9. Accident

NINE

ACCIDENT

T ommy did everything but lock me in the cabin to try to convince me I didn't need to see this. I disagreed. Vee… She's my friend.

Was my friend.

I owed it to her. To be there with everyone else instead of letting Tommy coddle me, leaving me behind… I had to go. Madison couldn't bring herself to see Vee like that, but Summer, Chase, Tyler, and Tommy were all going to check out the scene and figure out what our next move was going to be. Once Madison said she'd be okay if we left her behind, Tommy and I hurriedly got dressed. As soon as we were ready, Tyler led us to the ravine where Vee fell.

I'll admit, I experienced the teeniest, tiniest twinge of relief when I learned that she didn't drown, but somehow fell about twenty or so feet in the ravine that helps feed Halo Lake.

I don't know how it happened. Everyone who's ever spent time on the island knows about the ravine—and to avoid it. It's the only break in the actual ‘halo', spanning about thirty feet across. Because there are other ways to cross the island, no one's ever bothered building a bridge to span it. Technically, we can climb down it, too, since it's on a slant with rocky handholds for the way back up, though I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

Is that what happened? Did Vee decide she wanted to cross it and thought that would be easier than following the ravine to the lake and cutting back that way?

There's no way to know. All we have is her broken body at the bottom ravine, and that's not answering any questions for us, is it?

She's wearing the same clothes she had on the night before. That's the only thing I take in when I tiptoe to the edge of the ravine and peek down. She's wearing the same clothes… Vee doesn't sleep in her clothes. I remember that from high school sleepovers, and from things Aaron let slip while they were dating. Vee favors silky pajama sets, and even if she didn't bring any, she would've changed before heading out again.

But she didn't. Does that mean she never returned to her cabin?

She had to have, though. Right? I asked Tommy last night… he and Summer found the other two and everyone turned in to their respective cabins.

Right ?

Tommy runs his fingers through his curls. He managed to peer down into the ravine longer than both Summer and me. Tyler didn't even approach. I guess he's already seen everything he needed to.

Chase is the one who lingers the longest. Even after Tommy gulps, swiping his hand over his face, looking lost and angry and helpless… even after he wraps me up in his arms and I realize I'm crying silent tears, Chase still stares down at Vee.

His back snaps straight. Careful not to lose his footing and join Vee on the ground, he turns, hands folded behind him.

Chase's hazel eyes lock on Tyler. "Okay. Start from the beginning again, Ty. What happened?"

"Are you fucking serious, Chase?" A touch of hysteria tinges Summer's voice. "You don't think Tyler has anything to do with what happened to Vee, do you?"

"Of course not." Chase's tone is soothing. "It's obviously a terrible accident. But we need to have our stories straight?—"

"Straight?" she echoes, her voice almost as high-pitched as her earlier scream. "Like we're lying ?"

"No, no. Summer. Please. I know this is hard, but we have to stay calm?—"

"How are we supposed to do that?" Tommy asks, his voice flat. "Vee is dead?—"

Dead. God. The word is so fucking final. Dead .

There's no coming back. One wrong step and any of us could've been gone. Vee grew up on Halo Island like we all did. She never would've gone near the ravine. Unlike Summer, her sense of direction is excellent. She wouldn't have fallen.

But she must have.

Chase exhales. "I know. I saw . But we need to know what happened. When we can eventually contact the cops?—"

My stomach lurches.

Summer moans.

Right. Cops . We're going to have to tell them. I mean, we can't leave Vee here forever. For one thing, Mulligan will notice if we came on to the island with seven guests and left with six. For another, she needs to be returned to her family.

Oh, God. We're going to have to explain to her family…

Chase surges on. "The cops will see that it's an accident. But I'm a lawyer, guys. You know that. Think. We know none of us did this to our friend. We know. The cops don't. We have to make sure we know what we're going to tell them. We're in this together. Tommy? Ty? You understand, don't you, Cyn? Summer… we have to know what happened. I'm not picking on Tyler. I'm just asking because he found her."

"Yeah. I did." A hollow laugh escapes him. "Threw up over there," he adds, gesturing closer to the edge of the ravine. "Shit. If I hadn't stopped to take a piss, I don't even know I would've even noticed her down there."

Tommy's laugh is just as hollow. "Fucking hell, Ty. You wanted to piss in the ravine? What are you, twelve?"

"It's just a thing I did when I was a kid. Be glad I wanted to see my piss arc into the hole otherwise we'd still be looking for Vee."

"What were you doing out here anyway?" I ask, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand. Focus, Cyn. Try to figure this shit out. "You've got a toilet back at your cabin."

Through her puffy eyes, Summer glares at me. "Weren't you listening back at the cabins when he was trying to explain? We went to wake up Vee this morning to see if she wanted to have breakfast with us. She was missing. Probably gone to find that mysterious man of hers again. Tyler went to see if he could track her down and… and…"

And he did.

I shake my head. "Why would she do that? Didn't you guys clear the island last night?"

After all, they were gone for so long, I could've sworn they had to have.

But Tyler shakes his head. "We gave up searching after a while. I headed back to my cabin. Vee went in hers. Summer was gone?—"

"Yeah." She gestures at Tommy. "Because we were looking for you two."

"I know. I stayed up until Tommy and Summer came back. Tommy went to check on Cyn, and me and Summer went to sleep. We had no idea that Vee must've gone back out after that until I saw her down there this morning. She had to have fallen. I just… are we sure he's dead?" I can hear the hope in his voice. "I didn't go down there. I didn't check. Maybe she just broke her leg and… and she's sleeping now. Right? It could happen."

Poor Tyler. He'd never been the brightest bulb in the bunch, but if he saw the same twisted body I did, he knows she's gone. For fuck's sake, she's on her back, but her head is turned away, face hidden. That's a broken neck if I ever saw one.

Summer glares at him through her own tears. "Please. Don't be a fucking idiot, Tyler. She's dead. She fell… what if someone pushed her? Shit. What if it's not an accident at all?"

What? No. It has to be.

The others seem to agree, but Summer turns her despair on Chase. "You were fucking Vee two months ago," she snaps. "Maybe you did it. Where were you last night anyway?"

If she turned on me like that, I'd lose it. But Chase… he just keeps calm. "I know you want to protect Tyler, but my fling with Vee doesn't mean I… what? Pushed her?"

"Maybe."

Tommy gentles his voice. "Summer…"

She ignores him. "Does Chase have an alibi? I know you were pushing Vee to be exclusive, but after everything that happened with Aaron, she blew you off. That screams motive to me."

I know Summer's gone too far this time when Chase's expression hardens. "Actually, I do have an alibi. If you don't believe me, ask Madi. It would've been kind of hard for me to sneak out and kill Vee when I was fucking her all night. C'mon, Sum. She's your best friend. You know how insatiable she is. Once she got my dick in that vice of a pussy she's got, you think she was letting me go anywhere?"

Summer's gaze lands on me. "Okay. Cyn's the only killer we have here. Maybe she did it."

I startle, gaping at Summer as it dawns on me what she just said. "Excuse me? What the fuck?"

"You heard me." She's more than a little hysterical now, but if she's going to accuse me of something so heinous… "Death follows you around, doesn't it? Your mom died and, whoops, you're the one who found her. Clay disappeared, no body, just blood, and in a couple of years, you'll get all his money. I don't know why you targeted Vee, but she's gone. Who's next? Me? Tommy?"

I knew it. I fucking knew she believed I had something to do with Clay's death. As if I would. As if I didn't pray every goddamn night that my husband would return to me.

I'm so shocked by her baseless accusation that I just continue to stare at her.

As always, Tommy rides to my rescue. "Stop it, Summer. Just stop it. You know Cyn has nothing to do with any of that. Besides, Vee was already in her cabin when we went back. The light was on. You even pointed it out. If she left after that, I was already in bed with Cyn."

"Of course you'd say that?—"

"We fucked when he got back." I gesture at my thighs. "I'm still covered in come, if you want to check. If you need proof that damn bad."

Tommy shields his mouth with his hand, hiding his sudden inappropriate smile.

Summer's expression turns murderous.

I raise my eyebrows at her. "How do we know you didn't do it?"

Tyler pales. "That's not funny, Cyn."

Yeah? Well neither was his wife implying I had anything to do with the tragedies in my own life.

Chase sighs. "Okay. Enough. None of us did it. And since nobody ran into some phantom on the island last night, we're going to call this what it is: a terrible fucking accident. Now, that settled, we have to figure out what we're going to do next…"

I wish we had a better answer for that.

Spoiler alert: we don't.

It all comes down to the inexplicable reality that we're trapped on an island, fifteen miles from shore, with the corpse of one of our closest friends. To make it worse, we had to leave her there. Even if we could figure out how to scale the ravine, then drag her body back up, Chase's lawyer instincts are in overdrive. He insists we have to preserve the scene. An accident it may be, but we need everything to look exactly the way it was for when we can finally contact the police.

That won't be until Monday morning. When the owners touted the new and improved Halo Island as a place to visit when you want to unplug and unwind, they weren't kidding. We can't contact the real world. If we'd expected anything like this, maybe a sat phone would've done the job, but our regular calls are worthless.

Obviously, Vee's death puts a damper over the whole rest of the getaway. Summer never said another word after I shut her down so crudely, and Tyler just agreed to everything Chase insisted on just so he could get away from the ravine again.

We're all headed home on the ferry on Monday. Chase offers to come back with the cops to show them where Vee is, but until then, he suggests we all return to our cabins, try to enjoy the rest of our weekend, and deal with the real world when we can.

The five of us are a somber group as we return to the row of cabins. Chase heads into the one he shared with Maidson last night, presumably to fill her in on what we all discussed. Summer and Tyler headed toward theirs.

Tommy took my hand and guided me to ours.

Once the cabin door is closed behind us and it's just Tommy and me alone again, I shudder out a breath as he releases me.

Tommy squeezes my shoulder in passing as I move further into the front room. "You okay, Cyn?"

Honestly? "Just trying to make sense of the bizarro world we're living in."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. Who would've thought we'd all listen to anything Chase Whitmore had to say?"

And Vee's gone. Only in a bizarro world could we find our friend dead and pretend we're going to enjoy the rest of our getaway while we hope no predators decide to take a chomp out of her.

I swallow a sob. Tommy's been eyeing me like he expects me to crack any second now. I'm stronger than that. I've survived so much more than a woman should've.

I can do this.

Does he agree? He bites the corner of his mouth, then exhales. "That's his job. He's trying to keep us all out of trouble."

"He's trying to cover his own ass," I mutter.

Tommy allows that. "Chase has his issues. But he's a good lawyer. No one's going to blame us for an accident."

I hope not.

Sinking down on the bed, I rub my forehead.

Tommy drops down into a crouch in front of me. "I mean it, love. Tell me. Are you okay? ‘Cause if you'd rather I swim all the way back to Gullhaven and tell Mulligan we need the ferry now, I'll do it. Say the word."

I choke on a strangled laugh. "There's sharks in the water."

"Don't care."

"It's fifteen miles, Tommy!"

He puffs out his chest. "That's nothing. You want me to do it, I will."

I shake my head. How does he do that? How does he make the heavy cloud of grief dissipate just enough to let the sunshine in?

"It's okay. I'm okay."

His worried eyes search my face. "Really?"

I blow out a rush of air through my nose. "No. Not even a little. A girl I've known since I was five is dead. She slipped and fell. That could've been any of us." I lay my hands on his shoulders. "It could've been you ."

He covers my hands with his. "Nothing's going to happen to me."

I really hope so. Speaking around the lump in my throat, I whisper, "I've lost too many people in my life already. I can't do it again."

Tommy firms his features. "I waited too long for a second chance with you, Cyn. Believe me. It's going to take a lot more than a freak accident to keep me from you."

I really fucking hope so—but I know better.

Clay used to say the same exact things to me, and I lost him anyway.

Damn it. I can't say goodbye to anyone else, but I can't help but think that Halo Island isn't done with me just yet.

And there are plenty more people I can lose.