Page 82 of The Summer Inn on Plum Island
A message appeared on it that made her blood run cold and her heart feel like it stopped for a few seconds:
Time is ticking. You have two minutes to decide: Board the boat to save two teenage girls or stay with your new friend, who’s been struck by the real Luminotoxin, not a mimic. This might help you decide—the yacht is set to explode if you don’t board within two minutes, while your new friend has at least another three to four hours of excruciating pain he can’t do anything about because he can’t move.
Choose wisely. Remember, every second counts.
Tick-tock!
“Ben, keep this dart,” Dawn’s hands shook as she knelt down and put the dart in his hands. His eyes sought hers. She read him the message. “I’ll call emergency services, but I have to get on that boat. I think Harper and Lila are on it.”
“No.” Ben tried to reach out to her, but he couldn’t. “Pocket.”
“You don’t have pockets?” Dawn frowned, aware that the time was ticking down. And then she saw his shirt. She pulled out a sheet of pills. “Your seasick pills?”
“Yes…” Ben was really struggling to talk. “Go. Hicks.”
Dawn nodded and stood up as the powerful engines of the boat roared to life. Her eyes widened, and Hick rushed toward them, now frantic.
“Hicks, get help!” Dawn said, not knowing if he even knew what that was. “Or stay. Get help.” Her mind was too distracted by the boat. “Ben, I have to go.”
“Go.” Ben’s voice was barely a whisper.
Dawn hit 9-1-1 on her phone and put it in Ben’s hands before rushing toward the boat. She was so intent on grabbing onto the side to pull herself up on the ladder that dangled over the edge she didn’t notice Hicks take off toward the hotel. Dawn had never done anything like this in her life, but her character in theGhosts of Evehad. Dawn managed to pull herself onto the deck as the powerful boat took off. With shaky hands, Dawn popped one of the seasick pills and headed for the cockpit.
Whoever was driving, sailing, steering, or whatever the term was used, they must have the teens in the cockpit. If that was the case, they’d know she was on the boat now. Dawn glanced up but couldn’t see who was in there. She made her way to the cockpit, stopping on the top deck to look around for a weapon. Dawn’s eyes fell on a fish hook on the end of a pole that was stuck to the wall on a hook. She grabbed it before stealthily moving up to the cockpit door and yanking it open.
Dawn jumped into the cockpit, a fish hook in hand, like a sumo wrestler jumping into the ring, complete with bent knees. Her eyes widened when she saw there was no one steering the boat, but before she could ponder it, Dawn’s attention was caught by hysterical cries.
“Aunt Dawn!” Harper’s cry mingled with Lila’s. “Dawn.”
The teens rushed toward her and engulfed her in a hug.
“It’s okay, I’m here,” Dawn said, dropping the hook to enfold the two petrified teens.
“We came to get you and Liam,” Harper said, her eyes filled with tears. “All we wanted was to have a family picnic.”
“We were on our way to your room when we couldn’t find my dad,” Lila continued.
“Suddenly, everything went dark around us, and we woke up here,” Harper told her.
“There was a man in a ski mask,” Lila said. “He.. he had a gun.”
“And he was all in dark green,” Harper said. “Like the color of the lobby wall.”
“The woman was in white.” Lila and Harper were speaking so fast that the words tumbled out and over each other.
“Let’s calm down and take some breaths,” Dawn told them. “Where did they go?”
“They said we must sit there, and if we didn’t, they would kill you,” Harper answered.
“Then they started the boat and set something on the console before they left, and we sat her waiting,” Lila’s voice came out in hiccups and gulps as tears rolled down her cheeks. “We’re so sorry, Dawn.”
“Hey,” Dawn said. “This isn’t your fault.” She told them. “Now, we need to get off the boat and fast.” She had a terrible feeling about this.
“How?” Harper said.
“There must be a dinghy on this yacht.” Lila sniffed. “Alex once told me all superyachts have them.”
“He’s right,” Dawn agreed with her. “Let’s just hope that whoever’s boat this is has one.”
