“Nothing more than falling out of touch.” Stefan’s gaze washed out over the fire.
“And me?” she asked Stefan.
“Yours took more work.”
“How then? That far back?”
“I can’t say. I trust you, I do. But I still can’t say. Just trust that my sources are genuine and would never harm you in any way.”
He paused. “The nudes from Skye were easy. She was thrilled to do a photo shoot. Why was I not surprised?”
Trevor moved in next to Erin. He put his arm around her.
Stefan continued, “Everyone has something hidden. The severity of the pain will always differ and the way it all unfolds is somewhat up to chance. It just so happens that you two had some things to figure out.”
Trevor and Erin stared at the crackling fire.
“You both good?” he asked.
“We’re good.” Trevor replied.
“Well.” He got up. “I didn’t sleep all day like you two. Time to hit the hay.”
“Stefan.”
“Yeah?”
“We’d like to go home tomorrow.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I have some things to look after back home.”
“I’ll make arrangements first thing. Should be able to get you out tomorrow midday. Just have to check flights.”
“Thanks, we appreciate it.”
“No worries. You two have a good night.”
He walked away into the inner circle.
“I had the weirdest dream.” He felt her body stiffen up. His heart sank, her reaction telling him their journey was not yet over.
Chapter Thirty-three - Erin
Erin had escaped. She had been forgiven by Tracy’s partner. She had almost forgiven herself. She had held Trevor in her arms with thoughts only of what was next for once in her life.
It was a sick cosmic joke.
The fire crackled and spat. Her muscles were tense and she held her breath.
“You were in my dream actually,” said Trevor.
“I was?”
“Yeah. But it was mostly about the business. Dealing with some things that are… well, real. I have to face them. I mean, I had faced them. You ever have a dream so clear?”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
He paused. She could feel his heart against her arm. He looked at the orange fire, his gaze fading. He shuddered and stilled. “I screwed over a business owner. I fixed it as best I could.”
She could feel the disappointment in his voice.
“You still can, Trevor.”
“Maybe. What if it doesn’t work this time though?”
“Then you tried.”
“Right.”
He leaned down and kissed her, but his breath was terrible from vomiting. “Sorry.”
She kissed his lips lightly anyway. Erin lowered herself into his lap and looked at the blueish hue at the bottom of the flame. It danced around the charcoaled logs. “And I was there?”
“We were on your couch back home.”
“Oh?” She knew what was coming.
“Yeah, it was so random. You told me you had a different name.”
Erin jolted upright, staring daggers first at Trevor. She stood and then she did a full 360-degree scope of the island, half expecting her surroundings to melt away like butter. But no such thing happened; they were very much there.
It appeared Trevor was feeling everything she was, his eyes frantically searching hers. “You said your real name was—”
“Jessica,” they said at the same time.
Trevor hopped to his feet. “What is going on?”
“Trevor…” she whispered, “I thought I was home. I was home.”
“Me too. I know it. Like in my bones. I know it.”
“What if we can’t get home? What if this keeps happening?”
“Erin calm down—”
“I can’t calm down!”
“Listen, listen. We both just went through something heavy. This is just the aftereffects. The shock just hadn’t worn off, that’s all.”
“No, no. We were connected.” Erin was falling apart. “How is this possible?”
“Connected? Listen to yourself. How can we be connected?”
“How can you say we weren’t?” She continued to unravel. “It’s this place. Oh, Trevor. It’s this place. We can’t leave.”
“Yes. We can so.” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Let’s take a beat here. Breathe with me.”
“What we are going to do is stay seated right here with this fire a little longer. Let’s talk through what makes sense and what doesn’t. There’s always an explanation, E. How freaked out were we before, and it ended up being what we knew all along. A game. Right? Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Okay. Sit.” They sat on the towel and faced each other, legs crossed.
“So, blood, guns, Stefan’s leg. All fake. Easy. Surveillance—”
Erin interjected, “Stefan knew I’d check the surveillance when I went to supposedly get Ashton from the basement. It was set up for me to find you going into the villa.”
“And I was led there by Cassidy, as I thought she was working with the others to blackmail me for what I had done to Valencia.”
“Stefan was down and out with the flu for almost a full day. That’s when the alternate notes came in on the white paper instead of the old scripture-style stuff.”
“He could have moved in and out as he pleased, using the surveillance to track us. So that checks out.”
“The scuba incident.”
“Bruce. It sure as hell wasn’t me pulling at your ankle. They used a cadaver or fake body to scare you and then Bruce hung back in the dark, probably dressed head to toe in black.”
Trevor shook his head with a smile. “We can’t really contest anything, Erin. I mean, they had a full crew of people, it would be impossible to have all of them unaccounted for, for any of this bullshit. There was always someone available that knew the layout of the island perfectly. They even had a cat and mouse game with me in the woods. Trying to mess with me.”
“Mess with you how?”
“Shoveling. Or chasing Cassidy through the woods with a gun.”
“This Cassidy was really obsessed with you.”
“Part of the skit.”
“Were you worried about her?”
“I was worried about you.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Then she remembered. “Did you hear that noise in the woods?”
“Yeah, some type of high-pitched frequency they must have used.”
“It wasn’t just the pitch. It was like words. Being put in my head. It’s like it was saying—”
“Stay a while.” He shook his head, trying to reason with the inexplicable. “It could be two things blended as one. Some type of trickery. You heard him, Erin. They have money and resources to do some crazy shit. Remember that.”
“There was something about it though.”
“Like a weight,” he said.
“Like a weight.”
“So what? What are we supposed to do? Weird sensations don’t get us any answers.”
Erin pondered for a while. “First we talk to Ashton and Skye to see what they have to say about everything. Then, we— Oh! Your phone. Stefan rigged it somehow to get service in his place and Bruce’s. Let’s use it to call someone for help. We’ll get an emergency boat to come in.”
“Isn’t the yacht still here?”
“Arnie took it back halfway through my first glass of champagne.”
“Honestly, I think we’re okay. We’ll be out of here tomorrow anyway. Like Stefan said.”
She wasn’t so sure. “Just hedging our bets. Come on.”
They walked away just as the fire was starting to die out.