These weren’t the big wood ticks, he thought—dog ticks some people called them. These were the tiny deer ticks that carried Lyme disease. It could be treated with antibiotics, but damned if he wanted to get it. Some of the little bastards were barely the size of ground pepper. He’d picked them up tramping through the poison ivy and brush, chasing the wannabe senator across the island. Being brighter than most people, Robert knew if he’d stuck to the path, Callahan would nail him. No point in that. A left hook from Mr. Air Force, and he’d be toast.

He had to think. Be proactive. He could put up with a few ticks, take his chances with Lyme disease.

“Keep your eyes on the prize,” he said aloud, still panting and wheezing from exertion.

He supposed he could have shot Callahan and been done with him. Robert wasn’t surprised the would-be senator had found his way to his bitch’s island refuge. It was getting there so fast that bugged the hell out of him. Now he had to scramble, deal with two people instead of one.

He sniffled, digging at another tick. “You’re making adjustments, asshole. You’re not scrambling.” Right.

The guy, Callahan, was a stud. Robert had followed him once, seen him in the papers and on TV a lot, plus with the bitch doctor. The two of them. What a pair. The handsome hero senate candidate, the beautiful blue-eyed doctor. Robert was nothing to them. Like one of these ticks that had to be removed, squeezed dead and tossed. But not ignored—nobody ignored deer ticks anymore now that they carried Lyme disease.

A light rain that seemed to come out of nowhere washed some of the sand and blood off his legs, but when he moved, more sand stuck. He was covered in it. He felt like one of those little hermit crabs digging its way out of the wet sand at low tide. He didn’t know whether it was low tide or high tide now, just that the ocean was out there, rolling, getting scary on the other side of his dune. He wondered if Hurricane Hope was kicking up the surf or if this was normal.

If Hope hit, he’d be swept away out here behind his dune. Drown in the storm surge. Get hit by flying debris.