The Island In The Mist: A Dinosaur Thriller Page 7

  “I’m really sorry I can’t help,” he said.

  “I’m sorry you’re being so foolish,” Angus quipped. He turned abruptly and disappeared out of the office. Jonathon sat in his office chair and took a deep breath, glad that the ordeal was finally over. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was being foolish, but it was only a small part of him that felt that way. Knowing what he knew about Angus, the chances were very good that he had made a wise decision. Martin suddenly appeared in the doorway.

  “Well, what happened?” he asked, taking a seat on the edge of the desk.

  “You’ll never believe it,” Jonathon said, chuckling.

  “Try me.”

  “He wants me to take off with him to an island that he is convinced is inhabited by dinosaurs.”

  Martin smiled, and his eyes widened.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, he brought pictures and I will admit they looked awfully real.”

  “Well, what did you say?”

  “I said no of course!” Jonathon replied, surprised that he even asked.

  Martin laughed.

  “Well, why would he make up a story like that?”

  “I don’t know…I’m confused about that too,” he answered, leaning back in the chair. “Although, you know he’s getting pretty old. He may be losing his mind.”

  “I would laugh, but I know you’re not joking. True, he is getting pretty old, but he still seems pretty sharp to me. You sure you shouldn’t check it out?”

  Jonathon shook his head without hesitation.

  “No, I don’t trust that guy. If I took off somewhere with him, you’d probably never hear from me again.”

  “Oh come now,” Martin scowled. “Do you honestly think he’s going to take you off somewhere and kill you?”

  Jonathon didn’t reply, he just stared at him.

  “Jonathon! Don’t be ridiculous. He may be arrogant and selfish, but I don’t think he’d intentionally harm someone.”

  “All I know is I don’t trust him, and I’m not flying away somewhere with someone I don’t trust.”

  Martin grabbed his shoulder firmly. “I don’t blame you for that. You did the right thing.”

  “Thanks. Listen, I think I’m going to take off around lunch. I’ve got to go take care of something this evening.”

  ***

  The first place Jonathon went when he left the museum was the nearest florist. He bought a dozen yellow roses (Lucy’s favorite) and the most expensive bottle of wine he could find. Jonathon had given it a lot of thought and decided there was no way he was going to stand by and let Lucy bow out of his life. After a lot of careful consideration, he decided that there was no doubt she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. After he bought the wine, the next stop was the jewelry store. He finally conceded that Lucy was completely right. There was no reason after eight years that they shouldn’t take the next step and get married. The timing was right, and he was going to buy the most expensive engagement ring his salary would allow. He decided that even if he proposed and she said no, he wouldn’t give up until he won her back.

  Roughly an hour later, he stood at the base of her apartment building. The sun set below the trees behind him and the sky turned violet. It had just turned seven-thirty, and there were speckles of dim stars beginning to appear across the sky. He climbed the stairs to reach the third floor. The bottle of wine was under one arm, the yellow roses in the other. Up until the moment he stood before her door, he’d felt fine. He’d been calm, collected, and eager to see her. Now things had changed dramatically. His stomach rolled and he felt nauseous. There was no doubt about it; his nerves were getting to him. They were punishing him relentlessly; he’d never been so scared in all of his life. No turning back now, he thought and he tapped the door twice with the bottle of wine.

  He could hear footsteps on the other side, and as they grew louder, his heart raced faster. The door swung open, and Lucy was more than surprised to see him. Her long, brown hair was in a ponytail and she wore a small T-shirt and athletic shorts. She spotted the roses and a slight smile lit up her face. She stood silent a moment, not sure what to say.

  “May I come in?” Jonathon asked.

  “What?…Oh! Of course,” she said, stepping aside.

  Jonathon walked in and set the wine on the kitchen table. She followed, and he offered her the roses.

  “You got me roses?”

  He nodded. “They’re certainly not for me.”

  She laughed nervously and took them. “They’re absolutely gorgeous.” She snatched some flowers that were already sitting in a vase at the center of her table and replaced them with the roses. “Thank you, Jonathon.”

  “You deserve them after what I put you through yesterday,” he said.

  She waved him off. “No, don’t say that. I shouldn’t try to force you to do something that you don’t want to do. That was selfish of me.”

  “No, Lucy, I—”

  “Jonathon, let me finish,” she interrupted. “I’ve given this a lot of thought. What I did to you yesterday was wrong. I shouldn’t have called you to meet me and then ambush you the way that I did. I’m sorry about that, and I really hope you’ll forgive me.”

  “But you didn’t do anything wrong,” he countered.

  “Jonathon, please.”

  He really wanted to argue the issue further, but the look in Lucy’s eyes suggested it would only ignite another fight between them. That was the last thing he wanted to do now. “Okay,” he surrendered. “You are forgiven.”

  “Good. Then that’s that. I think it’s best if we just become friends now,” she said flatly, walking toward her bedroom.

  Jonathon stood still a moment, unsure if he heard her right. “Wait a minute…What did you say?”

  She reached her dresser and pulled a drawer open, then she paused to face him. “I’d rather be your friend than nothing at all. If we keep going this direction, we’re going to end up hating each other. It may not be tomorrow, it may not be five years from now, but one day, we’ll hate each other. I just can’t bear the thought of that, so I think it’s best if we end the romantic relationship and just become friends,” she said again as she grabbed a shirt out of the drawer.

  Jonathon shook his head, trying desperately to process what she was saying. To make matters more confusing, she placed the shirt she’d just grabbed into a suitcase that was open on the bed. It was full of clothes, books, and some of her field gear was lying nearby waiting to be packed.

  “What are you packing for? The next semester of college doesn’t start for another couple of weeks.”

  “I’m not packing for work, silly. This is for something else. I should be back in time to teach.”

  He looked on as she continued to toss clothing and other items into the suitcase. It almost seemed that she’d forgotten he was even there. He thought about retrieving the ring, nestled away deep in his pocket, but decided to hold off as things seemed to be spiraling out of control.

  “So where are you going then?”

  “I can’t talk about it,” Lucy said firmly. She suddenly stopped, realizing how rude she sounded. “Sweetie, I’m sorry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind. I’ve got to catch a plane at seven in the morning. I don’t have a lot of time.”

  Jonathon did his best to contain the mixture of confusion and aggravation that begin to well up inside him. “In the morning? You’re leaving in the morning?”

  “Yes, it was sort of spur of the moment.”

  “Are you going on a dig?” he asked, frantically trying to pry information out of her.

  “You could say that,” she answered.

  A terrifying thought crept into his mind. Surely Angus hasn’t gotten hold of her.

  “Lucy, you haven’t spoken to Angus Wedgeworth today have you?”

  She immediately stopped dead in her tracks and looked him in the eyes. “How did you know that?” she asked, astonished.

  “Lucy, you can’t go
with him. You don’t know him like I do.”

  “Wait a minute, back up and answer my first question,” she demanded. “How did you know I talked to him today?”

  “Because he visited me this morning. I’ve got a pretty good idea that he gave you the same little presentation he gave me.”

  “You think so, huh?” Lucy crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. Her lips were pursed tightly together and her cheeks began to turn red. Each reaction was a clear suggestion that she was becoming agitated.

  “I know so,” he replied. “He showed you pictures and promised you a chance to come face to face with real live dinosaurs, didn’t he?”

  She stared at him a minute, now very visibly angry that he knew about Angus’s visit. “Well, I’m going, and you’re not changing my mind,” she said, zipping the suitcase up. “There is no way that I can pass up an opportunity like he is offering. Frankly, I’m surprised that you did.”

  Jonathon felt his blood pressure rise, but did his best to stay composed. “You’re smarter than this. You know full well that the odds of dinosaurs surviving millions of years on a deserted island are pretty much slim to none. Think before you take off with someone you hardly know.”

  “If I didn’t know better, you almost sound jealous. He’s a seventy-four year-old-man, Jonathon. I assure you he’s a little too old for me,” she said. She sounded almost playful, but he recognized it for what it was. Cruel sarcasm.

  Jonathon could feel the tension building in the room. He had to try a different approach. “Lucy, I don’t want you to go with him. I’ll be worried sick if you do.”

  Her mood suddenly turned sympathetic and grateful. She strolled over to him and took both of his hands in hers. She looked him in the eyes. “Jonathon, I don’t want you to worry about me. I promise you that everything will be fine, and if I begin to feel uneasy about this, you’ll be the first one I call to rescue me.”

  Jonathon looked away and shook his head. “That’s not good enough. I don’t want you to go with him, period.”

  She sighed and jerked her hands away, placing them on her hips. “I’m a grown woman. You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do. Give up, Jonathon, I’m going.”

  He opened his mouth to plead with her further but thought better of it. There was no way he was going to change her mind. “Fine, do what you want,” he growled.

  He stormed out of the apartment without saying goodbye. As he stomped his way to the jeep, he began to feel a knot form in his stomach. There had to be some way he could talk her out of it. For a moment, he contemplated marching right back up to her apartment and trying again, but he knew it was useless. The only thing he could do now was drive home and sleep on it

  When he finally did return home and settle into bed, although he was very tired, he was unable to fall asleep. All he was able to do was think about Lucy and all of the horrible things that could possibly happen to her. After about a full hour of tossing and turning, he finally leaned over his nightstand and turned on the lamp. He retrieved a backpack from the closet and threw a couple of pairs of pants and shirts in it. He glanced over at some of his field tools and decided there would be no need to bring them. There would be no need for any of it. What he did need, however, was something for protection. He didn’t own any guns and never had any desire to. Now, for the first time in his life, he wished he did. What he did have was the large hunting knife he kept on his belt when he was out on digs. It was a very handy tool to have as he he’d used it for everything from opening a can of baked beans, to skinning and cleaning fish. He zipped up the backpack, and then placed the knife and holster on top of it. He set the alarm clock next to his bed so that he would wake up early enough to beat Lucy to the airport. If he couldn’t talk her out of coming back with him, then he was going to go with her. He rolled back into bed and found it was much easier to fall asleep this time.

  Chapter 9:

  Jonathon arrived at Jackson-Evers Municipal Airport around five o’clock the next morning. Exhaustion overwhelmed his body due to the fact he’d probably only slept a total of three hours the night before. He knew that her flight left around seven, but what he wasn’t sure about was what time she would actually get there. He decided to sit in the jeep, banking on the chance that he would see her pull into the airport. If he saw no sign of her by six, he would go inside and begin searching for her. The sun wasn’t up yet, and the darkness teamed with his exhaustion to make it very difficult to stay alert and awake. Every so often, a plane would fly low overhead, and it helped keep him awake for a while. But soon, even the roar of jet engines in the dawn sky did very little to keep him conscious. He leaned forward in his seat and rested on the steering wheel. His eyes never left the entrance to the airport. There was a good bit of traffic entering in and out, and if he wasn’t careful, her small red sedan would sneak past him. His eyelids grew heavy and he shuffled in the seat to get his blood flowing. He drummed the steering wheel with his fingers for so long that they actually began to hurt. The pain didn’t bother him; actually, it helped to keep him awake. A glance at his watch showed five forty-five and there was still no sign of her. He longed badly to be back in his warm bed, sleeping deeply.

  ***

  A loud pounding on his door startled him. Jonathon opened his eyes widely and looked outside to see who was harassing him. It was Lucy. She was wearing a yellow button-up blouse and cargo pants similar to the ones he had on. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail and she, unlike him, looked well rested. She didn’t look happy to see him.

  “What are you doing here?” she hissed.

  Jonathon held his arm up and looked at his watch. It was six-thirty. He’d fallen asleep. He opened the jeep door and rolled out. “Coming to stop you, of course,” he mumbled.

  She snorted and turned away from him abruptly in the direction of the terminal entrance. “Good luck,” she snarled.

  He quickly reached back in the jeep and grabbed his bag then jogged to catch up to her. “You’re either staying here, or I’m going with you. One way or the other, I’m not going to let you recklessly endanger your life.”

  “Go home, Jonathon.”

  Lucy struggled to get her suitcase up the steep stairs that led to the doorway into the terminal. Jonathon slid his arm through the strap on his bag and let it dangle behind him as he reached for her suitcase. She batted his hand away.

  “In case you didn’t know it, it’s now 1985. Women can take care of themselves now. I can manage just fine, thank you,” she growled. Suddenly, the suitcase handle slipped from her grasp and tumbled end over end down the steps.

  “I can see that,” Jonathon muttered in response as he chased after the suitcase. “Let me help you.”

  “You just want an excuse to follow me,” she said.

  Jonathon didn’t answer.

  “Fine,” she huffed. “But I’m still leaving, and you aren’t going to change my mind.”

  She entered the airport with Jonathon in tow and they immediately spotted Angus Wedgeworth sipping coffee in the lobby. He was dressed in his usual suit. Jonathon watched the old man squint as he eyed him and his face lit up when he realized who he was. He rushed out to greet them.

  “Good morning, Lucy,” he said, grabbing her small hand and patting it gently between his own. “I must say it is a surprise to see you, Jonathon,” he said cheerfully.

  Jonathon cut to the chase.

  “You’re not taking Lucy.”

  Angus stared at him a moment, then laughed. “Take her? You make it sound as if I’m kidnapping her. She agreed to come on her own. I made an offer to her just like I made an offer to you. You said no, she said yes. End of story.”

  “No, not end of story,” he replied, obvious anger in his voice. “Find someone else. I’m not comfortable with you taking her.”

  Angus looked over at Lucy. “My dear, he is speaking as if he owns you. It sounds like you are his property,” he chuckled.

  She shook her head. “He’s just a little over prot
ective is all,” she answered, and then looked to Jonathon. “Sweetie, that’s enough. I appreciate you helping me with my bag, but I have got to be going now.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll let you know as soon as we return.”

  “If you return,” he replied.

  Her face reddened as she was clearly becoming agitated again. She opened her mouth to speak, but Angus cut in unexpectedly.

  “Jonathon,” he began. “I assure you that Lucy will be well taken care of. You don’t have anything to worry about while she is with me.”

  Jonathon rolled his eyes, unconvinced.

  “However,” he continued. “If you would like to join us and keep an eye on her for your own peace of mind, I will be more than happy to provide you with another ticket. I just so happen to have an extra,” he smiled as he pulled a slip of paper from his inside coat pocket.

  For a split second, Jonathon considered telling him to shove the ticket somewhere very unpleasant. There was no doubt that Angus had an extra ticket because he knew there was a good chance Jonathon would show up at the airport. It was a well-planned trap, and it worked flawlessly. He eyed the old man staring back at him, knowing full well he was aware that he was mulling it all over in his head. Angus knew he’d hooked him.

  “I would love to join you,” he said finally, his words thick with sarcasm.

  “Very well,” Angus replied. “The plane is waiting.”

  ***

  Jonathon hated flying. A fear of heights had haunted him his entire life. Once the plane leveled off, he eased his grip on the seat’s armrest only slightly and worked up the nerve to peek out of the window. The sight of the puffy clouds below the plane with the morning sun shining brightly overhead was beautiful and terrifying all at the same time.

  “How long is this flight?” he asked Lucy nervously.

  “We’ll be in Atlanta in about thirty-five minutes,” she replied calmly. She knew of Jonathon’s fear of heights. She reached out and gently grabbed his now sweaty hand. Although she was angry with him for following her to the airport, she couldn’t ignore the fact that his intentions were good. He genuinely cared about her, and the sheer fact that he was putting himself through the plane ride was evidence of it.