Gaby and Josh slinked back against the wall a few yards from them, melting into the shadows, hands finding each other in the semidarkness.
Danny, knife in hand, moved back to the door he had come through. He didn’t say a word, only pressed his back against the wall and stood perfectly still.
There had been no sounds after the gunshot.
Lara waited to hear some kind of commotion, either from outside the hotel where the gunshot had come from, or inside, as Karen and the others woke up. Instead, there was just the silence. It was suffocating and quiet and so damn still, and Lara’s left arm was still itching like it was on fire. She rubbed against the bandages with the palm of her right hand, fighting the urge to tear the bandages free and swipe at the scabbing wound.
They waited.
Five minutes went by. Then ten.
Lara looked over at Carly and saw the other woman looking back at her. She was thinking the same thing. What now?
After a while, Lara started to think maybe the rest of the island hadn’t heard the gunshot after all. Maybe Danny was wrong. She had almost convinced herself when the door to her left opened and Marcus stepped inside with a silver automatic in his fist.
Lara’s head snapped in Danny’s direction and she opened her mouth to scream, but she didn’t have to. Danny had either heard or seen Marcus coming through the other door and was already sprinting across the room. She had never seen him move so fast, and hadn’t known he was even capable of that kind of speed.
Marcus fired at Danny—too fast.
Either adrenaline or fear had gotten the best of him and Marcus’s first shot went wide, slamming into the wall behind Danny, at least three feet off its mark. Realizing his mistake, Marcus took careful aim with his second shot.
“No!” Lara screamed.
Marcus jumped at the sound of her voice. He swung the gun in her direction, but he quickly got over the shock and turned back toward Danny, who was halfway across the room by now.
Marcus shot again—and missed again. Though this time he came closer to hitting Danny, and Lara swore Danny flinched as the bullet zipped past his head.
Danny, still running, threw the knife while in mid-stride and the sharp blade flashed across the room and embedded itself into the side of Marcus’s neck. Marcus let out a wheezing sound and dropped the gun and stumbled sideways.
Lara scrambled forward and snatched the gun from the floor even as Marcus moved around in front of her on wobbly legs like some hopeless drunk. He grabbed the handle of the knife in his throat and Lara thought, No, don’t do that, don’t pull the knife out. Jesus, don’t pull the knife out.
But he did — and blood gushed out in a thick stream and Marcus collapsed to the floor, already slick with his blood. He seemed to convulse, his arms and legs like fish out of water, while blood kept pumping out of the ghastly wound in his throat.
Lara heard another door opening, and she looked up and saw Sarah running out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her.
“Should we go after her?” she asked Danny, who was crouched next to Marcus, watching the other man flopping in a pool of his own blood. Marcus’s fingers looked like ants dancing in a thick sludge of Hawaiian punch.
“Let her go,” Danny said. “She’s probably just going to get her daughter.”
“What if she’s gone to warn them?”
“They already know. Besides, she’s already committed to us.”
He was right. There was no way back for Sarah now, and Lara was reminded again of what a hard choice it must have been for the woman to risk everything to help them. To turn her back on a sure thing. She was risking not just her life, but her daughter’s, too.
She’s a lot braver than I gave her credit for.
“Danny,” Lara said, and handed him Marcus’s gun.
Danny took the Smith and Wesson and checked the magazine.
“What now?” Carly asked, coming over.
“Karen, Tom, and Marcus are the ringleaders,” Danny said. “Tom is probably dead, and Marcus is dead. That leaves Karen.”
“What about the others?” Lara asked. “Jake and Sienna. Debra and her son…”
“Cut off the head of the snake, and the body slithers away. Or something to that effect.”
“Sounds about right to me,” a voice said behind them.
They looked back at Will, coming through the same door Marcus had left open. He had his M4A1 slung over his shoulder and was carrying two familiar-looking duffel bags. And more importantly, he was alive, and when he stepped into a pool of moonlight, she saw a fresh cut over the bridge of his nose. He had cracked lips and bruises along his temple and chin.
“You don’t look so hot, Kemosabe,” Danny said.
“It’s my disguise,” Will said.
“I can see it. Lon Chaney, right?”
Will smirked, then looked down at Marcus’s still body. “What did he do, kill himself so he wouldn’t have to listen to your jokes?”
Danny grunted. “Those for me?”
Will dropped the bags on the floor. They clattered loudly. He pulled back the zipper on one, reached in, and pulled out a Remington shotgun that he tossed over to Danny. Will also pulled out a pouch full of shotgun shells.
“Sweet, you always bring me such nice things,” Danny said. “Where’d you find them?”
“Tower basement. They’ve been storing things down there for a while now.”
Danny opened the pouch and pulled out one of the shells. “Silver buckshot?” He held up the shell. It had a white “X” written on the side. “You see something out there besides some backstabbing humans?”
“It’s night. Better safe than sorry.”
“Sarah told us there have been twenty-one people before us that she knows of,” Lara said.
Will pulled out four Motorola radios — theirs — from the bag and handed one each to Danny, Josh, and Carly, keeping the last one for himself. “Where’s Sarah now?”
“She ran off,” Josh said.
“Tom?” Danny asked.
“He’s taking a nap,” Will said. “So how many are left?”
“Karen.”
“What about the others?”
“According to Sarah, we don’t have to worry about them.”
“Good.”
“So now what?” Lara asked.
“Let’s go find Karen,” Will said.
“Maybe she’s still asleep in her room,” Danny said.
“Captain Optimism,” Carly smirked.
Danny grinned back at her. “Just doing my part, babe.”
Will handed Lara another one of the Remingtons. “How’s the arm?”
“Itchy,” she sighed.
He leaned in and kissed her. He caught her off guard, but she quickly got over it and kissed him back. When he pulled away, she touched the bridge of his nose, then ran her fingers across the cuts on his lips and felt the swelling along his cheeks and temple.
“My hero,” she whispered, smiling at him.
“You should see the other guy,” he smiled back.
“Get a fucking room,” Danny said behind them. “Better yet, let’s go get Karen’s. I’m sure that bitch won’t mind.”
They didn’t find Karen in her room. The door was open, but there was no one inside. There were signs she had left in a hurry, though it was unclear how long ago. Maybe she had sent Marcus over while she snuck out of the hotel.
Just like a politician.
As they came out of Karen’s room and back into Hallway A, they spotted Al farther down the hallway, coming out of his own room. He saw them, and for an instant Lara thought he might run back inside.