Ann found the boat cover under the seat and wrapped herself in it. The canvas smelled of mildew but kept the wind off. She couldn’t believe how cold she felt. Somehow she’d been able to start the motor despite the tremors in her hands.
The tide was going out and the swells were heavy. She worried if she had enough gas to make it back. James had emptied the red jug earlier, before they’d seen the men up on the bridge.
For the moment the sky above was finely dusted with stars. But a dense mass of cloud working down from the north announced the arrival of a new storm. She thought she saw flickers of lightning over the horizon, wasn’t certain if she was just imagining it. She hadn’t slept or eaten for over a day. Her mouth felt bone dry and she’d started to have painful coughing fits.
You’ve got water in the car. And food.
It was hard to spot the drifting logs before crashing into them. She couldn’t see very well back next to the motor where she needed to steer. Each time she heard the boat scrape a log she held her breath, waiting for a sharp branch to gore through the aluminum bottom. Sometimes there was so much driftwood that she couldn’t even see the bay and she’d have to look at the dark contours of the shore to remember where she was.
You’re as much to blame as James for all of this, she thought. Don’t pretend you didn’t want the money. You thought you had the right to rip off Duane for what he did to your life.
“Don’t you understand? It’s over James. This has blown up on us. We’re not in control of what’s happening. If we get off this rock alive we’ll have to tell somebody.”
“Of course we will. But that doesn’t mean we have to bring up the money to anyone.”
“They’re going to find out. One way or another.”
“Not if we keep our cool they won’t. Not if we tell the same story every time they ask us.”
“Look what’s happened to us. This isn’t worth it. We’ll be running forever.”
She’d started to feel as if she were drifting off, was surprised how quickly the whiskey carried her away. Time had begun to slow. She’d laid her head in his lap as if it were summertime. Waiting for clouds to pass so the chill would go away one more time. Better than being trapped on a rock by angry men who were trying to kill you over some money you stole from your jail bird piece of shit stepdad.
“Tell me something else I don’t know,” she asked.
“You’ll just get more upset. You should be taking it easy. What’s the point in bringing up the past anymore?”
“Because we could die here. The waves could come in and sweep us off. That’s the point, James. I want to know.”
“Okay. Remember that guy that you said came by the place looking for me? God knows what would have happened to both of us if he’d been able to get in.”
“You said you didn’t know who he was.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because I could. Because I knew you trusted me.”
“What did you do?”
“I broke a rule Duane hadn’t warned me about. I was new. I got caught selling in this other guy’s territory and he wasn’t happy and he’d sent someone to deliver the message. But it wasn’t until later that I figured out why I’d almost had my head caved in. Duane hadn’t told me anything because he’d wanted to find out what would happen. The bastard was chumming the waters. He was using me to draw out the sharks. He wanted to know where they were.”
“You should have told me. If you’d told me we could’ve run farther away from everything instead of coming back here. I think we’re doomed to die in Traitor.”
“No way. Not if I can help it.”
“It’s already too late, James. This isn’t small time stuff anymore. These guys…”
“What?”
"They’re serious…”
“You’re going to sleep, Ann. I’m sorry about everything. I really am.”
And James was right about her getting sleepy. She felt as if she were falling back onto a cloud of cottonwood down. Sinking further down with every exhale. She thought she was still talking to him but she wasn’t.