“Where’s Jake?” I ask when Eliza comes and sits next to us.
She gestures back through the jungle. “He forgot his stupid book, couldn’t possibly enjoy the afternoon without it, apparently. What were you two talking about?”
“Whether we could live here, on this island,” Brittany answers, pushing her sunglasses up her nose with one finger. “We decided we definitely couldn’t.”
“Same,” Eliza says, settling back on the sand. “Love a sunset, love a beach, but there’s so much of the world to see. And honestly, I’m starting to miss cities.” She takes a deep breath. “Not even a hint of exhaust fumes. How is a woman supposed to live on fresh air alone?”
Nico and Amma begin climbing out of the pool, and I watch from the corner of my eye as Nico drapes a towel over her shoulders.
“Where are you headed after this?” I ask, and Eliza shrugs.
“Not sure yet. Jake wants to go to Fiji, maybe Bora Bora, but I’m hoping I can convince him that Bangkok will be a nice change of pace from all these white-sand beaches.”
I feel a pang of envy. I’ll just be heading back to Maui, until Nico decides what we do next.
Eliza glances over and nudges me. “Wanna come with?”
I give a startled laugh even as the idea sends a flare of excitement through me. “To Bangkok?”
She nods, her blond hair coming loose from its sloppy topknot. “Why not? We like you, you’re fun. You clearly want to travel.”
“I do,” I say, and then there’s all the other stuff I should say, about how Nico and I have our own plans, but none of it comes out, not a word.
“Then come!” she says, and I look up to see Nico watching us as he scrubs at his sun-bleached hair with a towel. Did he overhear Eliza’s invitation?
And more important, did he hear me not turn it down?
* * *
IT’S EVENING BY THE TIME we make our way back to the beach, and as I look out at the lagoon, it takes me a second to realize something is missing.
There are only two boats at anchor now.
The Last Dance with Mary Jane is gone.
Relief floods through me as I gesture toward the lagoon. “Guess he cleared out while we were gone?”
Nico squints out at the water, shading his eyes with one hand. “Guess so.”
“Thank sweet fuck,” Jake mutters, then grins at us. “I’d say that’s cause for celebration. Come over. Let’s pop some bottles, and toast to the end of that little fucker.”
“Sounds good to me,” Nico replies, his arm slipping around my waist.
It’s hot, both of us are sweaty, and I’m still thinking of him and Amma in the pool, his arms around her. I slide away from him.
He doesn’t say anything, but I feel his eyes on me as I climb into our dinghy, Brittany and Amma following.
The sun is slowly sinking below the horizon, and all of us are a little waterlogged as we come aboard the Susannah.
I’m the first to descend into the cabin, already craving a cold bottle of water from our tiny fridge.
But when I reach the bottom stair, something crunches underfoot.
There’s a bit of gray plastic under my shoe. It takes me a moment to process that it’s our radio—or rather, what’s left of the radio. Shattered plastic, bent metal, loose wiring.
“What the fuck,” I breathe.
“Lux?”
Nico is coming down the stairs behind me, and he quickly takes in the destruction.
“Do we have a backup?” I ask as he brushes past me to survey the mess.
“No,” he says, tersely. “This was it.”
He’s quiet for a moment, then quickly brings his fist down on the counter.
“Motherfucker!” he roars, and I instinctively jump back, my heel crunching yet another piece of plastic.
“It had to be Robbie, right? I told you we needed to be worried about him!” I feel panic rising in my chest and my mind starts spinning.
“Is this really the time to play I-told-you-so?”
I stare at Nico. “That’s not what I’m doing. I’m trying to remind you that sometimes I’m actually right about shit, and maybe you should’ve listened to me instead of acting like I was fucking crazy.”
“Well, clearly you weren’t crazy, and he is, okay? Are you happy now?”
“No!” I’m shrieking now, but I can’t stop myself. “I’m not happy.” Robbie was here, in our boat, among our things. He’d been watching and waiting for a chance to enact some kind of petty revenge.