Paradise Island: Complete Edition (11 page)

Since we were walking in that direction anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to check on Lucy, just to make sure she was okay. “I talked to her yesterday when I went over to get my stuff and I’m starting to see I overreacted before.”

Jack looked down, obviously feeling ashamed of what he’d done. “I’m so sorry you had to see that, Sophie. If I could go back and change it, I would in a heartbeat.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s not like we’re dating or anything. You shouldn’t stop living your life just because I’m staying at your house for a couple of days. Well, except for the cocaine thing. It’s dangerous, so I don’t want you doing that, mister!” I laughed but it was an empty one. When I thought of Jack on top of Lucy, doing whatever they were doing, an empty feeling pervaded my insides. I did not like that feeling, but I knew intellectually that there was no reason for me to feel this way.

Jack stopped walking and stood in front of me, which made me stop in my tracks as well. Both his big hands were on either of my shoulders and he looked straight into my eyes. I smiled weakly and looked away, hoping this moment would be over sooner rather than later.

“Look at me, Sophie.” He said and I met his eyes again.

“Good,” he continued. “I just want you to know that all that other stuff, the sex and the drugs, is over. And the reason is you. When I’m with you...I feel different. I feel like I can be a better man. I’m not expecting anything right this second, just your friendship will do. I just want you to know that I’ll always be there for you, no matter what. Sophie, when I first saw you I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d seen. Now that I know you, I know you’re the most beautiful person I’ve met.”

“Jack, don’t...”

“No, Sophie, I’m being one hundred percent honest here. You being with me means to me more than anything in the world right now. Do I hope that we’ll become something more later on? Hell yeah. But I can wait. I’ll give you all the time you need, and then some.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was all just too much, too soon. I was at a loss for words, so I did something that surprised even me. I leaned in and gave him a hug. His warmth, his strength making me feel like I had finally found that someone who really understood me.

“Jack, just promise me you won’t ever hurt me,” I said as tears started to fall, making his shirt wet but I couldn’t let go of him. His smell, his warmth, it all came together to form one concept, one word, in my mind: safety.

“I’d never hurt you, Sophie. I promise.”

We stood there, hugging for what seemed to be an eternity. The chilly wind surrounding us was trying to get to us, but our embrace drove the cold away.

It was strange, I had avoided physical contact with pretty much anyone, even Lucy, but here I was embracing Jack. I tried to convince myself to run, that what I was doing was wrong, but I knew deep inside that it was the only right thing I had done in a long time.

Eventually, I let him go, but he still held onto my hand and we walked in silence for the rest of the way. I drank in the view around us and suddenly everything felt more alive, more vibrant, more beautiful. I wondered if I was finally starting to feel that elusive emotion that all the heroines in my classic novels had to deal with: love.

The very word scared me, but if I was being really honest with myself, I think I was falling in love with Jack.

It wasn’t much after all that happened that I saw mine and Lucy’s cottage in the distance. I hoped she was okay so we could laugh the whole thing off and agree on what a creeper Henry was, but in the pit of my stomach I had a feeling that would not go away until I talked to her for real, and not just in my head.

The closer we got to the cottage, the worse that feeling got and when we finally arrived, it only got worse when I saw the door of the cottage halfway open. Sure, Lucy always forgot to lock the door, but she never left it actually open either. I told as much to Jack.

“Something is definitely wrong,” I whispered.

Jack motioned for me to stay behind him after he pulled his gun. We slowly entered the cottage. Thankfully, there weren’t too many places for someone to hide, so our super quiet, slow motion search didn’t take nearly as long as it would have if I and Lucy actually lived in a normal sized house. The house itself just had a kitchen/living area, one bathroom, and two pretty small bedrooms.

The last room we checked was Lucy’s bedroom, perhaps we both subconsciously left it for last because of what we feared we’d find there. But to my relief the bedroom was empty. Upon closer inspection however, I saw something that was definitely out of place: a piece of paper on the bed. Jack picked it up before I had a chance, but I read it as he held it to the light.

It said, in surprisingly neat handwriting: “I have Lucy. If you want her back alive, meet me at the abandoned boat house tonight at 11. Come alone, Sophie, or you’ll never see your friend alive again.”

It wasn’t signed, but it was obvious who the author of the note was. I gasped in horror as the contents of the note hit me. “This is all my fault,” I cried, burying my face in Jack’s shoulder. “He’s going to kill her because of me!”

Jack held me with one hand, the gun still ready to be used with the other. “Shh, Sophie, this is no one’s fault, except for Henry’s. He could have killed you last night, do you really think you should have let him?”

“I know it’s crazy, but I just feel responsible for this whole thing. Lucy never liked Henry and I was always nice to him. Maybe if I had kept my distance, none of this would be happening right now.”

“Don’t do that to yourself,” Jack said sternly. “Besides, what’s done is done. Right now we need to focus on getting Lucy back, and for that we’ll need a plan. Playing the blame game won’t help keep her alive, will it, Sophie?”

“No, I suppose not.” I let go of Jack and wiped my tears with the sleeves of my shirt. “What do you suggest we do now? Go to the police?”

“I think we should go back to my place and work out a plan. I don’t think the cops will be much help. This is a small island. I doubt the locals have ever dealt with anything like this, and if we call the ones on the mainland, Henry will see their ships coming a mile away and probably kill her out of spite. No, we have to deal with him ourselves.”

And with that, we locked up the cottage and made our way back to Jack’s place. I thanked my lucky stars that I was with Jack after the attack, because I doubted that I could defend myself against Henry a second time if he broke into the cottage.

We made our way back to Jack’s place a lot quicker than we had made it to the cottage, for we had spring in our step now. We had a mission, and Lucy’s life hung in the balance. I was filled with relief when Jack closed and locked the glass doors behind us. I walked with him as he checked that the house was empty just in case, and breathed a second sigh of relief when it was.

After taking off our jackets and shoes we found ourselves in the living room. I put the note in the middle of the table after clearing some of the books and things out of the way.

“I guess it’s time to come up with a plan?” I said, more to myself than anyone. I had no idea where to start.

Jack leaned forward and looked at the note again. “I think I know where that old boat house is. It shouldn’t be too far from here if we take my bike.”

“But he’ll hear it coming, and then he’ll kill her!” I jumped up in fear. I did not want to be responsible for anyone’s death, much less my best friend’s.

“You’ve got a point there,” Jack said and rubbed his temples, presumably thinking up something new. “I think we should go over to the boathouse way before the meet time and wait and see what he does. Maybe it will give us an advantage.”

“I don’t know, Jack. What if he’s already there, waiting to see if I don’t come alone or come early and try to surprise him? What if he surprises us instead?”

Jack groaned in frustration. “This isn’t going to be as simple as I thought, will it?”

“I don’t know, Jack, maybe it will. I just want to think of every possibility before we rush into anything.”

“Then I suggest we wait for nightfall before trying to surprise him.”

“He has a night vision camera, remember?” I still remembered very clearly when he approached me, the camera obscuring his face. I thought some kind of monster had come to kill me, and I can’t say I was wrong at all. I shuddered just thinking about it and hoped to never see that awful man again, but it seemed I was going to see him a lot sooner than I wanted to. Whatever happened, I had to face Henry tonight, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I was petrified, but if it meant saving Lucy’s life, I was prepared to do anything.

“Oh, right. Shit, this guy really knows what he’s doing, doesn’t he? I wonder if he’s done this before...” It looked like Jack was holding something back for my benefit, but I wasn’t stupid and could read between the lines.

“Do you actually think he’s killed someone before?”

“That’s not what I said, but it’s a possibility. Which means that we have to be extra careful. This guy might not just be a nutjob, he might also be a clever nutjob. The worst kind.” Jack breathed in hard. “I’ll have to load up the gun and maybe bring some extra ammunition. I don’t think you should be coming with me. This could get very dangerous.”

I saw the concern in his eyes, and knew he was trying to do the right thing, but I was having none of it. “Jack, I’m coming with you and that’s final.”

“But I don’t have another gun...”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s not like I know my way around one anyway, and I doubt you have time to teach me. I’ll bring my trusty pepper spray and maybe something sturdy and easy to carry that I can use to hit the bastard.”

And that’s how me and Jack spent the rest of our day. We got into more than a few arguments, but with each disagreement, our plan got refined further and further until I was actually starting to feel excited to implement the damn thing and get Lucy out of this mess. I replayed a lot of different scenarios in my mind, about what could go down. There were plenty of ways that it could go wrong, but I needed to keep my perspective neutral. Lucy’s life was in danger, after all. I just hoped that Henry was true to his word and hadn’t already killed her.

When it got dark, me and Jack were dressed and ready for action. We agreed that the bike was too loud, but that didn’t mean that it was of no use to us. We used it to get about halfway to the meet location, and left the bike in the woods and covered it with some greenery for good measure. We walked the rest of the way, both super vigilant to every sight and sound around us. I jumped in fear more than a few times when I heard a blood-curdling scream in the distance, fearing the worst. But each time the scream revealed itself to be an animal of one sort or another. I kept myself fairly close to Jack, for he was the one with the gun. I couldn’t believe what was happening though. It felt like I was in some sort of surreal dream. This was all just too much for me. I had feared for my life way before I set foot on the island, but I would have never guessed that I would fear for it again after putting so much distance between me and my past.

Pretty soon, Jack whispered in my ear that we were fairly close to the location. As per our plan, I would walk in the light, while Jack followed my every move in the darkness, being my backup every step of the way. I thanked God or whoever that Jack had done more than a few action movies.

All the training he had to do for those roles included getting good at shooting targets. I just hoped he was good enough out here in the real world, where it really counted.

It was eight thirty, and I walked slowly to the location, hoping that what awaited me wasn’t anything too horrible. I slowly opened the wooden door and found that it wasn’t locked. I didn’t know whether to take that as a good sign or not. Inside, there was complete darkness. It took awhile for my eyes to adjust enough to see remnants of old, completely useless now, boats, or should I say boat parts. These things would never go in the water again, not without some serious repairs. But enough about old boats, the real reason I was here was Lucy, and to a lesser extent, Henry. I still couldn’t believe he had become such a psycho in such a short period of time.

I walked around slowly, but didn’t see much of anything. I knew it was risky, and Jack said to only use it if I really had to or to send a signal, but I needed the flashlight. I turned it on and made my way through the whole place, not finding anything unusual. Henry wasn’t here, and neither was Lucy. Which was good for me and Jack, because that meant we had the upper hand.

I went back the way I came, somewhat pleased and ready to signal Jack. Just when I was ready to head out the door and do my thing, I heard a voice behind me.

“You’re early, Sophie, I wonder how I should punish you,” Henry’s voice boomed behind me.

I froze in shock and in fear, and when I finally had the courage to turn around, I saw where he was. He was standing by an opening across the great space in the boat house. It was a door, but not one I remembered seeing. Either he had somehow hidden it, or he specifically made it for his needs. Neither option made me feel better about what was happening.

“Please let Lucy go,” I pleaded with him, frantically looking around for any sign of her. “You can take me in her place.”

“Oh don’t you worry, Sophie, you’ll take her place alright. Let me guess, your boyfriend is out there acting as back up, am I right?” I couldn’t see his face but I could hear the smile in the tone of his voice. I wanted to punch him in the throat and kill him right then and there. Such rage came over me that I could barely control myself. He knew our every move, and it seemed like Henry indeed was a clever fellow.

“What are you waiting for,” he hissed. “Come over here, Sophie, and I’ll let your little friend go.”

“Where is she? I want proof of life, you bastard!”

“Such awful manners. I’ll have to teach you how to act like a proper lady, my Sophie. But we’ll have plenty of time for that later. Just point that flashlight to your right, and look inside that boat shell over there.”