forced herself to look somber. “We’re taking you very seriously.”
Beth really didn’t think there could be any trouble, not with the yacht out at sea. She offered a dry smile and started to walk away.
“Hey,” Amber called. “Where are you going?”
“For a walk.”
“You’re going back to look for the skull, right?” Amber pressed.
“No.” She stepped back toward them. “And don’t go talking about the fact that we might have seen a skull, do you understand?”
Amber let out a great sigh. “No, Aunt Beth. I mean, yes. We won’t mention it again, okay?”
“Good. And scream like hell if anything happens.”
“Like you did last night?” Amber teased.
“Behave or I’ll tell your dad that every young guy in the theater department isn’t gay!”
“Hey, have a great walk, Beth. We’ll be little angels, sitting here. Ready with the pepper spray,” Kim vowed seriously.
Shaking her head, Beth started off.
The island was such a strange paradise, she thought, heading toward the path through the pines and scrub brush just behind the area they had chosen to stake out their tents. The beach was pristine, the water clear and beautiful. Of course, just beyond there were dangerous, even deadly, reefs. But those who knew the area and could navigate those reefs knew how to reach a real Eden. But behind the beach, the island became a very different place, the dense foliage creating little nooks and crannies, shadows and an eerie green darkness.
She had always loved it.
Until now.
Today it seemed the island itself was working against her. She lost the trail and almost emerged at the other end of the beach. Retracing her steps, she swore softly.
A large mosquito decided to take a good chunk out of her arm, and she slapped it furiously, taking inordinate pleasure out of the fact that she managed to kill it.
At last she wound her way back to the clearing where she had stood the day before with the girls.
She looked around, trying to assess the area. Fallen palm fronds seemed to be everywhere.
Had there been that many yesterday? She tried to remember exactly where they had been standing.
And then where Keith Henson had emerged from the trees.
In the end, because there were so many palm fronds down on the ground, she decided to examine them one by one.
She tried to make sure she didn’t miss an area. She had gotten to her fourth frond when she heard footsteps.
Someone else was heading for the clearing.
She forced herself to pause and listen. After determining the direction from which the sounds were coming, she headed across the clearing. As soon as she reached the shelter of the trees, she spun around, afraid that whoever it was had already burst into the clearing and seen her.
Through the trees, she could see something glinting.
She narrowed her eyes and swallowed hard. Whoever was coming was carrying a knife. A big knife.
A machete.
Staring intently at that deadly glint, she backed farther into the trees.
Suddenly she felt an arm reach around her middle, pulling her deeper into the foliage.
A scream rose to her throat.
But a second hand clamped tightly over her mouth, and no sound escaped.
Stretched out on the sand, Amber watched her aunt disappear into the foliage, then rolled again to face Kimberly with a sigh.
“We’ve got to do something!”
“About what?”
“Beth, of course.”
“You’re calling her ‘Beth’ now?” Kimberly queried with a brow arched high in a semblance of mature disapproval.
“No...it’s just, we’ve got to do something.”
“She’s so cute,” Kim agreed.
“And so is he,” Amber said.
“Which one?” Kim asked, frowning.
“The cute one.”
“Even your dad is cute,” Kim said.
Amber laughed, shuddering. “Ugh. Dads are not cute.”
Kim shrugged. “I’m sure he is to lots of people.”
“I know, but...ugh. No, I’m talking about him. And I know you know which one I’m talking about.”
“Keith Henson,” Kim agreed sagely.
“We need to get the two of them fixed up.”
“Amber, they’re both here. If they want to get fixed up, they’ll do it.” Kim giggled. “I mean, they’re older than we are. They’ve got to have some smarts.”
“Do you think he has a wife somewhere? Or a girlfriend?” Amber asked worriedly.
“I don’t think so.”
“He better have, like, a real job. I don’t want my aunt working her whole life to support some beach bum.”
“Amber, we’re not getting them married off or anything.”
“But we should get them together,” Amber protested. “Seriously, she’s so pretty, but she never goes out. She needs a date.”
Kim blushed. “You mean she’s not getting any?” she asked with a giggle.
“Kim!” Amber nudged her hard.
“Well?”
“We need to set her up. But first we have to check him out.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
“I’m not sure yet. We’ll have to see when we get home. Dad has lots of cop friends. We can talk to one of them.”
“Amber, we may never see these guys again once we go home.”
Amber sat up, grinning, and did an amazing Alfred Hitchcock impersonation. “Have you ever had a premonition?”
Kim
