Dark Vengeance by Kristi Belcamino (libby ebook reader .txt) 📗

I wasn’t sure what had gotten into me. I was normally not afraid of anything.

I relaxed and looped my arms around my knees.

“Hey.”

“I thought you might be up,” she said. “Come down to the fire with us.”

“Thanks, but I’m good.”

She sat beside me, pulling her legs up to her chest and putting her chin on her knees, staring out at the water.

“As soon as dawn breaks we’re heading out on the waves. The water is supposed to be pumping tomorrow.”

She let that sentence hang there. I wasn’t sure what to say so I said, “Cool.”

“Why don’t you hang at the bonfire with us so if Asahi calls we can leave right then for town?” she said. “Plus, it’s warmer.”

That made sense to me.

I got my phone and its portable charger from inside the hut, and without a word, we walked down to the bonfire.

When we arrived, a few people lifted their heads to nod at me. The others gazed into steaming mugs or passed around a joint. A space opened up on one side, and Makeda gestured that I should sit there.

“Welcome to the Dawn Patrol,” the boy with the spiky dreads, Matteo, said to me with a smile.

Makeda poured a cup of coffee from a tin carafe and offered it to me. I gratefully accepted it, and sat in the sand nearby. The heat of the fire did feel good.

There were half a dozen people gathered. A few I recognized from last night. They all had on wetsuits. Dre wasn’t there.

Through the flames of the bonfire, I could see the beautiful petite brunette who had been nasty to me the day before. She was sitting across from me, staring. I smiled but she looked away. I heard her say the same thing Dre had, “Fucking Benny.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Makeda. She laughed. “Means you’re not a local.”

“Yeah, no shit.” I said, but the girl kept avoiding my eyes.

Matteo leaned over and said something in her ear, and she shook her head.

Then I heard the sound of a motorcycle up on the road.

Makeda and the ponytailed boy exchanged a look. The girl stood. As she did, the boy beside her reached for her hand, but she shook it off angrily. She turned to walk away.

Makeda stood now.

“Keiki?”

The girl stopped.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Makeda said.

“I don’t care,” Keiki said.

“We have rules,” Makeda said.

“I don’t give a fuck about your rules,” she said and glanced over at the motorcycle on the road. “I’m on this island so I don’t have to follow any rules.”

I followed her gaze. The blonde boy, Dre, was waiting on the road.

The ponytailed guy, Arrow, stood. “The rules are for your own good. You voted on them, too. You agreed.”

“I changed my mind,” she said. “And so did Dre.”

She turned and walked away while we all watched her in silence.

I was intrigued.

Makeda turned to me.

“Dre is going to take her to X.”

I raised an eyebrow.

Arrow said, “He controls the supply around here.”

“That’s too bad.” I tried to play it cool. They were finally opening up to me.

“It’s not her fault,” Matteo said.  “Keiki!” He shouted, cupping his mouth so the sound carried.

She paused and turned back to look at him.

But a few seconds later she climbed onto the back of the motorcycle.

“This X? Could he have anything to do with Rose’s disappearance?” I asked.

We all watched as the pair left on the motorcycle. Matteo started to swear and run toward the road, but it was too late.

“It’s better that you just get your dog and leave the island,” Makeda said, suddenly short with me, her face hard and closed. No expression. No softness.

“I’m not leaving until I find Rose.”

“She’s probably not even on the island anymore,” one of the Australian guys said.

Looks were exchanged.

What were they hiding?

“Who the fuck is this X?” I said, standing. “I need to know if there’s any chance he had something to do with Rose’s disappearance.”

“You better hope not,” Arrow said.

“What’s that mean?” I asked.

Makeda stared at me, chewing on her lower lip, but did not answer.

“What are you fucking talking about?” I asked again.

Arrow looked at me.

“Girls who go to his house are never seen again.”

Frustrated, I stood and headed back toward my hut.

This time I walked along the wet sand. After I was some distance from the bonfire, I came across an older man with a metal detector. He had on a khaki fishing hat, oversized pants and a shirt. His head was bent, and he shuffled along. When I got closer, he looked up and gave me a grin. I smiled back. I could tell immediately that he was mentally disabled.

Then some surfers came out of the water nearby.

“Get out of here, old man,” one of them said.

I turned, ready to tell them off, but Matteo was already there.

“Apologize to him. Right now.”

Matteo wasn’t large, maybe just under six feet tall, but he was imposing. When he spoke, you listened.

The surfer bowed his head. “Sorry.”

Then Matteo broke out into a grin and took the man’s arm. “My man, what kind of treasures have you found lately?”

The man smiled widely and began to talk animatedly. They walked off together, Matteo dipping his head to listen and nodding enthusiastically.

5

Joseph Charles Smith stared at the laptop on the table in front of him.

The first rays of morning sun were streaming in the window behind him, casting a bright orange glow on the screen, illuminating the message that had sent him into a fury.

His body was shaking with rage. Who was this man who dared to tell Joseph Charles Smith what to do? Okay. Maybe in the past people had told Joseph Charles Smith what to do, but they didn’t tell X what to do. X did what he wanted when he wanted. X had created this little slice of Paradise on this island at great risk. It had taken a lot to afford this hideaway.

And now, goddamn it all, his carefully cultivated world on the island