Dark and Shallow Lies(75)

“Why?” Hart turns his back on the river. “Get yourself another souvenir. The guy who gave her that obviously didn’t turn out to be the person she thought he was.”

Maybe that’s true. But maybe none of us are the person we think we are.

“You don’t know that Zale –”

“Zale killed Elora, Grey.” My heart races and my knees feel weak. “There isn’t any other answer. And you know it now as well as I do. He’s the missing piece in all this. He killed her because Leo killed his father. And he was gonna kill you, too.” Hart crosses to me and puts his hands on my shoulders. “For what your mama did that night at Keller’s Island.”

“This whole town covered it up,” I whisper, and Hart nods. But I still can’t really believe it. “All these years.”

“That’s the problem, Greycie.” Hart’s jaw is set, and I see the veins throbbing in his neck. “That’s always been the problem with this place. It’s too damn easy to cover things up down here.” There’s something in his voice I can’t put my finger on. Something still unspoken. “All that black water.”

I think of the bayou stretching back toward Killer’s Island like a dark and shallow sea. How it washes over everything.

Conceals all our lies.

Our sins.

And our twisted roots.

How it drowns us all. One way or the other.

“But this is where it ends.” Hart’s voice is strangely calm now. His words are careful. Even. “You need to get to bed. Honey’ll have you up early in the mornin’. Gotta get out before the storm hits.”

“What about you?”

He grins at me then, and if I wasn’t already terrified, I am now.

“I’m goin’ huntin’ tomorrow. Back at Keller’s Island.”

Hearing him say it makes me feel sick. Something burns in the back of my throat.

“What if you end up dead?” I ask him. “Like Elora.”

Because if Zale doesn’t kill him, Elizabeth will.

Hart shrugs. “What if I do?”

We duck back under the safety rope, and he walks me up to the porch. He promises he’ll see me in the morning. To say goodbye.

And he reminds me to lock the doors. The windows. Double-check them all, he says.

Because the rougarou is on the prowl.

Then he’s gone.

When I turn to head inside, I think maybe I catch a flash of movement in Evie’s darkened bedroom window. I freeze and watch for a few seconds, but nothing moves again behind the glass. So maybe I imagined it.

In the kitchen, Honey has left the radio on and Sweet-N-Low is listening to the weather. Hurricane Elizabeth is still strengthening. Winds up to 145 miles an hour now. Category 4.

A killer storm.

The eye is three hundred miles south of us, and she’s cutting a path due north. Straight toward the mouth of the Mississippi River.

La Cachette is going to take a direct hit. No one here is safe. Not in the hiding place.

Truth is, none of us ever have been.





When morning comes, Honey gets the boat ready, and the two of us make a dozen trips between the house and the dock, loading up things she can’t stand to leave behind.

Each time I step outside, I’m trying not to look at those big black barrels.

Especially the one in the middle.

Instead, I focus on that latest flash of Elora, and I try to work out if those are Zale’s arms carrying her though the storm. I wish I could see his face. Or even feel that tingle.

So I’d know.

For sure.

Because I still don’t want it to be true.

“Have you seen Evie this morning?” Honey stops me on a trip back inside, and I shake my head.

“Why?”

“Bernadette says they’ve been looking for her for a while.”

Honey frowns. “Can’t imagine where she’s got off to, today of all days.” She shakes her head and tells me not to worry. “I’m sure she’ll turn up.”

But I can feel it. Something’s not right.

The National Hurricane Center says we’re less than thirty-six hours from landfall. As of this morning, all of coastal Louisiana is under a mandatory evacuation order, so the rest of the morning is one long goodbye.

Sera.

Sander.

Mackey.

We stand on the dock and cling to each other. Fret about Evie. Cry. Start to leave. Then stop and do it all over again.

Sera pulls me close to whisper in my ear. “Get the hell away from here and be happy, Grey. That’s what Elora wanted for you. That’s how you do right by her. You understand?”

I don’t have the words to answer.

Sander kisses my cheek, and for a second, I think he’s going to say something. But he doesn’t. At least not with words.

I look around our little group, and I feel the loss of them so deep already. Evie should be here. And Hart. Case.

And Elora.

Ember and Orli.

We should all be here for this goodbye. Together. All the Summer Children.

I don’t let myself think about Zale. Or Aeron.

“I love you guys,” I say.

We hug some more. Cry again. Make big promises. Swear to keep in touch. Always. No matter what.

“Good luck with track next year,” Mackey tells me.