“I don’t get it. I just don’t get women like that. The guy’s got a hundred fifty pounds on her, but it’s her fault he bashed her face. And she believed it.” She got out a beer for herself, jerking the bottle at him as she twisted off the cap.

“Maybe she needs to.”

“Oh, like hell, Zack. Like hell.” Still simmering, she dropped into the chair across from him. “She’s healthy, she’s got a brain. What does she gain hooking herself to a guy who uses her for a punching bag when the mood strikes him? If she’d pressed charges, we could’ve held him long enough for her to pack her bags and get gone. We should’ve held him anyway.”

“She wouldn’t have left. It wouldn’t have made one damn bit of difference.”

“Okay, you’re right. I know it. It just burns me, that’s all.” She sipped her beer, watching him. “You’re thinking about Nell. You figure it was like that for her?”

“I don’t know what it was like for her. She doesn’t talk about it.”

“Have you asked?”

“If she wanted to tell me, she would.”

“Well, don’t snap my head off.” Ripley propped her feet on the chair beside her. “I’m asking you because I know you, big brother. If you’ve got a thing for her, and the thing turns into a big thing, you’re never going to be square with it unless you have the story. Without the story, you can’t help, and when you can’t help, it drives you nuts. You’re brooding right now because you couldn’t help—to your satisfaction—a woman you’d never seen before and won’t see again. It’s that Good Samaritan gene of yours.”

“Isn’t there someone else on the island you can go annoy?”

“No, because I love you best. Now, instead of having another beer, why don’t you take Luce and go for a sail? Still plenty of daylight yet, and it’ll clear your head and improve your disposition. You’re just no fun to be around when you’re broody.”

“Maybe I will.”

“Good. Go. Odds of a second crisis in one day are slim to none, but I’ll take a cruise around, just in case.”

“Okay.” He got up and after a moment’s hesitation leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I love you best, too.”

“Don’t I know it.” She waited until he got to the door. “You know, Zack, whatever Nell’s story is, there’s one key difference between her and Diane McCoy. Nell got gone.”

Ten

On Monday the incident at the Abbott rental was the talk of the village. Everyone had had time to form an opinion, particularly those who hadn’t witnessed the event.