Page 184 of Johnny

“Back outside. I’ve got one more thing to show you.”

I follow him up the stairs but we’re just passing the helm, heading for the patio doors at the far end

of the salon, when the satellite phone lights up, buzzing.

I startle at the unexpected intrusion and Johnny lets go of my hand.

“Go on out,” he says. “I’ll meet you on the bow. It’s Logan.”

I pause for a moment, waiting to see if he’ll pick up the phone so I can at least hear some of the

conversation. But he waits. Lets that thing ring until I sigh and walk out of the cabin.

I’m just passing the windows on the side deck, heading for the bow, when I spot him inside as he

reaches for the phone, puts it to his ear, and says hello as he disappears downstairs for privacy.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - JOHNNY

I watch Megan as she makes her way to the bow, then turn and jump down the stairs to the lower

level and press the accept button as I pace the hallway. “Yeah,” I say.

Nothing but a long, heavy exhale of breath on the line.

“Logan? Is that you?”

“They killed them,” Logan says.

“What? Who?”

“They killed them all. Blew the whole place up.”

For a moment I think he’s referring to the lab on the island. I think he’s talking about the women we

left behind there in the cells. My heart skips a few beats as I wonder what kind of infectious disease

they were carrying and whether or not it’s airborne. Start calculating how far it might travel on the

wind. Which nearby islands might be affected? Because while we did kill all the scientists, we left

those women in their cells to die.

I couldn’t chance it. We couldn’t go into the cells. We couldn’t blow it all up. It was too risky. We

don’t know enough about the disease they were carrying to let the fucking thing loose.

“Everyone at that helicopter place is dead, Johnny. They traced it and killed everyone at Aerial

Island Tours. The whole fucking building, all the hangars—they’re just… gone.”

“What? Jesus Christ,” I say, running my fingers through my hair. “Why? What happened? Are you

sure?”

“They thought that place was mine, dude. They thought I was quartered out of the building or

something. I’m not really sure. No one to ask, obviously. But that has to be it. They traced the