Lights on the bay caught his attention. He spotted a boat speeding toward the island from the direction of Chester. This late? He wondered if it was law enforcement, alerted by the gunfire.
He quickly extinguished the fire and hid among the foliage.
The boat changed course and headed his way.
“What do you hope to gain by going back?” he called out to Carbonell.
She stepped close to him. “First, we have to clean up your mess. Aren’t the bodies of two of your men still there? You apparently weren’t concerned with that. Or were you so intent on killing me you didn’t care?”
How did this woman read his mind?
“That’s right, Clifford. I heard what Wyatt said to you. I had a man on site, watching everything. You decided the smart play was to do as Wyatt asked and leave. Take me out. Once I’m dead, you’re in the clear since no one else knows of our… arrangement. Am I wrong?”
“Why are you attacking the Commonwealth?” he asked.
“Let’s just say that Stephanie Nelle’s dying would no longer be good for any of us. And if I manage to find those two missing pages in the process, my stock rises even higher. If you’re a good boy and behave, you can keep breathing. I might even give you that job I mentioned. And the captains?” She paused. “They still go to prison.”
He had to point out, “You don’t have those two missing pages.”
“But either Wyatt or Malone does, or will. I know them both. Our task is to figure out which, then kill them both.”
One of the men signaled to Carbonell, pointing toward the middle of the island’s flat topography. Knox looked, too. For a moment there was light, like a fire burning, then it was gone.
“You see,” Carbonell said. “There’s one of them now.”