The Hollows(66)

‘Why, did Frankie leave you a note?’ He looked directly at the piece of paper in my hand.

‘No,’ I said.

‘Maybe I should go check.’ Connie made her way back over to her cabin. If whoever had Frankie – and I only had one suspect – had left the Butlers a note too, it would make my life a little easier. We would be in this together. I was scared they might ignore the instructions and go straight to the police, but at least I’d be able to be open with them.

David and Connie headed back towards their cabin. I hesitated. What if the person who’d left the note was watching? I peered into the trees opposite.

‘Are you coming?’ David asked over his shoulder.

The note had told me to wait for instructions tomorrow, but hadn’t expressly told me to stay in the cabin until then. And I’d be able to see my cabin from the Butlers’, anyway. I could run back over if someone came with word for me earlier than promised. But what if I was being watched, and Greg – surely it was Greg – thought I had already told the Butlers what was happening? It was impossible to think straight but I needed to know if the Butlers had received a note too. I hurried across.

I had tucked the folded note in my front pocket, afraid David would ask me about it again. I nodded hello to Neal, who was sitting at the table on the front deck, a tumbler of what looked like whisky in front of him. There was an electrical charge coming off him, presumably the after-effect of being onstage, his system still awash with adrenaline, but when he spoke, his voice was bland, betraying none of the excitement his body radiated.

‘Kids, huh?’ he said. ‘I’m glad Sally and I never had any.’

I made a non-committal noise – I didn’t need to hear this guy talk at all, much less about his dead wife – and then Connie came back outside. ‘Nope. No note.’ She looked properly scared now. Her eyes glistened and she wiped at them with the back of her hand.

‘I’m gonna kill him,’ David said. ‘Making us worry like this.’

‘They’re teenagers,’ said Neal. ‘They think they’re grown up and don’t—’

The look Connie gave him made him shut his mouth, and he raised his hands apologetically.

‘We need to search for him,’ she said.

‘Both of them,’ said David, looking at me, and I had no choice but to nod.

‘When did you last see Frankie?’ Connie asked.

I decided there was no harm in being honest about this. As long as I didn’t say anything else. ‘She came and found me while Neal was giving his talk. Then I walked her back to our cabin before popping out again.’

‘What time was that?’

I had lost track. ‘Just before ten, I think. Maybe nine thirty.’

They didn’t know what had happened that afternoon with Buddy and Darlene. I had been trying to talk to David earlier but he hadn’t stopped to listen. Did they know anything at all about what had been going on this week? Were they aware their son had upset the locals with his Instagram post? I didn’t think so, and they certainly wouldn’t know about the masked people in the woods. Wouldn’t know that I was sure one of them, the man in the crow mask, was Greg. This explained, I realised, why Greg, or his children, had left a note only for me. I was the only one who had some idea of what was going on. The only person who would suspect Greg and his kids of being responsible for Frankie and Ryan’s disappearance, who could damage Greg’s plan – whatever the hell it was – by going to the police.

‘You seem really freaking agitated,’ David said to me.

‘Huh?’ I snapped out of my thoughts. They were all staring at me. ‘I am agitated.’ I turned away from them, sure they would be able to see that I was hiding something. The note burned in my pocket.

‘I’m going to look for them,’ David said.

‘I’ll help,’ said Neal, hauling himself to his feet with a grunt of effort, like he had bad knees.

‘Connie,’ David said. ‘You stay here, in case they come back.’

‘Listen,’ I said. ‘Why don’t you two search the resort, and I’ll go check the woods.’

‘Maybe I should come with you, Tom,’ said David. ‘It’s better if two of us look in the woods between here and Penance.’

I shook my head. ‘No. Honestly. You guys search the resort. The tennis courts, the playground, down by the lake . . . Look behind reception too. They go there sometimes to use the Wi-Fi.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ said Connie.

‘Frankie told me earlier. And I’ll meet you back here in an hour, okay?’

‘You sure you don’t want to call the police now?’ said Neal.

‘No.’ I probably said it too effusively. ‘I mean, if they’ve just snuck off to . . . do whatever teenagers do, we don’t want to waste police time, do we?’

‘I agree,’ said David. It seemed to me that he was convinced his son was doing the kind of thing David had done when he was fifteen. Connie was more concerned. Maybe she knew about Ryan’s sexuality but was reluctant to tell her husband, at least not yet. And David was pretending to be worried for his wife’s sake. There were so many layers of deceit here that it was hard to keep up.

‘Do you have a flashlight I can borrow?’ I asked. ‘The woods are dark.’