said. “Who the hell are we after?”
Brett looked quickly at Grady. “Who was with you at the end, Grady? More important, who wasn’t?”
Grady appeared surprised. But even as he gave his answer, Brett turned to run for the Donzi. He was surprised; the answer hadn’t been who he had expected.
*
The boat was a twenty-five-footer with a small cabin holding a tiny kitchen, horseshoe table and sofa.