“You okay?” Kit asked, wrapping his arms around her. He pushed her hair away from her face, tilted her chin up, then kissed her.
“I am now,” she said, finally allowing herself to go limp in his arms.
Chapter Twenty-two
Ali laughed at Renée’s description of all the extra work her mother was doing since revealing her father.
“I kid you not, she does everything, even folds my clothes. Am I right, Mom? Dad?” Renée teased as John Wilson flipped another burger onto a platter.
“I think Val’s got a handle on things,” he said, though he didn’t try to hide the grin plastered on his face. “She’s going to spend the next few years trying to make up for what she did to my reputation.”
As odd as she’d found John Wilson, Ali now saw beneath the beach bum attitude, finding he was a very likable guy. Spoiled by his family with too much too soon, he appeared to enjoy being with Val again, in spite of what she’d done, though Ali was pretty sure there wasn’t any romance between them. Just Renée tying them together.
The group gathered on the deck of Val’s house, the first time Ali, Kit, John, and of course Renée had been together since all hell broke loose. The events of two weeks ago were still in the news. Ali’s entire lawn had been dug up and a second set of bones found, along with a few others that belonged to the girl whose bone she’d first found.
“You know how sorry I am,” Val told John. “This entire island isn’t the same anymore. I’m glad, but so sorry for Hal.”
“It’s too bad, but he only did what Gib told him to do,” Kit said to Val. “He’s going to be okay in the group home. It’ll be a big change, but he’ll adapt.”
Ali took a drink of the freshly squeezed lemonade Val had made for the barbecue. “I was beyond shocked when I saw him, and that poor little girl. Gib must’ve totally lost it when his wife died. I can’t believe no one knew about him and his sickness.”
“What’s going to happen to Gib?” Renée asked. “He seemed like a nice old man.”
“Those are the ones to watch for,” Kit told her. “I’m guessing he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars. Frankly, that’s too good for him; I’m hoping he’ll get an ass-kicking in jail. He ruined our family, taking little Jane, who must’ve trusted him. I don’t want to know what he did to her, because if I did, I’m afraid of what I’ll do.”
John uncovered a plate of chicken, putting it on the grill. The mesquite chips filled the air with their smoky scent. Soft rock played from hidden speakers. The sun was out, the humidity high. Gulls shrieked above the blue-green waters, and the white sand sparkled. A perfect day for a cookout, Ali thought. This is what she’d imagined when she first came to the island. In a million years, she never thought her life would take such a drastic turn, but it had, and she was happier than she’d ever been. Her bad karma turned out to be so much more. Finding that ad in the newspaper was meant to be. Kit had told her this, and she believed him.
They all spent the next three hours eating, drinking, and laughing. A gust of wind, followed by a downpour, sent them running indoors. Ali and Kit eventually said their goodbyes, then together they walked to her cottage.
“You want coffee?” Ali asked when they were inside. She’d made a few purchases since she’d officially moved in, the first being a Keurig coffee machine. Val had given her a small table with matching chairs, which fit perfectly in her little kitchen. She’d decided to keep the old gas stove for now. Later, when she had her friends over for a real dinner, she might consider a new one.
“Yes, please.” Kit sat down in one of the chairs, his large presence overpowering the small space.
“Two black coffees,” she said as she placed a cup in front of him, then sat across from him.
They spent the next hour discussing yet again the events that had changed so many lives, especially her own.
The story unfolded once Kit’s friend read what was on Gib’s hard drive. In great detail, he’d written about how he’d come to despise Hal and his twin sister, who died when his wife Rosa gave birth to them. In his mind, all little girls were evil. Little girls like Jane, and little Sofia Carillo, who spent years lying in a morgue, waiting to be identified. When the Fort Charlotte Sentinel, along with the Miami Journal, published the details of the case, Natalia and George Carillo finally came forward to claim their daughter’s remains.
Both were undocumented immigrants who had been working on Matlacha Pass near Ali’s cottage. Their daughter had been missing, yet they were afraid to report her disappearance because they weren’t in the country legally. DNA testing on the bones that had been discovered proved little Sofia and Jane’s identities. Val and John paid for a proper burial for the family. Kit contacted a friend, who was working with the Carillos to gain them legal citizenship. It would take a while. The couple, who had other children born in Miami, agreed to abide by rules set forth in the process, and would begin working legally for Kit’s father and stepmom in a matter of weeks. The screaming little girl Ali had almost killed Hal and Gib over was understandably traumatized, but Ali had learned through Kit that she was getting the proper therapy and had been reunited with her family. Gib and Hal had temporarily stashed her at the bait shop, knowing John was away in Orlando, until they could secretly move her to the motel.
So many changes in such a short time. Ali had moments where she didn’t believe the evil on this island was truly over. Betty and Tank were part of Gib’s cult. Tons of literature on Cyrus Teed’s cult and their practices were found on Gib’s computer, now in the hands of the FBI’s forensics team. Betty and Gib were more than friends. She joined him in his sick mission after Tank was old enough to take care of himself, though Tank denied any knowledge of the cult and their activities.
Soon, Kit left, promising he’d return the next morning. Ali knew it was still hard for him to spend time at her cottage, knowing his sister Jane had been buried there for so many years. They had both agreed to take things slowly, and that was just fine with her.
Ali’s thoughts were all over the place. She knew the investigation was just beginning. There were more folks involved in the cult. Ali still didn’t understand why Hal and Gib had tried to kill her specifically. Betty had indeed laced her hot tea with Ambien that fateful night. The toxicology report said it was enough to knock out a three-hundred-pound man. Hal had dragged her to Gib’s place; they then took her back to the hotel, where Betty gave her another dose of Ambien.
After her arrest, Betty swore Gib had threatened to kill her if she didn’t follow his orders. He wanted little girls, and apparently young women, too, so he could torture them, then bury them. At least, that’s what she’d told the FBI.
Alison and her ability to know when to run when she felt she was in danger had saved her life again. But from now on, she wouldn’t live in the past. She would move forward.
She had two good friends now in Val and Tammy, plus Kit, who’d stolen her heart. Renée was like a little sister. John seemed thrilled now that Val acknowledged him, and agreed the past was in the past. Together, they’d do their best to raise their daughter.