occupied. I didn't see any weapons. I moved to the next building. The door was standing open, and the building was empty.
I crossed the courtyard and went to the end building on the crescent, the one farthest from the house. A guard, carrying what appeared to be an M-16 rifle, rounded the far corner of the building just as I reached the front door. He was fifty feet from me. I dropped to the ground and rolled next to the foundation of the cabin, concealing myself in the weeds that had grown up there. He came toward me, and then turned and went to the front door. He couldn't see me in my black wetsuit and hood. He opened the door and peered inside, standing quietly for a few moments, as if listening. Closing the door, he moved off the way he'd come, back around the building.
I rose and moved to the door. I stopped and listened, but heard nothing. The cabin was quiet. The door was bolted from the outside, locking the inhabitants in. I only had to slide the bolt back to open the door. What I assumed to be the bathroom door at the far end of the room was ajar, and some light escaped into the larger room. I saw the same bunkhouse arrangement I'd seen in the other cabins, except this one seemed to house women. Was Peggy here? No way to tell. I didn't want to chance waking any of them and raising an alarm.
I turned to leave, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement. I turned quickly, and found a woman in a white gown coming at me like a wraith in the dark. I saw the glint of steel in the anemic light escaping from the bathroom. She held a small kitchen knife, raised in a stabbing position. I grabbed her arm, twisted it behind her back and covered her mouth with my hand, silencing her. The knife dropped to the floor. She kicked at my shins with her bare feet, trying to wiggle out of my grasp.
I whispered into her ear. 'Quiet down. I'm here to help.'
She slowed her movements and then stopped completely.
'I need to talk to you. If I let you go, will you be quiet?'
She nodded her assent, and I loosened my grip on her mouth.
'Where can we talk?' I asked in a whisper.
'Bathroom,' she said, her voice mumbling beneath my hand.
We went toward the bathroom, my hand still held loosely over her mouth, her arm in a hammerlock. I pushed open the door and we walked into the lighted area. I let her go, taking a chance that she'd be quiet.
She turned to face me. 'Hi, Peggy,' I said.
'Who are you?'
'I'm Matt Royal. Does that name mean anything to you?'
'Laura's ex?'
'Yes. She sent me to find you.'
'Can you get me out of here?'
'Not now, but I'll be back tomorrow night.'
'How did you find me?'
'Long story. I'll explain later. Are they drugging you?
'They tried. But I haven't eaten any of the food they've given me, so I think I'm okay. I've been feigning a drug stupor when they're around.'
'What about the guards?'
'They're checking all the time. They tie me to the bed at night, but for some reason they forgot to do that tonight. I brought the knife back from Key West, and they didn't find it. The guards usually just look in the door, but sometimes they come inside. When I saw you, I thought you were a guard. I was hoping to get off the island again. I know where they keep the boats.'
'I need you to stay put for one more day. Can you do that?'
'Yes. But I'm hungry. I haven't had anything to eat in two days.'
I pulled the granola bars out of my waterproof bag and gave them to her. 'Maybe this will help a little,' I said.
'You've got to put a stop to this. Something big is about to happen, but I haven't figured it out yet.'
'I know about the prostitution.'
'It's much bigger than that.'
'Any ideas?'
'No, but the Rev keeps bragging to me that he's about to do something bigger than anything he's ever done.'
'Do you talk to him?'
'Mostly, I listen. He has me brought to the big house a couple of times a day. He wants to sleep with me, but so far I've held him off.'
'How did you get to the phone in the Sharkstooth Bar?'
'One of the Rev's goons took me to Key West. They were going to put me in the whorehouse, but I got away.'
'How?'
'I didn't eat anything the night before or at breakfast that morning. I had some sort of a stomach virus, I guess, and I couldn't keep anything down. The drugs wore off, but the goons didn't notice it. I scratched the guy taking me to the spa and ran. I tried to call my dad, but they found me and brought me back here.'
'Did they hurt you?'
'No. They just gave me more drugs, which I didn't take because I didn't eat the food.'
'We're going to get you out of this, Peggy.'
'Please hurry. I'm either going to end up drugged again or starved to death.'
'I have to go. The guard will be coming back soon. Stay put, and I'll be back tomorrow night to get you.'
She kissed me on the cheek. 'Laura always said you were one hell of a guy.'
'She said the same about you,' I said, turning for the door.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
I had been aware of a low hum since I came onto the island. I assumed it was from the generator that powered the lights, but I wasn't sure.
As I left the building in which I'd found Peggy, I tried to follow the sound. Thinking that any generator facilities would be behind the main house, I headed there. As I rounded the back of the house, the noise became louder. It was still faint, but I could tell the direction from which it came.
I followed the sound, careful not to alert any guards in the vicinity. I saw no one. In about a hundred yards, I came to a concrete-block house. The hum came from inside. Large-gauge wires ran from the small building toward the house and cabins. This had to be the generator shed.
I'd been on the island for more than an hour and didn't want to stretch my luck. I turned and moved toward the trail that led to the beach, stopping every few feet to listen for any movement.
As I approached the beginning of the path, a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder appeared out of the night. He was standing right where I needed to go. My watch told me it was almost two. If I was right about the guard schedule, there would be a new guard shift coming on in a few minutes.
I dropped to the ground and crawled silently along the edge of the jungle-like growth, creeping slowly toward the guard. Hopefully, he would be distracted while the new guard took his place, and I could slip by and be on my way.
I crawled to within ten feet of the guard, controlling my breathing, staying calm; using skills taught me long ago by an Army Special Forces instructor. I waited.
Minutes passed, and I heard a door slam. Voices came from the vicinity of the guardhouse. A man carrying a rifle slung over his shoulder approached and called out, 'Al, I've got it.'
'I'm on my way,' said the guard named Al, and he started walking toward the approaching man. That gave me a split second's opportunity to move quickly onto the path. I took it, crawling on my stomach, propelling myself with my elbows, slithering as fast as I could without making a lot of noise. I made it into the cover alongside the trail, and as soon as I was out of sight of the guards, I began to walk toward the lagoon.
