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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Also by Silas House
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Part One
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. Part Two
  27. 1
  28. 2
  29. 3
  30. 4
  31. 5
  32. 6
  33. 7
  34. 8
  35. 9
  36. 10
  37. Part Three
  38. 1
  39. 2
  40. 3
  41. 4
  42. 5
  43. 6
  44. 7
  45. 8
  46. 9
  47. 10
  48. 11
  49. 12
  50. 13
  51. 14
  52. 15
  53. 16
  54. 17
  55. 18
  56. 19
  57. 20
  58. 21
  59. 22
  60. 23
  61. 24
  62. 25
  63. 26
  64. 27
  65. 28
  66. 29
  67. 30
  68. 31
  69. Part Four
  70. 1
  71. 2
  72. 3
  73. Epilogue: The Everything
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. About Algonquin
  77. Copyright

Asher squats down beside Justin and Evona is crying again, standing behind him. “Come on, Justin,” he whispers, softly. “Let’s go, just for a little while. Shady will be fine here with Evona.”

Shady flops his tail twice, so Justin stands up, and they go.

22

22

Justin lays his head against Asher’s back as they speed away on the Vespa, turning here and there because Asher doesn’t know where to go. Little dots of rain tap against his face and the sun fights the dark clouds above them. There has been much rain in the night so that some of the streets on the south side of the island are completely flooded, standing like still rivers. But a flood here is only an inch deep, not like back home, so the Vespa zips right through the water.

Asher’s thumb presses the accelerator all the way down but the Vespa will go only so fast. He wants to drive as hard and fast as he can, not to escape, but to outrun what has happened. Bell has been so good to them for no reason at all, without any promise of reward. And now she is gone.

He drives to the Atlantic and stops in a sandy place on the side of the road where the White Street Pier points out into the ocean. The clouds are low and gray and mean-looking over the water and waves churn below in a deep grayish blue.

“What’re we doing?” Justin says. “We can’t stop here.”

But Asher doesn’t know where to go.

He thinks about going to the cemetery but that seems too close to home. They could take a tour out to the Dry Tortugas but they aren’t dressed for a whole day out and he worries about the chance of being recognized by one of the locals working the boats.

Right now what he wants more than anything is the woods. He wants someplace that reminds him of Tennessee. Asher remembers the private beach where Evona took them but he can’t risk trespassing and being approached by a security guard. The closest they are going to get to the woods on this island is at Zachary Taylor Beach, where a little grove of pine trees stands close to the ocean. Turtles nest on the beach, roped off by the game wardens for protection. The guards at the ticket booth see so many faces they must all run together. He needs the woods, and he convinces himself it will be safe. He needs the trees. So he points the little Vespa that way. Justin clutches his waist as Asher guns the gas again.