Hurrying but purposeful, Anna Wade
slipped on her tennis shoes, took nothing but the computer
CD-ROM entrusted to her by her brother, her considerable wallet,
and her satellite phone, all of which she stuffed in a waterproof
bag that went into her fanny pack. The seaplane would meet her
on the backside of the island in an hour and a quarter but there
might be a long wade to reach the plane as there was no dock.
When she walked up the trail away from
the lodge she felt as if someone was watching. She knew she was
rattled and perhaps imagining things. Normally she felt freed,
calmed, by this wild place, even the shivers of isolation and
the creatures casting wary stares. Today instead of wonder she
felt fear.
She tried to tell herself that a major
company would not be committing murder, but at this point, alone
on this island, she couldn’t come to any conclusions. As
she jogged past their pen the rotweillers’ ugly snarls caused
her to pick up her pace.
Soon she found herself running on the
forest trail just above the steep shoreline headed toward the
large cliffs—the long route to Langley Bay on the opposite
side of the island. It would be less obvious if she didn’t
take the direct route. The dry leaves of October made the forest
noisy and her passage through it anything but a secret. After
several minutes, she stopped. She thought she heard a snap above
the wind sound a little distance back, perhaps a footfall breaking
a stick. More sounds came -- maybe something moving behind her
along the brushy trail.
It stopped and she could feel it listening.
Or was it just the wind? She bolted and ran. If they discovered
that she was sneaking off to a seaplane the fear now crouching
in her mind might become reality—an outright confrontation
with Roberto or worse. They might let the dogs loose.
She was in good shape and thought she
had a good chance of outrunning them. Unless they brought the
dogs. As if summoned by the thought she heard the snuffling and
yelping of hounds
