Every Vow You Break(52)

Besides, what was the point of unlocking his phone when there was no service on the island?

She put the phone back in the bag and felt around for anything else in the zipped-up side pockets. There was one paperback book, something academic called Hierarchy in the Forest. Abigail thumbed through the pages. There was an inscription inside the front cover:

To Bruce,

Good stuff here—



Your brother, Chip

Abigail assumed that was Chip Ramsay. After all, how many Chips did Bruce know? Not that it meant much to her. The subtitle was The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior. She put the book back.

There were more items in the other interior pocket. An engraved lighter, an unopened package of Altoids, and an ornate silver ring of a man’s face constructed of leaves, just like the face she’d seen on the sign in the woods. She stared at it, mesmerized and disturbed. The words “green man” popped into her head. She could picture a sign hanging in front of a bar somewhere, or maybe it was a pub sign from the trip she’d taken with Ben to England after they’d graduated from college. She couldn’t quite put it all together, except that she now knew for sure that whatever was happening here at Quoddy Resort was tied in with her husband. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he owned a ring—a ring he kept hidden from her—that had the same image on it as the sign leading to that clearing in the woods.

She returned the ring to its pocket in the travel bag and slid the bag back into the closet, careful to make sure it looked like it hadn’t been disturbed. Whatever the ring meant, Abigail didn’t want to spend the next eighteen hours alone in the bunk with Bruce. She didn’t know where else she could go, but she didn’t want to be here. She changed back into jeans and a sweater, looked through the window to see if she could spot him on the lawn, but it was empty. Even the archery targets had been taken down. A sudden horrible feeling passed through Abigail, more like an image, actually. That all of them—everyone here at the resort— were up at the lodge meeting to discuss what to do about Abigail.

That’s why it was so quiet outside, even on this beautiful day.

Her against them.

A part of her wanted to pack up as much food and water as she could carry and run into the woods, wait there. But wait there for what? For the plane? For some sort of rescue operation?

Movement caught her eye and Abigail spotted Eric, who’d probably just emerged from his own bunk, cutting across the lawn.

Without thinking, she darted outside and went to him. As strange as it was, he was possibly a friend, maybe the only friend she had here.

“Eric,” she half shouted as she closed in on him.

He stopped and turned. “Hey,” he said.

“Can we talk?”

“Sure. I was just heading up to get some lunch. Do you want to join me?”

“Can we go to your bunk, actually? I know that sounds … It’s not what it sounds like.”

“Okay. Sure.”

Together they walked back to his bunk. Eric was quiet, and she wondered what he was thinking. She hoped he wasn’t thinking that she’d changed her mind about their relationship, but that was the least of her worries right now. They reached the door, and he held it open for her. Inside, it was laid out differently than her and Bruce’s bunk, but with the same luxury feel. The walls were stained a darker brown, and there was a moose head mounted on the wall above the bed.

“Can I get you anything?” Eric asked, as Abigail sat on the dark green sofa near the unlit fireplace.

“No, I’m fine.”

“What’s going on?” He perched on the edge of a leather club chair facing her. He wore jeans and a faded Ween T-shirt, and there was something about his outfit, so casual, almost collegiate, that reassured Abigail. She had a brief, alarming flash of the two of them together in California, her sliding his jeans down his narrow hips.

“Remember when we were talking in the woods this morning?”

she began.

“Uh-huh.”

“And you said that you thought there was something strange about this island, something off.”

“Yeah.”

“Because there was no way it was a real business, right? That’s what you said.”

Eric nodded.

“Was there anything else? Anything else that you think is strange about this place? Or was it just that?”

He hesitated, and Abigail could tell that he was thinking, trying to decide what to say to her exactly.

“What is it?” she said.

“Sorry, I’m thinking. Why are you asking me these questions?

What happened?”

“Well, for one, they’re not letting me off this island.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told Bruce I wanted to leave today, and he said that he’d arrange a plane to get us, but now he’s saying it won’t come until tomorrow morning.”

“Uh-huh,” Eric said, and she tried to read his expression.

“So I asked to use the phones that are here, the landlines in the lodge. I just thought that maybe I could make my own arrangements with another airline, or at the very least I could talk with my friend and she could look into it.”

“And what happened?”

“The phones are out. They’re not working.”

“It’s suspicious,” he said.