Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six(70)

“Did you lose consciousness at all?” asked Hannah. “Do you remember the accident?”

“I didn’t lose consciousness, I don’t think.”

“Tell me what happened exactly.”

“I was driving back from town, maybe a little too fast. I felt bad for leaving and I wanted to get back to Cricket. The roads were wet, already flooding in some places and I was worried about swamping the engine. It was storming pretty badly.”

He touched gingerly at the cut on his forehead. “Uh, I think—there was something on the road; it disappeared into the trees. At first I thought it was a person, there was like a flash of white. But maybe it was a deer. I veered to miss it. Then there was this huge bolt of lightning and the tree fell.”

“Wait,” said Hannah. “You saw someone on the road?”

That flash of white Hannah had seen came back to her. It sent a strange tingle through her, raising goose bumps.

Joshua frowned uncertainly. “I’m not sure. It was probably a deer.”

Or whoever it was by the lake? Or whoever had turned on the light in the cabin? What was going on here?

“No one would be out walking on the road in this storm,” said Cricket. “You’re right. It was probably a deer.”

“Could it have been Liza?” asked Hannah. She imagined her hurt, tiny sister-in-law walking up a deserted road in the storm. What could have inspired her to do that?

Then she thought again about the ghosts Chef Jeff had so creepily mentioned. The mother wandering the woods looking for her children.

Stop. Stop it.

Hannah walked back over to the window, peering out into the storm. The other structure on the property. She remembered it from exploring the link Liza had sent, a cabin on the other side of the gazebo—perfect for the teenagers or the in-laws, something like that. Like a whole other house with a kitchenette, smaller but as nicely appointed as this one with a sleep loft. Or so it looked from the photographs.

Maybe Liza had struck out, then turned around to come back, realizing she wasn’t going to get far, that it was dangerous. That would explain the light they saw. The timing worked, right?

“Would Liza have done that?” asked Cricket, reading Hannah’s mind as usual. Her friend came up behind her, stared out into the night beside her. “Just go to the other cabin?”

“Maybe? If the storm was bad and she needed to get away, but couldn’t. Didn’t want to deal with Mako or with us.”

Hannah turned to her friend. Josh had his eyes closed on the couch.

She whispered. “Did she see you two? What were you up to when Bruce and I snuck off?”

Cricket widened her eyes again—she’d perfected the look of innocence—and gaped her jaw, shooting a quick glance at Josh. When she spoke her voice was softer than Hannah’s.

“Nothing! Do you really think I’d do that? Here?”

The truth was, Hannah suspected that Cricket would do anything Mako wanted her to do. That’s how it was. How it had always been. Cricket, despite her party girl persona, was a smart woman. But when it came to Mako, she was as clueless as it gets. He led. She followed. Liza was the first woman to exert any control over her brother; that was one of the things Hannah liked most about her. She makes me want to be a better man, Mako had confided to Hannah on his wedding day. Hannah had hoped that she would.

Too bad it didn’t seem to be working out that way.

Cricket looked hurt; her eyes filled. “What do you think of me, Han?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, pulling her friend into an embrace. “I’m just asking. You guys have—a history.” A past. Possibly a present. But no future. Cricket should know that.

She felt Cricket nod. “We didn’t do anything.”

Hannah had heard this before.

Joshua was snoring on the couch now. Should she let him sleep? Or wake him up. She had no idea. The truth was that most of her lifeguard training was a distant memory like everything before Gigi was a distant memory. She should take an online refresher course—in her spare time. And she had way too much on her mind. Mainly, getting out of here and home to Lou and Gigi. Reflexively, she checked the app on her phone, Cricket still leaning against her.

She imagined Gigi was a cherub floating on a cloud, arms up, beanie hat, onesie, chubby legs bowed. If she listened she could hear the baby breath. But there was no service. The app announced that Hannah was offline.

“She’s okay, Han. This will all be okay.”

Hannah wasn’t used to being comforted by anyone but Bruce. Usually, she was the one doing the comforting for other people in her life.

“I know,” she said softly. Even though she didn’t.

Just then the rain picked up, and the wind toppled one of the outdoor chairs, skidded it against the sliding door with a crash. Cricket jumped and Josh woke up with a start.

“What’s happening?” he said.

Hannah went to the door. When a skein of lightning lit the sky, she drew in a gasp. There she saw it again, that stranger, a form, slim, black, moving fast down the path in the direction of the gazebo.

A crack of thunder. Darkness again.

“What is it?” asked Cricket.

She cupped her hands around her eyes and peered into the darkness. There—another shift of shadows.

“Oh my god,” she said, looking at her friend. “There really is someone else out there.”