Page 79 of The Chaperones

“You haven’t seen him?”

“Are you saying he’s here? On the island?”

“He got on the boat.”

There are so many details I haven’t given her, but she lets go of me again and starts to pace, collecting her thoughts. “He always does this.”

My legs rage as they try to support me. I can barely hear her over the wind.

“He can’t keep doing this.”

Although I tilt, I stay standing. On my own.

Cassie continues to ramble about Travis, how he’s always had terrible judgment, how he never looks at the full picture, how his actions will appear to others, never thinks of any repercussions, always leaves them to her, how he’s not in his twenties anymore, how he can’t keep doing this.

“Is he still on the island?” Cassie asks. A gust thrusts her clothing tight against her frame, showing the contour of her slender body. There’s no denying that Cassie is lovely, a natural, rugged beauty, more so as she stands defiantly in the wind.

“When I saw him get on the boat, he had a backpack and tent.”

“We need to get back,” Cassie says, charging off. Then she runs back, remembering that I can’t walk on my own, and throws my arm over her shoulders so violently it sends a shock of pain down my back. Cassie is practically carrying me as she charges down the path toward the bluff.

“Cassie, slow down.” She can’t hear me. Won’t hear me.

“I don’t know why he would think this was a good idea.”

“Is this about Sawyer?”

This, she hears. Cassie stops and glares at me. If she didn’t hate me before, I can confidently say she does now.

“My god, you’re self-involved. No, Mona, this has nothing to do with Sawyer. He never did anything to Sawyer. That’s not why he’s here.” She says this so dismissively, without any hesitation or conflict, that I believe her. He didn’t hurt my daughter. Sawyer’s therapist confirmed as much. And nothing in his past conveys a preference for young children. But Travis is a predator. He raped his girlfriend when he was twenty. He stalked and abused countless others. While he may not have hurt my daughter, he will continue to harm other women.

“Why’s he here, then?” This is my invitation for her to tell me what she knows, for her to at last be honest about who her brother is and what he’s done. Because if she won’t, I’ll show her the files in my bag. Maybe this isn’t about PO for me either. She has to confront what she’s been avoiding too.

Cassie stares at the sky, which has lightened in the last ten minutes, even though we still can’t see the sun. She continues to squint at the striation between the ocean and the sky as she says, “Stella.”

The name is so unexpected, it takes me a minute to remember who Stella is, that she was outside the room when Travis touched my daughter, that she defended him, that she had a little crush on him, that she’s here now, chaperoning us.

“They’re dating?”

“I told you he has bad judgment.”

I don’t know what to say to this, because it’s not bad judgment. It’s manipulation. And I’ve seen how this ends.

Cassie tosses my arm over her shoulders again. “Come on. I need to find Travis. And we need to get you to camp. At least there’s no shortage of doctors to help you.”

We make our way across the grassy hilltop, more golden than brown in the daylight. Cassie knows about all the other women, I realize. She’s always been able to explain them away, to reshape her brother into someone difficult, not dangerous.

But Travis is dangerous. And he’s here. On the island. And I have no idea what he’s capable of. Cassie doesn’t either.