Wayside: A Serial Novel - Episode 20

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This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Episode 1: The Auction

Episode 2: The Beginning

Episode 3: One by One

Episode 4: The Interview

Episode 17: Little Things

Episode 18: Dive

Episode 19: Next of Kin

Episode 20: Lost and Found

October 10, 2026

Josina stared at the photo on Ben’s phone screen.

It was a picture he’d taken of the Polaroid of himself and Lupe under the wedding arch in Vegas.

“You’re right,” said Josina with a heavy sigh. “That’s Olivia’s face. There’s no question she’s Lupe’s daughter.”

Ben placed his phone on the coffee table and sank back onto the sofa. He rubbed his hands up and down his arms.

“Still cold?” Josina asked with worry.

“I’m fine,” Ben insisted. “I’m just worried about Olivia. She must have been terrified to have jumped off the boat like that. Jo, if anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Upon returning to the beach house, Ben had dialed 911 to report Olivia’s disappearance. The dispatcher was able to confirm that the Mayday signal Ben had sent from the boat had been received by the Coast Guard, and a search and rescue crew was on the way to the location.

The dispatcher told him she was sending the police to the house and asked if Ben needed an ambulance. He declined, confident he was free of injuries, and a hot shower was all he needed at the moment. Once the dispatcher gave him the okay to disconnect the call, he made a beeline for the bathroom. Josina collected his clothes while he showered and set them aside in case law enforcement asked for them as part of whatever investigation they’d need to do. She brought him a bathrobe from one of the guest bedrooms to wear until he had dry clothes.

“Benjamin, you can’t blame yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Josina grabbed a throw blanket from the corner if the sofa, wrapping it around his shoulders. “Let’s try not to think about any worst-case scenarios right now. Based on everything you just told me about Lupe, I have no doubt she raised her daughter to be smart and resourceful… a survivor.”

“She raised her daughter to run,” said Ben with sorrow.

Josina settled next to him on the sofa. She reached for his hands, wrapping both of hers around them.

“I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “Now I'm the one who feels guilty. It seems like I caused all of this by leaving and moving back into the villa. I was so afraid to tell you how I felt about you, so scared you didn’t feel the same. I had no idea you had a family.”

Ben frowned. “You didn’t cause any of this, Jo. And I’m not sure it’s fair to say I have a family. I’ve never been there for them. I wanted to, but Lupe wanted her independence. Considering everything she’d been through, I understand why it would have been hard for her to trust anyone.”

“Do you… love her?” Josina asked.

Ben shook his head. “No. I don’t even know her. I haven’t seen her since that weekend we got married in Vegas. That was almost 25 years ago.”

“What was the plan, Benjamin? Were you just going to stay married to her for the rest of your life, and never allow yourself to be in a relationship with anyone else?”

“Yes.” He looked down at her hands wrapped around his. “We said it in our vows – till death do we part. I know it sounds insane, but she was in a crisis. She asked me for help. I couldn’t, in good conscience, say no. Lupe didn’t want to be married any more than I did, but having proof of a legal marriage gave her the means to stay safe while she gave birth, then while she fled from her abuser. Maybe it helped her in other ways after that. I couldn’t control what our marriage meant to Lupe, but to me, it was sacred. It was a promise.”

Josina bit her lip. “Did you ever think about tracking her down?”

Ben shook his head again. “She didn’t want to be found.”

“But… she must have kept tabs on you somehow. Olivia found you.”

“I don’t necessarily think it was because of her mother. Olivia admitted she knew who I was before she came to Wayside, but told me there was someone else involved. Someone put her up to this.”

Josina’s eyes widened. “What if it’s her biological father? Do you think she found him? You said Lupe told you he was dangerous.”

“I don’t know. Olivia was trying to open up to me, but then I showed her the picture you sent me of what you found in the guest room. That’s when she panicked and jumped.”

“It must be bad, whatever it is.” Josina swallowed hard, let out a deep sigh. “I didn’t open the vials, I swear. I took the entire thing straight to Joel. I need to call him and let him know what’s going on here, as well as find out if there’s any news about what happened at the dance last night.”

“I know Olivia had to have been the one who brought it in, but I can’t imagine she meant to cause any harm—"

Ben was interrupted by the sound of tires crunching over gravel. He and Josina turned their attention toward the window to see a police cruiser pulling into the driveway. The driver parked behind the two Wayside fleet vehicles and stepped out, moving with haste toward the door. Ben and Josina reached for their N95s on the coffee table and quickly put them on.

Josina met the officer at the door with a new respirator, grateful to find he was willing to wear it without protest. Once masked, she welcomed him inside. He joined Ben on the sofa, opened his laptop computer, and began recording a report of the events that had transpired in the previous hour.

After Josina closed the front door, her phone began to ring. She retrieved it from her pocket to see an incoming videocall notification from Joel. She excused herself, making her way out the back door in hopes of finding a spot outside where the signal was strong enough for the call.

“Hi Joel,” she answered.

On her screen, Joel stared back at her from the meeting room in the security office. Others were in the room with him, moving in and out of view of the camera. Josina caught snippets of their conversations. Their voices sounded as worried as Joel looked.

Josina wondered if he’d slept at all. Probably not.

He looked exhausted.

Angry.

Scared.

“Don’t ever run out on me like that again,” he said firmly. “With Ben gone, you were next in line as far as seniority. I know you were worried about him, but you shouldn’t have left. You’re supposed to be a leader and we’re in the middle of a crisis. You can’t let your emotions control you in moments like this.”

“You’re right,” she admitted. “And I’m sorry. I was wrong to let you down, Joel. I promise you it will never happen again.”

“What’s going on there?” Joel asked in a huff. “Is Ben okay?”

“He is, but Olivia has gone missing. There’s a search crew looking for her.”

Joel sighed, shook his head slowly. “They better find her. The shit is hitting the fan here, Josina.”

“What is it?” She frowned. “How are the people who got sick at the dance?”

“Better than they were last night,” Joel replied. “They were transported to Pine Tree Medical Center. Six total. Everyone else who was at the dance is in quarantine at Gateway Lodge and is being monitored for any symptoms. So far, they all seem to be unaffected. Knock on wood that it stays that way.”

“Good,” said Josina. “What’s the word on the six who went to the hospital?”

“They were given fluids and medication for the nausea. The staff have done exams and bloodwork on everyone and said there’s nothing abnormal that they can find. The doctor I spoke with this morning thinks they must have ingested something that made them all sick, but there was zero overlap in what those six people had eaten when they gave their 24-hour dietary recall to the staff. And there are no signs of infection, so they don’t think it’s food poisoning.”

“Josina chewed her lip as she pondered the possibilities. “They must have ingested an emetic,” she said with authority.

“A what?”

“An emetic. It’s a drug that causes vomiting. You’ve heard of Syrup of Ipecac, right?”

“Yeah, I remember it used to be a staple in first aid kits. Haven’t seen it in a while, though.”

“That’s because it was discontinued several years ago. It doesn’t just cause people to vomit up what’s in their stomach… it causes persistent, projectile vomiting, which can lead to dehydration and more serious problems.”

“You think that’s what people were given? Syrup of Ipecac?”

“It’s not likely, no. It hasn’t been made available to the public in almost two decades. But there are other emetic medications that are administered only in medical settings. I worked for a short while in an Emergency Department and had to give emetic pills to patients on occasion. It wasn’t pretty, what followed. Those pills wouldn’t be easy for a layperson to access, though. And it would be just as challenging for someone to have given them to that many people unaware.”

“Right,” said Joel. “There was no food served at the dance, so it’s not like anyone could have slipped them into food. And the punch bowl was attended, I was told.”

Josina’s face fell. “Actually, it was only attended earlier in the evening for the children. Bellamy didn’t think anyone needed to keep an eye on it for the adults.”

Joel scowled. “Why not?”

“She felt like everyone could serve themselves and didn’t think there was a chance anyone would spike the punch or do anything else inappropriate with it. She said we should be able to trust each other here at Wayside. She’s right, Joel. We should be able to trust each other. And I do trust my fellow Waysiders. I think someone from outside of our community is trying to cause harm, and they’ve been very clever about infiltrating our community, sneaking past our defenses.”

“Yeah,” he let out a deep sigh. “I’m afraid you’re right about that. The mystery substance you found in the container home? Law enforcement thinks it might be Anthrax.”

Josina exhaled loudly, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her. “Oh no,” she said in barely a whisper.

Joel rubbed his eyes, then blinked them several times as if fighting to stay awake. “The Pine County Sheriff Department sent some officers just after midnight. They took one look at those vials and called in the State Bureau of Investigation, who in turn called in the feds. They packaged up the entire case and put it on a helicopter to Atlanta, where they can test it in a BSL-4 lab.”

“My God, Joel. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“We’ve got at least a dozen people here right now, between local law enforcement, the SBI, and the FBI. They’ve set up incident command in the academy building since the security office is too small for everyone to squeeze into. They’ve got folks in full HAZMAT suits searching the entire property to see if they can find anything else out of sorts. Everyone at Wayside has been told to shelter in place at home and wear respirators if they step outside. People are scared.” He paused. “So am I. When I took came to live here, I never imagined I’d be up against something like this. I thought we’d all be safe here together. But now that this is happening, I’m with you. I don’t believe the call is coming from inside the house.”

“Clearly not,” she agreed.

“And on that note, we need to talk about Olivia.”

“Yes. Shit is hitting the fan here too at the moment. Ben took her out in the water on a cruiser boat, hoping it would put her at ease so they could talk. When he mentioned the vials and showed her the picture I’d texted him, she panicked and jumped off the boat. He couldn’t find her, so the Coast Guard is searching for her now.”

Joel rested his head in his hands and sighed loudly. “Can I talk to him?”

“An officer is here taking a report from him. We can call you back as soon as he's done.”

“Please do,” said Joel. “Listen… Olivia is not who she says she is. We pulled up a scan of the driver’s license she used when she signed in to Wayside. The woman in the picture looks similar to her, but it’s not her.”

Josina’s heart skipped a beat. “This just keeps getting messier. Ben has been saying since she came to visit Wayside that there’s something familiar about her, and he’s been trying to put his finger on it all this time. He told me after I arrived here that he’s figured out who she really is. I’ll let him explain it all to you later.”

“We’re pulling up security camera footage right now, trying to find a good picture of her face to see if it can help law enforcement ID her,” Joel explained. “But we know for certain she used someone else’s driver’s license to enter Wayside. The Pine County Sheriff went to the address listed on it this morning and knocked on the door. The woman in the picture – the real Olivia – answered. She said she’d been looking to buy a house in the area and went to a real estate office a couple of weeks ago. The guy who took her out to view properties told her he needed her ID in order to take her into open houses. She gave it to him and said he never gave it back, even after she called his office a couple of times and left messages. The real Olivia still had the guy’s business card and gave that to the officer, who’s been trying to track him down.”

“You think the real estate agent might be involved?”

“Who knows,” said Joel. “The officer seemed to think he was worth checking into. Apparently the guy is well-known around here and has a reputation for being dodgy.”

“That’s odd. What’s his name?”

“Jack Noble.”

Josina bristled. “That name is familiar… where have I heard that name before?”

“The officer who went to see the real Olivia texted me a picture of the business card. Noble’s headshot is on it. Stand by, I’ll send it to you.”

Seconds later, an image notification appeared on Josina’s phone screen. She tapped it to open the image file.

“I remember him now,” said Josina. “When Ben and I came to the YOLO park auction, he was bidding on it too.”

“Not surprising. I imagine most of the other bidders were also from real estate firms wanting to buy up the land and develop it.”

“No doubt,” said Josina. “But this guy was weirdly aggressive. At the auction, he harassed us over our N95s. Then after we left, he followed us to YOLO park. He got out of his vehicle to talk to us, even introduced us to his daughter. He said she was a big fan of Ben’s and asked us to take a picture with her, so we did. But she seemed really embarrassed… like he forced her to do it. And I remember he didn’t want to leave when I asked him to move along. He asked us if he could stay for a moment to say farewell to YOLO, since it’s where he’d proposed to his late wife.”

“Hm,” said Joel. “He sounds like a manipulative, toxic asshole. And he’s much more interesting to me now than he was before you told me all that. You think he could be involved in all this?”

“I really don’t know. Maybe. Or maybe it’s all just a coincidence. Pine Tree is a small town, so after meeting him at the auction, we were likely to cross paths with him again at some point. And he’s probably forgetful, probably loses things easily like many people do these days, now that their brains are damaged from years of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Maybe he simply misplaced the driver’s license and someone else found it. It’s hard to say. I’m exhausted from driving all night and can’t think straight right now.”

“I hear you,” Joel assured her. “And I certainly don’t expect you to figure it all out, but I do need for you and Ben to get back here as soon as you can and share all of this with the professionals who are doing the investigating.”

“We will.” Josina exhaled with a loud sigh. “Soon as we can.”

***

The Founders’ Council – minus Ben, Josina, Chris, and Cassie – were gathered around the table with Joel in the meeting room of the security office.

They clutched each other’s hands and passed a box of tissues around the table whenever tears would flow.

They held conversations with each other in hushed voices, pausing whenever Joel was in communication with the law enforcement agencies so they could all hear the latest news.

Most of them had been there throughout the night. Like Joel, they were tired.

Angry.

Scared.

And hungry.

“Hey Bellamy,” began Joel, “I know you can’t open the kitchen at The Black Sheep right now, but is there any chance you’ve got some prepackaged food and drinks over there?”

Bellamy frowned. “Off the top of my head… potato chips, crackers, croutons, apple juice boxes for the kids’ menu. I might find a few other things if I rummage around but I can’t think of anything else that wouldn’t require cooking. Not exactly the makings of a healthy breakfast, anyway.”

“It’s better than nothing at the moment,” Joel replied. “Would you mind going to grab a few things for the council? There’s also a vending machine at the main gate security booth you could raid on the way back.”

“Sure,” said Bellamy, rising from her seat.

“I’ll come along to help.” Siado stood and followed Bellamy out the door.

Outside of the security office, they found Randall and Mitch talking with a couple of uniformed officers from the local Sheriff’s Department.

“Excuse me, ladies,” began one of the officers, “make sure you don’t go past any areas that are secured with yellow crime scene tape.”

“They’re council members,” Randall explained to the officers. “Don’t need to worry about them.”

Bellamy couldn’t help but grin under her N95 as she and Siado made their way toward The Black Sheep.

“Remind me again why you’re stuck on Ben’s friend Kevin and not Randall?” Siado asked once they were out of earshot from all the officers.

“I’m not stuck on Kevin,” Bellamy insisted. “I know I’ve been infatuated with him to the point of it being irrational, but trust me, those feelings are quickly fading away. After last night and this morning, I’m seeing Randall in a new way.”

“Oh?” Siado said with amusement. “What way is that?”

“When you care about someone, you show up for them,” said Bellamy. “Randall shows up. He’s here. And I don’t just mean here at Wayside. I mean, he was off work last night and was supposed to be enjoying himself at the dance. But when people started getting sick last and all hell was breaking loose, he stopped what he was doing and snapped into action to get the situation under control. He didn’t have to do that, and he didn’t wait to be asked. He just stepped up and did the right thing. I felt a lot safer, just knowing he was near.”

“I can see that,” Siado replied. “You know, I heard Joel tell him he could go home and get some rest this morning, yet he’s still sticking around.”

“He’s probably too wired to sleep, like I am right now.”

“That, or maybe he’s sticking around since you are too.” Siado gave Bellamy a playful nudge. “Maybe he just wants to be here for you right now. Maybe you should let him.”

“I’m not objecting,” said Bellamy. “I don’t particularly have romance on the brain at the moment, but once we get through this crisis and things calm down, I’m open to the possibilities.”

“Atta girl.”

Once they reached the entrance of The Black Sheep, Bellamy unlocked the doors and led Siado to a stock room lined with shelves bearing canned vegetables, takeout packaging, condiment packets, and other restaurant supplies. Upon locating a box of single-serving packages of potato chips on a lower shelf, she handed Siado a takeout bag.

“If you don’t mind packing up some of these chips, I’ll go take a quick look in the catering closet to see if there’s anything else we can bring back to the security office.”

“No problem,” said Siado as she knelt down and began packing the takeout bag.

Once Bellamy reached the storage closet, she took a quick inventory of what was in the room. One wall was lined with catering equipment – folding tables, chairs, aluminum trays and warmers, insulated coolers. Bellamy shifted the trays around on the shelves and lifted the lids of the coolers, grateful to find that one of them contained a plastic bag full of individually packaged chocolate chip cookies. She collected them and made her way back to the door to leave.

Then stopped just outside of the storage closet.

She turned around, stared inside again.

On the wall opposite the catering equipment were a couple of the restaurant’s water dispenser stands and a row of filled 5-gallon jugs from the supplier. As Bellamy’s eyes fixed on them, she froze. Her mind returned to the night before, when Ben had accompanied her to retrieve more water for the dispenser at the dance.

“Have you noticed this?” Ben had asked. “A couple of the seals over the mouths of the jugs have some small indenture marks on them. They look like they’ve been tampered with. Like someone tried to puncture them with something sharp.”

Bellamy hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. “I doubt it,” she’d told Ben. “I always check them when they come off the delivery truck and they haven’t been moved out of this storage closet, which stays locked at all times. Until I get another manager hired, I’m the only one with a key. If the seals have any marks on them, it’s probably just from me bumping things around while trying to move the catering equipment in and out of the closet.”

“Okay,” Ben had relented. “I’ll grab one if you’re sure they’re safe.”

“Yeah, they’re fine,” Bellamy had insisted.

Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered Ben lifting one of the jugs off the floor and loading it into the golf cart. She moved toward the corner of the closet where he’d pointed out the suspicious markings.

Upon closer inspection, she saw with her own eyes what Ben had called to her attention the night before. A couple of the seals on the jugs had indeed been tampered with, but seemed to be intact. Maybe whoever had done it had made multiple attempts on different jugs.

Maybe the one Ben had carried to the dance had been the one they’d succeeded in puncturing open.

Her hand flew up to her mouth, cupping a loud gasp behind her palm.

“I’m done packing snacks!” Siado announced as she appeared in the doorway of the storage closet. “How’s it going in here?”

Bellamy turned to face her, lowering her hand to point at the suspicious markings on the seals. “Not good,” she said. “I need to call Joel. Some of these water jugs have been tampered with. Ben pointed it out last night when he came with me to get refills for the water dispenser. I blew it off. I shouldn’t have.”

Siado’s eyes landed on the jugs near Bellamy. “Oh… wow. I see what you mean. Don’t you keep all of this locked up though?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “It stays locked. No one else has a key.”

“So how would someone else have gotten in here? Could they have taken your key when you weren’t looking?”

“No, I always keep it on me, I swear.”

“Is it possible you left the closet open at some point, and got distracted? Maybe turned your back long enough for someone to slip inside?”

Bellamy blinked several times. “Now that you mention it… oh my God...”

“What?” Siado asked with alarm.

“Remember the day we all went to Bonfire Pavilion to watch Ben’s interview on the ‘Chat with Chatleigh’ show?”

“Yeah. Do you think someone came in while we were all distracted or something?”

“No. That was the night I met Kevin, when Ben brought him to dinner at The Black Sheep. He got really friendly and flirty with me afterward, when we went to Bonfire Pavilion to watch Ben’s interview. He asked me if I’d like to hang out later. I told him I had to head back to restaurant to clean up and close down for the night. He offered to come with me.”

Siado’s eyes widened. “You think it was him?”

Frowning, Bellamy shrugged. “Maybe. I was just remembering that while I was cleaning up the kitchen, he was mixing drinks. When I was done mopping the floor, we sat down outside on the patio. He took my shoes off, held them on his lap, and gave me that foot massage I couldn’t shut up about. Then he went back inside to make us more drinks. I wasn’t watching the clock, but it seemed like it was taking him a lot longer than it should have. At one point, I was going to get up and go back inside to see what he was up to, but… I couldn’t find my shoes, and there was no way I was going to walk barefoot into the kitchen and have to mop all over again.”

“Where were they?”

“When he came out of the kitchen, he had a tray of drinks in one hand and my shoes in the other. He said he’d been so caught up in the moment, he wasn’t paying attention and had carried them into the kitchen without thinking about it.”

“Wow,” Siado winced, “that sounds like absolute bullshit.”

“I know. I laughed it off in the moment, but now... now I think he took them on purpose, to keep me from coming inside.” She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed loudly. “He’s Ben’s friend. I thought he was trustworthy.”

“Well, if he tampered with the water jugs and put something in them that caused all of the puking last night, he probably won’t be Ben’s friend much longer.”

Bellamy nodded, wiping at the tears that were gathering in her eyes. “I need to call Joel right now. He’s going to be mad at me. And he should be. I’m mad at me too. I should have known better.”

Siado stepped forward, placing the takeout bag on the floor to embrace Bellamy. “Hey… it’s okay, Bell. This isn’t your fault.”

“No, it is,” Bellamy wept on her shoulder. “I messed up big time.”

“Not as badly as I did.”

Bellamy drew back from Siado, giving her a curious look. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve also got something to confess that is going to upset Joel.” Siado let out a deep sigh. “It’s going to upset the entire council, actually. Tell you what… I’ll let you go first, then it will be my turn. Hopefully it will take the heat off of you.”

Bellamy cocked her head, squinted her eyes. “The mural? Was that you?”

“Yeah.” Siado looked down with shame. “I was pretty bent out of shape emotionally when it happened, but I’m a lot better now. I’m on meds and they’re actually helping. I don’t know if I would have been motivated to start taking them, had I not messed up so bad. So even though I did a terrible thing, and will take full responsibility, it helped me get better.”

“Good,” Bellamy nodded. “I’m really glad to hear that.”

“I told Josina the other day. I was going to come clean to the entire council, but then all of this happened…”

“I get it,” said Bellamy. “One crisis at a time. But what you did pales in comparison to what we’re facing right now, you know. Hopefully the gravity of it all will take some of the heat off of you.”

“One way or the other, everyone deserves to know the truth about what happened to the mural, and that it isn’t connected to everything else that’s happening at Wayside.” Siado lifted her head. “So I’m going to do the right thing and tell the council today.”

“Thank you,” said Bellamy, “for being brave. You’re helping me find the courage I need to own up to my own lapse in judgment.”

“Wayside is a special place, but those of us who live here are still human beings,” Siado observed. “If we can’t show each other grace here, I doubt there’s any hope of finding it elsewhere in the world.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Bellamy as she reached for her phone and dialed Joel’s number. “Now, the hard part. May grace follow.”

“Amen to that.”

***

Josina stepped back inside the beach house to find it livelier than it was when she’d left. The local law enforcement officer was still on the sofa with Ben, taking his report. Another officer had arrived and was pacing around the living room, alternately talking into the two-way radio clipped to his shoulder and listening to the responses from his colleagues in other locations. Next door neighbor Jewel was standing on the front porch, waving through the screen door with one hand, nervously running her fingers through her salt-and-pepper hair with the other. Josina stepped out the front door, beckoning Jewel to follow her into the yard.

“I saw two police cars in the driveway here and just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Jewel explained. “Is Ben alright? Looks like he took a dip in the water. How about his friend who came with him? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Actually, yes, there is something you could do to help,” said Josina. “Ben needs something to wear. Do you have anything we could borrow, just until we can get his clothes washed and dried?”

“I think I can pull some things together,” said Jewel with a nod. “Sweatpants, a long sleeve tshirt? Maybe some old bedroom slippers?”

“All of that would be perfect,” said Josina.

“No problem,” their neighbor said with a nod. “But is Ben okay? And his friend? Did something happen with the boat? Did it malfunction?”

“No, the boat is working just fine,” said Josina. “Ben’s friend got a bit… excited, I suppose, and jumped into the water. He jumped in after her, but couldn’t find her. He sent out a Mayday signal from the boat, then came back here and called 911.” Josina peered through the window into the living room to see that Ben was still talking with the officer on the sofa. The other remained on the phone, pacing, doing more listening than talking.

“Oh no. The water is frigid.” Jewel’s eyes widened with concern.

“There’s a crew searching for her right now, as I understand it. I don’t know much more than that. Hopefully she’ll be found soon.”

“I’ll go get those clothes and leave them on the front porch. Please keep me posted if you hear anything more.”

“Of course,” Josina reached out to embrace Jewel, who hugged her in return. “Thank you for being a good neighbor. And a good friend.”

“Anything for you and Ben.”

Once they parted ways, Josina went back inside, settling on the loveseat across from Ben and the officer interviewing him.

“Almost done here.” The officer continued typing on his keyboard for another few seconds. “Okay. The report is officially filed.”

“What’s next?” Josina asked.

“Well, it sounds like the two of you have something much more complicated going on back home in your neighborhood. What’s it called again?”

“Wayside,” Ben murmured.

“Wayside. Right.” He fished a business card out of his pocket, jotted a series of numbers down on it, then handed it to Ben. “That’s your case number. Call our office if you have questions or any new information to share with us. It sounds like you’ve got multiple agencies investigating in your neighborhood, and we’ll of course be in touch with them to try and put all the pieces together. On our end, the main priority at this time is to find this young lady that went overboard until we know what comes next.”

“What do you mean ‘what comes next?’” Ben asked with concern.

“We’ll take her to the hospital and let them check her out, see if she needs to be treated for hypothermia – provided she’s still alive,” the officer explained. “And we’ll keep her in our custody until we know which agency will be filing charges against her, then we’ll transfer her along to them—”

“But… but you heard the recording our conversation on the boat,” Ben interjected. “Someone forced her into this situation. What she did, she did under duress.”

“I hear you,” the officer assured him, rising from his seat on the sofa. “And if she cooperates with the investigation and there’s evidence to substantiate her claims, the court will show her leniency. Unfortunately, this isn’t something she can just walk away from, though. Do you understand?”

Ben rested his face in his hands. “I get it. It’s just unfair. She’s not a bad person. She didn’t deserve to get caught up in whatever this is.”

“I believe you. In my 22 years in law enforcement, I’ve come to realize that most people who commit crimes aren’t bad people,” said the officer, with surprising tenderness. “They’re just desperate people.”

The other officer halted his pacing to listen to a long-winded, police jargon-laden announcement come through his radio. “Roger that,” he replied into the microphone.

“What’s the word?” Asked his colleague.

“A father and son who were out on a fishing trip just came ashore and called 911,” the officer began. “They reported they’d rescued a young woman fitting the description of who we’re looking for. Same general area where she went missing, so it’s got to be her. As soon as they got her onboard, they headed inland and docked at the marina. They were going to call an ambulance for her, but once she climbed out of the boat, she ran off.”

Ben teared up at the news. “She’s okay. Thank God.”

Josina exhaled a sigh of relief. She crossed the room to embrace Ben, then settled next to him on the sofa.

“What do we need to do now?” Josina asked. “Should we go look for her?”

“No,” the officer shook his head. “We’ve got officers keeping an eye out for her. She’s now a person of interest in a very serious criminal matter, so if either of you approached her, you could be interfering with the investigation. If she contacts you, I need you to encourage her to turn herself in. Then let us know immediately. Okay?”

Josina nodded. “Understood.”

“To answer your question – you two need to get back home to Wayside,” said the officer who’d been on his radio the entire time. “The FBI needs to interview the both of you and take witness statements, so they’re sending a helicopter to pick you up. They’re going to land on the helipad of the hospital on mainland, so we’ll drive you over there to meet them.”

“Now?” Josina asked with surprise.

“Yes,” said the officer. “Go ahead and grab whatever you need to take with you and lock up the house so we can get going.”

Josina glanced at Ben, then back at the officers. “Could we at least wait until we have some dry clothes—"

She was interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the front porch, the crinkling of a plastic grocery store bag.

“That must be our neighbor. Excuse me for a moment.” Josina moved toward the front door and stepped out onto the porch to greet Jewel, who had returned with a bag of clothes for Ben.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Jewel said with chagrin as she started back down the steps of the porch. “I was just going to leave this on the doorstep.”

“You didn’t interrupt us,” said Josina. She pulled the door closed behind her and followed Jewel down the steps. “Thank you so much for the clothes. Ben will appreciate them.” Then she lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “You’ve still got a spare key, don’t you?”

Jewel nodded.

“We’ll be leaving here in a moment. You’re welcome to go back inside and grab the boat keys. And if you don’t mind… leave the back door unlocked, will you?”

Jewel looked confused, but gave a quick nod. “Sure.”

“If you happen to see a young lady – Ben’s friend – show up and enter the house, just leave her be and give me or a Ben a call right away. Okay?”

Jewel nodded. “Of course.”

Josina thanked her and returned inside. She passed the bag of clothes to Ben, who disappeared down the hallway to dress in his old bedroom.

“Good neighbors are a blessing,” said the officer who’d taken Ben’s report.

“They are,” Josina agreed. “At a time like this, I’m thankful for the reminder there are good people all around us.”

***

Later that evening, Ben and Josina stood in the doorway of the container home.

Both were exhausted from a lack of sleep the night before.

Both were wired from the series of events that had unfolded throughout the day.

A helicopter had brought them back to Wayside in a third of the time it would have taken them to drive. After landing on the helipad of the Health Center, they were received by a team of agents from both the State and Federal Bureaus of Investigation – all masked with N95s, to their great relief. They escorted Ben and Josina into the clinic below for health screenings. Neither had a fever or any obvious signs of illness. Neither had symptoms to report.

Ben and Josina were asked if they’d encountered any new suspicious substances in biohazard labeling since they’d left Wayside. Both said no.

They were told the substance Josina had found in the container home was confirmed to be Bacillus anthracis – Anthrax – but that no residue had been detected on the outside of the container and vials.

The agents chastised Josina for having moved the container away from the place she’d found it, but assured her that since she hadn’t opened the vials, she would be okay. They went on to explain that crews in HAZMAT gear had searched the rest of the container home, then the entire Wayside campus – for additional suspicious substances or items, but none were found. The lockdown on the campus had been lifted. The agents told Ben and Josina they would be free to return home after they were done answering questions and giving their statements.

Next, they were escorted to the academy building and were taken into separate rooms, where they spent the afternoon answering questions. The agents inquired about their backgrounds, their roles at Wayside, their relationships with each other, and with others in the community. Josina explained how she’d stumbled upon the suspicious substance in her old bedroom. Ben gave his account of the events that transpired, from his online meeting of the young woman he knew only as Olivia, to his reporting of her disappearance from the island earlier in the day.

They requested the recording of his conversation with her that had taken place just before she'd jumped overboard. Then they asked for his phone, as well as access to his email, text messages, and his ‘Not Gonna Settle’ account, all of which Ben gave without protest. As he turned his phone over to the agents, he paused to show them the picture from his Vegas wedding, recounting the story of his unconventional marriage.

He told them he believed 'Olivia' was Lupe's daughter, sending the investigation in a compelling new direction.