“Where are you going?” Neale asked quietly.

“To get help. He needs a doctor.”

“No. He’s okay.” Neale rocked back on his heels, fixing her with a level stare.

“But he’s shaking and—”

“I’ve checked him over. He’s fine. We’ll let him rest for a while, and then you can help me get him back to the house.”

Kelsey frowned, a strange apprehension creeping over her. This was all too much…first Beth and now Justin…so easily…right in front of her eyes…and nothing she could do…nothing…just like before…just like the last time…only I wouldn’t have let you die, Justin…I wouldn’t have…

She choked back a new wave of panic and looked over at Justin as he shifted uncomfortably on his back. She saw his eyelids close…saw his lips move…saw Neale bending closer to catch the half-murmured words that were so hard to hear…

But Kelsey heard them.

Staring at Justin’s pale, exhausted face, Kelsey heard them and the fear that filled them.

“Neale…” Justin whispered, “Where were you?”

Chapter 12

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I would have done,” Donna said for the fifth time. She poured boiling water over the teabag in Kelsey’s cup and stood back to look at her. “Out there all alone in the water like that, and Justin disappearing—”

“Donna, we have to talk,” Kelsey pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and eyed her friend dismally. “Someone was in my room tonight, only nobody believes me.”

The teakettle clattered down onto the stove. “Are you kidding?”

Kelsey’s serious expression convinced her. “The boys don’t believe me—I should never have told them. They think I imagined the whole thing. They think I tracked water across the floor onto the rug, only it wasn’t me, and there were footprints.”

Donna looked puzzled. “You mean…someone was prowling around in your room?”

“I can’t prove anything,” Kelsey groaned. “It’s as bad as what happened today, finding that body that disappeared. Which, by the way, Skip told the other guys about. They think it’s hysterically funny.”

“They would,” Donna grumbled. “Now Skip’ll tell the sheriff and no one’ll believe us. Damn him!” Donna slammed her potholder onto the counter.

“You better take Justin his tea,” Kelsey reminded her, and Donna grudgingly took the cup and went out of the room. Kelsey could hear them all in the den—all their easy, comfortable voices weaving in and out through the music on the stereo, as if nothing had happened. Even Justin, who had stretched out on the couch, sounded like his old self. Kelsey was proud of herself, really, for having kept up her controlled façade this long. Neale had been very explicit about not wanting to upset anyone, not wanting to create a scene. She had been calm and steady all the way back from the beach; she had brushed off Skip’s and Donna’s alarm at their long absence, and she had done her share of reassuring and understating. But now—now in the warmth and brightness and safety of the kitchen, she felt herself slowly crumbling apart.