Keo nodded at Blaine, then slipped through the door in the floor.
He saw Maddie racing in and out of the lampposts that dotted the hotel grounds as he exited the lighthouse/radio tower. They exchanged a brief nod and he jogged off as she darted into the building behind him, slamming the door after her.
Keo glimpsed dark figures moving around on the hotel rooftop as he ran past. Three up there at the moment, including the twelve-year-old, what’s-his-name. Civilians were usually queasy about kids and guns, but Lara had put the tall kid up there anyway.
She’s ballsy, all right. Gotta give her that.
He made the beach a few minutes later. The short woman with the impressive rack, Gwen, was on top of the supply building to his right, while Bonnie, the tall ex-model, was at the other end of the beach to his left. He wondered if their placements were on purpose, because that was how he had sneaked onto the beach last night. The result of Lara adapting?
He found her at the end of the middle pier, standing underneath one of the bright LED lampposts that lined the walkway.
“What’s out there, guys?” Carly asked through the radio. She sounded anxious.
“It’s definitely a boat,” Lara said. “And it’s headed toward us.”
“Hard to miss the island. We are lit up like a Christmas tree, remember?”
“It’s a yacht,” Keo said. He had been thinking about it during the walk over. “It’s the right size. Two, probably three decks from the position of the lights.”
Lara glanced back at him. “You’ve seen yachts at night before?”
“I’ve boarded one or two in my time.”
“At night?” she said doubtfully.
“Hard to board a boat in the day when they can you see you coming.”
He stopped beside her and peered through his own binoculars. The boat was really moving slowly, as if it was in trouble. Was it leaking? Damaged? Still, he could just make out a bit more detail now. From the front, it was difficult to tell how many decks the vessel had, but its sleek white paint job was clear enough against the blackness.
“How many people does something like that hold?” Lara asked.
“I’m guessing anywhere from five to ten cabins. So two, maybe three per would be comfortable. But you could squeeze in more if you had to. You’d need at least five crewmen to keep something like that running, with eight to ten being preferable.”
“It looks pretty big.”
“The beam can be anywhere from five to ten meters.”
“What’s a beam?”
“The width of the boat.”
“Oh.”
“Something that wide is probably thirty to fifty meters long.”
“Is that big?”
“For a yacht? That’s luxury yacht territory. It’s a moving bed-and-breakfast, basically. Can you hear its engines?”
“Barely,” she said, straining to hear.
“That means it’s got a really quiet engine. Whisper quiet, they call it.”
“You know your yachts.”
“Like I said, I’ve had to board one once or twice in my old job. Of course, that just means I know my own limitations. You need to take something like that, I’m your man. You need someone to keep it afloat? That’s not me.”
Lara hadn’t said anything in a while, so he glanced over. He could see her mind working, processing the information.
“Oh, shit,” he said.
“What?” she said. “I didn’t say anything.”
“I know that look.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I don’t need to know you to know that look.”
She smiled almost sheepishly. “I was just thinking…”
“Of course you were…”
“…that it might be nice to have a moving bed-and-breakfast on hand.”
Keo had to laugh. “You’re seriously thinking about it, aren’t you?”
“It wouldn’t hurt to have something like that around just in case. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, as Will would say. Besides, wouldn’t you like to ride something like that to the Texas coast?”
“I’ll make do with a sailboat.”
“Think about it,” she said. Then, into her radio, “Tower, I need you to keep an eye on the rest of the lake in case this is some kind of distraction. I don’t want someone sneaking up on us again.”
“Roger that,” Blaine said through the radio. “What about the boat?”
“Let’s wait and see what they want. They’re not trying to hide their approach, so that’s a positive sign.” She said to Keo, “Can they turn off those lights manually?”
He nodded. “They’re letting us see them on purpose.” Then, “We should probably step back.”
“Why?”
“In case they have snipers onboard.”
“You think…?”
“Can’t be too sure, right? You saw the boat and you’re already making plans to acquire it. And they’ve seen what you have on this island. Even from a distance—”
“The power,” Lara said. “They know we have power.”
“And lots of it,” he nodded.
She turned and headed back down the pier, lifting the radio to her lips again. “Gwen, make yourself as small as possible back there. Bonnie, head back toward the tree lines for now.”
At the end of the pier, Gwen went into a crouch on top of the boat shack and Bonnie retreated up the beach toward the woods.
“Are we expecting trouble?” Roy asked through the radio.
“No,” Lara said. “Just in case.”
Just in case, Keo thought. Apparently that was the island’s motto.
“What now?” he asked her.
“I don’t know.” He thought he might have heard the first sign of a strain in her voice. “I wish Will was here. He’d know what to do.”
“You’re doing pretty well on your own.”
“For now,” she said. They stopped at the end of the pier and looked back at the approaching lights. “You said a boat that size had to have a big crew.”
“At minimum, five people just to keep it running.”
“They can’t be Kate’s soldiers. It’s too obvious.”
“Who’s Kate?”
“This bitch we used to know,” Lara said, but she didn’t elaborate. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and said, “If they’re hostile, it might be too late to do anything about it once they’re closer.” She paused for a moment, and he could almost see that mind of hers spinning again. “Can you sink something like that? I mean, by shooting it?”
“You can sink anything if you shoot it enough,” Keo said.
She continued staring at the approaching lights, her lips twisting, face contorting with indecision. He felt almost sorry for her. It wasn’t just her life at stake here. It was the others, too. Blaine, Maddie, the girl with the big rack behind them.
And the kids. He didn’t even know their names. One of them was Ellie or something. Janet? Wang?
You don’t even know their names. So what’s the point?
Because they’re kids.
Goddamn it, because they’re kids…
“There’s a way to find out if they’re friendlies,” Keo said.
“How?” Lara said, looking at him.
“It’s your island, and it’s your people. If you tell me to go ahead with this, you could be putting them all in unnecessary danger. Or you might be saving their lives. But ultimately, you’re going to have to decide, because once I start, I can’t stop. And whatever happens because of it will be on you. You understand?”
She stared at him, clearly confused. But that confusion quickly gave way to understanding, and she nodded. “Thank you, Keo.”
He sighed. “Don’t thank me yet. This is either going to work out and everyone will live happily ever after, or it’s going to blow up in both of our faces and everyone’s going to end up dead.”