Page 40 of Wayward
My head snaps to Kennedy. “I want her back?them back. Penny and Pepper, not the feral cats,” I say to be clear.
“Good luck getting them back from Esmeralda. When she finds something she likes, she doesn’t let go. She can be a bit?” Kennedy cuts himself off with a look from Holloway.
What the hell does that mean? But I keep my questions to myself. Haley’s more important. As much as I love that damn dog, I’m not putting Haley’s life in jeopardy. We’ll find a way.
I glance across the water to the beach. We’re about three hundred yards out. At the shore’s edge, there’s a long dock with a boat shed. Beyond the dock, there are several long flights of wooden stairs up to a structure that climbs the hill. Pops of red metal roofs flash through the deep foliage. It’s steep enough that I can’t see the tops of the buildings from this angle. “That’s the main house?”
Dante slides in next to me. Zane sits next to Calvin, and Easton sits in the row in front of us.
“Yes, but you’re not going there,” Holloway says as he boards and takes the tiller from the old guy.
“Good luck.” Kennedy tosses the lines from theRosewoodand we’re off. I’m not sure if his wish is a warning or genuine.
I’m glaring back at Kennedy when Dante catches my attention over Haley’s head. “Esmeralda? She better give us our animals back. We’ll make it happen,” Dante says.
I wish I could be as confident.
Holloway pilots the tender toward the house and its massive dock. There’s a bit of chop in the water. Until we’re over the breakers, water sprays over the pant leg of my too-large pants with each wave.
Haley points at the house on the hillside. “Whoa.”
I’ve seen some mansions in my day. This one goes up the side of a steep cliff. Each story has a balcony, and every level up steps back. The structure’s sienna-colored wood glistens in the midmorning light, and the red roofs flash. If I was cruising by, I’d think it was a private resort, not a family compound.
Once we’re through the breakers, Holloway changes course and veers away from the house and the large dock. Away from the pristine beach, out of sight of the main house, stands a utilitarian concrete building halfway up the hillside. There are no glamorous teak stairs here, but rather a well-worn path along an eight-foot-high fence topped with barbed wire. In the span of a couple hundred feet and a vegetation screen, we’ve gone from an upscale five-star resort to Alcatraz. There’s a small wooden dock fifty feet or so out from the shore. It has more missing boards than ones still intact. I peer over the side of the rubber tender. The water’s deeper than I thought it would be, twenty feet at least.
Holloway turns the tender to the side and comes along the crumbling dock to a waiting guard.
“How’s your leg?” I rub the lower part of Haley’s calf. “Can you feel it yet?”
“It’s still pins and needles.” She tries a smile. “We need to get Penny and Pepper,” she whispers to me.
“Good luck with that.” Holloway laughs over the outboard engine, stands, and tosses a line to the guard.
Dante’s out first. I step up and around him, turning back to help Haley.
“Why?” Haley steps tenderly on her foot on the dock and winces.
“Here, Sassy. Let me help you.” Dante holds out his hand.
“It’s Hal. And I’ve got it.” She steps on the dock, but Dante’s not moving. His hand stays stretched out to Haley. They’re having a standoff. And I know who’s going to win. I step over the row of seats in front of me and up onto the dock next to Easton. Haley’s climbing out with Dante standing over her. I take another step back without looking. There’s a crack. And then I’m through the dock. Somehow, I have the presence of mind to clutch my hands to my torso as I go down.
Down.
Water.
Seaweed.
Splintering boards follow.
There’s a rock at my feet. Sharp rocks on my leg.
I flail my arms. Splinters of boards mix with seaweed and barnacles.
I turn onto my side and give a few hefty kicks. I’m out from under the shitty dock when I burst through the top of the water. Sputtering.
“Sam!” Haley screams, all discreetness in her voice gone. “Sam.”
“Fuck, Sam, are you okay?” I’m not sure which guy yells it. I am glad to hear that Haley didn’t fall in behind me.
