Instead, he pivots and points to the galley. “You won’t find Courtney’s diary in here, because one of you already took it. I found it missing from my room this morning.”
Already took it? I think of Emma, supposedly asleep in her room. And Beth, right outside his room. Had she taken it while I was asleep?
“So, maybe you should ask your so-called friends to let you see it. Now get out of my room.”
I swallow, keeping my hand at my side, then scurry past him. Keeping my back toward the opposite wall, where the pistol protrudes from my pants, I brace myself for him to grab me before I reach the door. But he doesn’t.
He follows me into the galley where Beth is now standing in front of the couch. Feeling Russell behind me, I turn, wondering how long it will take for him to realize his gun is missing. The pistol slides lower down my back, and I’m afraid it will slip down my pant leg and clatter to the floor. I fight the urge to reach behind and grab it and instead take a seat at the dinette before the gun can fall any lower.
“I’m not the one here with something to hide.” There’s malice in his tone as his hard-set gaze darts between Beth and me. “I’ve been to the Sol Duc where the search and rescue divers went down looking for Courtney. My sister didn’t drown. She was always a strong swimmer, stronger even than me. And if she was attacked by the cougar Palmer supposedly saw—” He turns to face me. “Then why didn’t the first-responding search and rescue team find her body?
“No, I don’t buy it,” he continues before I can respond. “The reason my sister’s body was never found is because one of you didn’t want it to be.”
There’s only a trace of daylight left outside, making it too dark for me to read his expression.
“The dogs tracked Courtney’s scent to the river as if she never made it out, but I think you all lied to the authorities.”
“Russell, we didn’t—”
Russell raises his palm at Beth’s interjection. “I’m sure of it—don’t lie to me. The only thing I’m not certain of is whether one of you acted alone and got the others to cover it up, or whether you were all in on it from the beginning. Maybe all of you left her on purpose after pushing her off the raft, then waited a day to go back to your car and call for help, knowing the longer Courtney was out in the woods without provisions, the lower her chances were of survival.” Russell turns toward me. “But after reading Courtney’s diary, I think it’s more likely that one of you killed her.”
I study Beth in the darkness, wanting to tell Russell that it isn’t true. But I know my words alone will do nothing to convince him. They might even anger him more.
The pistol presses against my lumbar spine. I shift my gaze to Russell’s muscular form.What was his plan? To off us all, one by one, hoping one of us would eventually crack and confess?
“The last time we saw your sister, she was alive,” Beth says.
“That’s what you told the police.” Though answering Beth, Russell’s silhouette is still looking straight at me.
“It’s the truth,” Beth adds.
“I’m going back up to keep watch.” Russell frowns, his accusatory gaze lingering on each of us before he turns and starts up the steps. “Emma is supposed to relieve me at ten. Can you wake her if she doesn’t come out? I’m getting a little punchy up here, and I don’t want to fall asleep without anyone on the lookout for other ships.”
“Sure,” I say as Beth moves into the galley. She rummages through a couple of drawers and finds another flashlight.
After Russell closes the companionway door and the adrenaline that’s been keeping me going drains away, I feel suddenly exhausted. Beth doesn’t look any better. It couldn’t have been much after midnight when we were all jarred awake to find Nojan missing. My gaze flicks to Gigi’s stateroom door. That feels like an eternity ago with everything that’s happened since then. Maybe Russell stayed awake while the rest of us went to bed so he could kill Nojan as soon as we were all asleep.
“I heard Russell tell you that Courtney’s diary is missing. Do you think Emma took it?” Beth asks in a low tone.
“She must have. Unless Gigi took it before she ... died.” I glance at the closed door to Gigi’s room. “Once Emma goes up to keep watch, we should search Emma’s room for the diary.”
“Okay, but first I need a drink,” Beth says. “For a minute, I thought he was going to throw us both overboard.” As Beth opens a cabinet and plucks out a bottle of wine by the neck, I notice the broken dishes have been cleaned from the floor. “You want one?”
I glance at the door to the top deck, hyperaware of Russell’s pistol in my waistband, which feels like its searing into the skin on my lower back.
“Oh, wait.” Beth sets the bottle on the counter beside a Solo cup and searches a drawer for a bottle opener. “You shouldn’t drink with a head injury, right?”
“Beth,” I whisper.
Her fingers go still inside the drawer, and she shines her flashlight on my chest. “What?”
I get up and move to the other side of the narrow counter from where Beth stands. “I found something else in his room.” I reach behind me and grip the gun by the handle.
The companionway door opens with a flap. “Hey.”
I jump at Russell’s voice coming from the top of the companionway.
“Can you guys wake Emma for me? I can’t keep my eyes open.”
