Page 78 of The Mermaid Murder

“Yeah, let’s keep this on the QT until further notice. No press. No leaks. No idea what happened here or whether anyone was in the car at the time.”

Kenner nodded. “Play dumb. Got it, Asher?”

“Got it, Sarge.”

The sergeant led us to his car and opened his door. “Hop in, I’ll drive.”

Mason opened the passenger side, front, and offered it to me.

“I’ll take the back.” I opened the door but before I got in, Mason picked up Myrt and set her in before me.

She sighed and laid down. It wasn’t her car, but it was a car. The sarge handed me a dewy water bottle over the seat. “Thanks. I need that.” I took a drink, then poured some into my palm and offered it to Myrt. She took a couple of licks, then declined, so I wiped the rest onto my jeans.

We took off with lights and siren on full tilt.

I took another drink, lowered the bottle and saw Eva, the dead mermaid inside. She flipped her tail and splashed water straight up out of the bottle and into my face, making me yelp in shock.

Both men turned sharply.

“Leg cramp,” I said. And of course, my face was dry.

But Mason kept his eyes on me after that.

The mermaid was still in the bottle, shaking her hands and shouting words I couldn’t hear. “I think we should hurry.”

Chapter 13

CHRISTY

Christy couldn’t get out of the cool, chlorinated water before the pool cover closed. She didn’t even swim all the way up, but stopped where she was, staring up as the last inch of light vanished from the water’s the surface.

God, it was Detective Jen Scott. She had killed Eva. But why? And where the hell was Jen now, and where was Misty? She’d made a run for it, but Christy had a bad feeling.

Be okay, Misty. Be strong. Be smart. Survive.

Her heart was racing. She needed to breathe!

She told herself not to panic and swam down to the nearest flower, turned the valve and inhaled precious air. Relief surged through her. Until there was no more. The air supply just ended.

God, Jen had turned off the oxygen!

Christy flipped to another air flower, and another, sucking desperately at each hose, gathering what little oxygen remained trapped in its length, and no more.

Through the front of the tank, she could see the empty dining room, the bar. No signs of life. There was no one in the darkened private room off the side wall, either. But Eva was there. Her photo was there on the wall, her face waving behind the water’s gentle, deadly motion.

Oh, God. Oh, God she was going to die in this freaking pool! And she knew with sudden clarity that Eva Quaid had died there, too.

* * *

MISTY

Misty woke and raised her arms over her face only to slam them into the ceiling. Ohmygod I’m in a coffin! She started pounding, breathing too fast, panicking.

Be okay, Misty. Be strong. Be smart. Survive. It was Christy’s voice whispering through her mind. As if she knew.

Misty grabbed hold of her panic and, as soon as she did, she realized she was moving. She was in a car. Right, the trunk of a car.

That was so much better than a coffin.

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