“Thanks,” he said, head swinging back up to me. “I’d appreciate that. Someday I’m going to track you down, and you’re going to tell me what this was all about.”

I felt a sloppy smile come over me. “It’s a date. But then I’ll have to kill you.”

Laughing, he turned to go, then hesitated, the sun glinting on his suit. “Burn your card?”

Brushing my wet hair back, I nodded.

“Okay.” This time he didn’t stop. As I watched, he waded into the surf, diving into a wave and starting for his boat with clean, smooth strokes.

“Now I feel like James Bond,” I said, and Jenks laughed.

“Into the woods,” Jenks said, and with a last backward look at Marshal, I headed for the scrub. The smooth rocks were hard to walk on, and I felt like an idiot wobbling after him. It was warmer without the wind, and after only a few steps the beach turned into a thick brush.

The first of the spring-green leaves closed over us, and as I picked my way through the vegetation, Jenks asked, “Do you like him?”

“No,” I said immediately, feeling the tension of a lie. How could I not? He was risking his livelihood, and maybe his life.

“He’s a witch,” Jenks offered, as if that was all it took.

Toying with the idea of letting the stick I was holding fling back to slap him, I said, “Jenks, stop being my mother.”

The brush thinned as we forced our way into the interior and the trees grew larger.

“I think you like him,” Jenks persisted. “He’s got a nice body.”

My breath came quick. “Okay, I like him,” I admitted. “But it takes more than a nice body, Jenks. Jeez, I do have a little depth. You’ve got a great body, and you don’t see me trying to get into your Fruit of the Looms.”

He reddened at that, and finally breaking through into a clearing, I stopped, trying to find my sense of direction. “Which way do you think the compound is, anyway?”

Jenks was better than a compass, and he pointed. “Want to run until we get close?”

I nodded. Jenks was wearing Marshal’s warmth amulet and looked toasty, but it was too much for me. Without it I felt sluggish, and I hoped I didn’t hurt myself until I warmed up. Between Jax and the old plot map in the local museum, we had a good layout of the island.

Jenks ran a finger between his heel and his shoe before taking a deep breath and breaking into a slow lope that wouldn’t stress us too much and would give us time to dodge obstacles instead of running into them. Jax had said most of the buildings in use were by the island’s lakes; that’s where we were headed. I thought of Marshal swimming for his boat and hoped he was okay.

As usual, Jenks took point, leaping over decaying logs and dodging boulders the size of a small car, which had been dumped by the last glacier. He looked good running ahead of me, and I wondered if he would run a few laps with me at the zoo before I switched him back. I could use the morale boost of being seen with him. It was quiet, with only birds and animals disturbing the morning. A jay saw us, screaming as it followed until losing interest. A plane droned overhead, and the wind kept the tops of the trees moving. I could smell spring everywhere, and I felt as if we had slipped back in time with the clear air, the bright sun, and the spooked deer.