My entire body collapsed. Deflated. Every ounce of adrenaline, gone. Upton caught me in his arms as my frail, parched, dried-up body heaved with sobs.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay now," Upton said.
I felt his arm slip under my back and he scooped me from the water as if I weighed nothing. He lifted one of my arms so that it was slung around his neck and I curled against his chest. I could hear his heart. He was really here. He'd come for me. He'd finally come.
As Upton walked up the beach, I blinked my eyes open. Several men surrounded Gravois and Marshall, securing hand-
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cuffs to their wrists. Marshall appeared to be alive, though still unconscious. I hadn't managed to kill either of them. Which I guess was a good thing. Although at that moment I wanted them dead. Wanted them dead more than I'd ever wanted anything in my life.
"Where're we going?" I asked as Upton walked away from my jetty, sticking to dry land.
"Helicopter," he said.
My head lolled back and I saw the blades overhead, jet-black against the dark sky. So this was where the roar had come from. That was what had knocked me off my feet. Upton handed me to another man who was crouching inside the helicopter. He deposited me on a vinyl bench and took my wrist between his fingers, feeling my pulse.
"Have you eaten anything since you've been here? " he asked.
I shook my head no.
"Drank anything?" he asked.
"Some water. Evian," I added needlessly.
"First thing we have to do is get her hydrated," the man said.
Upton had climbed in behind me and was sitting at the end of the bench. I felt dizzy lying on my back and sat up, curling against him.
"You really should lie down, miss," the man said.
I let out a noise that was somewhere between a whimper and a growl.
"Can't you start an IV from here?" Upton asked, laying a protective arm down my side.
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There was a pause. "Certainly, sir."
"What's going on?" I croaked as someone barked an order and someone else rummaged around behind me. All I could see from my point of view was the white cloth of Upton's shirt, his forearm, and his big, silver watch. I didn't care to see anything else. If I could stay in this position forever, that would be just fine.
"They're going to feed you through an IV," Upton said, running his hand gently over my hair.
"No, I mean . . . where have you been?" I asked, blinking back tears. "I've been here for five . . . six . . . days? Where have you been?"
Upton's grip on me tightened. I could feel his tension throughout his body. "I'm so sorry, Reed. You have no idea. . . . When those men approached me, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if they were lying, or who was behind the whole thing. There was no telling whether they'd make good on our deal or simply take the money and leave you for dead. So I hired this team of investigators to find you, but we kept coming up against brick walls, dead ends. Finally we thought we would simply follow them back to you when they came, but it took them this long. . . . I'm so sorry. I've been doing everything I can to find you."
He shifted his position and I found myself gazing out the open side of the helicopter. Marshall and Gravois were being dragged off toward a waiting boat.
"Who hired them?" I asked, clutching Upton's shirt as the EMT lifted my other arm to try to find a good vein.
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"They think it was Poppy," Upton said grimly. "They found a disposable cell phone in her bag and all the calls were to the same number ... a pay phone near the police station. They're questioning her now, back on the island. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. I never thought she could do something like this."
Poppy. I had thought it was Paige and Daniel, hadn't I? But now I couldn't for the life of me remember why. And I didn't care. If it was Poppy, it was Poppy. It made sense. She hated me, was obsessed with Upton, and had money to burn. I couldn't wait to see her rot in jail.
"All right, sir, we're ready to go," someone said.