Brandon Enns - Islanders

Cousin Eddie had a close friend who worked in a small, remote bank, under absolutely pitiful surveillance. Short-staffed and dead quiet, excluding the rush times of the day, it’d be a surefire lock. Despite its small size and lackluster security, it still carried a decent amount of cash on hand, nothing marked in the back. They’d hit this spot, cut Eddie and his friend in on the deal, and start their lives with an estimated amount of twenty thousand dollars.

They hit first thing in the morning. Josh borrowed a gun from Eddie. Just for show.

The robbery went fine, despite how nervous she was waiting in the car. But then, they had a tail. It continued for hours.

Cars were switched, the original plate of the getaway car ditched, but the tail kept reappearing and never shook loose. Then… the warehouse. Josh did what she thought he’d never be capable of doing.

“Hey.” Erin jerked to the side to find Stefan poking his head out of the door. He looked ghastly, skin white, hair strewn about in a wacky mess.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

“Where is Trevor?”

“Still out looking! We were supposed to meet thirty minutes ago. Now Skye is gone.”

No devious smile formed due to his mastery of plans; only fatigue and confusion rested on Stefan’s pale face. “Come with me.”

“Stefan, this has gone too far. I got your text. That’s just sick.” Her tears bubbled to the surface.

“Text? I couldn’t text you if I wanted to. Just get in here. Please.”

He peered outside his door around toward Bruce’s cabin and the surrounding area. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“I don’t know exactly. Let me show you.”

She followed him inside.

Next was a surveillance room that Stefan had kept behind closed doors. The amount of tech was impressive. He had views of the island from every angle, including all the groomed trails that would have catered to his game. Erin didn’t know exactly how to feel about the curtain that had been pulled back, unveiling his spy squad. She didn’t know where to look after a few seconds, so she rested her eyes upon Stefan, who looked completely rundown.

“You haven’t left.”

He shook his head. “I lost track of time. I’ve been sleeping for twenty-four hours. Horrible flu. Can’t seem to shake it.”

Erin handed her phone over to him.

“What are you showing me?”

“Check the text.”

He read it and narrowed his brow. “Shit…”

“Tell me that shit means you understand what is going on here.”

He looked Erin deep in the eyes, evoking honesty. “There’s something going on. It’s not my doing. I swear.” He bent down, shaky in the knees. He pulled a blanket tightly around him, shivering, even though the stuffy room was hot.

“The text?”

“Someone else is having some fun.”

“Why do you have all this?”

“A simple precaution. I had reservations about showing you this, but I have to. When I’m not out there, I’m making sure everyone is safe. I’m working around the clock, Erin, except…”

“The last twenty-four hours.”

“Exactly. I’ve been just swamped with this. It’s a horrible flu. I’ve never had anything like it.”

“Trevor was throwing up all of last night. I think I’ve felt some of it too. Just a bug I guess, or do we have some sort of foreign virus?”

“We shouldn’t. There’s nothing unique for traveling here. We all have our shots that I sent to you guys. I just don’t know.”

“Unfortunately, it’s the least of our problems right now,” she said. “The text?”

He shifted in his chair, his sweat sliding down his cheek. “I’m coming out of it. The worst happened ten hours ago. Have you met some of the staff here yet?”

“One. Teresa. You think they have something to do with this?”

“I can’t say for sure. But there’s something not quite right with them. I need to show you something.”

He directed her attention to one of the monitors, a small Samsung TV mounted in the corner. The footage was of the rocky cliffs from above. “Our drone got footage of Trevor. It’s strange, Erin. Really strange.”

Erin watched Trevor on the screen sprinting through the trees chasing something, but it unclear as to what. “Is that Trevor?” She knew it was.

“Who else would it be?” he replied.

“What is he doing?”

“I was hoping you could fill me in,” he said.

Stefan fast-forwarded the recording to Trevor standing in the water. “He doesn’t move an inch for almost ten minutes.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t really know what we are looking at. I mean, what are you suggesting?”

“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just pretty concerned that two people are missing on my island. Maybe you can tell me what to think here.”

“Can’t you check your footage. You should be able to find them, no?”

“I checked. Drones didn’t track them like they should.”

“Trevor will be back soon. I need to talk to him.”

“Whoever is pulling these strings, they want us to keep playing out the game. At least for the time being. To be safe, we should go.”

“You don’t actually think that they’re in danger.”

“I have no idea. All I know is I want Trevor with us. Better to be certain.”

She wanted to protest, but there was already so much Trevor had been keeping from her.

He continued. “Something tells me they’ll have their own set of rules moving forward.” His face was bitter.

“I don’t know. If they are on this island, it has to be the staff, right? We just need Trevor with us first.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

“Coffee?”

“Sure.”

He left her behind and she rewound the footage of Trevor to play it back again. She couldn’t find anything.

She went even further back, watching intently for anything significant at the high speed. Then, she spotted something. No, not something. Someone. She stopped the footage to watch Skye standing atop a grassy hill beyond the walls of rock. A man was approaching. Something peculiar caught her eye and she rewound. When doing so, she discovered something. The camera shorted out and glitched, the footage twitching and settling back upon the man’s arrival, making it look as though he appeared from nowhere. She reeled it back and watched the same glitch happen again.

Trevor’s return should have rendered a slap, but she withheld. Right under your nose. He cheated on you. There is no remorse. Not an ounce of it. Erin was foolish for believing in him, for trusting him, and she now came to the painful realization that this probably wasn’t the first time he had cheated. She was so stupid. But he was the exact guy she wanted for years. Ask and she received. To a goddamn tee.

The walk to the rocky ridges was a long one filled with silence and concerned glances from Trevor. He kept asking if everything was okay. Sure, honey. Though she didn’t trust Trevor, she didn’t trust Stefan either. The only thing she trusted was her instinct to leave.

There was a sweetness rolling through the tropical breeze, one in which smell nearly became taste. Coconut and a hint of pineapple lingered as Erin walked through the trees with a miserable stone in her shoe. She stopped to pull it out and saw a drone fly overhead. How are those things controlled?

They reached the small channel of water to find a dock where the small fishing/scuba boat was tied off. The thought of stepping one foot on that boat made her cringe. Stefan walked toward it.

“Where exactly are we going?” she asked.

“To the other side.”

“Other side?”