The Break-Up Retreat(78)

“I don’t understand.” Martina’s voice is full of something in between horror and wonder.

I crouch down in front of the generator, looking closer, heart hammering in my chest, my mouth so dry I can taste my own teeth.

Gently, ever so gently, I touch the edges of one of the cuts. The metal is thick and sharp; despite my light touch, it cuts me.

“I don’t understand,” Martina repeats. “What happened?”

I stand back up. I don’t bother to brush the dust off my knees.

“Someone destroyed it.” My voice sounds like it’s coming from far away.

“No.” Martina begins to shake her head. “That’s ridiculous. Something must have fallen on it. There is too much stuff in here. I told them not to put so much stuff in here, but—”

“Someone destroyed it , Martina!” I raise my voice. “On purpose. Someone wanted us lost in the dark.”

“You’re insane.”

I can hear the strain in her voice. She needs to be right. She needs it to be untrue.

“How would they even have done that? It was an accident. Maybe some of the wiring went, or—”

“Martina .” I grab her by the shoulders, and I can feel that she’s shaking.

“Someone killed your backup generator.” I have to spell it out for her. “It wasn’t an accident. They destroyed it. They chopped it to pieces. And it looks like they did it with an . . .” My voice hitches. But I have to say it. I have to allow it to be true.

“. . . with an axe.”





Chapter 43


“No.” Martina is looking around as if to find someone, anyone but me, who can make it make sense.

“Martina,” I say, but she doesn’t respond.

“Doctor !” I shout, and that makes her look in my direction.

“This makes no sense.” Her features washed out by the glow from the flashlight, rendering her a picture of fear in black and white.

“Listen to me. I understand that you’re scared. But there is no harmless explanation for this. We have to get out of here. Because right now, we’re sitting ducks.” I enunciate every word, hoping she’ll be able to take in half of them.

“We can’t.” The light from her phone is vibrating. Her hand is shaking.

“Yes, we can,” I insist. “I know there’s a flood warning, but I think that might be a risk we all have to take.”

She stares at me. Her eyes are gigantic in her pale face.

“No.” Martina shakes her head. “I mean we can’t . The gates.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. “What about the gates?”

“They’re electric.” She wets her lips.

“The gates . . . are electric,” I repeat, dumbly, my mind flashing to those cast-iron gates.

So pretty and ornate. Not high enough that you couldn’t climb over them, if you tried, but . . .

“You can’t open them manually?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.

“No,” she says. “They can only be opened with the button.”

I run my hands through my hair, then down my face, trying to think.

“Fuck,” I whisper.

“No,” Martina moans. “No, no, no.”

“It’s okay,” I tell her, hoping it’s not a lie. “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure something out.”

“It doesn’t make any sense.” she says, her voice a low whine. “It doesn’t . . . because who would . . .”

“That doesn’t matter right now,” I say, my voice harsh and tight. “We can figure all that out later.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense,” she repeats. “I help people. We help people. No one would want to do this. No one would want to hurt us.”

“Jesus Christ , of course people would want to hurt you,” I shout. “You’ve hurt them! How many people have you broken here? How many people have you bankrupted? It could be any one of them!”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Martina protests, weakly, but I keep going.

“Look at the way you treat your patients!” I spit out. “You drug them, you steal from them—”

“I have never stolen from anyone!” Martina protests hotly.

“What about Pernilla’s wedding ring?” I throw it in her face.

“I didn’t take her goddamned ring!” Martina responds. “I encouraged her to take it off! I’m holding it for her, because there are no safes in the cabins, and she was scared one of the rest of you would take it!”

I’m momentarily thrown off, but then I snap back into focus.

“Okay, fine, but it doesn’t matter. Someone is here, and there are countless people it could be. It could be a former partner of one of your patients, out for revenge. It could be an employee you fucked over, like Doctor Nina. It could be a random person who just realized there was a whole group of women isolated in the woods and decided to pounce on the opportunity. It doesn’t matter who it is, we just need to get everyone together and leave !”

“What do you mean, Doctor Nina?” Martina stares at me.

The rain is smattering against the thin wall. The hollows under her eyes have grown cavernous.