Page 138 of Nightshade

“I don’t understand,” he said.

Stilwell got behind the wheel.

“That’s why I told you to wait for the press release. You’ve gotvideo and photos. The press release will give you the words to go with them.”

“Come on, Stilwell. You can’t do this to me.”

“I just did.”

Stilwell turned the key and put the cart in drive. He turned the wheel and pinned the accelerator. The cart took off, leaving McKey in its wake. The reporter called out after it:

“Who’s the other custody?”

Stilwell didn’t answer. He kept driving.

EPILOGUE

TASH HAD NOTtold him exactly where she was going, but Stilwell knew that her favorite spot to camp on the island was Long Point Beach. It was what was called primitive camping, with no water or sanitation stations, but that was what kept it isolated and why she liked it. There was a trail up and over the ridge to Button Shell Beach, where those conveniences were available. But Long Point remained pristine. It sat below a sheer rock face that changed colors in the morning sunlight and provided shade in the afternoons.

Stilwell took the substation’s Zodiac out of the harbor and halfway to Two Harbors before cutting in toward Long Point. From a hundred yards out, he saw Tash’s blue-and-green Firefly tent behind the chaparral that lined the rocky beach. There were no other boats or tents in sight.

The sun had turned the cathedral of rock that rose above her spot a grayish purple. Stilwell ran the Zodiac in, killed the engine,and pulled up the prop as the boat moved over the surfgrass onto the stony beach. He watched for sharp coral that might rip the inflatable’s skin, then jumped off the nose and pulled it safely up past the tide line.

Tash wasn’t in the tent, and the kayak leaning up against the rock wall behind it was dry. Her fishing pole was in place in the kayak’s clamps, and her wet suit was drying on a low branch of a nearby manzanita. He figured she had fished in the morning and then hiked the trail over to Button Shell to get a shower or to visit with friends who ran the youth camp where she had spent many summers while growing up. He checked the supplies she’d stowed in the tent and found the cooler holding a nice-size calico bass on top of the Yeti ice packs.

Stilwell went back to the Zodiac and grabbed the two folding chairs he had brought with him and the waterproof backpack with his own supplies. When he returned to the tent, he saw Tash coming down out of the trailhead. He put everything down and stood ready for whatever greeting she offered.

He felt his heart lift when he saw her eyes light up under the wide brim of the old boonie hat she wore.

“You came,” she said.

“I told you I would,” he said.

“How long can you stay?”

“As long as you can.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. I mean, if you’re willing to share some of that calico you caught.”

“You might have to catch your own.” She gave him a teasing smile.

“I can try,” he said.

She crossed the campsite and they came together in an embrace that Stilwell had been waiting a long time for. Tash leaned herforehead against his chest like she always did, and he put his nose down into her hair.

“Is it safe?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s safe,” he said.

“And it’s over?”

“It’s all over.”

She looked up at him.

“Good,” she said. “Let’s go in the tent.”