Page 32 of Midnight Waters

George leaned back in his seat, his head still hanging low.

Ben stood up, his hands balled into fists as he glared at me. “I knew you’d side with them.”

Dad squared his shoulders as Ben stormed toward us, but I pushed him aside to clear the path to the door. With little more than a venomous look at us, Ben yanked open the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Unease stirred in my gut. Ben seemed so sure that something untoward had happened to his friend, and I had to find out what. If he had some idea who had done this to Tyler, I had to speak with him. Even if it meant him taking a swing at me.

The thought of trying to have a constructive conversation with an Everhart filled me with dread. But if it meant uncovering what really happened to Tyler, I had no choice.

“Well, that’s everything.” The chief placed the file back on her desk. “Thank you for offering your expertise, Maeve. I am very grateful.”

“Anytime, Chief,” I said.

I cast a sympathetic look back at George as we left.

Tyler was beyond help, but I owed it to his family to find out what had happened to him.

“Well, I’m glad that’s over,” Dad said as we walked across the car park. “Do you want to get some ice cream? I could do with a boost.”

“Count me in,” I said.

The ice cream parlour had been our go-to hangout when I was a kid. After whatever adventures we would go on in the woods or along the beach, the ice cream parlour was where we always concluded the day.

But out of the corner of my eye, I spied Ben storming off down the street.

My heart leapt into my throat. He was alone. Was this the only chance I would have to ask him about Tyler without a threatening entourage?

An electric prickle shot up the back of my neck.

Even the idea of speaking with Ben had my body warning against it. What if he decided me talking to him was an attempt to break the already tentative ceasefire our families had established?

I had to find Tyler’s killer, but there had to be another way. We had barely managed to stay cordial in the presence of the police chief herself.

As Ben got further down the street, I realised my window of opportunity was fast closing.

Whether I liked it or not, Ben Everhart was probably the only person on this island beside the merfolk who knew Tyler’s death wasn’t an accident. If he had a lead, I would be stupid to ignore it.

Well, here went nothing.

“Actually, Dad, I’ll meet you there. There’s something I need to do first,” I said.

“Don’t be long!” Dad called as I hurried off down the street.

My brisk walk turned into a jog as Ben turned a corner up ahead.

Was I crazy? This might have been one of the few times Ben was alone, but what was to say he wouldn’t kick my ass all by himself?

I snorted. I’d had to hold my own in London, of all places. Ben-freaking-Everhart could barely measure up considering he had never even left Dusk before. As far as I knew, anyway.

I turned the corner he had disappeared around and frowned. A shadowy alley stretched up ahead, and Ben was nowhere to be seen.

Where had he gone?

I stepped cautiously down the alley, giving the dumpster and full garbage bags a wide berth.

Had he run off? How had he gotten away so fast?

Something yanked my collar, and I inhaled a lungful of hot garbage stench that was swiftly pummelled from my chest as someone slammed me against the alley wall.

---