Chapter Fifteen
—NOA
My heart is racing as we approach the dock of the Surf Shack. The sun glints off the water, bright and blinding, but I can’t feel its warmth. I’m in shock. Jamie has passed out, blood everywhere, and there’s a possibility that my brother’s dead body is in the marsh near the Starline Hotel.
Of course that’s what I’m thinking. Who else could it be?
The ache in my chest—it all rushes back, crashing over me like a tidal wave. Is Ellis really out there? We can’t even go back to Rum Runner to check, even if we wanted to take our chances with the men with guns. Right now, Jamie needs to get to a hospital.
As we approach the dock, an ambulance waits, red-and-blue lights flashing across the sand.
Paramedics hurry toward us as Sheriff Castillo appears, striding down the dock as we drift in, his face set like stone.
Shawn had been the one to call my uncle, letting him know we’d need both an ambulance and his help.
She didn’t tell him about the body. I need to do that in person.
As Shawn grabs the rope, ready to toss it to the sheriff, Jamie stirs awake. He blinks up at the sky, his eyes bloodshot. I’m not sure if he knows where he is anymore. He smiles lazily when he sees me, and it gives me back a little bit of warmth.
I brush his hair off his forehead, his skin sweaty and clammy at the same time. A little sunburned from earlier on the beach. His black eye is more pronounced now that he’s paled, a deep bruise spreading across his cheekbone.
“It’s okay,” I assure him. “The ambulance is here.”
“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” he says, his voice scratchy.
“Listen,” I say. “We’ve done our best to stop the bleeding, but you need stitches. Quite a few, by the looks of it.”
He watches me, vulnerable and bloody. Then he clears his throat, as if trying to come back to his senses. He squeezes my hand—tight, urgent. “Don’t tell my father,” he says. “Please, he’ll kill me.”
I press my lips together, confirming that I won’t tell his dad.
But I can see just how deep his fear of his father goes.
And it’s messed up. It’s completely wrong that he has to be more worried about his father’s reaction than the fact that he’s bleeding to death.
Jamie deserves better than that. He deserves better than him. His eyes slip closed again.
My stomach is in knots again when I turn back toward the dock. Although we agreed to tell the sheriff about the hotel—the fact that it’s still standing—we know it won’t matter. Not if what Jamie saw was real. Not if that body was…
Please don’t let it be him.
My nerves are shredded, my chest tight and suffocating, and I can barely hold myself together as Tech brings the boat in. The engine sputters as we coast toward the dock, and when the hull smacks against the wood, the jolt makes me flinch harder than it should.
Sheriff Castillo catches the rope, tying us down with quick, practiced movements. Over his shoulder, I search the dock, instinctively looking for my father. Afraid to find him. And I’m glad when he’s not there, flooded with relief, fast and guilty. I can’t tell him those words.
Ellis is dead.
I’m startled as Tech moves past me, bumping my shoulder as he helps Jamie to his feet. I’m in a haze of grief, confusion. Sounds are muted like my ears are filled with water. I reach out a trembling hand as Jamie passes, briefly touching him.
Once he steps off the boat, the paramedics are there to gather him up, easing him onto a gurney. They lay him back and his head rolls to the side, eyes half closed. Blood has soaked though the towel on his arm, bright red, and the sight of it brings the world flashing back into focus.
“Jamie,” I call to him. He doesn’t respond, and I’m suddenly frantic. I don’t know how bad this is. “Jamie!”
I climb off the boat, ready to chase after him to ride in the ambulance. But I barely get a step before my uncle moves in front of me, blocking my path. I scoff, ready to push past him, but he holds me by the upper arms.
“Let them do their jobs, Noa,” he says, his voice controlled, but somewhat sympathetic.
Although I want to be with Jamie, I also know that I have to handle everything else that’s happened today. I watch as they take him down the dock, and then I step back from my uncle.
Sheriff Castillo’s face is already contorted in worry and confusion before he glances at Tech and Shawn. Now there’s horror, too. He takes in the dirt, the blood on our clothes, the shock that I’m sure is all over our faces. Then, his gaze falls on the deck of the boat, which is honestly gruesome.
His eyes go sharp. “What the hell happened out there?” he demands.
The question hangs in the air, and I can still hear the sound of the wind through the reeds. The bang of the gun. And somewhere, in the back of my mind, is the sick, sinking thought that the Everglades finally gave something back.
I don’t want to say it. I can’t say it.
But if Ellis is really out there, I can’t leave him for even a second longer. He needs to come home. He needs to be with his family.
I take a shaky breath. “Jamie saw a dead body,” I say, my voice cracking. My uncle’s eyes flash to mine. “He thinks he saw a body in the marsh.”
Stunned, the sheriff can’t seem to wrap his mind around my words. What I’m really trying to say. “A body?” he repeats. “Who? Where in the marsh?”
Tech shifts uneasily on the dock, Shawn watching as she waits for the barrage of questions that will probably follow. Of course, there is only one question.
“You need to check,” I say finally, and tears begin to sting my eyes. “You need to see if it’s him.”
And then my uncle rocks back on his heels. “Jesus, Noa,” he says as if just absorbing my grief. “What… what are we talking about here? Don’t do this to yourself.”
“Please,” I whisper. “We didn’t have time to go back. But I… I need to know.”
His gaze softens, just for a moment. “It’s not him,” he says gently, and neither of us has to mention Ellis by name.
But this isn’t a visit to his office where he can blow me off. Frustration claws at my throat and I harden my jaw, glaring at him.
“You told me to let the paramedics do their job,” I say fiercely. “So how about you do yours now. I need you to check.”
The sheriff doesn’t seem angry as he stares back at me, not offended. He looks hurt, but not by my words. I wonder then if he’s scared that Ellis really is out there—and that he failed to save him. He gives me a curt nod and takes out his radio.
“This is Sheriff Castillo,” he says, all business. “I need you to get a boat out into the Everglades. Send them to…” He pauses to unclick the radio button, muting himself, and looks around at us. “Where was this?” he asks.
For a second, we’re all quiet. How in the world do we tell him that—
“We found the Starline Hotel,” Tech announces, straightening his back. I can hear the confrontation in his voice, the injustice he’s waiting to remedy. And despite everything, there is a small flinch of a smile on my lips. Proud of what we’ve done.
However, my uncle’s expression shifts. His usual stern impatience is replaced with something else. Something… uneasy.
“No, you didn’t.” His voice is firm. Final.
We all exchange a look, a bit confused.
“Yes, we did,” I say. When he lowers the radio, as if he’s not going to call for help after all, I’m incensed at his hesitance. “We were there,” I state. “We went inside the Starline Hotel. It was flooded and rotting, but it was still standing.”
Tech folds his arms. “And we weren’t alone,” he adds. “While we were there, two guys showed up, and at least one had a gun. They shot at us, and honestly, we barely got away.”
The sheriff’s eyes flash with concern. “Who shot at you?”
“You think we stuck around to ask for names?” Tech snaps.
My uncle scoffs in frustration. “What the hell were you doing out there in the first place?” he demands.
He steadies his gaze on me. “We just talked about this. I told you not to mess with this stuff. And you brought the Matthews kid along?” He motions down the dock to where the ambulance is just now pulling away.
“I can’t even imagine what his parents are going to have to say about this. ”
“It was literally his idea to come along,” I point out. “And I can’t believe you’re more worried about that than the fact that someone is lying out there in the marsh. Not to mention the part where you don’t care that two men tried to kill us.”
He winces. “I care,” he says. “You know that I care.”
“I actually don’t,” I reply, wanting to hurt him. Mostly, I do think my uncle loves me, but lately, he’s been really shitty about showing it.
The sheriff waits there a moment, as if wanting me to reconsider his feelings. But then he nods sharply, back to hide behind his uniform.
“You know where this place is?” he asks Tech, his expression now unreadable.
Tech sniffs a laugh like the sheriff is being a dick. Still, he gives him the coordinates, which the sheriff relays into his radio. But he never once mentions the Starline Hotel or even Rum Runner Island.
“See what you find,” he says into the radio. “There was a report of…” He swallows hard. “A report of a body. I need that ID as soon as possible. Yeah, I’ll meet you out there.”
I lower my eyes, the moment feeling more real now that it’s an official order.
It’s not Ellis. I would have known. I would have felt it.
My uncle slides his radio away before turning back to us, his jaw tight. He points at Tech. “You’re done,” he tells him sternly. “You’re all done. No more going back out there, and not a word of this to anyone. I don’t need any more kids getting shot at.”
We immediately start grumbling, but my uncle holds up his hand to stop us.
“No,” he says simply. “End of discussion.”
Frustration boils over, hot in my chest. “You can’t just leave us out of this!” I tell him. “That hotel—”
“That hotel isn’t your problem,” he cuts in. “Whatever mess you found out there is already bad enough. I won’t let you make it worse.”