Two nights later, we’re both dressed head to toe in black and walking along the sand.

Kaylee stays close. We stick to the dunes, trying to blend in as much as possible to the landscape. There’s nobody else out and the only other sound is Kay’s breathing and the ocean slowly rolling in.

I look back at her and she nods, her face tight and grave. The beach probably doesn’t hold good memories for her. Leo was murdered out here, killed by my own hands. Nothing good happens out on the beach… except that one night, in the dunes, when she was almost caught.

I sigh and glance up at the stars. It’s a clear sky though the moon isn’t full. That’s actually good. We won’t want there to be too much visibility tonight.

The Oakes beach is up ahead, about a half mile up. There’s a stone embankment that juts out into the ocean that marks its beginning. It’s still a public beach and people are free to walk up along it, but the Oakes family controls everything that happens there. The cops know it, the lifeguards know it, everyone knows it. Nobody does anything on their turf without them knowing about it.

“Where’d you bury it?” I ask her softly as we get closer.

“Near there,” she says, pointing up ahead. “Close to the dunes, where it won’t get touched. Ten paces from the trash cans.”

I nod a little, scanning the area. Normally there’d be people out patrolling, other dark forms in the night, along with ATVs roaring up and down the sand, their headlights illuminating everything. Instead, it looks just like every other silent stretch of beach we’ve walked across tonight.

We move past the stone embankment and onto their territory. I expect sirens and yelling and gunshots, but there’s nothing. The silence is nearly staggering, just the endless licking of the waves over the sand.

Kay takes the lead. We head over to the trashcans that sit right at the entrance to the beach. That path leads back toward the Oakes family mansion that’s sitting behind the dunes, big and majestic, probably the most ostentatious house in the whole damn town. Kay stops at it, turns her back, and slowly counts out ten paces toward the dunes.

When she’s done, she looks around, frowns, and motions for me. “I think this is right,” she says, stomping her foot. “I can’t remember exactly, but…”

“I got it.” I pull the shovel out from underneath my sweatshirt. She does the same as I shove the spade into the sand and start to dig.

It’s tiring work, moving sand like this. I don’t know how two fucked-up junkies managed to do it. I guess you don’t mind as much when you’re high out of your mind. I do most of the digging, although Kay takes a turn or two, pulling sand while I watch and catch my breath.

Sweat rolls down her skin and I think for the thousandth time how beautiful she is. She’s getting more gorgeous every day. The bruise under her eye is nearly faded entirely, and she’s already looking healthier now that she’s not living on a heroin diet. She’s rounding out, just a little bit, but in all the right places. Her breasts look plumper, fuller, perkier, and her ass is definitely getting rounder. She looks stronger, more confident, happier. I wish I could keep her like this. I wish she didn’t have to dig in the damn sand for drugs.

I tap her shoulder and we switch off. The hole is a few feet deep now and getting deeper as I dig. “How far down?” I ask her.

“Deep,” she says. “Took us hours to do.”

I grunt a little. “We don’t have hours.”

“We’re moving a lot faster.” She squints up at the stars before scanning the beach again. “Looks like you were right about Alex.”

“I told you, we could—”

Almost as if on cue, a new sound breaks the otherwise calm quiet. We stand there, totally still, and listen, both of our bodies tense as we hang on the noise.

She reacts first. “ATV,” she hisses.

I jump into action, digging as fast as I physically can. She jumps down next to me and we’re digging, throwing sand wildly.

“How deep?” I grunt at her, my arms tired and my back screaming.

“I don’t know.” She panting and digging as fast as she can. Our shovels clang against each other but we’re not trying to be subtle anymore.

Another sound joins the first one. It’s a second ATV, coming from the same direction.

“We have to hurry,” I growl.

“We need to run.” She jumps out of the hole. “Forget the drugs. We’ll figure something else out.”

“No,” I say. “We have to finish this.”

“Julian.” Her eyes are wide. “I can see the lights. They’re coming,”

“Fuck,” I growl, arms throwing sand, faster and faster.

“Julian,” she says, her voice tinged with panic.

My shovel hits something hard. I dig faster, getting around the corners, before dropping to my knees.

It’s a hard plastic suitcase. She jumps down next to me and we’re scrabbling at it with our fingers. The noise is louder now, and they’re so fucking close. I manage to rip the case up from the sand, and although it’s heavy, I jump from the hole like it weighs nothing.

We leave the shovels. “Come on!” I yell and we start running. The ATVs aren’t far at all as we sprint away from the Oakes beach.

Sand kicks up from our heels. I think about veering off and heading into the dunes, but I don’t know if that’ll help. We could get up toward the street but they’ll catch us there for sure.

The ATVs are getting closer. I look over my shoulder and spot them, four hundred feet away at most. They’re screaming closer, closer, and the headlights catch us.

“Julian!” Kay screams as the first ATV reaches us. The guy grunts and grabs at her, but I swing the suitcase, cracking him in the helmet. He grunts and rears back, nearly falling off. I grab Kay and shove her, and we keep running.

The second ATV circles around in front of us, spraying sand from its wheels. I get the grit in my mouth and eyes. Kay screams again and I grab her arm, yanking her away. We sprint toward the ocean, going as fast as we can. I hear the ATVs behind us, moving to catch up.

Blinding pain strikes up my back. I stumble and nearly fall. One of the ATVs comes past and the guy’s holding a bat. I realize he hit me with it, but not hard enough to knock me out. I keep moving, toward the water, Kay in tow.

“What are you doing?” she yells.

“Can you swim?”

“What?”

“Can you swim?” I squeeze her arm.

“I can swim,” she gasps.

“Come on.”

We burst into the water, running over the waves. The guys on the ATVs must realize what we’re doing, because they stop and dismount. We make it over the initial waves and get into water deep enough to start kicking and stroking. As we get away from land, the natural undertow pulls us out further into deeper, darker water.

Kay stays close to me. She’s a decent swimmer, although I’m stronger. I keep the briefcase close, though it’s weighing me down. The guys on the ATVs don’t follow as we go farther and farther out into the water.

They probably think we’re dead anyway. They’re probably right. It’s stupid as hell to swim out this far at night unless you’re a very, very good swimmer.

We don’t talk. I start stroking and kicking back in the direction we came from originally, away from the Oakes beach. Kay stays right behind me, though I can hear her labored breath.

The ATVs ride along the beach for a while. A few more guys join them, holding lights and trying to look out into the water, but we’re clearly far enough out that they can’t spot us. We’re not swimming fast anymore and the ATVs quickly end up outpacing us.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

She nods tightly. “This is fucking terrifying.”

“I know.” I grit my teeth, trying not to imagine the creatures lurking in the midnight dark water beneath us. I’ve never swum out this far before, let alone in the middle of the night.

We keep moving. I don’t know how long, but it’s at least a couple of hours. The people on the beach eventually leave, although the ATV guys keep patrolling for much longer. Time ticks past as we keep going, more or less doggy-paddling along, trying to conserve energy.

I’m exhausted from the dig and the swim. I can tell she’s barely keeping herself above water at this point, and I know we can’t put this off too much longer.

“We have to head in,” I say to her.

“They’re still patrolling.”

“We have to risk it. Can you keep going?”

She hesitates. The water’s cold, although not freezing. We’re staying warm by moving. Her jaw’s still clattering.

“No,” she says.

“Come on.”

I angle my body toward the beach, and I start swimming harder again. I made sure to keep the beach in sight at all times, too afraid to go too far out. Kay follows me, and slowly but surely we get closer and closer to the beach.

At some point, it gets harder. I’m struggling, pulling the suitcase and moving against the current. Kay pulls even with me and I stroke harder, harder, gasping for air.

Eventually, we make it. I ride a wave in, gasping and spitting water. Kay’s already up on the sand, pulling her sweatshirt off and discarding it. She’s shaking like crazy as she wrings her hair out.

“What now?” she asks.

“Now, we head back.” I take off my own shirt, tossing it aside. I’m in just dripping wet black jeans and I’m carrying a suitcase. I must look a sight.

Down the beach, I hear the ATV again. Kay blanches, eyes wide.

“Come on.” I grab her hand and we stumble up toward the dunes. Fortunately, the ATV is far off, since we’re both too exhausted to move very fast. We get up and over the dune, down into the relative safety of the inner depression as the ATV passes without spotting us.

“Come on,” I say. We get up, dripping wet and covered in sticky sand. I hold her hand as we finally make it away from the beach, water dripping from our clothes.

We walk together, keeping to the back streets, hand in hand the whole way back, thankful we’re alive.