Paradise Island: Complete Edition (28 page)

W
e waited for the cop car to pull up not too far from the hill. A familiar face greeted us when he stepped from the darkness.

“A passerby heard the noise and called us,” Rory said. “What seems to be the problem?”

I didn’t know what to say. I was at a loss for words at that moment. Rory did not notice the body right behind us because it was in the shade. Jack stepped from the darkness, still holding his head. I helped him not fall.

“We were attacked,” Jack said. “We had to defend ourselves.”

Rory took a flashlight and looked over the broken glass sliding doors. “Looks like quite the mess, doesn’t it? And where’s the one who did this?” Before we had a chance to answer he moved his flashlight over the terrain, spotting Crow’s dead body. “Stay back,” he told us as he went to get a closer look. “Someone really did a number on this guy. This looks pretty grisly,” he said and then looked up at both of us. He flashed the light in my face and I had to turn away and put my arm up. “Don’t I know you?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m Sophie, Lucy’s roommate. And I’m the one who did that,” I pointed to Crow’s body. “He attacked Jack and tried to kidnap me, once I resisted he got violent. There was a struggle on the ground and I picked up the first thing I could and hit him over the head. I didn’t mean to hurt him so bad, but he kept coming after me, and I had no choice.” The words flowed out of me quickly, and even I was finding them suspicious. I definitely sounded like someone who had something to hide.

“And have either of you ever seen this man before?”

“I knew him. Back in America. I came here to get away from him, but he still managed to find me.”

“It’s kind of chilly out here, we should probably go inside and have a talk,” Rory said and I nodded. Jack went in first and took a seat. “Be careful of the broken glass,” Jack said and closed his eyes.

“Sir, you really should put some clothes on,” Rory said to Jack. Jack nodded slightly and seemed to go to sleep.

“Oh, Rory, I’m glad you’re here,” I said, trying to sound thankful. “It all happened so fast, we didn’t have time to call.” I took off my jacket and covered Jack with it. The wind from outside was still howling in, and the no door thing didn’t help stop it.

“Want some tea or something else to drink?” I asked Rory as he looked around the place.

“No, no, it seems like you’ve been through enough. We need to get you two to the hospital and then we’ll sort everything out. I’ll have to call backup. We don’t want the body staying here by itself, do we?”

I nodded. “Thank you, Rory. I think Jack might have a concussion. Crow hit him pretty hard with a lead pipe when he attacked us.”

“Crow?”

“Yeah, that’s his name. Or at least the only name I knew him by back in America. He was not a good man,” I said.

Rory nodded. “That much is obvious,” he said as he looked at all the mess.

“Goddamn, no signal,” Rory said when he tried to call for back up.

I was in the process of helping Jack get dressed, though it was taking some effort, for he was barely awake. I just helped him put on another shoe when I got an idea. Perhaps the no signal thing was a blessing in disguise.

“I’ll have to go out and see if I can catch a signal. I’ll be right back,” Rory said as he stepped over the threshold.

“Wait,” I got up and ran after him. “What if you don’t have to call them?” I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth, but here I was. The last thing I needed was a huge scandal surrounding me, and I’m pretty sure Jack didn’t need it either. He came to this island to get away from the limelight. His girlfriend bludgeoning a guy to death would only make the light that much brighter.

“Excuse me?” Rory sounded shocked. “This needs to be reported, immediately,” he said. “I’m thinking we’ll need to get some outside help as well.”

“It doesn’t have to go down like that. It’s clearly self-defense,” I said.

Rory nodded. “But there are rules, procedures for this kind of thing. What are you suggesting? That I ignore this and let you get rid of the body?”

“That’s exactly it!” I was happy that he finally understood what needed to be done.

“Help me cover him up and then we can take Jack to the hospital.”

Rory looked back at Jack unconscious on the couch. “Jack, huh? As in Jack Stark? I thought that was him the other day, but he pretended he was someone else.”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking, Rory, because Jack doesn’t want any attention right now. This would ruin everything for him.”

Rory looked like he was thinking about it, and that made me breathe a little easier. “What do I get in return for my silence?” He finally said and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Money! Jack has plenty! You’ll be set for life,” I mumbled fast and sure, hoping that Jack wouldn’t hate my guts when he woke up.

Rory seemed to think about it. “Fine,” he finally said. “But this shit won’t be cheap,”

“That won’t be a problem,” I said. “Now please help me hide this guy. We’ll get rid of the body later.”

Rory didn’t seem too happy about the prospect. “Fine,” he said through greeted teeth, the thought that this better be worth his time coming through loud and clear, “but where the hell do we hide him? In the house?”

I hated the thought of having Crow’s dead body anywhere inside, so I suggested the shed where Jack kept his bike. I opened it up after finding the key and then cursed myself for forgetting that’s where we put Lucy’s suitcase. It was right in front of me, as clear as day, though thankfully Rory didn’t seem to notice. We dragged the body as far in as we could and covered it up with some leftover plastic.

“This’ll do for now,” I said. “Now let’s get Jack to the hospital!”

Rory looked back at the covered body. “I don’t know if this is right.”

“It’s right enough,” I said and pulled him out of the shed and locked the door behind us. Crow should be safe there at least for a little bit. It’s not like he’d start stinking from the over abundant heat the island was known for.

With Rory’s help I got Jack in the backseat of Rory’s car, which wasn’t even a real police car, he had just added the siren to it. I guess the island couldn’t afford such things. It was slightly weird to be sitting on the driver’s side, well, actually it was the passenger side over here. I kept looking at the sleeping Jack in the back and hoped the people at hospital knew enough to help him.

I rubbed my hands to make them warm. I blew hot air onto them as well.

“Sorry, the air conditioner isn’t working. I keep fixing it and it keeps going to hell. One of these days, I’m getting myself a new car,” Rory said.

“That day will come sooner than later,” I said. “I promise you that much.”

Rory nodded, focusing on the road ahead. “It’s been a weird day. Earlier I had to go to town because the mayor dropped dead.”

“How awful!” I tried to sound as surprised as possible. Rory didn’t seem to give me any weird looks so I took that as a sign of success. I thought about asking Jack for some acting lessons after all of this was over and he was actually awake. I glanced to the backseat and observed his chest. He was still breathing, so that was one good sign.

“Yeah, probably a heart attack the coroner said.”

“I guess that’s one way to go,” I said without even thinking.

“It’s not the worst, I’ll tell you that,” Rory said. “Certainly not as bad as that Crow guy back there.”

I froze. “He was a horrible man. He got better than he deserved,” I said without even thinking about it.

“There’s some history there, isn’t there?”

“Yeah,” I said. “You could say that.”

For the rest of the way we rode in relative silence. We agreed on a plausible story about what had happened to Jack: a minor motorcycle accident.

When we got there, Rory took charge while I stood and watched them take Jack away. I wanted to go with him but they told me to stay back. I hated being apart from him, especially since I just found him. I sat on one of the waiting chairs with my head in my arms, and tears streaming down my face.

Rory sat next to me and rubbed my back gently. I wanted to flinch away from his touch but decided not to offend him, for he was doing a pretty huge favor for us, even though he was going to be paid for it.

I looked up at Rory and saw his curly reddish brown hair for the first time, and his deep blue eyes, and in that moment I could see what Lucy might have seen in him. He didn’t have movie star looks like Jack, but he did have something attractive about him nonetheless.

“You really care about him, don’t you?” He said.

“I love him,” I said. “I love him more than anything in this world.”

“Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure he’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with people in worse conditions, and most of them came out just fine. There’s some good people working here.”

“Thanks for saying that,” I said and gave him a weak smile. “Thanks for everything.” I looked at my muddy and bloody hands for the first time that night. In the harsh florescent light of the emergency room (or Accident and Emergency here) I could really see how they looked. “I should probably get cleaned up,” I said as I showed him my hands.

He nodded. “The lavatory’s that way,” he said, pointing to a hallway some feet away from us.

I thanked him and got up to go in search of the restroom. Pretty soon I found it and thanked whatever gods existed that it was empty. The light inside had a harsh, creepy quality to it. One line of light kept flickering, which made me feel more on edge than I already was. I generously poured some soap and cleaned my hands thoroughly, and then did it again for good measure. I did not want any speck of Crow to remain on me. I wished for a long hot shower back at Jack’s place, but that didn’t seem to be coming anytime soon.

I made my way back to where Rory was, except he wasn’t there at all. I panicked that something had happened to Jack.

“Where’s Rory, the cop that was just there?” I pointed to the waiting area where he and I sat.

The woman behind the reception desk put down a thick romance novel she was almost done with. “He went inside to speak to the physician, dear, he said you could join him if you’d like.”

“Thanks,” I said and went straight for the door she pointed out.

“Is Jack okay?” I immediately asked when I saw Rory speaking to what I assumed was the doctor. Jack was lying in bed with a bandage on his head and a smile. “Thank god,” I said as I ran to his side.

“He’ll be just fine, miss. He was very lucky that he didn’t suffer any major injuries. Motorcycle accidents can be fatal, especially when you don’t wear your helmet.”

With that the good doctor excused himself and left just me, Jack, and Rory in the room.

“How are you feeling?” I asked Jack, gently caressing his face.

“I’m fine, perfectly fine,” he said and tried to get up. Then laid back down again. “Just a minor concussion. I should be good as new in a day or so.”

“That’s good to hear. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you,” hot tears streamed down my face as I took his hand in mine and kissed it.

Rory cleared his throat, loud enough to get our attention. I turned around and gave it to him with a glare that hopefully said that this wasn’t the time or place.

Rory lifted his hands up in defense. “I know, I know, but I’m in deep shit if anyone finds out what I’ve done, and I want to make sure it was worth the risk. Was it?” He said, staring straight at Jack.

I quickly explained my offer to Rory and Jack nodded. “Of course, you’ll be paid handsomely, as long as you promise to keep this whole thing to yourself.”

Rory smiled and looked easy going again. “Of course, that’s the whole point, isn’t it?”

I was glad he understood the situation and that Jack did as well, though I wouldn’t know what he was actually thinking until I talked to him alone.

“Could we get some privacy?” I asked Rory and he nodded and said he needed a cup of coffee anyway.

Once he closed the door behind him I turned to Jack.

“I didn’t know what to do,” I quickly said. “It was the first thing I could think of, besides the obvious one.”

Obviously one being to murder yet another person. But Rory was innocent, as far as I could tell, and he didn’t deserve an end like that.

“I’m glad you did what you did. I think we can trust him, or at least buy his silence. And if he becomes a problem, then we’ll think about other solutions.”

I nodded and kissed his hand again. “I’m just glad you’re okay. I can’t believe Henry managed to sell those pictures of us so fast.”

Jack gave me a look.

“Fine, yeah, I guess you’re super famous and in hiding.”

“Which means we need to get off this island pretty quick. If psychos from your past can find us, what’s to stop all my fans from flocking over here and causing trouble?”

I rolled my eyes.

“No, I’m serious, Sophie. Why did you think I moved to the middle of nowhere?”

I got his point there. I definitely wasn’t aware of the celebrity culture, but now that my boyfriend was a world famous actor, I guess I had to get used to the idea.

“Can we take you home?” I finally asked. I couldn’t wait to go back and get rid of Crow’s body for good and not have to worry about it.

Jack nodded. “The doctor said I could as long as I didn’t move too much for a day or two.” He caressed my shoulder with his hand. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself,” he said, sounding very sexy.

I gently hit his arm. “None of that for you mister, not until you get better at least,” I said and laughed.

Then I remembered the shattered doorway. “It’s okay,” Jack said. “I’ll call the guys that are coming over tomorrow and tell them there’s some extra cash to be made. And maybe even to bring some more cement.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about, and then it hit me. “You wanna bury Crow on your property as well?”

“Where else?” Jack said. “I’m open to any other ideas.”

I couldn’t think of any alternatives, though I hated the thought of burying yet another body there. “Maybe Rory knows of some good place?” I offered.

Jack didn’t look convinced. “Maybe,” he said. “I guess we’ll have to ask him.”