The Prey

Then, like a death knell, there came a soft but insistent knock on the bedroom door. Instinctively, Mara grabbed at the sheets that were tangled at the end of the bed and pulled them close around herself.

Gordon, tying the sash of his robe, looked toward the sound. “Yeah?” he called out.

“It’s Alex, Gordon,” came the voice through the door. “Sorry to disturb you. May I trouble you for a moment?”

“No trouble,” Gordon called out. Clearly unaware of the danger, he actually winked at Mara.

As he strode toward the door, Mara curled into a fetal ball on the bed. Maybe Alex hadn’t been watching through the two-way mirror. Maybe he hadn’t overheard them, or hadn’t understood what he’d heard. Maybe his knock was coincidental. Maybe he just wanted to see how things were going with the new girl.

And maybe the tooth fairy would swoop in behind him and sprinkle fairy dust in his eyes while Mara made her escape through the sliding glass doors.

Gordon pulled open the door and Alex stepped into the room. He glanced at Mara, though she could read nothing in his implacable expression. He faced Gordon. “Forgive my interruption. Mr. Wallace was just wondering if you’d care to join him and Gene Stamos for lunch this afternoon on his yacht. I wouldn’t have disturbed you, but I wanted to give you a chance to get ready, in case you were interested, since the boat will leave the dock in less than an hour.”

Gordon stared at Alex, his eyebrows lifting and mouth dropping open in a comical display of disbelief. “Gene Stamos?” he echoed incredulously. “The Gene Stamos of Stamos Enterprises? Are you shitting me? That guy is on Pirate Island? Dan Wallace wants me to join them for lunch? On his private yacht?”

Alex’s mouth lifted into a cold smile. “Certainly. You’re an esteemed guest and a good friend.” He flashed another glance in Mara’s direction. “That is, unless you’re still being entertained by our newest addition. Mara is quite the young actress, is she not?”

A cold sweat broke over Mara’s brow, her pulse skittering, her stomach clenching into a fist. He knew. He knew. He knew.

“Yeah,” Gordon enthused, “Mara is something all right. I’ll be asking for her again, you can count on it.” He turned to her with a big, stupid grin, which fell away as he regarded her. “Hey, you don’t look so good. Are you okay?” He turned to Alex. “Is she okay? She looks like she’s going to puke or something.”

Alex strode toward the bed. “Probably you just wore her out,” he said to Gordon in a conspiratorial tone. “You were her first, after all.”

Gordon barked a laugh. “I like to get my money’s worth.”

Bending down, Alex stripped the sheet from Mara’s body. He placed his arm under her back and forced her upright, pulling her to her feet. He put his arm around her shoulders, his fingers closing around her upper arm like a vise. “Mara is fine. Aren’t you, Mara?”

Without waiting for a response, he propelled her to the door. Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “I’m sure you’ll want to freshen up before lunch. I’ll have the driver stop by the room in about thirty minutes to take you over to the dock. Will that work for you?”

“Yes, indeedy,” Gordon said heartily. “Like a charm.”

Alex, his arm still clamped around Mara’s shoulder, pushed her along the hallway toward an exit door. As he opened the door, she blinked in the bright sunlight, the heat of the day hitting her with a humid blast. There was a golf cart on the broad sidewalk, and Alex pushed her down into the passenger side.

An odd sense of the surreal had settled over her, as if she were moving underwater or in some kind of dream. She couldn’t seem to get her mind to work properly and her tongue felt thick and useless in her mouth.

Alex didn’t speak to or look at Mara as he drove the cart along the paved paths. Taking a cell phone from his shirt pocket, he pushed a button and, after a moment, said, “Go into suite two and straighten the room while the guest is in the shower. Be quick about it, and make sure to remove the gown and sandals the girl left behind.” He listened a moment, replied, “Good,” and hung up.

Remove the evidence. Make me disappear.

Mara started to tremble, in spite of the heat of the day. She hugged herself as the electric golf cart glided silently along. Alex turned at a glade of trees parallel to the shore, moving through a part of the island Mara hadn’t seen before. After a few minutes, he pulled to a stop in front of a small, windowless hut made of unpainted wood, its roof fashioned from strips of corrugated tin. Climbing out of the cart, he came around to Mara’s side and yanked her from the vehicle.