Uncharted (39 page)

Any minute now, they’d reach the spot where the waves would carry them away from this cursed island.

At any minute she’d begin her journey back to Sarah.

Kevin winced as he planted his bare foot on something sharp.
What
now?
“You guys better hold up.”

Mark snorted with impatience, but he stopped while Kevin perched on the edge of the raft and brought his right foot to his left knee. The object lodged in the pad of his right foot was a rusty nail.

Karyn’s eyes crinkled with concern. “You’re going to need a tetanus shot.”

Mark snickered. “I think a case of lockjaw might do Kevin good, don’t you?”

No one laughed at his joke. Kevin pressed his lips together and tried not to wince as he pulled the nail free and flung it into deeper waters. Spurts of blood pumped from his foot like oil from a can, spreading a crimson smear over the gray water.

Mark gazed out to sea. “They say sharks can smell blood from over a mile away.”

Kevin gave him a pained smile. “
That’s
comforting.”

Mark grinned. “Just trying to earn my keep.”

“You should tie a bandage around that,” Karyn said, eying the wound. “Do you have something?”

Kevin checked the bundle he’d tossed onto the raft. Not trusting Mark’s prediction that they’d be picked up within hours, he had brought a couple of extra shirts he’d found on the beach—clothes they could knot together for a sunshade if they drifted for a while in the open sea. Even a couple of hours under a tropical sun would seriously exacerbate their dehydration. “I’ve got these shirts I brought to make a sunshade.”

“Hang on.” Lisa unbuttoned her blouse, revealing a white tank top underneath. She crossed her arms and began to pull it overhead, but paused to give Mark a pointed look. “Do you mind?”

Mark snorted and turned toward the sea. Kevin did the same, but he couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t rebuked him too. Was it because she didn’t care if he looked? Or was it because she sensed something disturbing in Mark?

Mark had often disturbed him. The guy had been a braggart even in their college days, but that braggadocio had developed into a dominant streak Kevin didn’t like and didn’t understand. How could a car salesman think of himself as the center of the universe? Sure, Mark owned several auto dealerships, but selling cars was hardly a claim to fame . . . unless car dealers were held in especially high esteem in central Florida.

“Okay,” Lisa said. When Kevin looked over at her, she was buttoning her cotton shirt again. The tank top lay on the raft, a skinny white garment with stringy straps.

His blood thickened with guilt as he reached for it. She had told him she loved him, and now she was literally giving him the shirt off her back. And he could give her nothing.

He caught her eye. “I hate to ruin this.”

“Don’t give it a thought. When we get home, I’m investing in a new wardrobe. I’ll need it for all the television interviews I’ll be giving about my miraculous rescue.”

“
Good Morning America
,” Karyn said, her voice dreamy. “And maybe Barbara Walters. Did I tell you about the time Barbara interviewed the cast of my soap?”

“I want to be on
Oprah
.” Lisa broke into a leisurely smile. “Wouldn’t it be great if she interviewed all of us? She tapes in Chicago, so we could do some sightseeing, maybe go to Millennium Park . . .”

While the women prattled on about their publicity junket, Kevin ripped out a side seam in the tank top, then folded the fabric into a long bandage. “You haven’t told me much about your business,” he said, glancing at Mark. “Are you worried about what might be happening while you’re gone?”

Mark’s chest swelled. “Only a little. I’ve got a fair number of fools working for me, but I can take care of them when I get back. The people who’ve been with me awhile know better than to mess around on my time.”

Kevin chose his words carefully as he wrapped his foot. “I think we’d be wise, though, to consider what might have happened since we left Guam. Someone has to know we didn’t show up in Kwajalein. They’ve probably launched some sort of search party—”

“I’m counting on it.”

“But if the search party doesn’t find anything, they’re going to assume we drowned. So what will your people do if they think you’re dead?”

“They would know better. I’m
not
dead.”

“But they may think you are.”

“No way. I told them I’d be unreachable for a week, and I’ve been incommunicado before.” He glanced at the women. “Sometimes I take my pop-up trailer and camp in the woods. I enjoy being outdoors, and I
like
roughing it. I love the challenge.”

“That’s obvious,” Karyn said, though her eyes focused on Kevin lowering his bandaged foot into the water. “Are we ready to move on?”

“Ready.” Mark grabbed his corner of the raft. “Let’s get out of this place.”

Kevin nodded and slipped into the waist-deep surf. As he trudged through the resistant water, Kevin focused on the tanned skin at the back of Mark’s neck and suddenly realized how much he missed David Payne. He’d been angry because fate dumped them on this island, but he had to admit he’d sign on again to honor David.

He wouldn’t have come, though, if it had been
Mark
killed on that rainy road outside Boston. Behind Morris’s flamboyant love for adventure, cars, and toys lurked something deadly.

With any luck, they’d be rescued before they discovered what it was.

Lisa’s temper, which began to simmer after about a half mile of walking, spiked when a rogue wave tumbled in and soaked them all to the skin. She blinked wetness from her stinging eyes, then scowled at the big lug across from her. “How much longer, Mark? Good grief, we’ve been walking for an eternity!”

He shifted his gaze to the distant horizon, where the waves appeared to approach in a line parallel to the shore. “It’s this blasted wind. It keeps shifting.”

“Oh my.”

The hollow sound of Karyn’s voice sent a shiver up Lisa’s spine. “What?”

Karyn pointed to the beach ahead. Lisa followed her gaze and saw the skull, which had loomed
behind
them when they set out.

They had almost completely circled the island.

“You idiot!” Lisa whirled on Mark, slapping the water at her waist. “We’ve walked all the way around and we still haven’t found your stupid refraction! You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Mark’s face went as red as a ruptured artery. “It’s the wind, I tell you; it keeps shifting. You can’t expect me to control the weather.”

“The wind never changes this fast at home,” Karyn said, her voice cool. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Lisa looked to Kevin, hoping he’d take charge, but he remained silent as he regarded the skull with a grim smile.

Mark tightened his grip on the raft. “Come on, we have to keep going. We’re probably only a few yards from where we need to be.”

Lisa bit back her frustration as she grabbed her corner and continued slogging through the water. She didn’t know how their rescue would play out, but one thing was certain—when she got back to civilization, she was going to put her parents in an assisted living facility and close her day care. She’d rent a cabin in the woods and spend a few months recording every detail of this fiasco. In her version of the tale, Mark would come off like a complete idiot. She’d give Kevin credit for keeping a cool head, and by the time the book ended, the love of her life would be a bona fide hero.

She closed her eyes to block the depressing sight of gray water as her feet staggered forward.

After the book came out—after her appearances on all the morning shows—she’d fly to Chicago to appear on
Oprah
. While she was sitting on Oprah’s couch, the audience would giggle and Oprah would say, “I have a surprise for you, girlfriend. Someone wants to see you again,” and Kevin would step onto the stage and take her into his arms. Away from the cameras, they’d have dinner at the most romantic spot Oprah could find, then it would be only a matter of time before Kevin realized he had chosen the wrong girl in college. When he murmured this confession in Lisa’s ear, she’d press her fingertips to his lips and whisper, “It’s not too late to find happiness.”

She’d wait forever if necessary.

39

Karyn kept her gaze lowered, not wanting to look at the creepy skull as they pushed the raft past the cave. Kevin suggested they head toward deeper water to avoid the boulders and any quicksand that might be covered by the shallows, so they moved out and literally swam the raft past the melancholy rock formation.

When they had safely passed, they towed the raft inland and trudged back to their starting point. Karyn felt a flash of disappointment when Susan looked up from the fire and didn’t seem at all surprised to see them again.

Was this an impossible task? They’d placed a lot of faith in Mark, and he had never proven himself especially trustworthy. Maybe it was wiser to sit by the signal fire and die of slow dehydration than to risk drowning and shark attack. Susan had never been the brightest coed in the dorm, but she had good instincts.

Karyn would trust those instincts now.

As they approached their starting point, Karyn let go of the raft and walked toward the beach.

“Hey!” Kevin’s voice rang above the crash of the surf. “What are you—?”

“I’m waiting by the fire,” she called over her shoulder.

“You can’t,” Mark yelled. “I’ve already told you—look! See those waves? They’re moving to the right! This is our spot! This is the time!”

Karyn hesitated, torn between risks, then lifted her chin and continued to move ashore.

Sarah would be better off with another mother. Someone less self-centered.

“Karyn!” Kevin caught her shoulders and spun her around, looking at her with eyes that had once held love and passion. “K,” he said, his voice raw and aching, “you
have
to come with us. This place will be the death of us, can’t you see that?”

She looked past him and nodded at Mark. “I see a fool in love with his grand plan. I don’t want to stake my life on his idea.”

She didn’t want to sound catty, but at her words the softness left Kevin’s eyes. “So I’m a fool for believing in Mark?”

“I didn’t say that.” She caught his sleeve. “Stay here with me. Mark’s going to get you all killed, don’t you see it? That raft isn’t stable, it’s not big enough, and he has no idea where he’s going.”

“There’s bound to be a search party out there. We’ll find it.”

“In the middle of the Pacific? Be reasonable. I know it’s hard for you to sit and wait, but you don’t have to be a hero. Stay with me and Susan. Wait with us . . . for whatever happens.”

He shook his head, as she knew he would. “I have to do something, Karyn. I can’t sit and wait to die.”

“What do you think you’ll be doing on the raft? Even if Mark gets you past the breakers, then what? One good wave could tip you over; twelve hours in the sun will evaporate whatever moisture you have left in your skin. The sea will kill you, Kevin. It will separate you and Sarah faster than anything on this island.”

He hesitated, then pulled free of her grasp and managed a laugh. “See you in Hawaii, then. I’ll be the one with the really good tan.”

Karyn watched, her heart breaking, as he turned and limped through the shallows to join Mark and Lisa.