Chapter 14 #2
Keep your enemies closer. Daniel had always hated that phrase because he detested cliches and the idea of hating another person so much he’d carry anger on a daily basis. Life was too short and precious for such a waste of energy.
But as he followed behind Margaux, he couldn’t help but express relief.
He was glad she had taken the lead. He didn’t trust her out of his sight.
And the fact that she marched with such determination and clear direction betrayed her.
She had been content to be a follower for so long.
Why the sudden take charge attitude now?
Unless she’d grown tired of pulling the strings on puppets that challenged her choreography.
Their footsteps crunched and cracked, despite the sandy soil. More debris on the unmanicured ground meant each step landed with more of an impact. Or he was philosophizing as he kept pace with Margaux.
Once again, he couldn’t help but worry about the coincidences that ended both Jennifer’s and Christine’s parts of the expedition.
Blessedly, the women survived their respective brushes with danger.
In his mind, he’d cleared them of any treachery.
He didn’t think Jennifer and Christine worked with Margaux.
Their dismissive attitudes weren’t an act.
But now he feared getting them out of the way showed the truth.
Margaux was trying to take out anyone who could keep her from her goal. Which now seemed to be the time capsule. But why? No one remembered what was inside of it. Margaux seemed to have a clue.
“Wow, Margaux,” Emma said, panting as she raced to keep up with the woman. “If you would’ve taken charge from the start, you could’ve saved us forty-five minutes of meandering in circles.” Emma laughed.
Daniel was getting to know her again and could be misinterpreting her cues.
But he hated that she sounded forced and tired.
He was, however, glad for her to say something and break the silence, besides the mixed cacophony of their labored breathing and the squish squelch of Emma’s wet socks in her soaked sneakers.
Margaux stiffened, before once again rounding her back and shrinking.
Her body language he now recognized as an affectation. With exhaustion setting in, her performance ebbed and flowed. He tightened his grip on his shovel, reminding himself to keep any sort of weapon away from her.
“Oh, I didn’t remember until we got here to the island,” Margaux said, upbeat as ever. “But then it triggered a memory, and I knew exactly where to go. And here we are.” She spread out her arms and spun in a circle.
Here was a clearing he wouldn’t have imagined possible from the rest of the landscape.
It was an odd place of no growth in stark contrast to the rest of the overgrown island.
It was almost like the ground had been poisoned with Agent Orange or some sort of weed killer that would linger in the ground, toxic for years.
A ring of trees around the perimeter were too far to provide any sort of shade or comfort.
With the cloud cover gone this morning, the sun shone bright and strong, beaming down onto them like the shaft of light portrayed in popular depictions of alien aircraft, transporting unsuspecting, humans for experiments.
He shook off yet another unhelpful visual.
“Okay, boss,” Daniel said. “Where do we dig?”
Margaux walked into the center of the clearing and with the toe of her shoe made an x in the dirt. “Let’s get started right here.”
Daniel dragged his gaze past Margaux in a sweep designed to make eye contact with Emma. But she didn’t spare him a glance.
She approached the indicated location and dug her shovel into the dirt.
He understood. He was ready to get the mission over and done with, too.
She must be eager to regain her lost memories by retrieving the time capsule. The sooner he helped her do so—and found the truth—he could bring the perpetrators to justice and give Emma another chance at a life here. He prayed she wanted to try.
Assuming a stance opposite Emma, he mirrored her actions. Digging his shovel into the dirt, he removed spade after spade of the ground and piled it on the perimeter.
As a kid, he’d watched enough cartoons to beware of quicksand. He took a few steps back onto more solid ground and glanced up. This time, Emma met his eye with a knowing gleam and a smile. He shrugged but continued on, feeling a little bit lighter for the shared moment.
“Do you need water?” Margaux asked, holding two waters.
He stuck his shovel in the sand and wiped a hand over his sweaty brow. “Yes, please.” He accepted a bottle from Margaux and studied their progress.
They’d dug about a foot into the dirt already.
He couldn’t imagine their group had buried the treasure too much deeper.
The twins were dancers, and Jennifer and Christine liked to hike.
They had stamina but not necessarily strength.
Without too much information about the initial endeavor, he didn’t understand the reasoning of why they’d done it in the first place or if they were seeking to hide what they’d put inside.
“Thanks, Margaux.” Emma leaned on her shovel and uncapped her bottle, taking a long drink. “We’d better keep going. Or I’ll lose motivation. Thanks for the water.” She handed her bottle back to Margaux and resumed her labor.
“Do either of you know why the soil is so sandy here?” he asked, digging the shovel into the ground again.
“The entire island is like this,” Emma said. “We dug here because it was the only spot without roots.” She froze.
“A memory?” Margaux asked, her voice a chirp.
Emma held his gaze, an unasked question swirling in her sapphire eyes.
“Let’s uncover some more.” He turned his attention back to his labors.
The rhythm of the action under the hot sun lulled him into an almost meditative state.
Agent Reynolds hadn’t attempted contact since Daniel reached the small island.
Or at least the spotty service was completely non-existent this far out.
Had he arrived at the mess hall and run into Jennifer and Christine before either of them left to reunite with their families?
Could they alert the agent to the ultimate destination?
Was anyone left at camp? The Thomases were still deep in funeral planning. A terrible thought but their sad reality. His deputies would be taking turns monitoring Shaunitoc. Would they think to drive out to the camp? Or trust that the sheriff had everything well in hand? Did he?
“I’m going to use the women’s facilities,” Margaux announced. “I’ll be back.”
Emma paused. “Do you need a shovel?”
Margaux shot her a blank look, her brow knit together in a solid line.
“You know.” Emma wiggled her eyebrows. “For number two?”
“Oh no.” Margaux shook her head furiously. “I’m fine. I mean. I need to go but not… I’ll be back.” She tripped over her feet along with her words as she beat a hasty retreat.
Daniel pressed his lips together and counted to ten before facing Emma and succumbing to the laughter from deep in his belly.
Emma chortled and snorted.
Which only made them both erupt into more peals of pure amusement.
Maybe exhaustion added fuel to the ridiculous fire, but he didn’t care.
The release felt good. He rolled his neck, easing the ache building at the top of his spine.
“Do you really not remember what you put inside? How big it is? Anything?”
Emma shrugged. “No. But it’s a good thing Margaux did. I would have sworn we buried it in a field of wildflowers or at the base of a tree. Not in this weird, post-nuclear leak looking site.”
“Could something toxic in the time capsule have caused this?”
“I guess we just have to find it first.”
He nodded and dug his shovel, pressing his foot onto it to get deeper into the ground. And he hit something. “Hey. I got it.”
Emma widened her eyes.
Slowly, carefully, he angled the shovel fully under the edge of what he’d hit and with all his strength removed the dirt, uncovering the edge of a wooden box.
For several minutes, they worked in silent tandem until they uncovered the entire box.
He insisted on pulling it out of the ground with the shovel, to be sure it wasn’t contaminated.
But when he did, he saw nothing to indicate why the ground here was dead.
The small pine box was about ten inches wide and five inches deep. The exterior was discolored from water and dirt. But nothing glowed or oozed. Whatever happened to the ground above was years after the fact of burial and not related.
“Should we wait for Margaux to open it?” Emma asked at his side, so close her breath tickled his neck.
He wanted to say no. But he had no rights to the time capsule and whatever secrets it contained. Not without a warrant and jurisdiction.
“Sure. Good point.” He knelt on the ground, unzipping his pack and stuffing the box inside, covering it with the sweatshirt and journal.
He still hadn’t shared those details with her either.
But until he knew Margaux’s motives and location, he’d want more privacy before he felt comfortable doing that.
“Let’s get going. We can catch her so she doesn’t have to walk all the way back. ”
A shriek echoed in the air followed by the flapping of wings, like birds escaping a predator.