“It’s not.”
“Ugh.”
They were halfway across the lobby when Lara’s radio squawked and Will’s voice came through: “Heads up. I just made contact with Blaine.”
“He’s still alive?” Danny asked through the radio. “Talk about beating the odds. That guy just refuses to die.”
Lara keyed her radio. “Will, what about Sandra?”
“That’s a negative on Sandra,” Will said. “They made it into Beaumont while we were there yesterday morning, but they got into trouble with some collaborators. Probably the same ones Gaby shot. Sandra died while they were trying to escape.”
“Tell him I’m sorry,” Lara said.
She had never met the woman, but she had been looking forward to it ever since meeting Blaine. She remembered when they had found him, lying half-dead on the road with three bullets in him. He was still alive because of Sandra. Any woman special enough to make a man give death the middle finger had to be pretty special.
Now she would never know, and a part of her felt sad at the missed opportunity.
“I will,” Will said.
“Back to the matter at hand,” Danny said. “Are we making silver bullets tonight or what?”
“We’ll be heading back as soon as we can,” Will answered. “If all goes well, we’ll be back within the hour.”
“See you then,” Lara said into the radio.
“Later, alligator,” Danny added.
It was 2:12 p.m. and the sun had settled into the sky when Lara went back to the Tower, where Danny and Sarah were putting up a new door to replace the one the ghouls had obliterated the night before. It was essentially two doors from two unused rooms in the hotel, nailed together into one big slab of thick, dull wood. It was overly heavy (which was the point) and took a lot of grunting and grimacing to carry over from the hotel where Danny had put it together.
Lara helped them raise the door into position, then held it in place with Sarah while Danny grabbed an electric drill and fired large screws through makeshift hinges into the concrete wall one by one. By the time he was done, they were out of breath and their clothes were drenched in sweat — again.
The door didn’t look like much. In fact, it was ugly, but it could open and close and was locked in place with an iron bar that fell into a latch drilled into the side. More importantly, it would not fall as easily as the last door. They had gotten by last night thanks to the Tower’s rather oddball design, but Will and Danny wanted to make sure the ghouls never made it inside next time.
When they were done, Lara said, “Anyone seen Sienna?”
“She was in the hotel the last time I saw her,” Sarah said. “About thirty minutes ago.”
“What was she doing?”
“I don’t know. She was in her room.”
“She’ll come around,” Danny said.
Lara left the two of them to finish up. She headed up to the second floor, where they kept a couple of crates with emergency supplies, including one with clothes. She grabbed a new undershirt and pulled it on, tossing her drenched one into a waste basket. Laundry had become unnecessary with clothes lying around everywhere, though she thought they might have to revisit that now that they were going to be staying on the island.
The idea made her smile. The island could become a home, something they hadn’t had since Harold Campbell’s facility. This was what she had wanted when they had set off in search of Song Island months ago. Even after the horrors of last night, the very real possibility of having a place to call home made her almost giddy.
She traveled up to the third floor, where Gaby stood watch along the windows. The teenager was moving from window to window, peering through binoculars for about thirty seconds at each spot. She looked the part of a sentry, and Lara understood why Will was so high on her.
“Anything?” Lara asked.
“Nothing,” Gaby said.
“Can you see Will and Josh?”
“If by ‘see’ you mean noticed two tiny specks in the distance that could very well be Will and Josh — or bird poop — then yes.”
Lara walked to the south window, picked up another pair of binoculars hanging from a hook, and looked through them. She could see the shoreline in the distance, along with the house and marina. The gazebo, the tallest structure in the marina, blinked under the glare of sunlight. She made out the garage, with its aluminum rooftop, and the black asphalt parking lot with the dozen or so vehicles inside, including the Ridgeline and Frontier they had parked there yesterday.
“They went into the garage about ten minutes ago,” Gaby said. “I haven’t seen them come out yet.”
“Is Blaine with them?”
“I can’t be sure, but I saw five dots moving around out there at one point.”
“Anything from the house?”
“I saw a couple of them walking around the front yard. Do we know who they are yet?”
“Not yet.”
Lara turned the binoculars back to the house, picking up a lone figure moving around the yard. Or at least, it looked like a figure. It could have been a balloon blowing in the breeze for all she knew.
“They finished with the door down there?” Gaby asked.
“Pretty much.”
“Heavy?”
“Like a stone.”
“I guess that’s good. Hard to break down stone.”
“That’s the idea.” Lara looked back at the marina and focused on the garage, but she couldn’t see anything inside, outside, or around the building. “They’re taking their time,” she said softly.
“Maybe you can contact Will on the radio.”
Lara unclipped the radio from her hip and pressed the transmit lever. “Will, can you hear me?”
She didn’t get a response right away.
Five seconds went by, then ten.
She was about to press the transmit lever again when the radio squawked and she heard Will’s voice, whispering, “Yes.”
Why is he whispering?
“Is everything all right over there?” she asked.
“Everything’s fine,” he said, still whispering. “We’re about to head back now.”
“Be careful.”
“Will do.”
Gaby glanced over. “I guess he’s okay.”
“I guess so.”
She fought the urge to call him back.
No. He said he was fine. Why would he lie?
But why was he whispering?
She was halfway back to the hotel when she heard the gunshot. It came from the hotel lobby, and she knew instantly it was a handgun.
Glock. That’s a Glock.
Lara dashed across the grounds, aiming for the side door. She had become more acquainted with the hotel’s layout since this morning, while coming and going with arms full of ghoul bones.
As she ran, Lara unsnapped the radio from her hip and shouted into it: “Danny!”
“I heard,” Danny said calmly.
“Hurry!”
She was halfway to the side door when she heard another shot.
Lara threw open the door and darted inside. Her sneakers slipped on the freshly bleached tiles, but she regained her footing and raced through the short hallway until she reached Hallway A that led into the lobby.
As she made the turn, she heard two more gunshots, very close together.
“Danny!” she shouted into the radio again.
“I’m coming,” Danny said calmly.
She heard voices as soon as she neared the lobby. Female voices, almost conversational, which seemed impossible. She saw a pair of bullet casings scattered on the floor in front of her and almost slipped on one as she burst into the large sun-drenched room, drawing her sidearm at the same time.
The smell of frying fish from the kitchen overwhelmed her senses, but they were quickly overcome by the sight in front of her.