Page 108 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

“Because we don’t know what kind of animal it is.”

“I don’t think we have bears in the Caribbean.”

“You don’tthinkwe have bears?”

“We definitely don’t have bears in the Caribbean. Theselook like little hoof prints. Maybe a deer left over from the buccaneer days?”

“Or the pigs could have spread. I mean, I already found out firsthand that they can swim.”

The animal track did make the going a hell of a lot easier as we didn’t have to fight through so much undergrowth, and we reached the perimeter of the prison complex in less than half an hour with only minimal extra damage to our limbs.

Mental note: get a waterproof first-aid kit to take diving with me. Neosporin sure would have come in handy right now. After we checked out the prison, I’d see if there was a way to get back down to the sea because saltwater was the next best thing.

“This place is grim,” Cole said.

“I think it was designed that way. What were you expecting? A hotel?”

“No, but after what we’ve been through, a shower would have been nice. Do you think they still have water here? Drinking water, I mean.”

“That water tower doesn’t look good, and any pumps they had will be long dead. But there might be a well somewhere. They must have had their own water supply.”

There was no fence around the prison, and we were able to walk straight up to the walls. We continued around the cell building until we reached what must have been the main entrance. Despite the fact that the prison was on a remote island, they’d still employed a sally port, and the outer gate was padlocked and topped with razor wire. The padlock looked reasonably new, a few scratches but not a hint of rust. Did someone from the government check up on the place?

“Don’t like the idea of climbing over that,” Cole said, looking up at the rusty coils. “Even with all those vinesgrowing across the top, the wire’s still going to cut you to shreds.”

He was right. Climbing that fence would be a last resort.

“This can’t be the only entrance,” I said. “The sally port would have been used as a safety measure, to search prisoners and make sure no weapons got inside. Plus loading and unloading prisoners is often the weakest link in the chain of movements. Ten bucks says there was another way in for staff and deliveries.”

“So we carry on looking?”

“We carry on looking.”

We fought our way around the building, and sure enough, there were two metal doors on the west side. The bad news? They were also padlocked up tight. And farther on, the rear of the building—the north side—was hidden by a prickly tangle of vines and undergrowth as the jungle reclaimed the land.

“Guess the governmentreallydoesn’t want this place getting featured on BuzzHub,” I said.

“There’ll always be idiots who try. Those urban explorers who post videos online.”

“This isn’t very urban,” I pointed out.

“You know what I mean.”

I did. A video from the inside of Skeleton Cay prison would earn thousands of views or likes or whatever social media influencers used to measure their self-worth these days.

“Let’s try the accommodation block,” I suggested. “I bet it won’t have the same security measures as the cellblock.”

It didn’t. The wooden door that led inside was locked, but it was also rotten, and when Cole and I shouldered it together, it popped open with a dullthud. Progress.

“Ready to go ghost hunting?” I asked, and Cole hesitated at the threshold.

“You think this place is haunted?”

“If any place is going to be haunted, it’s this one.”

Despite the sunlight outside, the interior was dank and gloomy, and it seemed that whoever built the place had tried to economise when it came to windows. At the front of the building, the officer’s club or whatever they liked to call it was still full of furniture—musty couches, coffee tables, even a giant TV from the pre-flat-screen days.

All of a sudden, Cole squeaked and leapt sideways, knocking into me. I grimaced as a rat jumped out of a couch seat and ran across the floor.Fuck my life.I should have stayed in Vegas. I should have heeded my lucky dollar and walked away at the Black Diamond.

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