Page 103 of Midnight Waters

“Yeah, well… just… keep your eyes on the road. You’re going to get us both killed,” I snapped.

Ben snorted.

Damn it, he had me there.

Police sirens filled the air in the distance. Mallory was going to catch up with us.

Ben glanced into the rearview mirror, but there were no police cars to be seen yet. Regardless, he stepped on the gas.

He zipped us through town at speeds the speedometer hadn’t seen in years, and the tyres screeched a little as he jerked us into the hospital car park.

Ben parked across two spaces without pause and killed the engine before jumping out of the car.

“You’re paying for parking tickets,” I said as I got out and slammed my door shut.

“Why? Daddy doesn’t give you enough pocket money running the bubble factory?”

I whacked my fist against his forearm as we ran around the side of the hospital to the main entrance.

Ben winced but corrected his expression immediately. “That didn’t hurt.”

I wanted to hit him again. “Aren’t we here to stop a murder?” I snapped.

“You wouldn’t think it, the way you’re acting.”

“Gods above, shut up!” Why did this make me like him more?

We dashed into the building, and Ben almost crashed against the reception desk. The receptionist nearly spilled her coffee on the other side.

“Michaela Bakewell,” Ben said as I skidded to a stop next to him. “Where’s Michaela Bakewell?”

The receptionist stood up abruptly, mouth open, but she wasn’t looking at us, instead past us.

I looked over my shoulder to see several police officers marching toward us.

Ben swore under his breath and grabbed my arm, prepared to pull me down the hallway past the desk. But the police swarmed on us.

“Hey, watch it,” I said as one of them grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Ben.

Perhaps knowing he would put up more of a fight, three of them grabbed Ben.

“Don’t let them go anywhere.” Mallory pointed a finger at us both as she marched past.

The officers sat us down in waiting room chairs and stood in a wall between us and the desk.

“Chief, please! What if you need our help?” Ben asked, trying to look past the officers.

“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Everhart.” Mallory’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “But I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

With that, Mallory marched off down the corridor with a convoy of officers in tow.

Ben slumped back in his seat, head bowed.

A pang of sorrow crackled through my heart. He had worked so hard to find who had killed Tyler, and he couldn’t even try and save his best friend’s mother. It didn’t seem fair.

“Why don’t you use your good luck power to get out of here?” I muttered.

“Sssh!” Ben eyed the officers guarding us, but they were too busy chatting among themselves to notice. “Don’t talk about that out loud.”

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