[27]
Quinn dialed Maddy’s number again and still got no answer. He left her another message while Danvers tried to get whatever kind of information out of Bobby he could. “This is the island, Bobby. Those are the people”—he pointed to images in Quinn’s and Maddy’s likeness on the paused screen—“who were kidnapped and held and almost killed on that island. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I understand, but I didn’t have anything to do with that! I just write the code, dude.”
“Who else is helping you? Who’s giving you the information then?” Quinn asked while he sent another text to Maddy.
“Well, Brad’s my partner, but Nathan is the real genius behind the games.”
The sheriff blinked. “Nathan? Nathan Truett? The guy who works for your father.”
Bobby crossed his arms and glowered. “The guy who works for me now. My father is dead, remember?”
“Yes, I remember. But, that Nathan?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “He and Brad design the ideas and I write the code.”
“Where’s Nathan been lately?” Quinn asked. “He’s taken quite a bit of time off from the marina, hasn’t he?” He would have had to in order to pull off everything, from the surveillance of his victims to the kidnappings and construction of the building on the island.
Bobby shrugged. “Yeah. He gets vacation time just like any other employee. He came back a few days early after Dad died so he could help out. He’s a good friend. More like family, actually.”
Quinn dialed Haley’s number. He knew she’d been staying with Maddy.
“’Lo?”
“Haley, it’s Quinn. Do you know where Maddy is?”
“No, she said she had an errand to run and would see me tomorrow.”
“You let her go alone?” His near shout turned heads and he grimaced.
“Quinn, she’s a grown woman who’s able to protect herself.”
“She also has a killer after her.”
“What’s going on?”
“We got the wrong guy. Maddy might still be in danger. We need to find her.”
Haley went silent. “I’m assuming you’ve tried her cell phone and couldn’t get her, which is why you called me.”
“Exactly.”
“All right, then we’ll track her phone. We all share our locations with one another.” He heard clicking in the background. “It looks like she’s just off the coast of . . . Key West? Could that even be right?”
“Key West? As in here?” Quinn paused. “Wait a minute, what kind of errand did she say she was running?”
“She didn’t specifically say. Just that she had to pick up something that she needed to return to its rightful owner.”
Quinn frowned. “I have no idea what that means.”
“I don’t either.” More clicking.
“What are you doing now?”
“Looking up the last number she called.” She fell silent. He listened, impatience clawing at him, the desire to act pushing him. “And here we are. She chartered a private plane.”
“To Key West.”
“That’s what it looks like,” Haley said.
“Send me her coordinates.”
“Uh-oh.”
Quinn tensed. “No, no, no. I don’t do ‘uh-ohs.’ What do you mean?”
“Her phone just went offline.”
Quinn looked at Bobby, leaned forward, and stared at the sweating young man. “If she dies, you’ll go down for murder.” He wasn’t actually sure he could make that stick, but Bobby didn’t know that.
Bobby swallowed. “Nathan told me not to say anything.”
“About?”
“He said she canceled, but they got on a boat together. He saw me watching and told me to keep my mouth shut.”
Maddy watched her phone and sidearm sink in the aquamarine water, then turned back to the man who held the gun on her. Fury and terror raged inside her, but she’d not let this psycho see it. “What’s the matter? You run out of bolts?”
“The bolts are back at the island,” Nathan said.
Her fingers curled into fists. Self-defense moves flipped through her mind. She held still for now. “Why are you doing this?”
“He said it’s time to resume the game.”
“He? He who?” God? Or had their speculation been right and there were two people involved? Her fear mounted with each breath. “Haven’t you heard? The island has been de–booby trapped and isn’t available for your sick games anymore. And besides, I thought Quinn had to die first.”
“Oh he does. He said he did. So I’m sure Quinn will be joining us shortly.” He smiled. A feral stretching of his lips that didn’t meet his eyes. “A good hunter always uses the perfect bait.”
“And the bait would be me.” Maddy felt a sinking in her stomach. “I really made this easy for you, didn’t I? Chartering the plane, using your company.”
“Yes. I was going to have to make a trip to come find you. But then your name came across the passenger list, so all I had to do was just sit back and wait for you to come. I appreciate it.”
“Right.” She saw the island growing closer. Fear threatened rational thought. She looked at the long gray-haired wig. “You killed Robert Tabor. You set him up as the killer, then murdered him. You killed eleven innocent people. Why? Why all the killing?”
He frowned at her. “I didn’t kill Robert. He killed himself.”
“The wound wasn’t self-inflicted. Haven’t you heard?”
His eyes flashed. “I’d never kill Robert. He treated me like his own son.”
Doubt flickered. “If you didn’t, then who did?”
His brow drew together over the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know.” His jaw tightened. “I thought he killed himself.”
“Well, he didn’t.” Her gaze bounced around the boat and frustration clawed at her. Nothing to use for a weapon.
“Of course he did,” Nathan insisted. “It was because of Ashley. He couldn’t take it anymore. He missed her too much and he killed himself. Ashley needed justice and he couldn’t give it to her.”
“She never should have died,” Nathan continued as though Maddy hadn’t spoken. “He told me I would be the one to help bring her peace in her afterlife. I would be the one to help her finally be able to rest. It’s the only reason I agreed to help.” His throat worked and his hand with the gun trembled slightly.
“And killing innocent people was the way to go about getting her justice?”
He frowned slightly. “It just had to be that way. Detective Holcombe was so wrong. He was slack in his job and an innocent woman died because of it. He deserves to pay.”
“You loved her,” she said softly. “You were in love with Ashley.”
His eyes widened and his nostrils flared. “Don’t talk about her. You’re not worthy to say her name. And yes, I used the wig to make sure Robert was pinpointed as being on the island close to the time of your little adventure. He told me it was all part of the plan.”
“Wait, Robert told you?”
“No, he told me. He said it was all part of the game. And now I have to deliver you to the island so the game can finally be finished.”
Frantic, Maddy realized she was running out of time. She wracked her brain for an idea of escape. She could attack him, try to get him overboard, but wasn’t sure she would actually be able to within the confines of the small craft.
“Killing is wrong, you know, killing innocents anyway,” he said. “But even in the Bible, God allowed death to happen to those who deserved it. He killed them himself. Look at Ananias and Sapphira. It’s all because the wages of sin is death.”
“Yes, but God is God. He’s a just God who acts accordingly. He’s not an indiscriminate murderer.”
“He told me the ones who needed to die.”
“You numbered them.”
“Numbers have much power and meaning in the Bible. He chose them. He gave me the list. I’m simply the tool he used to complete his work.”
She wouldn’t argue with him. And she wasn’t going back on that island. She stood.
He blinked. “What are you doing? Sit down.”
Maddy launched herself over the side and heard his furious shout just before she went under. She dove down, but realized in the clear water, she’d probably just delayed her arrival to the island. He would be able to see her. But maybe she could outswim him.
Maddy heard the boat turn. Her lungs started to protest and she headed for the surface. He might get her to the island eventually, but she was going to make him work for it. She struck out in the opposite direction of the island. One of the other islands in the area wasn’t too far away. She could make it. The boat pulled up next to her. She didn’t look at him. He wasn’t going to shoot her in the back. He needed her alive. She continued to swim.
“Get back in the boat, Maddy.”
Maddy ignored him and continued her strokes toward the land in front of her. Still not fully healed, her shoulder throbbed with the exertion. She did her best to put the increasing pain out of her mind. He pulled up beside her, the engine humming.
“Do you know who lives on that island, Maddy?” he yelled. “The Johnsons. Trey and Cecilia Johnson with their two girls, Harper and Nettie. The girls are six and eight. If you manage to get to that island, I’ll kill them all. You’ll try to stop me, but what if you fail? What if I manage to kill you? They’ll still die.”
Maddy wanted to weep. To wail. To rail against him. She couldn’t take the chance. She had to get back in the boat and try to come up with another plan.
“She’s going back to the island and he’s got her,” Quinn said.
Sheriff Danvers frowned. “I’ll get a team out there.”
“No. If he feels trapped, he’ll kill her. We have to do this subtly. He wants me to come find him. Alone.”
“I’m not leaving you to get yourself killed.”
“I’m not too thrilled with the idea myself.” Quinn’s mind raced. He pulled up the text from the killer and replied.
I’m on my way.
Come alone or she dies first.
Quinn bolted from the Tabor house and threw himself into the passenger seat of Danvers’s SUV. The sheriff was in the vehicle just as quickly and heading for the marina. “You sure you don’t want to use the chopper?”
“No. I have to approach as quietly as possible. As inconspicuously as I can. He has to think I’ve come alone.”
“You’ll have backup. They’ll be underwater and waiting for your word to close in. Before you get on the boat, we’ll outfit with you with an earpiece.”
“She’s already on the way out to the island,” Quinn said softly. “Her signal was lost while she was on the water, which means she’s in trouble.”
The sheriff was on his phone, but Quinn wasn’t listening. He was praying.
Maddy shivered as the wind blew across her saturated body, but being chilled was the least of her worries. He still held the gun on her as he navigated the boat into the boathouse, then lowered the electric door to close them in. Maddy wouldn’t have believed she could tense any more. Somehow, she had to get the gun away from him. Another boat sat in the second space.
“Who else is here?”
“He is.”
“He who?” Nathan had referred to a he during the course of the conversation, but she’d just assumed Nathan had been talking about God. But maybe he was referring to an actual person. “You keep saying he. Who is he, Nathan? God?”
He blinked. “God?” He gave a small laugh. “No, not God. But he might as well be. He’s the Chosen One,” he breathed.
Chills raced up her arms. She and Quinn had been right. There were two of them. “Bobby wanted to bring you out here, but the Chosen One wanted me to, so I had to tell Bobby that you’d canceled.”
Maddy barely listened to him talk as she scanned the interior of the boathouse. It was nice, nothing fancy, just functional. Surely there was some kind of weapon she could use. But Nathan waved the gun.
“Get out. It’s time to go meet him.”
“Who?”
“He didn’t want me to tell you. Now let’s go.”
Maddy climbed from the boat, never taking her eyes from the man with the gun. “So where is he?”
“Waiting for you.”
“I get that.”
He motioned for her to go ahead of him. Maddy stepped in front of him and started toward the door. She took a deep breath. It was now or never. She spun and caught Nathan in the stomach with a round kick. He gasped and went to one knee, the gun clattering to the wooden dock.
Maddy kept her momentum going and whirled once again to catch him in the chin. His eyes rolled back and he fell to the dock. Breathing hard, Maddy snagged the gun and checked the chamber.
“Very nice, Ms. McKay.” Maddy froze as the voice from her nightmare returned full force. She glanced up at the speakers in the corners of the ceiling. That low chuckle grated across her nerves and fired her fear into full force. And her anger. “Quinn is on his way,” the voice said. “Let the games begin.”
Quinn cruised up as close as he could to the sand, then pulled the engine up. The boathouse was close by to his left, and he liked having that sense of protection on that side of him. He climbed over the front of the boat and jumped down to the soft sand. He grabbed the rope while his eyes scouted the area. No sign of Maddy, but the boat she’d been on could be in the boathouse. He and Danvers had stopped to check the records at the marina. There’d been no one at the desk, and disgruntled passengers had been in the process of leaving to find other transportation. When he’d taken the keys to the boat he arrived in, Bobby had been on his way to the marina to take care of the business. Brad and Nathan had been nowhere in sight.
He knew he was taking a chance on assuming the killer would either lure Maddy back to the island or bring her here if he had her. He had no concrete evidence, just her last known location. But deep inside, he knew he was right. He thought about what Sheriff Danvers had told him about the island. “The spear pits have been cleaned out and filled in. The room where you and Maddy were kept has been swept, the speakers and cameras removed, the lock disabled. Didn’t want some adventure-seeking kids to wind up in the room, unable to get out. Eventually, we’ll demolish the thing, but for now, it’s safe enough. All the evidence has been removed, the cameras are gone, and the house is locked up tight, per the family’s wishes.”
Still, Quinn didn’t put it past the killer to have something rigged and waiting. Feeling way too exposed in the open area, he stepped carefully, anxious to get to cover.