The Missing by Kiersten Modglin (essential books to read txt) 📕

softly, his cheek pressed against the top of Ava’s head. Noah and I unloaded our weapons and the sack with the remaining coconut in it and approached the water to rinse off.

At seeing us move near them, James and Ava stepped apart. Ava swiped her tears away quickly. “How are you feeling, Ava? Are you still unwell?”

She shook her head, looking at James cautiously. When she smiled, it appeared forced. “I think I just needed a while to rest.”

“I’m so glad.” She took a half step back from me, and I took note, keeping my distance. What was going on? Why did everything feel so cool between us? What had changed? “Everything okay?”

They exchanged a glance, and James reached into his pocket. “We got this note this morning.”

“Note?”

“About Harry…” My blood went cold as I saw him unfold the small orange slip of paper.

“Nice work,” he read aloud, reading the words that were exactly the same as the one we’d received. I looked to where Noah stood, watching him pull our note from his pocket.

“We got the same one.”

“What do you think it means?” James asked.

“Exactly what it says,” Noah said frankly. “Until there’s only one of us left, whoever’s keeping us on this island, isn’t letting us go.”

Ava’s eyes narrowed slightly, and I saw her gaze flick up toward James, though he hadn’t noticed.

“But we think we may have found something.”

Their brows shot up. “What do you mean?” he asked. “You saw something in the woods?”

“We saw a house. Built into a cliff a few miles from here. There was smoke coming from some sort of chimney on top of it.”

“So that was what we smelled after the storm?” Ava asked.

“Harry thought so,” I told her.

“Then we should go,” James said quickly, and I found myself mimicking the words I’d fought so hard against the day before.

“We have to be smart about it. We’re going to travel nearby, but we can’t barge in. Not yet. Harry wanted us to watch them, to get information about who lives there and what we’re up against, before we make any decisions about how to move forward.”

“And what makes you think they don’t already know we know where they are? What makes you think they aren’t watching us right now? That’s the second—third technically, if you count both of ours—note that they left for us. They know exactly where we are and what’s happening to us,” James argued.

“He’s right,” Noah said. I sucked in a sharp breath, shocked to hear him say so. “I get what Harry was worried about, but especially after these new notes, we know these people are watching us. We know they’re playing some sort of sick game. We know where they are… Waiting around for someone else to die just doesn’t make sense.”

“I agree with you, but Harry—”

“Harry isn’t here anymore,” James said, his tone firm. “What he said, what he believed, it doesn’t matter anymore. We make the decisions now. We can vote like normal and go from there.”

I jerked my head back in horror, aghast that he could say such a thing. “How can you say that? Look, you can ask Noah, I agree with you. I was arguing the same thing with Harry yesterday—”

“So you should be glad your opinion won out.” The thought made me sick. James’s face was stony, unmoving.

“Harry was our friend. He’s the only reason the four of us are still alive out here. I think the least we can do is respect his last wish and listen to the advice he gave us.”

“You’re outnumbered,” Ava said, “because I’m siding with James now. We should go. There’s no sense waiting any longer.”

I looked at Noah, hoping he’d side with me, but he simply shrugged. “They’re right. You knew they were right yesterday. It was why you argued. We have to find out what’s going on.” A flicker of sadness filled his dark eyes. “Get you back to your husband.”

“I just—”

“Look, I’m not arguing,” James said. “It’s three against one. If you want to stay here by yourself, be my guest. Noah will show us where the house is. We’re getting off this island, no matter the cost. I’m not waiting a second longer. Are you coming or not?”

Indignation and fury seethed through me, and while I wanted to scream and throw a tantrum, I forced myself to remain calm. “Yes,” I spit out. “Yes, I’m coming. We’ve been walking for hours. Could we just have a break to rest and cool off? We can leave in a few hours. We’d make it by evening.”

“You can take five minutes while we find some coconuts, get our shoes on, and load up the weapons.” Something had definitely shifted between us. James had never looked at me so coolly, almost angrily. I tried to catch Ava’s eyes, hoping to make her see reason, but she wouldn’t look at me. “But we’re leaving straight away.”

When they walked away, disappearing near the tree line, I looked at Noah, shuffling toward him in the shallow water.

“Don’t try to change my mind. It won’t work. I agreed with you yesterday. I agree with them now.”

“I’m not trying to change your mind.” I knelt down, brushing cool water up over my shins and calves, aware that Ava and James were likely somewhere not too far away, listening to whatever we might be saying. I lowered my voice to barely above a whisper, sure that over the sounds of the water, they wouldn’t be able to hear me then. “Do you think something is up with them?” I asked, not looking at him.

“Definitely,” he said, copying my movements. “Something’s changed.”

“What do you think it could be?”

“I don’t know, but…you need to stay close to me.” I furrowed my brow. “I’m not saying this to…whatever. This isn’t me trying to hit on you. They have two guns. We have one. We have to be cautious… Play it smart until we find out what’s happen—”

“What are you two talking about?” James’s voice