?Maybe Cass has seen something else,? Hector said as optimistically
as he could. He opened his phone and tried to dial, but a NO
SIGNAL sign was flashing on his screen. ?Check your phones,? he said
to his brother and cousin. Neither of them could connect a call,
either.
Lucas went into Helen?s kitchen and checked her landline for a
dial tone, but it was dead. As he joined his cousins back in the
entryway, the power in the house went out. Jason went over to the
window and looked at the other houses in the area.
?The whole block is out,? he said. ?And massive lightning bolts
are headed this way. I guess we?re stuck here for a while.?
?You two stay here in case Helen gets free and makes her way
back,? Lucas said as he turned for the door.
?Where the hell do you think you?re going?? Hector demanded,
grabbing Lucas by the shoulder and trying to turn him around.
?Don?t,? Lucas warned quietly. They stared at each other until
Hector finally backed down and removed his hand from Lucas?s
shoulder.
?Just stay out of the sky,? he cautioned. ?You?re no good to her
dead.?
Lucas strode off into the dark storm without responding. He was
frustrated with not being able to fly and trying to think of where to
start. If he could get airborne he could see around, get his bearings
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and look for anything suspicious, but the storm had him completely
grounded. It suddenly occurred to him that if he had just
drugged a girl who was known on sight by most of the locals of a
tiny island, he would want to get off that island as soon as possible,
and if Lucas was grounded, all air travel was almost certainly canceled
as well. The only way to get Helen off island would be by