Dark and Shallow Lies(76)

“You too,” I say.

“My school’s gonna be underwater for a while.” He tries to laugh. But he can’t pull it off. None of us can. “Guess I’ll have to join the swim team.”

We all just stand there for a few seconds. I’m holding Sander’s hand. Nobody wants to be the first to go.

But Mackey’s brother is telling him to hurry up, and Delphine is shouting at Sera and Sander in Creole.

So it’s time.

“Forget about La Cachette,” Sera whispers as she gives me one last hug. “Laise tout ?a pour les morts.”

Leave all that for the dead.

Then I go back inside for another load of stuff, just so I don’t have to watch them leave.

When I come back out, Honey is standing on the dock with Bernadette and Victor. And for once in his life, Vic doesn’t sound drunk. Just pissed off. “Goddammit,” he says. “I’ve looked everywhere for that stupid little bitch.”

Honey gives him a hard look and slips her arm around Evie’s crying mama. “She’ll turn up, Bernadette. She can’t have gone far.”

Victor throws an old duffel bag into their beat-up flatboat. “Yeah. Well, I ain’t got no more time to wait. Y’all see that girl, you tell her we went on up to Monroe.” He turns to his sister. “Get in the boat, Bernie. Evangeline can take care of her own damn self.” Nobody moves, and Vic hisses again. “I said, get in the goddamn boat, Bernie.”

“Bernadette,” Honey starts, but Evie’s mama just shakes her head and gets into the boat with her brother.

“We gotta get on up to Kinter,” she mumbles. “Get the truck and head up to Monroe. Like Vic says.” Victor gets the motor going, and black smoke billows across the dock. “Storm’s comin’ in.” There’s no expression on Bernadette’s face. She’s gone all blank. I’m sorry. She mouths the words to the crowd as their boat pulls away. But I don’t know who she means them for.

Honey shakes her head and pats my shoulder before she gets back to work. Evie’s bound to show up any minute, she says. There are men out looking for her right now. And then somebody will take her up to Kinter with them. Get her on the shelter bus to Monroe. See that she’s taken care of.

But I know time is running out.

I catch sight of Hart sitting on the steps of the Mystic Rose, and I know he purposefully skipped out on the painful goodbye with the others.

I walk over and sit down beside him.

“He took her,” Hart tells me. “Evie.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I say. “You don’t know that.”

But all morning, I’ve had this horrible feeling. It isn’t like Evie to go off alone.

“Me and Leo, we’ve been out lookin’ for ’er for hours. Since sunup.” Hart stares down at his boots and runs a hand over his face. “She’s gone, Greycie. Vanished.”

Honey yells at me from the dock. She wants me to take one last walk through the house.

Hart follows me inside as I move from room to room. “I told Mama and Leo I’m not goin’ today,” he says. And I stop to stare at him. I didn’t believe him when he said it last night. I figured he was out of his head. Or talkin’ big. “I told ’em I wouldn’t leave here without Evie. That I’d stay and track her down. There’s a chance she’s still alive. At least right now.”

His voice echoes in the emptiness.

“Leo says their company has a big supply boat still out in the gulf. It’s tryin’ to get in, though, so it can beat the storm up to New Orleans. It’ll be comin’ up this way tomorrow mornin’, just ahead of landfall.”

“No way.” I shake my head. “That’s cutting it too close.”

“Leo already radioed the captain, and they’re gonna make a quick stop here. To pick up Evie. They’ll get her someplace safe. If I can find her.”

The radio is still broadcasting weather updates from the kitchen. A reporter tells us that Elizabeth is a Category 5 hurricane now. And she’s only 225 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi.

“What about you?” I ask him.

Hart shakes his head. “I told you I’m not going.”

“Don’t be stupid, you have to –”

Hart shuts me down. “I’m not leaving here.”

“Sugar Bee!” Honey is yelling at me from the front porch. “We gotta get on the way.”

“I’m staying with you,” I tell him, and he shakes his head.

“The hell you are.”

“Just until tomorrow morning. To help look for Evie. Then I’ll get on that boat. I promise.”

And I’ll make sure he’s on it, too.

No way I’m leaving him behind.

Hart opens his mouth to tell me no again, but Honey charges in holding Sweet-N-Low. “We have to go, Sugar Bee. The wind’s really picking up.”

“I’m not going,” I tell her. “Not right now.” She stares at me, confused. “I’m staying behind with Hart. To find Evie.” Hart’s opens his mouth, but I grab his hand and squeeze hard. “We’ve already lost Elora. I’m not losing Evie, too.”

And there is no way I’m letting Hart stay here to die.