by Meg Cabot
Alex regarded me coldly. “Wow,” he said, his voice as sarcastic as before. “I had no idea I was related to such an accomplished detective. Is that where you were the past couple of days? Doing undercover work? Tell me, Detective Oliviera, what else did you and your CSI team learn during your amazing investigation?”
“She learned,” Mr. Liu said, taking a menacing step forward, “that boys who smart off to ladies often get slapped.”
I blinked up at Mr. Liu in surprise. I would have expected that kind of response from John, but from his crew it was quite surprising. Even John was looking at his bosun with gratitude.
Alex, cowed, said, in a more normal tone, “Twenty years ago, before there was such a thing as Homeland Security, the Island of Bones was a major entry point for smugglers … not only for illegals, but for drugs. They still come across the gulf from Mexico and Colombia by submarine, because the Coasties can’t spot those. But someone’s always had to meet them at the shore to pick up the goods, then hide them until they can be transported safely to Miami.”
“Is that what your dad did?” I asked Alex gently. “He picked up some … illegal cargo?”
“He was just a kid,” Alex said fiercely. “Our age, Pierce. But because it was the new war on drugs, and Dad was a local football hero, and only a Cabrero, not a rich Rector, or a fancy Endicott, and what he got caught doing was an embarrassment to the community, they wanted to make an example out of him. So he was given twenty years for possession with intent to sell on a first offense … no previous record, no weapons or violence or anything like that. But he wouldn’t rat anyone else out, because some people are loyal to their friends.” He shook his head, the tears still in his eyes bright, even in the fairy lights. “This is how he’s been rewarded. Some friends they turned out to be, right?”
The music had grown quieter. They were playing a Spanish ballad. The woman in the red dress was singing, her voice as liquid as the rain coming down outside the archway, and in between breaks in the canopy of leaves. But because the rain was light, and the leaves overhead so thick, it was dry inside the courtyard. Thunder rumbled overhead, sounding farther out to the sea than before. The storm appeared to be breaking up. Or at least, this particular band of rain was passing by.
The real storm, as John had said, was yet to come.
“So,” I said softly. “It’s not Seth Rector you hate at all. It’s Seth’s dad … and also Farah’s dad, and everyone else who knew Uncle Chris around the time he was arrested … maybe even my mom” — it hurt me to add this part, but I couldn’t blame Alex for feeling this way. My mom had abandoned him when he’d most needed us. Though she, like me, was trying to make things right now — “because you think they were involved in what he was doing, and they let him take the fall alone. Is that how it is?”
“Yes, Pierce,” Alex said bitterly, running his fingers through his dark hair. “That’s how it is. That money Rector is spending building Reef Key, and helping to put on this stupid festival tonight … even that hideous mausoleum their family has in the cemetery … some of that money rightfully belongs to my dad. He earned it, all that time he spent in prison, not saying who else was involved, the way a friend is supposed to. But have they offered him one cent since he got out? Have they offered him a job on their new development? Have they so much as asked my dad out to dinner since he got out of prison? Of course not.”
I found myself glancing, for some reason, at Kayla, the only outsider standing nearby who did not reside in the Underworld. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her with this highly sensitive information. In fact, when I was around her, the diamond at the end of my necklace turned purple, which it didn’t with anyone else … not that it was doing so now. It remained a dark, sludgy black, indicating that somewhere, evil lurked.
Still, finding out the empire of one of the most influential men in your town had possibly been built on drug money — that was pretty explosive stuff. I wouldn’t have been able to keep it to myself, if I were her.
What I couldn’t understand was how my mom had, for so long.
“Alex,” I said. “How do you know all this? Did … did Uncle Chris tell you it was true for a fact that Mr. Rector and Mr. Endicott were involved?”
He made a face. “Of course not,” he said. “He won’t talk about anything to do with his time in jail. But I’ve done my research. I know it’s true. Everyone thinks the Rectors are this great, respectable family, just like they think Isla Huesos is this beautiful island paradise. But I know the truth about the dark side that lies beneath this place.”
I couldn’t help glancing at John. He looked back at me, his gaze troubled. Alex wasn’t wrong about the dark side that lay beneath Isla Huesos.
He just didn’t know how deep it went.
“— all the lies and the greed and the murder. Yes, murder.” Alex’s own eyes glittered feverishly. “You can’t tell me Jade’s murder isn’t connected to all this somehow. It’s too much of a coincidence. If you don’t think she died because she stumbled onto something in that cemetery that she wasn’t supposed to see, you’re crazy. Or someone killed her to set up my dad so he’d have to go back to jail, where they think he’ll continue to keep quiet —”
“Oh, Alex,” I heard myself saying, my heart swelling with fear for him. “I’m sure that wasn’t what —”
“Yes, it is, Pierce,” he said. “And I’m going to find the proof. And when I do, I’m going to blow Seth and his dad — and this whole place — sky high.”
“And what good will that do anyone?” Mr. Liu asked unexpectedly.
“What good will that do?” Alex’s voice cracked again. “People will know the truth —”
“Sometimes it’s better to shield people from the truth,” John said, a faraway look in his eyes.
Wait … were we talking about exposing the truth about Isla Huesos’s true underworld, or the seedy criminal underworld Alex was insisting existed? Or were we talking about shielding me from the truth about John’s past? I could no longer tell.
In some ways, though, I could see John’s point. It might be better not to know. Look at all the people out on that dance floor. Would they still gather there as happily if they knew that beneath their feet loomed a cavernous waystation for the souls of the recently departed?
“Alex,” John said, before I could figure out a way to ask, “has your father ever said he wanted anything from the Rectors?”
“No,” Alex said, shaking his head. “That’s just it. He’s never said a single word about it, he just goes and fills out applications for jobs he never gets and visits his parole officer and attends his meetings.” He meant his dad’s Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. “But it’s not fair. I know that’s where all Seth’s dad’s money came from. He owes my dad. But Dad’s too proud to ask.”
John shook his head. “No,” he said. “No, your father hasn’t asked because he doesn’t want it. Rector money is dirty money, tainted … not to mention, illegally gained. He knows that if he takes it, no good will come from it. That’s why he hasn’t asked, not because he’s too proud. Believe me.”
I wasn’t the only one who looked up at John curiously. Alex and Kayla did, too. He was speaking with such vehemence … almost as if from experience.
What did John know about the Rectors and their money?
“Money is money,” Alex said firmly. “Especially when someone owes it to you.”
“You’re wrong, boy.” Now Frank was chiming in. “Miss Kayla is right. You need to let this go.”
Miss Kayla looked delighted to hear Frank say she was right about something. She flipped back the edges of her cape and practically preened, the way Hope liked to do.
“It’s true,” she said to Alex.
Alex climbed from his chair, causing Hope to give an indignant flap of her wings and hop a few feet away. “None of you knows what you’re talking about,” he said bitterly. “Especially you, Pierce. You’ve always had money. And you don’t have to live with Grandma.”
He was right about that. But now I was living in the Underworld, with dead people. I wasn’t quite sure yet which was worse.
“If money is all he wants …”
I saw Frank dig into his pocket. In a flash, I saw what was going to happen next: He was going to hand Alex a fistful of Spanish coins that hadn’t been in circulation for over a hundred and fifty years … and from their pristine condition, clearly hadn’t been lying around some shipwreck Alex might have come across at the reef.
“No, Frank,” I said, stepping swiftly in front of him. “It’s very kind of you. But no.”
Frank’s gaze went to Kayla, who was looking at him curiously. “Why not?” he asked. He’d wanted to show off how wealthy he was in front of her.
“Because people will ask too many questions about where he got it,” John said, perfectly understanding the situation. “And his family is under enough scrutiny.”
With a shrug, Frank let the coins fall back into his pocket.
“Wait.” Kayla had been watching the entire interlude with great interest, her dark eyes again glittering even more brightly than the jewels she’d glued beside them. “Are you guys really pirates?”
“No,” I said to her quickly. “They’re not. Did you drive here?”
She looked confused by the change of topic, then nodded. “My mom let me borrow her car for the night.”
“Good,” I said. “Will you drive him home?” I nodded at Alex.
“What?” Alex looked surprised. “I have my own car.”
“Get the keys from him,” I said to John, who nodded and, with Mr. Liu’s help, began to frisk a protesting Alex.
“Will you make sure Kayla gets Alex home all right, then gets to her own place safely?” I asked Frank.
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure,” Frank said, grinning at Kayla, who smiled flirtatiously back.
That made me a bit nervous, but I didn’t suppose I had any other choice, unless I had John transport him. And that might tip Alex’s mind, already on edge because of the magically appearing paella, even closer to madness.
“This is totally unfair,” Alex was saying as John found his keys, then pocketed them. “Pierce, if you do this, I’m calling the cops. I’ll tell them everything about you and your little gang, and then I’m going to collect that reward money your dad is offering —”
“Good luck with that,” I said flatly. “Dad canceled the reward. I don’t think anyone is looking for me anymore. If you did more than play World of Warcraft, you might know this.”
“And I have your phone,” John said, holding his face just inches from Alex’s. “Remember? You’re not calling anyone.”
Alex went pale, then looked back at me. “Pierce,” he said, his voice pleading. “Seriously. I’ll let the thing with Seth Rector’s dad go. I swear I will. Just make him give back my keys. And my phone. Please.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said. “I’m still pretty worried about you, though.” I looked at him imploringly. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. So promise you’ll drop this whole scheme of yours to get revenge on the Rectors for what they did to your dad. It’s not worth dying over. It really isn’t. I’m sure your dad would agree. He loves you. So do I, you know.”
He appeared surprised. Our family wasn’t particularly warm, or effusive with the I love you’s. Except for Uncle Chris, who’d come out of prison bursting with them. He’d even told the mail carrier that he loved him.
“I … I promise,” Alex said, looking uncomfortable. He looked even more uncomfortable — and held his body stiff as a post — when I walked up and hugged him a second later. But part of that could have been because of how wet and smelly I was, in my paella-covered dress, and not because Alex hadn’t been hugged very many times before in his life.
“Oh,” I said, laughing as I released him. “Yeah, sorry about that. I smell a little fishy. Is there a ladies’ room around here?”
“Sure,” Kayla said, smiling. “This is actually the back courtyard to a hotel. You can get into the ladies’ room through the back porch, over this way. I went in there earlier. It’s not bad. There’s only one stall, though, so you have to wait if there’s a line. At least there are chairs in the lobby, you can sit while you wait —”
“Pierce.” I felt a hand wrap around the arm Kayla wasn’t holding. I turned to find John staring down at me, a mystified expression on his face. “Where are you going?”
Suddenly I remembered that I wasn’t just a normal high-school girl out with a friend, gossiping about normal high-school boys. Not that I’d ever been that. There was only one boy who’d ever held any interest for me. He was the protector of the dead.
His eyes, as he stared down at me, were full of unspoken questions … and fire.
Kayla didn’t notice the fire.
“Dude,” she said with a laugh that sounded unnaturally loud in the courtyard. The musicians were gone from the stage, though they hadn’t packed up their instruments for the night. They were seemingly taking a break. “Chill out. We’re going into the hotel over there so she can clean up in the ladies’ room.”
Kayla pointed at the wide veranda towards which we’d been headed. Hope, who’d apparently understood the situation better than John, had already found a perch out of the rain amidst the quaint gingerbread trim.
“Do you want to come along to check out the lobby to make sure Mr. Oliviera isn’t waiting there with a shotgun to kidnap her back?” Kayla asked, an amused lilt in her voice.
The laugh John gave probably seemed natural and easy enough to Kayla. But I could tell it was forced.
“Excellent idea,” he said, putting an arm around my neck.
I glanced in the direction his gaze seemed to be directed … not the back of the hotel, but the diamond around my neck. It had turned ebony. In fact, in the red glow of the party lanterns overhead, it was almost indistinguishable from the color of the fabric of my dress, aside from the food stains.
“Don’t worry,” Kayla was saying with her usual self-assurance as we walked. “I know how to take care of people, Capitán. I’ve been taking care of my mom for years now, ever since my dad walked out. It’s been just her and me … well, and my brother, but he’s a dirtbag. I’ll get Alex home safe and sound for you, chickie. No worries.”
This didn’t do much to dampen the flames in John’s eyes, but I saw him grin at her addressing him as “capitán.”
Before either of us had a chance to say anything, however, a blinding white light came from out of nowhere, filling my vision. When it disappeared again, I could see nothing at all … nothing but huge purple splotches. For a split second I didn’t know what happened, if it had been the muzzle flash from a gunshot or lightning or John teleporting me somewhere or what … all I knew was that John’s arm tightened around me reflexively.
It wasn’t until I heard a man’s voice whisper my name — like most whispers, it carried much farther than the person who’d uttered it had intended — that I knew.
“What? One picture. What can it hurt? Look how cute they are.”
A camera flash. That’s all it had been, a camera flash. No wonder I couldn’t see.
“Put that damned thing away,” I heard another man say, in a shocked voice.
John’s arm left my shoulders. Then I felt his hand in the center of my back.
“Go,” he said urgently, and pushed me, stumbling, towards the darkness.
Oh, my God,” Kayla said as she collapsed into one of the overstuffed chairs in the hotel lobby into which she had pulled — and John had pushed — me. “Could your boyfriend be any more overprotective? That guy out there only wanted to take your picture because you’re a totally famous kidnapping victim. Well, not anymore, I guess. But you were up until a few hours ago.”
“John doesn’t want some random guy posting my photo all over the Internet,” I said defensively.
“Yeah, well, he seems to have made that pretty clear,” Kayla replied, nodding towards the ve
randa doors, through which we could hear the camera’s owner apologizing to John so profusely, it was a little embarrassing.
Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone else around to overhear us, except the nerdy-looking night clerk, and he’d only raised his gaze from his computer screen once, when Kayla pushed me around the corner past his desk, towards a door marked Damas. It was locked. Someone was inside.
“Kayla,” I said to her, as she pulled me down onto a couch across from the ladies’ room door. “I’m pretty sure the bathroom is for guests of the hotel only.”
“Well, there aren’t any guests because of the mandatory tourist evacuation on account of the storm, so what does that guy care? We’re not bothering anyone.” She took a compact mirror from the small bag she wore dangling from one shoulder, then checked her eyeliner. “So what’s the deal with Frank? Does he have a girlfriend?”
I hesitated. Even though the clerk was around the corner and out of sight, and the place seemed like the last one in the world a Fury might show up — amateur beachscapes, apparently painted by guests, lined the walls, and the lobby stank of too-perfumey potpourri — I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched.
This could have been because the large French doors to the back porch stood open to let in the night air, stirred by the blades of the large ceiling fans overhead. It was hard to see what was happening out in the courtyard, thanks to the fact that every light inside the hotel was burning. Everything beyond the veranda appeared to be a sea of darkness, despite the party lanterns.
Though I strained to catch a glimpse of John, all I could see was the occasional flash of what I could only assume was Henry’s once-white shirt. Every so often, however, a snatch of the boy’s laughter floated towards us.
This made me relax a little. If Henry was laughing, it was doubtful John was killing anyone. My diamond now glowed a vibrant purple, the color of the streaks in Kayla’s hair.
“Dude,” Kayla said, and punched me in the shoulder. “Frank?”