out of its way, but the kayak hit him just below the knees, then bounced off and kept sliding along the seaweed-slicked rocks. He was on his back, gripping his leg, the rifle to his side. Abigail followed the path down as fast as she could, reaching Eric just as she heard the grunting sound of a dog right behind her. She picked up the rifle, spun, and the dog, a dark brown hound, merely bumped up against her, its tail wagging, sniffing at her, obviously pleased to have done its job. Eric grabbed a handful of her windbreaker, but she easily broke free, spun, and pointed the gun at him.
“Abigail, don’t,” he said, and held up his hands. “I was going to let you go. That’s why I asked to guard this beach.” The dog barked twice beside her.
“Bullshit,” she said, and placed the butt of the rifle against her shoulder.
“Listen to me. Don’t do this. No one was supposed to get hurt. We’re going to take care of Alec. He’ll pay for what he did.”
She imagined a bullet ripping through his skull, shutting this man up forever, but she pointed the gun toward where he was cradling his damaged leg and pulled the trigger. He jerked his hand away, but his leg bucked back, blood pumping from his destroyed knee. The dog whimpered, then scrambled away.
As he screamed, Abigail turned and took three steps to the kayak, pushing it with her foot out past the rocks and into the cresting surf. She dove onto the hull as she heard gunshots behind and above her. Holding on to the crisscrossed cording at the stern of the boat, she got her feet through the opening of the cockpit, then slid inside, dropping into the seat. She got her body as low as possible. More shots rang out, but Abigail had begun to paddle, digging deep with each stroke and keeping her head low. The kayak bucked up against a series of waves, and then it was moving steadily along the calm surface, picking up speed. She heard a few more shots, and then there was silence, and then she heard the low howl of the dog, sounding distant and lonely.
When she was far enough away from the island, she pulled her cell phone out from her jeans. It turned on, showing that it had three percent battery power. She checked for service but there was none, then opened her compass app, held it flat in her hand, and adjusted her direction so that she was heading exactly due west.
She’d kayaked plenty in her life, along the Connecticut River and at a pond one town over from Boxgrove, and she easily got back into the rhythm. She was exhausted and cold, but her arm muscles felt good, and her feet had found the footholds up under the bow.
Trying to remain calm, she worked at a steady pace, occasionally glancing down at the phone she’d placed on the floor of the kayak, making sure she was still moving in the right direction.
The night was quiet, and a steady but slight breeze ruffled the surface of the ocean. She kept imagining the guttural thrum of a small airplane coming to find her, but there were no sounds except for the paddle slapping against the water and her own labored breathing. She felt the stitch in her side acting up again, like a hot needle had been slipped between her ribs. She took a quick break, checking the compass to make sure she was still going in the right direction, then finishing the whiskey-laced coffee, its warmth spreading down her center, making her realize how cold the rest of her body had become. She dumped the thermos overboard, somehow imagining that it would significantly lighten the boat, then began to paddle, harder now that blisters were opening up on both of her palms. She thought of Jill again, lying dead on the cold floor of the forest.
Something streaked in the sky, and she stopped paddling for a moment, searching the glittering expanse above her. Then another shooting star caught her eye, a brief line of light. She repositioned her stinging hands on the paddle, then instinctively looked over her shoulder, her neck creaking. There was no sign of the island she had left, just a black stretch of ocean. And there was nothing in front of her, either. She reached down to touch the screen of her phone, and nothing happened. It was out