The Stalker (5 page)

That night, I kept watch from my little cave. My jackknife stayed in my hand, open and ready. The rain didn’t let up. The wind howled eerily across the mouths of the burial caves above and around us. Sometime in the night, I heard footsteps outside my cave. My heart beating hard in my chest, I sat up too quickly and jabbed myself in the shoulder with my own knife. I pressed my hand against the small wound, feeling the blood slick on my fingers. “Who’s there?” I said. “I can hear you.”

“It’s just me.” Liz appeared in the cave entrance. She carried the tiny flashlight she kept in her dry suit. Her hair was completely wet from the rain. She looked helpless, beautiful.

“Can I double up with you tonight?” she asked. When I didn’t answer immediately, she said, “I’m not here for
that
.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

“I’m just so scared and cold.”

I closed up the jackknife and shifted over to give her room. The cave was barely big enough for one person, let alone two. We had to lie curled up together on our sides to fit. Liz lay
with her back to me. She smelled clean, of Ivory soap and rain. I liked her for that.

“You can feel the spirits of the dead all around us,” Liz said. “The stalker is right. We don’t belong here. What are we doing bringing tourists to these graveyards?”

“We don’t know for sure the gunman is from the band,” I said. “The guy could be your ex, for all we know.”

“Thanks for that cheerful thought,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Being trapped here is frightening for all of us, but it must be so much more terrifying for you. You went through all this before, with your ex-husband.”

“He didn’t try to shoot me.”

“But I get the idea that he threatened you.”

“Yes, many times.”

We both listened to the storm raging outside.

“I meant to apologize earlier for what I said about your top this morning.” I said. “I was out of line.”

“No, you were right,” she said. “What I wore wasn’t appropriate.”

“Well, it did make me uncomfortable.”

“I shouldn’t have worn it.”

“No. I mean, I liked it. You looked nice. That was what made me uncomfortable.”

She turned to face me. Our noses were only inches apart. “I wore it for you,” she said.

I grinned. “Then I hope you wear it again sometime.”

“I’ll think about it.”

I could hear a smile in her voice. I leaned forward and kissed her in the dark. But she turned away as best she could in the cramped cave.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I thought that’s what you wanted.”

She shook her head. “You like Sara.”

“She’s married.”

“She likes you.”

I thought about Sara’s dress, the cookies she had brought me, the way she had smiled at me that morning. “She knows I don’t get involved with my employees,” I said. “Besides, I would never break up a marriage.”

“But if Dave wasn’t in the way...”

“But he is in the way. I’m not interested in getting involved with Sara.”

“Because she’s married.”

“Yes, because she’s married.”

That didn’t seem to be enough for Liz. “And you don’t get involved with your employees,” she said. “I’m an employee.”

“Fine,” I said. “Let’s just forget that kiss ever happened.”

But after a time she backed up against me and I wrapped an arm around her. We didn’t make love or even kiss, but I held her body close to mine.

“Do you think the stalker is still out there?” Liz asked.

I paused a moment before responding. I wanted to reassure her, to make her feel safe. But I knew that, somewhere out there, a guy with a gun waited for us to come out.

“I don’t know,” I said.

As daylight came, the storm started to move on. But I still had no phone reception. Perhaps the cliff itself blocked the signal. Even so, there was no way I was going to step down onto the beach to check. The stalker might still be waiting with his gun on the cliff above us. One shot and it would be game over for me.

Then I heard the sound of a motorboat heading our way. I climbed over Liz, waking her. “What?” she said, still half asleep. “What is it?”

“A boat,” I said. “Someone’s here.”

When I peeked over the rocky ledge in front of my cave, I saw Sara jumping to the shore from my motorboat. She tied the boat to a driftwood log. Jason leapt out of the boat after her. I stood
up, pressing my body against the cliff face, and called their names, waving my arms.

Sara waved back until she saw Liz come out of the cave behind me. She let her arm fall.

“Is everyone all right?” Jason called up to us. “You had me scared shitless. You phone to tell us some guy is threatening you, you say you’re coming home, and that’s the last I hear from you.”

I looked back to the caves. Sam poked her head out of hers. Gerald stood up and stretched. “Yeah, I guess we’re all right,” I said. “But check out the kayaks.” Gunshot holes peppered the boat hulls.

“Oh, my god,” said Sara. “You’re living that missing tourist story all over again.”

“The guy shot directly at us, too, from up there.” I pointed at the top of the cliff above me. “He had us trapped in these caves all night.”

“I don’t see anyone up there now,” Jason said. “I think it’s safe to come down.”

We all scrambled down the rocks to shore. Despite our dry suits, we were wet, cold, and shivering. Sam and Gerald both went directly to their kayaks, looking for a change of clothes.

“I’ll fire up my camp stove,” said Liz. “Make us coffee and something to eat to warm us up.”

I hugged Sara and slapped Jason on the shoulder. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you two,” I said.

“When you didn’t call or turn up at the launch site,” Jason said, “I tried to phone you. But I couldn’t reach you. I phoned Sara, and at last I got hold of her. I wanted to come out here late last night. But Sara convinced me that the water was just too rough. So we waited out the storm. I’m kicking myself now. We got plenty of rain, all right, but Sara and I could have made it out. That gunman could have killed you.”

“It’s all right,” I said. “I understand.”

“What are you doing on this island, anyway?” asked Jason. “You know it’s off limits.”

“Oh, I know, all right,” I said. When I looked back at Gerald, he slunk off behind a bush to change his pants.

“Hey!” cried Liz. “Orcas!” We all watched the huge, majestic creatures roll through the waves as they swam between Bone Island and the shore of Vancouver Island. Liz was spellbound. Her hair blew around her face as she watched the
pod pass. I had never seen a sight more beautiful than Liz watching the orcas.

“I really do miss this,” said Sara. “Being out here. With you.”

Sara turned to me, but my focus was on Liz. Sara held up her cell phone in front of me. “I’ve been getting those calls, too,” she said.

That got my attention. “What did the guy say?”

“He threatened me,” Sara said. “He said he knows about you and me.”

“You and me?” I led Sara away, so Liz, Jason, and the others couldn’t hear. “Listen,” I said. “Is there any chance the caller, the stalker, might be your husband? You said he was jealous of our trips together, of you and me.”

“Dave?” Sara laughed. “I wish he cared enough to do something like this. Hell, he doesn’t even buy me flowers on our anniversary.”

“I’m sorry I suggested it,” I said. “I just wish to hell I knew who this guy was.”

“It’s pretty clear he’s trying to scare you away from these sacred sites. For your own safety, I would listen if I were you. Why not just run
the day trips around the bay with me? You can sleep at home every night.”

“No. I’m getting the cops involved. I’m not going to let this stalker ruin my business.”

As if on cue, my cell phone rang. I opened my phone as I scanned the bush along shore and the cliff above us. Was the stalker that close, I wondered, that he could hear our conversation?

“Mike?” The caller was a man, but he wasn’t the stalker. At least his voice wasn’t bent out of shape by voice-changing software.

“This is Dave,” the caller said. “Sara’s husband. Have you seen Sara? She told me she was staying overnight at her sister’s place. I tried to reach her on her cell phone early this morning. When she didn’t answer, I phoned her sister. Jenny told me Sara hadn’t stayed there last night. I tried phoning you earlier, too, but I couldn’t reach you.”

Suddenly everything fell into place. Sam had hit the nail on the head yesterday: men always underestimate what women can do. I felt like the guy in the movie
Fatal Attraction
, stalked by a sick woman. And that woman was Sara. The stalker had to be her. She knew not only my cell
phone number and Liz’s, but my clients’ as well. She knew our tour route, where we were going.

Sara must have shot those holes in the kayaks to keep us here on Bone Island and then kayaked home. She was a strong kayaker, nearly as strong as me. She could have weathered the storm, no problem. Then she would be nowhere near Bone Island in the morning. No one would suspect that she was the stalker. After all, she met Jason at the launch site so they could come out here. The one thing she hadn’t counted on was her husband’s phone calls. First to her sister, and then to me.

I looked right at Sara as I answered Dave. “Sara’s here, on Bone Island, with Jason and Liz and me.”

Sara stared back at me for a moment. She knew her husband was on the phone. She knew she had been caught. She knew I had figured out that she was the stalker.

Sara walked away from me, back to my motorboat. I started to follow, with my phone still at my ear. I wouldn’t let her take off with my boat, leaving us stranded on this island.

“Bone Island?” said Dave. “What the hell is she doing out there? For that matter, what are you doing there? I thought no one was allowed on Bone Island.”

Sara climbed into the boat. But then she jumped right back out again, carrying her backpack. There was something odd about the way Sara marched towards Liz and the others, who all stood around the camp stove. She was too determined. Her head was down, like a bull’s when it’s ready to charge.

“Let me talk to her, will you?” said Dave.

“I’ll have her phone you back,” I said.

“Tell her she has me really worried.”

Me too, I thought, as I closed my phone.

“What’s up?” Jason asked Sara when she reached them.

“This,” said Sara. She pulled a handgun from her backpack and pointed it straight at Liz’s head. Liz looked up from the omelette she was cooking, more surprised than frightened. But Sam screamed.

“Sara, put the gun down,” I said. But Sara stepped forward and pressed the gun against Liz’s forehead. Liz slowly placed the omelette
pan on the ground beside her and held her hands in the air.

“Wait,” I said to Sara. “I understand. You shot those holes in the kayaks to scare me, so I wouldn’t bring clients out here again. So I wouldn’t come out with Liz again. I get it. You don’t have to shoot Liz to get her out of the picture. I doubt that she wants to work for me after this.”

“
This
is our stalker?” Gerald asked.

“
You
shot those holes in the kayaks?” Sam said. “Whatever were you thinking? We nearly died of exposure in those wretched caves.”

Sara levelled the gun at Sam and then Gerald. “Shut up,” she said. “Both of you, shut up.” Sam and Gerald each took a step back and didn’t say another word. Sara’s hand shook as she turned the gun back to Liz’s forehead.

“She thinks she can just come in here, take over, take you from me,” Sara said to me.

“She couldn’t take me away,” I said. “I thought you and I were good friends. That would never change.”

“We spent five years together out on the water, and you wouldn’t touch me. She works
for you for just a few weeks, and there she is, sleeping in that cave with you.”

“You’re married,” I said. “Dave loves you. He wants to be with you. He’s worried about you.”

She aimed the gun at me. She was in tears. “But
I
love
you
,” she said.

“Believe me,” Liz said. “This isn’t love.”

Sara swung the gun back to Liz. “Be quiet!” she cried.

I saw the tension ripple through Sara’s forearm and her finger start to squeeze the trigger. I didn’t think, I just reacted. I grabbed the gun from Sara’s hand as she fired. A bullet whizzed past Liz’s ear and nearly hit Sam.

I threw the gun to the ground. Sara stared at it a moment. We all stared at it. Then Sara took off down the beach. I chased after her and grabbed her arm to stop her. She tried to pull away, but I held her from behind as she struggled and cried out. After a time, she gave up. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed in my arms. She leaned her head back against my shoulder.

“I just wanted you to love me,” she said. “The way I love you.”

I looked back at Liz and the others standing around the camp stove, watching us. “Liz is right,” I said. “This isn’t love.”