Chapters (78)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- About the Author
- Also by Owen Laukkanen
What she found was a half-empty first aid kit, a flare gun, and a shot-to-shit radio. And in one of the plastic cases with all the guns, $10,000 in cash. Whoopee.
The flare gun wouldn’t do much with no one around to see it. The first aid kit was barely more than a handful of Band-Aids and some Polysporin. The radio wouldn’t power up, and there wasn’t any way Burke would live to spend that ten grand unless Jess could figure out a way to keep him alive.
Hell, Jess thought, I’m just as well giving Burke a hit from that package Ty stole.
She came back up into the cockpit and looked out over the ocean. The tide had turned again; it was coming in now, but it would take several hours to refloat the boat. For all she knew, Burke would be dead by then.
Jess pushed the thought from her mind. Focused on setting goals, things she could accomplish, things that probably wouldn’t mean squat in the long run but that would keep her occupied in the meantime.
She took the first aid kit and a bottle of water and humped it back across to where Burke lay, not moving. He didn’t stir as she approached, and she cursed herself, thinking once again he was dead.
But he was a strong piece of work, she had to admit. He opened his eyes a little bit and smiled up at her, and the dog looked at her and wagged her tail like she was hoping Jess had somehow brought the miracle cure.
Jess gave Burke water, and she treated his wounds as best she could from the first aid kid, though her T-shirt bandages were doing about as well as any Band-Aid. Burke drank the water and didn’t complain as she checked up on him. When he’d drunk his fill and she was satisfied, she looked around and exhaled and pitched their only shot.
“We’ve got to get you back to that boat, Burke,” she said. “It’s going to hurt like a real bitch, but there’s no other option.”
He didn’t answer right away. Finally he forced out a laugh. “You sure don’t make it easy on a man.”
“I can’t see us getting off this island any other way,” she said. “So you gather up your strength, and I’ll be right back.”
She took off into the forest again, climbing up the southern side of the island to where she’d left Cole Sweeney. He hadn’t moved either, looked like he was sleeping. But he stirred when she approached, looked greedily at the water bottle she still carried. “You mind sharing that, Jess?”