“There’s blood in the house.” Rae gasped as if she’d raced all the way from the house. “We think she’s dead. You’ve never seen anything like it.”

Want to bet?

“Miranda, it’s horrible.”

Or wonderful. Depends on your point of view.

“And there’s a big storm coming in.”

“I can’t do anything about that, either.”

“No—” Rae held her side as if she had a stitch “—but I came to warn you.”

“Warn me?”

“Daddy and Mommy said Dylan drank moonshine, or smoked bad weed. You need to be careful. And you need to take shelter before the storm hits.”

Mara blinked at Rae, once, twice, three times. “Wait. Why’d you come down?”

“To warn you!”

“You ran down here to warn me?”

“Rode down. Yes. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Rae swooped in suddenly, right next to where Mara knelt, and hugged her around the waist. “I like you!”

“You like me?” Mara felt funny. Not so angry.

“Yes.” Rae scrambled to her feet again. “I gotta go. I have to be home in thirty minutes—”

That reminded Mara again about her visit last night to the big house, seeing Rae with her parents, having Rae shut the window in her face.

Rae was still talking. “—because we have to get off the island.”

“What?” Mara suddenly was back in the present with Rae. “What? Why do you have to get off of the island?”

“Because of the storm. Because Dylan Conkle did something horrible, we think to Jamie. Who would hurt Jamie? She was pretty weird. But she had a thing about the environment. She wants to save it. There’s nothing wrong with that. Everybody should want to save the planet. But they don’t. They’re not like you.” Rae took a breath. “I want to be like you.”

Rae had distracted Mara again with her…her niceness. “Like me? What do you mean like me?”

“I mean coming here, camping all the time, counting bird eggs and slimy seaweed in the tide pools.” Rae was bursting with admiration and enthusiasm. “You’re great!”

Rae admired her. Admired Mara. Or rather, who Mara was pretending to be.

Never mind that.

The Di Lucas were leaving.

Rae likes me.

They were going to the mainland.

I have run out of time.

Rae said, “There’s room in the helicopter. I’ll ask my parents to take you with us. You can’t stay here by yourself. Daddy says the storm’s going to be horrible!”

“You still call him Daddy?” Mara crowed with laughter, with mockery. “Daddy. Like you’re three years old.”

“What?” Rae looked bewildered. Hurt.

Shut up, Mara. She likes me.

I’m out of time.

I don’t want to hurt her.

I’ve got to.

She looks so much like Kellen. She’s Kellen’s daughter.