returning sanity, like the passing of a high fever. Maybe the worst is over, he thinks.
Arriving at Arbuthnot’s hotel, Henry doesn’t bother with the main entrance, but goes around the side and up to the balcony. The door appears untouched—the DO NOT DISTURB sign is still on the handle. Henry knocks. There is no answer. He tries again, the raps echoing across the tropical courtyard. After a few more knocks he tries the door, but it is locked. The certainty that Arbuthnot is not there gives Henry a conflicting rush of wishfulness and anxiety: Ruby must be with him. Maybe they’ve left the island.
After a few minutes, he returns to the street, wondering what to do next. Loitering in the shadows, he gravitates back to the town plaza…and sees something that stops him in his tracks.
There is someone sitting on the bench: a woman.
Her back is turned to him and she has a pale, gauzy scarf over her head. She looks as if she’s waiting for someone herself.
With alarm bells going off, Henry moves cautiously towards her, taking care to stay out of sight. He doesn’t like this; it feels like a poisoned apple—that’s what his guys used to call it when local nationals gave them gifts while they were on patrol. The woman doesn’t move, primly sitting in the sepia light of a streetlamp. All he can think of is the hollow-faced girl from the play. It’s a trick, it’s a trick…
When he is less than a dozen yards away, he clears his throat. The woman turns around as if startled, and Henry gasps at the sight of her face.
It’s Ruby.
They rush together in a frantic clinch, both babbling at once: “Oh my God where were you, where were you!”
Overruling her, Henry demands, “What are you doing here?”
Tearfully, Ruby says, “I’m supposed to meet a man named Arbuthnot. He said he knows where Moxie is! Honey, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you—”
“Arbuthnot?”
“Yes! He said that you had talked to him, and everything was about to blow sky-high—something about the Department of Homeland Security getting involved.”
“Why did you leave me before?”
“Leave you?”
“Back in the hotel room!”
“Henry, I didn’t know what else to do—my head was filled with all that crazy stuff you told me! Moxie was gone, and those horrible people were down in the street! When you collapsed on the floor I freaked out! What was I supposed to do? All I could think of was what you told me to do—to go for help. So I hid in the downstairs linen closet until they were gone. When I came out and realized they took you, I almost lost it right there—I thought I’d never see you again. Where have you been?”
“At the movies. Did you drug me?”
“What? No! Honey, what the hell are you talking about? Drug you?”
“The wine. It was drugged.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. Because you thought I was crazy? Dangerous? Or maybe because someone else told you to?”
“That’s ridiculous! Henry. I didn’t drug you. I drank it, too—you saw me!”
“Okay…” Henry nods warily. “So what’s going on?”
“After they took you away, I tried to call the police, but there was still no answer, so I went down to the Sheriff’s Office. The whole town is empty—I couldn’t find anyone. After a while I just started knocking on doors, but it’s like a ghost town. Finally I came back to the hotel and broke down. Baby, you have no idea what I’ve been going through; I’ve been out of my mind.”
“Join the club.”
Sniffling, she says, “I know, I’m sorry. Anyway, just before I was about to lose it completely, I found a note to you from a man named Arbuthnot—it was written on hotel stationery, so I called his room. He explained how he knew you and told me to meet him here.”
“Why out here? Didn’t that seem a little risky?”
“He said he had to be sure that I was who I said I was—that I was coming alone. He promised to watch out for me.”
“What did he tell you about Moxie?”
“He said he thinks she’s all right, and that he can take me to her. She’s hidden up in the hills somewhere. Near the town dump, wherever that is.”
Electrified, Henry says, “How did he know that?”
“He said he has some kind of local connection who’s deeply involved in the whole thing. It sounds like the whole island has gone crazy—oh honey, I feel like I’m having a bad dream