Endless (Shadowlands) (12 page)

I kept my head down as we walked two by two, following the matching caskets down the hill. The service had been brief and cold, as if everyone here had forgotten what wakes and services were actually for—sharing fond memories of the deceased and honoring their lives. The mayor had said a few words in her living room, where the roughly hewn caskets had sat closed on the floor, surrounded by fake flowers, since every real bloom on the island had long since wilted, grown moldy, and died. No one else had volunteered to say a word. But as the caskets were lifted and the crowd parted to form a makeshift aisle down the center of the room, I had suddenly started crying, and I hadn’t been able to stop since.

I cried for Cori. I cried for Nadia. I cried over the fact that they had both walked around this island with the same confidence everyone else had—that nothing truly bad could ever happen to them again—until it did. I cried for my dad and Darcy and Aaron. And I cried for my mom, whose funeral was the last one I’d attended on Earth. The moment I let myself open that door, the memories crashed over me like the waves at high tide. The pain was as fresh as if she’d taken her last breath just yesterday.

I thought of the way Darcy had held it together so perfectly, her posture like a prima ballerina’s, her smiles so gracious and polite as she’d received the guests, until she’d stepped up to my mother’s open coffin and let out an awful wail. I thought of how my father had gotten up from his chair to say his eulogy, but fallen right to one knee, where he’d stayed for at least five minutes until my uncle Morris finally helped him up. I thought of how I’d reached out to hold her hand inside her coffin and stared at her overly made-up face, just willing her to wake up and smile. Wake up and tell me this was just a dream.

Wake up, wake up, wake up
,
I’d repeated silently, desperately.
Please, Mommy. Please wake up.

That was the memory that truly caught me now, closed my throat, and made me buckle at the waist.

Please, Mommy. Please wake up.

I wished for the thousandth time that I could talk to her, if only for a second. Now I needed her more than ever. I needed her to tell me what to do. I needed her to tell me everything was going to be okay. And I needed Darcy, too. And my father. It wasn’t fair that I was alone here. It just wasn’t fair.

“Rory?”

I looked up into Joaquin’s eyes. I hadn’t even noticed that we’d stopped.

“Are you all right?” he asked me.

I shook my head, glancing past the other raincoats and umbrellas at the caskets, which now lay on the grass next to the open graves. The caskets were made of raw birch, the bright yellow grain the only warm spot in the world around us. There was no graveyard in Juniper Landing, of course, and we had decided to bury them near the trees on the lower of the two bluffs at the south end of the island. This was one of the flattest bits of terrain, and a beautiful spot with a view looking over the town to the east and the ocean to the south. From what I had heard, it had taken Fisher, Dorn, and Kevin over an hour to dig each hole because the earth was so saturated it kept collapsing in on itself. Now everyone waited for the caskets to be lowered. For this whole sorry episode to be over.

“I’m fine,” I said, shoving my balled-up hand under my nose. “Shouldn’t you be…over there?”

As one of the sixteen pallbearers, Joaquin was supposed to be helping to place the caskets into the ground.

“Yeah.” A pained expression passed over his face, and he held tight to my elbow. “I just wanted to check on you.”

“Thanks,” I said, and meant it.

I glanced around as I tried to catch my breath. Surrounding the caskets and the graves were dozens of black-clad Lifers, passing tissues, their heads bowed. But beyond them, a small crowd had started to gather. Curious visitors. And I felt a sharp stab of resentment at their presence.

This was a private moment, not a tourist attraction. Even Ray Wagner and Jack Lancet were there. They whispered to each other, their heads bent close. When Wagner caught me watching, he lifted his hand in a jaunty wave. He was enjoying this.

“I think we should get this over with,” I said tersely.

Joaquin nodded and got back to the business at hand. He and the other pallbearers—Liam, Kevin, and Fisher among them—lifted Nadia’s casket by its plain silver handles and ever so carefully lowered it into the ground, falling to their knees as they gritted their teeth under the strain. When the wood finally hit the dirt floor of the ditch, Lauren let out a choking sob and buried her face in Bea’s jacket. Then they lowered Cori’s casket into the ground as well, and the mayor stepped up to the top of the graves.

“Today we lay to rest two good friends. Let us never forget what their lives meant to us. What their deaths mean to us.”

She crouched down, picked up a glob of muddy dirt, and threw it atop Nadia’s casket, then did the same for Cori’s. The rest of the Lifers formed a jagged, circuitous line, and each of them followed suit, littering the wood with mud. As I edged forward, I glanced across at the visitors and was startled by a few hostile stares, a few suspicious glances, some furtive whispers. They were talking about us. Talking as if they suspected us of something. But what? We were simply laying two people to rest.

When it was finally my turn, I set aside my unease and scooped up a small chunk of mud. I looked down at a dark brown knot in the lid of Nadia’s casket and let the dirt drop and plop from my fingers to cover it.

“Good-bye, Nadia.”

I stepped to the next casket.

“I’m so sorry, Cori. I wish I had stopped him. I’m so sorry.”

I dropped the mud on her casket, tears coursing silently
down my face. Then there was nothing left to do but move
on.

Joaquin was waiting for me a few feet away, a black umbrella overhead. “Do you want to get something to eat?”

“No,” I replied, kicking at a white rock. “I just want to go home.” Though what I thought was waiting for me there, other than loneliness and silence, I had no idea.

He put his hand gently on the small of my back, and we moved away from the crowd. We’d barely made it five steps when the sight of the twins stopped me cold. While most of the visitors were keeping a respectful distance from the proceedings, staying near the point where the hill dropped off toward town, the Tse twins were much closer. They’d chosen a spot in the middle of the field, just yards behind the mourners, standing beneath the cover of a wide black umbrella. Their clear eyes stared directly at me, directly
through
me, making my insides curdle. Sebastian was rolling a coin across the back of his hand from finger to finger, a trick I’d never been able to pull off myself.

“I still can’t believe he’s your charge,” Joaquin said under his breath. “How did you not know?”

“I’m as confused as you are,” I said. Normally we knew who our charges were the moment they arrived on the island—knew everything about them once we saw them. Then, when they were the next in line to be ushered, we would find out about their deaths, the better to help them resolve their issues. “Maybe it was because they arrived on the ferry? Everything was such a mess that day.”

“Maybe,” Joaquin mused, narrowing his eyes at them. “Is it just me or does it seem like when it comes to the Tses, nothing’s quite what it should be?”

“It’s not just you,” I replied.

Just then, Sebastian turned slightly, and I saw that the coin he was toying with wasn’t silver, but gold—one of the Lifers’ ushering coins.

“Joaquin!” I exclaimed, gripping his arm.

His face paled when he saw the coin. Before he could stop me, I’d taken off after the twins, grabbing Sebastian’s arm.

“Get off me!” Sebastian snapped, shrugging off my hand.

My teeth clenched. “Where did you get that?”

“It’s none of your business, is it?” he replied, quickly pocketing the coin. “Unless you want to try explaining what it is.”

He and his sister eyed me and Joaquin shrewdly, their light eyes glinting with malice. I pressed my lips together tightly.

“We didn’t think so,” Selma said.

Then they turned as one and walked away, their steps perfectly matched.

“What the hell is going on?” Joaquin asked as a stiff wind off the ocean blew my hair across my eyes.

“Pete said he was working with someone. We just assumed it was a Lifer, but what if it’s not?” I turned to face him. “What if one of the visitors has something to do with this?”

“But, Rory, it can’t be them,” Joaquin said. “They didn’t get here until the ferry sank. Aaron, Jennifer, your dad…they’d been ushered already.”

“Unless they didn’t get here that day,” I replied, my pulse racing. “What if they’ve been here all along?”

Joaquin shook his head. “What?”

“Think about it,” I said, everything coming to me in a rush. “Steven Nell managed to sneak in under everyone’s radar. What if the twins got here earlier and were hiding out until the ferry sank? Maybe they used the confusion of that day to come out of the woodwork and start stirring things up with the locals. Cause a distraction so Pete could keep ushering souls.”

Joaquin eyed the line of visitors along the ridge. A few of them parted to allow Sebastian and Selma through, then followed the twins toward town, casting suspicious stares over their shoulders at us. It was as if the Tses were gathering forces. As if some of the visitors had become willing minions.

“Why else would they have a coin, Joaquin?” I asked. “Why else would they be asking us these crazy questions as if they already know the answers?”

Just before he dipped below the hill, Sebastian paused and looked back at the weather vane atop the mayor’s house. Ever so slowly, his narrowed eyes slid in our direction, sending a creeping chill down my spine. He smirked and was gone. Joaquin’s jaw tightened.

“We should take this to the mayor,” he said. “I think it’s time she had a little chat with the Tses.”

I stare at the graves long after everyone else has gone. No one has covered them over yet and the piles of mud on the once clean surfaces seem wrong. Everything about this seems wrong. They didn’t have to die, but it wasn’t my fault. It was theirs. If Nadia had just stayed in hiding like a good little scapegoat, if Cori hadn’t interfered, these graves never would have been dug.

I could have ended this without killing anyone, but what’s done is done. There’s no going back. Soon I’ll have everything I want. And that’s the only thing that matters.

I waited in the lobby of the twins’ boarding house on Magnolia that afternoon with Krista, Liam, and Bea, while Joaquin, Fisher, Kevin, and Dorn made their way past the staircase to the door of the first-floor room where the twins had been staying. I still couldn’t believe they had been placed so close to my house. The very idea of their proximity to it gave me the creeps. But then again, I had been staying with Krista for the last few days anyway, and hopefully, when and if I ever felt comfortable in my house again, the two of them would be long gone.

I glanced nervously at the front door and the weather raging outside, and hoped we could get through this without a scene. After the funeral earlier, there was a sort of unease between the Lifers and the visitors.

Fisher pounded on the door. It sounded like thunder. Liam startled and even I flinched. Apparently he wasn’t as concerned as I was about being discreet. Not that I was surprised. All my friends were on edge with another member of our group gone—someone they’d laughed with, hung out at the cove with, shared secrets with. They wanted answers, they wanted justice, and they wanted the deaths to stop.

“Selma? Sebastian? We need to talk to you,” Joaquin said. “Please open the door.”

There was no reply. A door on the floor above creaked open, and I could feel whoever it was eavesdropping. Joaquin glanced at Dorn, who’d worn his Juniper Landing Police uniform for the occasion. His police cruiser—the only one in town—idled out on the street.

“Selma and Sebastian Tse?” Dorn said, heaving a sigh. “This is the Juniper Landing Police. Open up.”

Several more doors opened overhead. One man actually stepped over to the top of the stairs, his fuzzy bathrobe hanging wide over a T-shirt and boxer shorts. “What’s going on down there?” he asked Bea, who was closest to him.

“Nothing.” She shrugged casually. “The police just have a few questions for someone. No big deal.”

“Selma and Sebastian Tse, we know you’re in there,” Dorn said, lowering his voice. “Open the door or I’ll be forced to break it down.”

“That doesn’t sound like nothing,” the man said, creeping down a few steps but keeping a safe distance.

I gritted my teeth and stared at Krista, who looked pale against the backdrop of the yellowing flowered wallpaper. This was not good. Finally, the door at the end of the hallway opened a crack, and either Sebastian or Selma—it was impossible to tell which—peeked out.

“What do you want?”

“Mr. Tse?” Dorn began.

“That would be
Miss
Tse,” Selma corrected him with a sneer.

“My apologies,” Dorn said, sounding not a bit sorry. “Would you please step out into the hallway?”

She didn’t move. The door didn’t move. “Why?”

“Is your brother inside, miss?” he asked, tugging up on his utility belt.

Selma’s eyes flicked to his gun in its holster. “Why?” she said again.

“Because we’re going to need you both to come with us.”

The door ripped open so fast that the guys jumped back, and Krista grabbed my arm. Sebastian stood there, his fists clenched at his sides. He was seething.

“Come with you where?” he demanded. His gaze darted to Joaquin’s face, then Fisher’s, then Kevin’s, as if he was studiously memorizing every detail. “Are we under arrest? We’ve done nothing wrong.”

“We just want to ask you a few questions,” Dorn said firmly.

“So ask,” Selma said.

Dorn glanced over at us, and at the man in the bathrobe, then toward the stairs leading up, where who knew how many people were listening.

“We’d rather do it over at the station.” Dorn reached for Sebastian, and in a blink Sebastian lunged at him, slamming the much bigger Dorn back against the staircase wall behind him. I flinched and Selma screamed. Almost instantly, Dorn got Sebastian in a headlock and wrestled him face-first to the floor. Liam craned his neck past me to get a better look at the action.

“That was a bad idea,” Dorn said in Sebastian’s ear. “Now you’re under arrest for assaulting a police officer.” I heard the cuffs click around his wrists without ever seeing Dorn take them off his belt. The guy was good.

“Sebastian!” Selma cried. “Are you okay?”

“Get the girl,” Dorn growled at Joaquin as he dragged Sebastian to his feet. His face was red and his cheeks quivered. He was angry, maybe even embarrassed, that Sebastian had gotten the better of him, even for that one second.

More doors opened and a crowd started to gather. Joaquin made a move toward Selma, but she flinched back. I grabbed his arm.

“Let me try,” I said.

He raised his hands. “All yours.”

I took a deep breath and approached Selma. Without her brother by her side, she looked scared. Angry, but also scared. She eyed me cautiously, and I turned my palms out in an apologetic way.

“Look, if you just come with us willingly, everything will be fine,” I said.
As long as you aren’t the one who hauled my family off to hell
,
I added silently.

“Yeah, right. Your ape of a cop just mauled my brother,” she snapped.

“Your brother attacked a police officer,” I shot back, frustration niggling at my nerves. “But if you agree to answer our questions, I’m sure they’ll let him off with a warning.”

Selma leaned out of the apartment doorway when she heard the police car’s door slam. Her hand covered her mouth. I could see how much she wanted to be with him, and recalled from my flashes of Sebastian’s life the depth of emotion they felt toward each other.

“Do you want to go with your brother, or do you want to stay here?” I asked. “Alone.”

“I’ll come,” she snapped, grabbing her bag from just inside. “You got any lawyers in this town?”

I shot a glance at Bea, Liam, and Krista as Selma stormed out the door. The twins were not about to make anything easy.

“You guys good?” Joaquin asked as Dorn loaded Selma into the backseat of his car next to her brother. Bea, Krista, Liam, and I were supposed to stay behind to search the Tses’ room for more coins, or anything else suspicious.

I glanced back at the apartment. “We’ll get it done as fast as we—”

Suddenly, a crackle of static cut me off. Grantz’s voice boomed through the speakers on our walkie-talkies.

“Be advised, Pete Sweeney has been located. We’re transporting him to the station now. Over.”

My eyes widened as I looked at Joaquin. “He’s alive.”

“This is a good thing, right?” Liam said.

I zipped up my jacket. “I’m going over there.”

“I’ll come with you,” Joaquin offered.

“No. No way.” Dorn was standing in the doorway now, practically filling up the space. “I need you and Fisher here with me.”

“It’s okay. I can go by myself,” I said.

“No. You can’t. Nobody goes anywhere alone anymore, remember?” Joaquin said, briefly cupping my face with his hand. I felt everyone staring at us—at that brief moment of intimacy—and my skin burned.

“I’ll go!” Krista and Liam offered at once.

“You,” Joaquin said, pointing at Liam. “You go with Rory. Bea and Krista, search the room.”

Krista’s eyes filled with worry. It was nice to have someone around who cared about me that much. My friends back home were really more casual acquaintances—people I studied with or ran track with. But Krista had become more than that. She’d become like a second sister. Unfortunately, right now all I could think about was getting my real sister back.

Krista looked at Joaquin. “But Rory might need—“

“Just do it, Krista,” Joaquin ordered.

Her shoulders slumped. “Fine.”

“Come on,” I said to Liam. “We’re wasting time.”

On my way out the door, Joaquin grabbed my wrist and turned me to him. I could feel the excitement, the anticipation, coming off him in waves. “You radio me the second you find out what’s going on,” he said, glancing at the twins, who sat whispering in the back of the cruiser. “By the end of the night, one of these people is going to talk. We’re gonna get them back, Rory.”

His energy was contagious, and for the first time in days, hope filled my heart. I nodded. “We’re gonna get them back.”