by Amy Saunders
Bennett took her home and waited like a guard while she showered, examining the muddy footprint. It was a sneaker. Probably a canvas sneaker. He contemplated that as Belinda came down the stairs, apparently expecting him to just leave her there. Instead, he offered to help carry something into the carriage house. He knew she still had more work to do.
They didn't have room for all the boxes plus their bodies in the carriage house without creating a fire hazard, so she led him to the small garden shed on the opposite side of the property. Bennett set his boxes where she pointed and walked out in front of her. Before Belinda could get out of the shed, Bennett snatched the handle and forced the door shut, locking it from the outside.
"Bennett!" Belinda screeched. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to keep you from any more danger. I'll call Jonas to come get you out after I go, all right?"
"No, I'm not all right!" Belinda huffed. "You've just locked me in the garden shed!"
"It's for your own good." Bennett peeked at her through the side window. Boy was she steamed. He chuckled, making her eyes flash that much more. "You won't be here long, I promise."
"You bet I won't."
Bennett half-smiled. "Be good. I'll see you soon."
"Be—"
Bennett left her stewing, dialing Jonas on his way out. "Yeah, I have a favor to ask though you could be in physical danger doing it." Bennett's mouth crooked up. "You need to release a certain someone from her garden shed. And then, you need to scope out her house for a possible break in." He could still hear Belinda fussing on the other side of the driveway and hurried off to town.
Bennett took the back side entrance into Trebor's shop because of the yellow tape still blocking the front door due to the accident. Other then some makeshift plywood, nothing had changed. It was quiet inside and Bennett hoped Trebor hadn't forgotten about their meeting. He'd locked Belinda in a garden shed for this.
He walked into the back office, hoping to find him just taking a nap or something. But Bennett stopped cold in the entrance to the office. Mr. Trebor's head was flat on top of his keyboard, blood streaming down through the keys and onto the desk. Bennett's stomach flip-flopped and he fumbled to get his phone from his pocket. As he struggled to articulate what had happened to the operator, Bennett realized the monitor above Trebor was zoomed in and frozen on a piece of security footage.
He stood as close as he dared for evidence's sake and for the sake of not being able to stand to see Mr. Trebor like that. But Bennett was right. It was a scene from Belinda's car accident. And there was a blood smear over part of the screen. He couldn't be certain, but from where he stood, Bennett felt positive someone was hiding behind the streak—watching the accident.
~ * ~
Belinda muttered a string of curses and insults to the air. Bennett was already long gone, but it made her feel better. No doubt he was grinning all the way to wherever he was headed, knowing that she was trapped in the shed wanting to choke him, which only made her more infuriated.
She plopped into the plastic seat and watched the dust particles floating by in the ribbons of sunlight coming in through the window. Belinda hadn't really processed what happened the night before, unless you counted the humiliating breakdown she'd had on Bennett's chest. Somehow, she'd slept dreamlessly the night before and didn't think about the whole situation until her eyes popped open and it all came crashing down on her. Her stomach twisted into knots and she felt too jittery to just lie there.
It was time to get serious.
There was no way she could just sit there waiting—for what?—while her brother was missing. So Belinda picked up a hoe and hacked through the side window. Then she climbed on top of the wooden table and used gardening gloves to clear away all the leftover glass. With a deep grunt she pushed up and through the window, just squeezing through with a lot of sucking in and pushing and flailing.
Once she was up and dusted off, Belinda ran upstairs to her bedroom to change. As she rearranged her hair, the lights went out. "You have got to be kidding me." Belinda tried several lights in different spots of the house and let out a long, irritated groan. At best, something tripped.
Belinda turned on a flashlight, aiming down the basement stairs. Maybe she should have stayed in the garden shed after all. Then she wouldn't feel obligated to deal with the power situation. Belinda took one step at a time, not in a hurry to enter the dark pit of their unfinished basement. It was just a holding tank for unwanted junk. And the circuit board, unfortunately. She tried not to think too hard about what could be crawling around her and scurried to the circuit panel, flinging the metal door open. At a glance, nothing was tripped. As she carefully inspected each breaker, the door to the basement slammed shut.
Belinda whirled around, her heart stopping for a beat. She aimed her light at the door and then jerked it around the rest of the room, holding her breath. Deciding it wasn't worth it, she darted for the stairs just as the circuit panel buzzed, sparked, and caught fire. Belinda screamed, glancing around the room in panic for anything that could help. She grabbed a blue tarp and started hitting it against the circuit board, but it wasn't stopping the blaze. There was nowhere for the fire to spread really, but the smoke started to burn her lungs.
She dropped the tarp and ran around the basement searching for anything else that could help. An old lamp? Nope. Her parents' bikes? Nope. Her dad's power tools? Nope. Belinda's heart raced as she ran around, the smoke spreading out from the circuit board. It stung her eyes even from a distance.
Belinda ran up the stairs, slamming into the door when it didn't open. She jangled the knob, but it was definitely locked. Panic took over and she twisted the knob pointlessly. The car accident, Kyle missing...someone was trying to kill her.
She ran back down, running around again to find something that she could use to put out the fire. Then she looked up. A window. One small, almost pointless window. Maybe she could do what she did in the garden shed, but she needed a boost.
She picked up a mop and slid a lawn chair across the concrete floor and stood on top, closing her eyes as she jabbed the mop handle into the glass. It took more force than she thought it would, but she finally broke through. Unlike the shed, she knew she wouldn't be able to squeeze her butt through this window, but she could breathe clean air and scream for help.
She poked her face out, inhaling the fresh air and then yelled with all her strength. But after screaming her lungs out, she started to despair. Who would be around to hear her? Most of their neighbors were still away, and even if their landscapers were working with the spread of land between houses...
She banged on the basement door again, yelling for help, and pushing and jangling the knob as smoke reached her. Pulling her shirt up over her mouth, she body slammed the door with her shoulder, yelling in pain, but trying again. Her eyes stung and she could taste the smoke on her tongue. Belinda could see the fire starting to lick out to other objects in the room. She coughed, still hoping to make the solid door give. This was absolutely the worst trip home. Ever.
After she tried forcing the door free for the umpteenth time, she jogged back down to find some sort of tool to force the door open. Before that, Belinda breathed deep through the window, trying to yell, but losing her voice quickly. She found a hammer and took the prying end of it to try to make the door give. As she pulled, flattening her foot against the wall for leverage, the door gave and Belinda toppled into the main house face first, hacking up a lung and blind, so relieved that the door had finally let go.
But then arms lifted her up and carried her outside where sirens deafened her and someone slipped a mask on her face and breathing grew easier and her lungs felt less irritated and her eyes cleared. Then she could see the features of Jonas Parker looming down on her, frowning but relieved.
"That was you?" she croaked. Jonas nodded. "I thought I was awesome and forced the door open."
"You get an A for trying," he said soberly. "You have bruises to prove it."
/> Belinda groaned. "You have to solve this case before I'm deformed."
"And you have to start listening when you're told to stay put."
Touché. "How did you get in?"
He smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid I had to bust through the glass on the back door."
"Add it to the list of renovations." At this point, some broken glass was the least of her worries. Beyond the chaos, Belinda could just make out a figure moving toward them in a hurry from the street.
Bennett breathed heavy, his face shiny with perspiration, but when he took her hand it was cold. "Thank you, Jonas. Thank you." He squeezed her hand.
Jonas quietly examined the edge of her stretcher.
"Do I have to go to the hospital again?" Belinda said through the mask, which garbled her question.
Jonas nodded. "It's a good idea after inhaling smoke."
Belinda's eyes watered up. Kyle wasn't around to sit with her.
"I'll come with you," Bennett said eagerly, "and I'll call Victoria."
Belinda choked on a sob she couldn't quite stifle. Bennett sandwiched her hand between both of his while Jonas placed a hand on her head.
"Is there anything we can do for you, sugar?" Jonas said.
"My parents," Belinda managed to get out. "They don't know...and I want them to know." A fresh set of tears washed down her face. Jonas patted her head, promising they would get a hold of them.
Bennett pecked her on the forehead and stepped away with Jonas reluctantly, keeping Belinda in sight.
"Do you know what was on that image on the screen?" Jonas' voice turned more urgent and concerned now that Belinda was out of earshot. His green eyes constricted with worry.
"It could be a person watching the accident," Bennett said quietly. "But I couldn't tell who."
"I'm wondering what set him off to look at the footage, and I'm told he delivers bouquets to his wealthier customers. I'm wondering if Trebor was motivated to go back to the footage because of something he found out by making house calls."
Bennett glanced at Belinda, looking like a lost puppy on the stretcher in the middle of her yard. "What about the other shop cameras?"
"On it right after this. And just to warn you, I couldn't care less about procedure right now. Whatever I find, I want your eyes all over it."
Chapter 15
Bennett took Belinda to the Ocean Walk the next afternoon. He reasoned that she could use some fresh salt air after inhaling smoke from a fire, but he acted suspiciously and Belinda figured something more was at work than her oxygen supply. She forced a smile and tugged playfully at the edge of his newsboy cap. Then her lips curled down.
"I forgot," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm still mad at you."
"I'll take it, considering you're still alive."
Belinda's joy evaporated thinking about that. "Poor Mr. Trebor. Do you know what happened?"
Bennett summarized what he'd seen, skipping how he died. As he spoke, his whole countenance turned down. "I know Jonas won't overlook anything, but I just...I feel responsible."
Belinda wanted to blow away the cloud that screened his expression. "Why? You have nothing to do with this."
"I drew attention to the footage on his cameras."
"The police would have checked that out anyway."
"I know, but...maybe I got him thinking."
"Whoever killed him wouldn't have known about all that."
"Necessarily."
Belinda frowned, skipping down a set of stairs to the path, squishing to the right to let some oncoming foot traffic pass. Bennett strolled behind her, trying to keep his eyes on the back of her head and not on other pieces of her anatomy that popped out at him with every step.
"Guess where my favorite place is," Belinda said, hoping to distract him.
"The gelato place in town?"
Belinda wrinkled her nose. "You're just being cheeky."
Bennett lifted his brows, his eyes flicking down her back.
"It's coming up. Don't fall asleep back there."
The Walk spread out and opened up into a half-moon lookout. The cliffs jutted out, offering a clear view of the Atlantic. Belinda jogged to the lookout, leaning her palms on the stone wall guarding it and waved for Bennett to hurry up. "Look at that," she said. "Now that is the crown jewel of Portside."
Bennett caught up to her, shading his eyes to see what the jogging was for. The emerald green water rippled out toward the horizon.
"Doesn't the water just look like it stretches out forever without any land blocking its path?" Belinda stood on her toes, though she didn't need to. "When I stand here, I understand why people took to the sea to explore it. Even knowing good and well what's out there, I still want to jump on a boat and see for myself." Her eyes grew romantic and misty.
Bennett admired the view, but he admired Belinda admiring the view more. She grabbed his forearm, dragging him to another entrance and down a set of stairs to the bottom of the cliff where the waves steamrolled over the rocks, frothing at the edges. What had been a din became a roar at the bottom of the stairs. Belinda clasped her hands behind her back, looking out at the endless water, more melancholy than she'd been minutes earlier. "The police just think Kyle ran, don't they? That he's guilty and he took his opportunity and ran." Her face tightened as she struggled to keep the tears in.
With the chaos and her fear, Bennett felt bad telling her, but she had a right to know. "He took out a large sum of money the other day, and leaving his phone and car behind would just make good sense."
"But why leave it near the museum?"
Bennett kept his gaze on the water below. "Maybe he just wanted to make sure you were safe first."
Belinda closed her eyes. Kyle wouldn't just leave her. Would he? She purged that doubt immediately. Kyle would never run like that without telling her. They had very few secrets, and while she knew he had kept something from her lately, it wasn't that. If no one else wanted to look at other angles, then she would. Belinda raised her hand.
The corner of Bennett's mouth sloped up. "Yes?"
"What about the guy in the hallway?"
"The guy in the hallway?"
"Victoria and I passed one of your guys upstairs near the balcony where we saw Jeff in the gazebo."
Bennett tilted his head, squinting in thought. "I didn't have a guy upstairs near the balcony, though it could have been Finnegan." Bennett described his colleague in the most detail he could manage. Before he'd even finished, Belinda was shaking her head with her eyes closed.
"Nope," she said. "The guy that we saw was tallish and stocky with a shaved head and kind of a big nose."
Recognition flashed in his eyes. "Nobody like that works for me."
"Are you sure?" He'd recognized the description she gave him. Belinda had no doubt.
Bennett shifted his eyes sideways.
"Sorry. Gray-eyed eagle. Blah blah blah."
"I know who works for me and nobody with that description works for me."
"Then who was it?"
"It could have just been another guest."
Belinda shook one of her feet out of the flats she'd worn. They were cute, but she was starting to hate them. "Like I said, he looked like he was in some sort of official capacity. What if he was pretending to be one of your guys?"
"Then we would have a bigger problem."
"Tell me about it. There's some bald guy out there pretending to work for you."
"I was thinking more along the lines that we have an extra guest at the party that night who's unaccounted for." Bennett looked her right in the eyes, his own somber. "I have something I need to ask you."
Belinda's face fell. "That doesn't sound too pleasant."
"This whole business with Lily Devore. It's got something to do with your history." Bennett met her eyes straight on again. "Were you...involved...with Mark Nichols?"
Belinda felt her whole face and neck go up in flames. Even in the wind. She closed her eyes and took in a long breath. This was not
the conversation she'd planned to have with Bennett that afternoon. "Mark spent a lot of time with us the summer after senior year, right before he died." Bennett nodded. "Okay, well, that wasn't exactly new. He and Kyle had been best friends for a long time, so I'd spent my fair share of time with him."
Belinda took a moment to compose what came next. It was so embarrassing having to tell this story to Bennett. "I think Mark was surprised that I was all for their sailing adventures, and he told me that Lily had threatened to break up with him if he chose the sailing."
"How did he react?"
Belinda's face turned an even deeper shade of red. "He...he told her to go ahead."
Bennett looked at her questioningly after several seconds of silence. "Because....because he wanted to be with you."
Belinda took another deep breath, unprepared to answer that question.
"Is that the entire story?" Bennett said, doubt lacing his words.
"Only Lily knows what really happened between them, and I'm not sure I can trust her version. She never caused any public scenes because she didn't want anyone to know, though I suspect Stellan knew what was going on. She still made it perfectly clear to me that she thought I was a boyfriend-stealing trollop. That's sort of where the trouble with Jeff began."
"How so?"
At least the worst of her story was over, and Bennett didn't seem phased. "He defended me. To Lily's face, which takes some, you know, guts."
Bennett smirked.
"Anyway, whenever I saw Jeff that summer, he acted kind of distant. I knew he liked me and I'd tried to dance around it all through high school."
"He liked you all through high school and never made a move?"
Belinda shrugged. "Jeff was a slow boil kind of person."
"Apparently," Bennett muttered.
"But that summer, he acted differently and looking back I think he suspected Mark and I liked each other."
"Did you?"
Belinda flushed all over again. "I...I liked him."
Bennett looked away.
"So...so Jeff was kind of my savior after the fact, and I think my reaction unintentionally encouraged him." Belinda sighed heavily. "He was already so unstable at that point because of Mark and then he finally just came out and told me he liked me."