The Purgatorium

Chapter Twenty

"Thank God," she said. "Maybe they can help us."

She stepped onto the road ahead of Brock, but then she thought better of it. What if they were part of Hortense Gray's lot? Before she could retreat, one of the guards turned and spotted her.

"What are you two doing way out here? Lost?" the one with the glasses asked.

"Yes," Brock said, but at the same time, Daphne said, "No."

"Well, what is it? Are you lost or not?"

"Lost," Brock said. Then he added, "She thinks she knows where we are. You know how girls hate to stop and ask for directions."

The naval guards laughed along with Brock, and Daphne just smiled with as much charm as she could muster.

"So what brought you out this way?" The other guard, the blond, asked. "Hiking is prohibited in this area."

"We're trying to get back to Scorpion Anchorage so we can get off the island," Daphne said. "Can you give us a ride?"

"Sure, but that still doesn't explain why you're here."

"Oh, that would be so wonderful!" Daphne wanted to hug the naval guards. "We're so exhausted. We were guests of the resort until Dr. Gray's therapy got out of hand."

"Who's Dr. Gray?" the blond asked.

Daphne said, "She's the one conducting the experimental therapy at the resort on the other side of the island. But her games have gone too far. Can you take us now to Scorpion Anchorage?"

"Games?" the guard with the glasses asked. "What kind of games?"

"Let's just say one man's dead because of them."

"Wait a minute, Daphne. We don't know any of this for sure."

She gave Brock a dirty look. "Yes we do."

"Hold on," the guard with glasses said. "Do you mean to say someone's been killed?"

"I saw a body in the water. His first name was Pete. The tide washed him into a cave."

"What? Where?" the one with glasses asked.

She pointed. "Um, southwest of here near Bowen's Point."

"You don't sound lost," the blond said.

Daphne and Brock exchanged worried looks.

The guard with glasses asked, "Can you take us to where you saw the body?"

Daphne glanced again at Brock, and he shook his head and shrugged. "We really want to get off the island."

"Not if there's a dead body," the blond officer said. "We'll have to launch a formal investigation, which means shutting down all ports."

"Get in the jeep," the guard with glasses said.

The other guard climbed into the driver's side, radioing his alert.

The last thing she wanted was to be detained on the island. What if the naval officers took them back to the resort to question the others? And she still wasn't sure they weren't connected to Dr. Gray. Daphne glanced up at Brock with wide eyes, and, hoping he'd take her lead, she threw her water bottle at the guard standing next to her and ran across the road and into the woods on the other side. She glanced back to see Brock on her heels, but one of the guards wasn't far behind.

"Stop!" the guard ordered. "Stop, or I'll shoot!"

"This way!" Brock took her hand and pulled her to the side behind a large boulder and through a thicket.