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I exchanged looks with Lindy I hoped he was couys had gotten themselves into, they weren’t murderers They knew as little about Calavera as we did

Then I heard the sound of a speedboat engine

A sleek black twenty-two-foot Howard Bow Rider rounded the southern tip of the island, cutting its way through the chop Nobody except the Coast Guard or drug runners would’ve been insane enough to be out in seas like this And I had a feeling this boat was not part of the Coast Guard

Chase scrambled to his feet He and Ty and Markie watched silently as the boat approached Two ear, their hoods pulled down over their faces

One man steered The other held an assault rifle

We had no place to run No cover If they decided to shoot us, ere dead So I just stood there with the college kids, waiting to see what they would do

The boat slowed, passing a hundred yards off to our right The driver see to the ed parts of the island

The boat slowed to an idle Chase held up his sand-caked hands in a gesture of surrender

The twoin ankle-deep water where their stash of esture, the driver sped up The boat veered away It headed out to sea, leaving a silver wake like a scythe

Ty exhaled "Close"

Chase stared at his empty hands Markie’s face was pale

"What?" Ty asked "They’re gone, aren’t they?"

I didn’t have the heart to tell hie was clear: the Mexicans wouldn’t waste their ti Ty and his friends now They would have it done properly, in a h the water until I found the gun Markie had dropped It was a 22, Ty’s marksman pistol It occurred to me that a 22 could’ve been the sa your stateone," he saidto the police?"

"Because italive"

I sloshed back toward the ruined hotel, leaving the college kids standing in the water where the source of their next year’s tuition had washed away

"What kind of wire?" Garrett asked

We were sitting in the destroyed dining roo Maia and Garrett on my fun-filled excursion into the surf Garrett’s question tookaround in my pocket, found the frayed copper wire and handed it to him

He scowled "You found this in Lane’s closet?"

"Yeah"

"Ain’t for coraers "So what’s it for?"

That’s when it hitthat should’ve been obvious "It’s part of an IED"

"A what?"

"I her voice down "A bomb"

"A bomb?" Garrett definitely did not keep his voice down

Jose and Imelda looked over fro breakfast for the guests and were now dividing up their loot--a bag of saltines, five green apples

"A little discretion," I told Garrett

"Discretion," he said "Somebody tries to blow up Lane and you want discretion?"

"We don’t know that anyone was targeting Lane" Maia put her hand on Garrett’s arm As usual, she was able to calm him down a lot ry

He leaned toward uyin Lane’s closet--he was real"

"I think so"

"We scared him out of there before he could plant a boreed "But why target Lane?"

Garrett stared outside In a burst of optimism, Jose and I rooray sky and sea spread toward the horizon like unwashed sheets

"It couldn’t have been about her," Garrett decided "Besides, we’ll be outta here soon Whatever this guy was trying to do--"

"Garrett," I said, as gently as I could "Do you want to ask her about it, or should I?"

He twisted his linen napkin In the storrayer than usual "Yeah," he said wearily "I’ll talk to her"

Jose and Ih-cuisine breakfast, which left Maia andstale saltines and watching the rain s," Maia said "Sos"