Yeah, I remember, I thought, but I didn’t share with Adam all the second thoughts I’d had recently. Instead I said, “Look, I know you want me to take some kind of a break from the case, but I’m not going to sit around here locked up in this cottage all day like some kind of prisoner.”
“You’re hardly a prisoner,” Adam’s voice softened. “It’s just that anything could happen to you in those woods. If you fell or got hurt, we’d have a hell of a time even locating you.” Pausing, he added, “Did you at least tell Max where you were going?”
Uh-oh. He’d just settled down, and now he was going to be pissed all over again. And I hadn’t even gotten to the J.T. part yet.
I shook my head, staring at my plate of unfinished food. “Um, no, I didn’t tell anyone where I was going.”
Adam was silent, so I glanced up. His eyes held, not anger as I expected, but disappointment and sadness. I suddenly felt genuinely bad for being so foolhardy. “I’m sorry,” I said softly.
Adam reached over and covered my hand with his. “Don’t apologize, OK? I just worry when I’m not around to protect you. Next time,”—I was sure those words were killing him, because he knew there’d always be a next time with me—“just please tell Max.”
I took a deep, steadying breath. “I will, Adam, but, uh, there’s more.” He looked weary, so I added, “Promise me you won’t get angry when I tell you what else happened.”
“Just spit it out, Maddy.”
“Ok, uh,” I sputtered, “J.T. O’Brien was there today, in the woods on the other side of the island.” I cringed, dreading Adam’s reaction.
But instead of an angry outburst, he took a small drink of water and leaned back in his chair. “Do you really have so little regard for your own welfare?” He shook his head. In disappointment, I imagined.
“I never expected to see him out there,” I said in my defense. “Besides, he didn’t notice me. He was…preoccupied.”
“With what?”
“Digging, maybe burying something. He was covering the area with leaves, covering something up.” I raised an eyebrow of my own for emphasis. “That’s what I’ve wanted to tell you this whole time. I’m sure whatever J.T. was doing, he was up to no good.” I paused. “And I think we should find out what—”
“We, Madeleine?”
“Well, maybe not we,” I acquiesced. “But someone should check it out.”
“You’re right. O’Brien has no right trespassing over there. He’s well aware that side of the island is completely off-limits,” Adam said, clearly aggravated. “I’ll have Max take a look around. Do you think you could pinpoint the location for him?”
“I don’t know, maybe. If we head down there before it rains I could probably find the mound.”
The look Adam gave me told me I’d misunderstood. “I meant pointing out where you were on a map,” he said quietly.
With that, I nodded. But I knew I’d never be able to pinpoint the exact location on a map. I’d been so scared, I’d be lucky if I could find the right spot even if I did go with Max—though it sure would be more likely.
But I’d try it Adam’s way…for now.
The next morning I gave Max the best directions I could, trying to remember the exact lay of the land in the area where I’d seen J.T. The map was really no help at all. I could estimate, but I wasn’t sure how far down I’d traveled. I ventured a guess that I’d been about halfway to the lighthouse. When I mentioned that tidbit, Adam and Max exchanged an odd glance. Then Max folded up the map and took off in his Hummer.
When Max returned later that day and told us he’d been unable to locate any signs of the ground having been disturbed where he’d searched—no mound of dirt, no disturbed leaves—it came as no surprise to me. I insisted I’d have to go with Max if there was any hope at all of pinpointing the exact spot J.T. had been. But Adam quickly vetoed that plan. Instead he came up with an alternate plan to be employed the following day. The three of us—Adam, Max, and I—would go back and investigate the area as a group.
Unfortunately the weather had other ideas. Heavy rains moved into the area that night, making the likelihood of our getting back down the rugged access road—even in Max’s all-wheel drive vehicle—slim to none. So we