A - Immortal Sea

“Your value is something Gau cannot begin to comprehend. He will not touch you again.” Morgan‟s words had the weight

of a vow, quiet and intense. “I will not leave you unprotected.”

For a moment, she let herself be reassured, as if he would save her, as if he could love her, as if he would be there for her

through all the Bad Things that life threw at you, like adolescence and illness and demons and death.

Except he was leaving.

Absently, she stroked the kitten in her lap. She had always known he would leave.

The only question was, how many pieces of her heart would he take with him?

Zack stood just inside the doors of the community center gym. Testing the waters, haha.

The odor of sweat competed with the smell of fresh coffee and stale popcorn drifting from the lobby. Moviegoers eddied

and swirled around him. He recognized some of them from the store, summer people dressed from the L.L. Bean catalogue or

the outlet in Freeport, islanders in faded jeans and ball caps. Kids squirmed on laps or ran around the wooden floor. Family

groups settled into the rows of folding chairs that straggled from foul line to foul line.

He spotted Emily, sitting near the front with a skinny, dark-haired kid her age. The friend from day camp, Zack guessed. At

least one of them was making friends. The tall dude who was with them must be the kid‟s dad. He couldn‟t go sit with them.

The generations appeared to mix more on the island than they did back home in Chapel Hill, but he was pretty sure such a

move would brand him forever as untouchable. A loser.

The big cop who‟d picked him up for questioning was there with a really pregnant woman. Her face looked like something

in a magazine, all lips and eyes. Her breasts and stomach stuck out about a mile. Zack didn‟t know where to look at her or if he

should look at all. He felt his face getting red and glanced away.

There she was. Stephanie.

His heart beat faster.

She sat with a bunch of her friends on a pile of mats under an extra hoop at midcourt. She waggled her fingers when she

saw him, but she didn‟t get up or wave him over.

Zack stood frozen. Uncertain.

“ The next move is up to you ,” she‟d said.

That big asshole, Doug, sprawled beside her, leaning close to whisper in her ear. She laughed and punched him in the arm.

Zack walked over. “Hey, Stephanie.”

She glanced up, her smile lingering in her eyes. “Hi, Zack.”

He nodded to Doug. Todd was there, too, and a couple of girls he hadn‟t seen before.

“Everybody, this is Zack. Zack, everybody.”

“Hey.”

“Hi.” One of the girls dimpled. “Cute accent.”

“He‟s from Alabama,” Stephanie said.

“North Carolina.”

“Redneck flatlander,” Doug said.

“Yankee asshole,” Zack replied without heat.

Introductions concluded, it was easy enough to fit into the space on Stephanie‟s other side while they waited for the movie

to begin.

A woman who looked like somebody‟s Italian grand-mother, with hard red nails and lips and black athletic shoes, got up in

front of the screen to welcome everybody to the summer movie series on World‟s End.

“Who‟s that?” Zack murmured to Stephanie.

“The mayor. Antonia Barone.”

The mayor announced the movies, Transformers II and something else. He was distracted by Stephanie, by how close she

was and how good she smelled, like strawberry Jolly Ranchers.

The back of his neck crawled. Warning.

He looked at Doug, but the older boy had his hand draped on a girl‟s thigh, Hailey or Bailey or something. He didn‟t seem

like a threat at the moment.

Zack took a deep breath, willing his muscles to relax.

The tall man sitting with Emily suddenly stood. Zack felt his own pulse accelerate as the man scanned the crowd. His gaze

collided with Zack‟s, and this time the sizzle of warning shot clear down his spine.

Holy shit.

“What‟s the matter?” Stephanie asked.

Zack shook his head. “Nothing.”

He watched as the man crossed the gym to talk with the police chief. Emily and the other kid trailed behind him, their short

legs trotting to keep up. Chief Hunter frowned and glanced at Zack, apparently asking a question. Zack‟s throat tightened. He

hadn‟t done anything wrong. But his creeping feeling of unease grew.

The mayor was still talking. “Fifteen-minute intermission,” Zack heard, and “selling cookies in the lobby to support

community programs.”

He turned to Stephanie, trying desperately to ignore whatever was going on at the front of the room. “You want a cookie?”

“Give it up, dude,” Todd said. “She doesn‟t put out for cookies.”

“I might consider it.” Stephanie smiled up at Zack. “But not for anything less than chocolate chip.”

Zack jerked to his feet. “I‟ll see what they‟ve got.”

A piping treble pierced the hum of the crowd. “I don‟t want to stay here.”

Emily.

Zack froze.

“I want to go home.” His little sister‟s wail rose to the rafters.

“I‟ve got to go,” Zack said.

“But you just got here,” Stephanie objected.

“I know. I‟m sorry.” He gestured toward the front of the gym, where Emily stood dwarfed by two big men. Two strangers.

“It‟s my sister.”

“The little black girl?” Hailey asked.

Doug snorted. “You‟d rather make out with your sister than Stephanie? Man, that‟s sick.”

Zack flushed, frustrated, furious. But he couldn‟t ignore the edge of panic in Emily‟s voice.

“I‟m sorry,” he repeated, and went to his sister‟s rescue, a loser after all.

“You need to stay here,” the tall man was saying as Zack approached. “Half the island is here. Along with your wife.”

“Don‟t tell me how to do my job,” the police chief said. “You can‟t walk into an unknown situation without backup.”

“I have no choice.”

“Where‟s Morgan?”

“I wish to God I knew.”

“Zack!” Emily ran and clung to him.

He put a hand on his little sister‟s shoulder, speaking over her head to the tall guy. “Morgan‟s staying at the inn. Maybe

you could find him there.”

The man appraised him. “You‟re his son.”

“Yes, sir. What‟s going on?”

“I was going to watch the movie with Nick,” Emily said. “But now Nick‟s dad is leaving, and he wants me to stay here, and

I don‟t know the lady who‟s watching us.” Her lower lip trembled dangerously. “And I want to go home.”

“I can take her home,” Zack said.

The police chief rubbed his jaw. “It would be better if you both stayed put for now.”

“Why?” A sick ball formed in his gut. “Is it our mom? Is she okay?”

“I‟m sure she‟s fine,” Chief Hunter said.

“I‟m leaving,” the other man announced. “I need to find the breach in the wards.”

The cop nodded. “Maggie will watch the kids.”

Em‟s grip tightened on Zack‟s leg. “Zack?” Her voice rose.

Zack looked from his sister to the two adults, both alert, calm, grim. In charge. Next to them, he felt young and awkward.

He didn‟t have a clue what was going on. But he couldn‟t stand here and do nothing.

“I can watch them,” he said. “Em and . . .” Her friend. He didn‟t know the kid‟s name.

Chief Hunter looked at him sharply. Zack wondered if he would object.

Like lifting lobsters disqualified Zack as a baby-sitter.