They know. They’re all in on it, just like Sarah said. They’ve all been expecting — dreading — the night when their actions come back to haunt them.
Al stood frozen in the hallway as Will and Danny reflexively swung their rifles in his direction. Lara could imagine how intimidating the sight of them must have been. They were wearing the no-frills version of their urban assault vests, M4A1s in their hands and the Remingtons slung over their backs. Their pouches were brimming with magazines and shotgun shells, and they had those very distinctive cross-knives of theirs on their left hips. Will had found all their gear conveniently stacked near the basement door, not yet tossed in with the rest already down there.
Lara had the Remington and a Glock in a hip holster, and even with just those two weapons, she was already sweating profusely in the hot hallway.
“Where’s Karen?” Will asked Al.
“I don’t know,” Al said, shaking his head. He was wearing Winnie-the-Pooh pajamas, and his big belly poked out noticeably from underneath a yellow nightshirt. “Please don’t kill me. I only did what they told me.”
The men walked toward Al, their weapons lowered a bit. Lara still expected Al to flee back into his room at any moment, but he didn’t. She didn’t know if it was bravery or stupidity on his part.
“Please, I only did what they told me,” Al said. His voice sounded like it was about to crack. “I even tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Where are the others?” Will asked, ignoring Al’s protests.
“I don’t know. In their rooms, I guess.”
“Go back into your room and stay there.”
Al nodded anxiously and hurried back inside. Locks snapped into place, then heavy footsteps faded.
They continued moving up the hallway, toward the lobby.
Farther up Hallway A, another door opened and Danny and Will swung their weapons up. Debra came out of her room and froze at the sight of them. She had put on jeans and a T-shirt.
“What’s going on?” Debra asked. “I heard gunshots. Why is everyone armed?”
“Where’s Karen?” Will asked.
“I don’t know. She’s not in her room?”
Lara couldn’t tell if Debra was playing a role or if she really didn’t know.
Bullshit. She knows.
“Go back into your room and stay inside,” Will said.
“What’s going on?” Debra asked again.
“Go back into your room.”
“Not until you tell me what’s going on—”
Danny fired into the wall above her door, the sound of the gunshot thunderous in the narrow hallway. Debra crouched and clung to the open door with both hands. She looked at them, all pretenses of defiance vanished from her face, replaced by terror.
“Go back in your room and stay inside,” Will said. Calmly, without any menace whatsoever.
Debra nodded and disappeared into her room without another word.
They walked past Jake and Sienna’s door. It was closed, but Lara thought she heard movement inside. Maybe someone was even looking through the peephole as they went by.
“I got two donuts that say the bitch bugged out,” Danny said.
“Probably,” Will nodded.
“It’s a big island.”
“Yup.” Will keyed the radio Velcroed to his assault vest. “Josh, what do you see up there?”
“Nothing,” Josh said through the radio.
The others were back in the Tower — Josh, Gaby, and Carly, along with the girls. According to Will, the Tower was the most secure building on the entire island. It was probably the only thing Karen hadn’t lied about. It had strong doors, and there were two extra floors that could be defended.
“What about the beach?” Will asked.
“Nothing, no movements at all,” Josh said. “Where are you now?”
“Hallway A, moving toward the lobby.”
“Karen?”
“Nowhere in sight. Keep an eye out and let me know if you see anything on or off the island.”
“Will do,” Josh said.
They were coming up to the lobby now.
Will and Danny flattened against each side of the hallway while Lara stood back. She felt odd being with the two of them. They were so good together, moving without even talking — at times, without even looking at one another. They just knew what they were supposed to do and what the other was going to do in turn.
Will glanced back at her. “Stay back.”
She nodded and took a step backward.
They moved out into the lobby, Will sweeping right, while Danny, slightly behind him, swept left. They covered the large room, constantly in motion behind their weapons. They looked almost poetic, and a part of her envied Danny for being so in sync with Will.
“Lara,” Will said.
She hurried out after them.
The lobby was empty. Someone had opened the windows, and a nice breeze flooded inside. The doors were also open, and the big solar-powered floodlights outside illuminated the black marble patio.
Danny came out of the kitchen to their right. “She’s gone, but at least she didn’t take the spatula. That would have really sucked.”
“She couldn’t have gone far,” Lara said. “Where would she go if she didn’t head straight for the beach and one of the boats?”
Will’s and Danny’s radios squawked, and they heard Josh’s excited voice: “Will, I see her. She’s on the west side of the island.”
“What’s over there?” Will asked.
“Nothing, except for the power station.”
“Where is she now?”
“Halfway to the building. She’s moving slowly, too.” Josh paused for a moment. “Guys, I think she’s wearing one of those hazmat suits. The Level B kind.”
“She’s got a hell of a head start on us,” Danny said.
“Is she alone, Josh?” Will asked into the radio.
“She’s alone,” Josh said.
“All right. Keep an eye on her.”
“Will do.”
“Why the power station?” Lara asked. “And why the hazmat suit? The last time we saw those…”
She didn’t have to finish. They all remembered Dansby.
“Let’s find out,” Will said.
He jogged out of the hotel, Danny right behind him. Lara followed them out onto the patio, then down the steps, and they were racing across the lawn toward the western side of the island, leaving the cobblestone pathway behind quickly.
Will and Danny were moving fast, and she had to push herself to keep up.
She heard Josh’s voice through Will’s and Danny’s radios ahead of her: “She’s at the power station fence. I think she has a key, she’s opening the padlock…”
They had been running for about thirty seconds when the number of lampposts started dwindling, and soon they were moving through darkness, with only the moonlight to guide their way. She glanced down at her watch as she ran, but there was nothing around her wrist.
Dammit, I liked that watch, too.
Even without lights, she could see they were racing across open ground now. Tree branches and dirt crunched under her shoes, and the Remington in her hands felt like it had doubled in weight in the last few seconds.
“She’s inside,” Josh said through the radios.
Will and Danny hadn’t said a word. They kept running, even gaining speed and starting to slowly pull away from her. She resisted the urge to yell at them to slow down, to let her catch up. She could feel the urgency in their pace, because they knew, just like she did, there was a reason Karen was wearing a hazmat suit. And there had to be a damn good reason why Karen was retreating to the power station, of all places.
Finally, Lara burst through a wall of trees and saw the power station dead ahead. It was a big, gray brick building, two stories high, surrounded by hurricane fencing and ringed by LED floodlights. It was ugly and squat, poles jutting out from its roof. The building was designed for one purpose — to generate the power that ran the island. There was a reason it was hidden all the way on this side of the island, among the woods. The tourists were never supposed to see how the sausages were made.