Apex

27 | ecological succession

JULY 22

DAKOTA

There was no cell service at the summit of Mount Constitution. This would usually serve to piss me off, but today it came as a relief due to the aggressive number of notifications I started receiving at the crack of dawn. I never knew there was such a thing as too many birthday wishes. So in the absence of technological noise, I inhaled the scent of pine and saltwater as I surveyed the panoramic views of the archipelago from a medieval-inspired lookout tower.

Mount Constitution was the highest point in the San Juan Islands, and the second highest ocean island in the contiguous forty-eight states, making it a popular tourist trap. That was why Syd bullied me, Nicki and Bryce onto the earliest ferry to Orca Island, and we started the 6.6 mile loop just as the sun was rising over the Olympic Mountain Range.

Syd appeared next to me at the railing, munching on the homemade granola he'd brought with him. "Yo, remember when we were forced to do this hike in the fifth grade?"

I grinned. "To fulfill the Washington State curriculum requirement of planting pine trees as a way to give back to Mother Earth. How could I forget?"

"I named my tree 'Deciduous' because even ten-year-old me was a comedic legend who appreciated the irony."

"Those were the good old days," I said, shaking my head as related memories surfaced. There was an old scrapbook somewhere in my house containing a film photo of the two of us wearing oversized gardening gloves and holding up little pine trees. I made a mental note of tracking it down later. 

"Hey, you should start a livestream on Instagram," Bryce suggested, stomping up to us alongside Nicki. "Now is your one and only chance to say what up I'm Dakota I'm nineteen and I never fucking learned-"

"No," I interrupted. The last thing I wanted to do on his birthday was to turn myself into a meme. "Even if I wanted to, there's no cell service."

"That's lame," Bryce critiqued, kicking a small rock off the deck. "You know, I still think we should hop on the ferry to Victoria. You can purchase yourself a birthday blunt."

Next to Bryce, Nicki looked like he was trying hard not to smirk. Inviting Bryce to join us on our day trip was proving to be a source of comic relief, but I was too tense to appreciate it. I could never get Apex and the dead orca off of my mind.

"I'm going to have to pass," I said. "I'd rather not have photos of me emerging from a cannabis store on social media. Not that there's anything wrong with smoking, but I don't want people thinking I'm a pothead."

Bryce shook his head, smirking. "Wow, it must be hard being that famous."

I scowled. "It's also hard being caught up in a conspiracy where I'm accused of attempting to further my career by killing orcas."

"Take it easy, birthday boy," Byrce teased, and Syd shot me a look that all but said be mature. "I'm just messing with you. Besides, you've proved your innocence because you have an alibi for, like, everything."

"At least I have that going for me."

Bryce squinted into the morning sun, his expression turning pensive. "When Albert heard that Maud was missing, he turned himself in, right?"

The three of us nodded. The role Albert played was now common knowledge on Friday Island. Before Albert turned himself into the police, he delivered a statement to a local saying that he was anonymously blackmailed into killing the orca.

Supposedly, the harpoon arrived at his house with a note detailing that if he didn't follow through, he'd pay the price with his life.

I considered that last part to be both vague and dramatic, but then, of course, there was the indisputable fact that Zachary's involvement resulted in his death. He paid the price with his life.