He drained the glass before setting it on the kitchen island. “And by accident we could walk right up to a woman who wants to hurt you and hand you over. Make it very easy for her.”

An excellent point. One she decided to ignore. “Or she could be injured or not involved in this. There are hundreds of possibilities.” Okay, more like two, but this wasn’t about numbers. “This is really about ruling her out.”

“Your argument isn’t convincing at all.”

The blank look on his face told her that, but she kept trying. “Humor me.”

He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. He seemed to be engaging in some sort of mental debate about what to say next, but then he leaned back against the sink with his palms resting on the counter on either side of his hips. “You think you know where she is?”

“Yes.” Because when it came to hiding on Whitaker, she was the expert.

“Ben is out there with his volunteer crew. Evan—the supposedly most competent person on Whitaker, just ask him—is checking on places with two officers that landed on Whitaker this morning.” His eyebrow lifted. “Do you see where I’m going with this? In case you don’t, tell them and let them handle this.”

“The one person on this island who runs drills where she practices hiding and who hid out when the killings started over the summer is me.”

His mouth flattened into a straight line. “Jesus, Maddie.”

“It’s trained behavior. A reflex.” And weird. She could admit that, but not now. She needed him to listen and agree. “That’s not important.”

“It is to me. I hate that this has been your life.”

She needed his thoughts moving in a different direction, so she worked to get him there. “Your last two years haven’t been any better.”

“It’s not a competition.”

“Just trust me.” She sighed at him to let him know she was serious and had no intention of letting this go. With or without his help. “We search two places. That’s it.”

He hesitated but then held up two fingers. “Two houses only.”

“That’s not quite what I said.”

His arm dropped to his side again. “Maddie.”

She rushed to explain before he launched into a lecture sure to tick her off. “One is an abandoned prison.”

“Hell, no.” He stilled. “Wait, there’s a prison here?”

“The remains of one.” Kids drank there on weekends. A few people hiked around it. She was one of the few, and she thought only, who ventured over to the rocky side, past the gate. The part with all the warnings and signs that Ben and his assistant patrolled sometimes. The part with the hidden door that she knew how to open. “That was once the purpose of the island. But the good news is, the other hiding spot is a house.”