“I didn’t even realize you and Justin were gone. Skip and I were fighting… Then he stormed off somewhere, and I came in here to throw things around.” She grinned sheepishly. “And the next thing I knew, Skip was out in the pool again and you and Justin and Neale were coming back.” She stopped in the middle of measuring coffee. “Kelsey, what’s wrong?”

“Where is he…where was he when I went into the water…” Kelsey shook her head slowly, trying to clear it of Justin’s words on; the beach… “Donna…do you think Justin seems…well…afraid of Neale?”

For a moment Donna looked perplexed “Afraid? Everyone’s a little afraid of Neale, aren’t they?” she said wryly. “Nobody gets along with him—not Skip, not the islanders, not even you!”

“Why not the islanders?”

“Something about him makes people uncomfortable. He isn’t one to return friendly gestures, if you know what I mean.”

Kelsey gave a curt nod. Her nerves felt stretched to breaking, and a headache was throbbing behind her temples.

“Where are you going? Are you okay?” Donna watched carefully as Kelsey stood up.

“I just need a bathroom. I’ll be fine in a minute.”

“Go upstairs. It’s a lot quieter. Third door on your left. Do you need me?”

“No, thanks. I’m just jumpy.”

Donna looked sympathetic. “Okay, but if you’re not down in ten minutes I’m coming to check on you.”

Kelsey couldn’t quite manage a smile. She went unsteadily up the wide, curving staircase and found the bathroom. Locking the door, she sat down on the carpeted floor, her back against the wall, and let a horde of memories trample through her mind. She couldn’t forget what had happened tonight—the helpless panic of seeing Justin disappear, of seeing that dark shape cut through the water…that pressure of something solid and very real against her legs…and then the unbelievable relief of finding Justin alive and unharmed…when she thought she’d lost him…lost him forever…I can’t go through that again…I can’t…

“Don’t…struggle…it’ll be easier if you don’t…”

“Oh, Dad,” Kelsey whimpered.

She pressed her palms flat on either side of her head, rocking slowly. Why did Justin seem so terrified of Neale? And why is Neale being so secretive about what happened? The questions pounded, making her headache worse by the second. And where did that body go? And why was I so certain that someone was in my room tonight, waiting while I waited…listening while I listened…?

Stumbling to the window, she thrust it open and pressed her face against the screen. The air was damp and soft, and she breathed it in greedily, letting her eyes roam across the rocky coastline, the deserted beach…

Only it wasn’t deserted.

Kelsey felt her body go rigid as one of the rocks seemed to lurch away from the others. Long and ghostlike, it spilled out across the sand, righted itself, finally staggering out into the moonlight. It took half a second to recognize him then. Isaac.

Totally absorbed, Kelsey watched as he approached the wall separating Skip’s backyard from the beach. He looked around furtively, shoulders hunched, before he finally flattened himself against the gate.