“You good?” Easton yells into the wind.
I wipe my hand through my hair. “Yeah. Let’s get off the beach.” Storms this time of year haven’t been lasting long. But hell if I know what’s going to happen.
Easton’s ten steps in front of me as I head up to camp. Haley’s discarded life jacket is on the living room platform. I put mine with hers and climb up the ladder. The shutters aredrawn tight, and the door is pulled shut. Sam opens it for me as I approach and seals it tightly behind him. Everyone’s on the sleeping platform.
“Are you okay?” Haley hands me a towel, even as Dante’s trying to dry her off.
“Thanks,” I say, running the towel through my hair, peeling my wet clothes from my body. When I have dry shorts and a T-shirt on, I turn and face the four other guys, all glaring at me.
Sam opens his mouth, but it’s Dante who steps forward. “What the hell do you think you were doing?” he demands.
“It’s not his fault.” Haley raises her hand to put it on Dante’s chest.
“Like hell it’s not,” Dante replies. “He knows better. What if the WaveRunner had stopped and you were next to the bluff?”
“It didn’t stop,” Calvin says.
“But it could have.” Sam’s voice is deep. He’s not happy.
Haley holds her hands up to Sam this time. “There’s no way we could have known the weather was going to change that abruptly.”
“And I know what’s going to be said next,” I mutter.
Sam and Zane say together, “Prepare for the worst.” It’s Sam’s motto, and one that Zane has taken as his own.
“We’re fine,” Haley says. “We’re fine, we’re fine, we’re fine.”
“I’m glad you’re fine, Sassy, but numb-nuts over here could have really gotten you both hurt.”
“He didn’t, and we’re fine,” Haley repeats.
“Where did the damn dog go?” Sam ducks his head outside. “Come home,” he yells out into the jungle. “Penny, home.” He cups his hands and yells it again, “Home!”
“Besides, we discovered something really exciting,” she says.
“Oh yeah, what was that, Little Bird?” Zane asks, smiling at her.
“Calvin, you tell him. You’re the one who dove and saw it.”
“Right. It’s thick oak wood, something really water-tolerant, wrapped in heavy, old-style boat rope. There’s no way we’re gonna get it up. I tried budging it. The thing is really heavy, but we could cut the rope if we wanted to see what’s in there.”
Zane nods. “You think the planks are the same sort of wood as this?” He knocks on the floor. “Because there’s no oak trees around here.”
“Yeah, I do,” Calvin replies.
I study the floor and think back to what I saw underwater. “I do. I think they’re the same.”
“That’s interesting.” Zane rubs his chin. “Maybe it was something the derelict had in its hull. Maybe they were hiding it before they got thrown back onto the shoals.”
“Could be,” I nod, making one last pass with the towel over my head. I slump down into the pile of pillows in the corner, the pile that Penny and Pepper like to sleep in, just as a wet dog comes racing in from the storm.
“What in the hell?” Dante says.
“Only useful thing Jenifer ever did. It’s Penny’s strongest command. She’ll run wherever she thinks of as home.”
“Impressive,” Dante says to Sam, and then he turns to me and gives me a look that says the dog is smarter than me.
I could have really hurt Haley. They’re not wrong. And what the fuck am I doing? Sometimes it’s like I get a burst of energy from the wild, younger me and I stop thinking. They’re right. Of course it could have ended differently.
