by Amy Saunders
But Mark didn't make it until that weekend.
If she'd only looked harder.... Belinda squeezed her eyes closed. She'd left the necklace on Sea Stud by accident, and ran back that night to get it. But Mark wasn't on board. The lights were on in the cabin and his car was in the lot, but he was gone. She couldn't find the necklace and when he didn't show, or answer his phone, she figured he'd run out to get something. They were right in town so he could've walked. But now Belinda knew why he was missing and she wanted so badly to redo that night. He was already dead or dying. Lily knew what had happened that day, and she killed Mark for it.
And now she was going to finally kill Belinda too.
"Well, Belinda," Lily crooned as she reentered the cabin, "the coast, quite literally, is clear, which is unfortunate for you. So I'm afraid it's time."
Lily yanked on Belinda's arms, forcing her up and to her feet. But Belinda's feet were also tied, so Lily grunted and panted, having to pull a reluctant Belinda along who refused to hop or help her in any way. If this Montresor thought Belinda was actually going to make it easy for her to drag Belinda to her own death, she was nuttier than she thought.
Belinda's mind raced as Lily dragged her up the stairs to the deck. She could feel the bruises forming as she clunked along, getting thrown into the sides as the boat rocked. She closed her eyes as full sun hit her. Lily left her on deck, clearly not worried about Belinda escaping. From what she could see, there was no direct hope of that. Nothing but water and sky.
"Mark was pretty surprised to see me that night," Lily said, admiring what looked like a bike chain. "When I told him I knew you two had gotten cozy long before then, he had the audacity to say nothing had happened until he dumped me. Well, I assured him that, even if I did believe him, I didn't care. The two of you would pay for making a fool of me."
Belinda had a pretty good idea of what Lily had in mind now and wriggled around, trying to loosen her wrist bonds. But Lily had spent too much time with Mark. She knew how to tie a knot.
Lily laughed. "Mark warned me to stay away from you, but I told him he wouldn't be around to protect you. Then I cracked his head open before he could stop me. I didn't plan on Stellan being such a coward. Or Jeff spying me leaving Mark's sailboat that night and being smart enough to put it together." Her eyes gazed in the direction of the harbor. "It was supposed to be a murder that you would be blamed for. Ah, well. This works too." Lily pulled the necklace out and slipped it over Belinda's head, fondling the pendant. "I never meant to hold on to this for so long, but I couldn't ever quite let it go." Lily's eyes focused on Belinda's. "I guess it's time."
Lily hoisted Belinda's feet in the air, so Belinda took her chances and kicked her legs as hard as possible. On dry land, it might've only irritated Lily. But this was not dry land. Lily fell backward, crashing near the cabin door. It stunned her because she sat still long enough for Belinda to get up on her knees and try and scuttle as far away as possible. She had no other game plan with her restraints, which felt like they got tighter as she struggled. And the more she saw of her surroundings, the more despairing she became. But she refused to just sit there and cry while Lily murdered her.
Before Belinda could crawl her way to the other side of the boat as waves knocked her off balance, Lily got her footing again and pulled Belinda up. If she thought that would be safer, she was wrong. As soon as Lily bent over to wrap the bike chain around her ankles, Belinda buckled her knees and thrust her body forward, knocking Lily in the face and toppling her over. She yelled as she rolled on the deck, just shy of sliding overboard. Belinda cursed, wishing she could just waltz across and push Lily over, but she was doing good to stay standing.
Then she saw it. The sun glinted off of a moving object in the distance and it was hurtling towards them. Could it be another boat? Could it even be someone she knew? But she didn't have much time to hope. Lily pulled her legs out from under her and Belinda slammed onto the fiberglass, the wind knocked right out of her. She laid there paralyzed, trying to breathe, while Lily wrapped the chain around her ankles.
As soon as air surged into Belinda's lungs again, she swung her feet at Lily's head. But Lily dodged, yanking Belinda to the lower deck. Seeing the water, feeling the metal weighing down her feet sent new shockwaves of fear through her. But also renewed determination. Before Lily could pull her over the edge, Belinda channeled all of her energy, squeezing it through her torso down into her leg muscles, and snapped her legs out.
Lily staggered into the ship's wheel and pushed Belinda off the side with her feet as the boat took a sharp left. She stood taller as Belinda slid into the water screaming, smug and eager to watch her die a slow death. But she'd set things in motion, and as the boat careened sideways into a swell, Lily flew backward. The last thing she saw as her temple drove into the corner of the cabin entrance was the shape of someone who looked like Mark standing on the bow of a motorboat.
~ * ~
Bennett squinted into the sun, his body slung over as far as he could manage without falling out of the boat as spray doused him with every wave they hit. He had one side, Jonas the other, and Kyle the bow. Just then Kyle turned yelling, his words stolen by the wind. He pointed and as the boat swerved, Bennett aimed his binoculars in that direction, adjusting them to see clearer.
Kyle hunched on the prow ready for battle. Bennett ripped his jacket off as Kyle dove off the bow. The harbormaster took a sharp right and Bennett dove from the side. He surfaced, seeing Kyle's and Belinda's heads, but she had tape across her mouth, and she was slipping from Kyle's grip. Bennett fought the current and the waves. It had been a while since his stint as a lifeguard, but he felt the training coming back to him. Kyle ripped the tape from Belinda's mouth, but struggled to keep her above water.
"We've got you," Bennett told Belinda. "You're not going anywhere."
She fought to keep her mouth and nose above water, her breaths shallow. Kyle ordered her to breathe deeper while Bennett dove under, the salt burning his eyes as he tried to see to remove the chain from her legs. In Lily's hurry, she'd just wrapped it with no real knot, but it was still tough to unwind underwater, especially with Belinda flailing her legs. Not moving out of the way in time, one end of the chain flew straight into the side of his head. He surfaced, gripping the lifesaver for support as his head started to throb.
Jonas pulled Belinda on board. She collapsed into his arms, coughing and crying. He lifted her onto a seat while Kyle helped Bennett up, now really feeling the pain in his temple. Kyle and Jonas untied and unchained Belinda, now just crying. Kyle hopped up next to her as she blabbered incomprehensibly.
"Bels, Bels, just...just stop talking right now." Kyle held her tight, his golden brown eyes betraying how scared he really was. By some miracle, his sister obeyed and just cried into his shoulder.
Jonas slapped Bennett on the back as they watched from a respectful distance. "Good job," Bennett said, keeping his eyes on Belinda.
Jonas gazed over at Sea Stud—and Lily's still body. "You too."
"It's okay if you're relieved." Bennett swallowed. "It's been an intense case."
"Thank you." Jonas half-smiled. "I may have to cry myself. When I'm home, in the dark, of course."
Belinda got herself together a little more, and slid off the seat with Kyle holding her arm to keep her steady. She was about to say something like thank you, when she realized that was hardly going to express how she felt, so she just flew with her impulse and wrapped her arms around Jonas' neck. It took Jonas a few seconds to recover and hug her back.
"You're starting to feel like an old friend," Belinda said, releasing him. "We're having you over for dinner. No protesting."
Jonas nodded, not even considering the idea of protesting. "I'll bring the beer."
Belinda grinned, meeting Bennett's gaze. Bennett smiled back in his way, and she reached for him and—
"Wait!" Kyle dove between them, putting his hands up. "Wait, wait, wait." He locked eyes with Bennett. "Do you current
ly have a psychotic girlfriend?"
"Kyle!" Belinda rolled her eyes.
"No," Bennett said solemnly.
"Have you ever had a psychotic girlfriend?"
Bennett looked to the sky, giving that a moment's thought. When he didn't answer right away, Belinda started to worry and held her breath.
"No."
She exhaled. "Are you done?"
Kyle thought a minute. "Yep."
"Then please move."
He stepped back and before anyone else could get in the way or object or kidnap her, Belinda threw her arms around Bennett, planting her lips on his at the same moment. Bennett didn't hesitate to respond this time, clutching her back tightly. Jonas arched his eyebrows and Kyle wrinkled his nose.
Belinda pulled away, both of their eyes sparkling. Bennett licked his lips. "Salty."
Chapter 24
Belinda sat between Kyle and Bennett on the boat as they chugged back up through the bay to Portside Harbor. It was such a clear, perfect day that Sea Stud was still visible on the horizon as the police worked to deal with the aftermath, namely Lily's dead body.
Belinda wanted to feel sorry that she'd died, but the few horrible seconds she was trapped underwater because of Lily successfully killed any hope of that happening. Not to mention Lily had admitted to killing Mark, and Belinda shivered at what she'd put Jeff through in his final moments alive. No, this was better.
Belinda wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders and turned to Bennett. "Did I kick you in the head?"
Bennett held the side of his head, trying to ignore the stabbing pain on the side where the chain had flogged him. His mouth creased almost imperceptibly. "Yes, you did."
"I'm really sorry." Belinda placed her hand on his head gently. "I—"
Bennett placed his fingers on her lips. "You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing."
Belinda relaxed, but kept patting his hair. "Actually, I do. I haven't been completely straight with you. You asked me if I was involved with Mark and I never gave you an honest answer." Belinda inhaled. "We were involved, though not for very long. Technically, we had one official day together, but it started long before that. I...I was embarrassed when you asked. But that's the truth."
Bennett nodded. "Okay."
Belinda bit her lip, working up her courage. "What was her name?"
Bennett seemed to snap out of some reverie, his hair still dripping down the side of his face to his neck. "What her are you talking about?"
"Her—the one who biased you against women of fortune."
Bennett licked his lips.
"Come on," Belinda said, slapping his knee with the back of her hand. "It's only fair since you know...you know."
Bennett hesitated, but the look in Belinda's eyes...this could work. Why not just surrender? "Alexa Dupuis."
Belinda's eyes went wide. No wonder he'd gotten jaded. "You went out with her?" she whispered. "Oh, Bennett. No wonder you hate us."
Bennett's eyes glinted. The first time in a while.
"She has issues. Big time." Belinda rolled her eyes. "She did anything and everything to annoy her parents in high school. Whatever she knew they hated, she went after with a vengeance. She went Goth for a semester because it sent her father into a rage just to see her with black nail polish one time. And she never dated anyone for the right reasons. At least, that I know of."
"So you're saying I was one in a long line."
"A very long line."
Bennett's whole face started to turn down.
"No," Belinda said. "No frowny face. You didn't know. And, well, Alexa is awfully pretty and charming when she wants to be. And it happened a while ago, right?"
Bennett nodded slowly, his jaw twitching.
"So, there you go. Hindsight and all that."
"You shouldn't feel bad," Kyle said, squished up next to Belinda in the seat. "Even knowing all of this, the guys in our school were still dumb enough to date her."
Belinda jammed her elbow in his ribs and shushed him.
He rubbed his side. "Why did I want to save you again?"
Bennett's lip curled up on one side. "She's not nearly as pretty or charming now that I've met you."
Belinda's face softened, her doe eyes twinkling. "I hate to toot my own horn, but one of the hottest guys in our class did say once that if he had to choose between us, he would pick me."
"He was also one of the dumbest," Kyle muttered.
Belinda ignored him.
"He had good taste," Bennett said.
"I see where this is going," Kyle said, sliding off the seat, "so I'm just gonna go over here." He slipped to the other side of the boat, leaning over the side. Belinda watched him stick his nose into the wind for a second, then turned back to Bennett.
"So I guess I have to forgive you now," Belinda said. "For insinuating that because I'm rich, I'm a spoiled, rebellious snob who toys with a man's feelings."
Bennett raised his eyebrows. "In that case, I forgive you too."
Belinda whipped her head around. "For what?"
"For making me the least rational I've been in a very long time."
Belinda's snarl instantly spread into a smile. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Then Bennett kissed her, and for once it was a thousand times better than her daydreams. At least.
~ * ~
Belinda stood in her bedroom just cradling the knot pendant in her palm. She didn't want to let go of it completely, not yet. But it was time to put it all to rest. There was no going back to the night Mark was killed and saving him. If that had even been possible. Nothing made that okay, but at least they knew what had happened and the one responsible had officially paid for it.
She let the necklace rain into a silk pouch and locked it away in a compartment of her jewelry case, whispering a good-bye to Mark. It was time to go meet her friends.
Cleaner, breathing easier, and much more at peace, Belinda trotted outside to join Kyle, Jonas, and Bennett, gathered around a crumpled piece of metal that used to be Jonas' bike.
"What happened to it?" Belinda put her hands on her hips.
"I promise I'll pay for a new one," Kyle said to Jonas.
"You ran over his bike?" Belinda said.
"I was in a panic to get to you and I didn't realize it was behind my Jeep."
"I parked it in the grass," Jonas said forlornly. "I thought it would be safe there."
Bennett and Belinda exchanged amused glances. Bennett held an ice pack to the side of his head, looking a little woozy. Belinda frowned. "What will happen to Jarrett?"
"Well, he's guilty of breaking and entering and setting the basement on fire..." Jonas rocked on his feet.
Kyle glanced at him. "You forgot the so-called car accident."
"Byrne actually confessed to driving the car. However, Jarrett has admitted to being an accomplice."
"So is there anything I can do to help him?" Belinda said. She figured Jarrett's future was rocky now, but she also knew the right connections could make a difference.
Kyle looked at her in disbelief. "Help him? Sis, he tried to kill you!"
"No, he didn't. He was trying to rescue me. I know he was a little misguided—"
"A little?" Kyle stepped toward her. "Yeah. I'd say he was a little misguided locking you in the basement and rigging the circuit board to light up." Kyle's chest stiffened. "You're the Queen of Misguided Lovers, you know that?"
"Kyle," Belinda said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want this poor kid to end up like Jeff. He needs help."
Jonas glanced from one to the other. "I'm sure we can find a way for you to help out."
"Thank you. I want to do whatever we can to make things right." She patted Kyle's shoulder. If he wanted to go cold on her after everything that had happened, fine. She could go visit with Bennett while he defrosted.
"I know Mr. Trebor's family appreciates Carmichael's legal assistance," Jonas said.
"Pro bono." Bennett looked at Belinda sign
ificantly.
"Carmichael's a decent guy." She smiled at Bennett. "For Trebor's sake, though, I just wish he hadn't gone to Lily's."
Jonas sighed. "It's a two-edged sword. On the one hand, he saw you in your bedroom on Lily's computer when he delivered those flowers and recognized that it was some sort of surveillance. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't have known she was using your computer webcam to spy on you. On the other, ignorance is safer—for some of us."
"Not for Stellan."
"No, not for him." Jonas crossed his arms. "He should have called the police and let Jeff tell them that he saw Lily leaving Mark's sailboat the night before. If he had...well, this whole thing would have been over with about ten years ago."
"Are we going to help him too?" Kyle said sarcastically.
Belinda pinched him, but not with much gusto. "He has his own set of lawyers for that. Even with Byrne willingly giving him up, I don't think Stellan will fall too hard for that or over the illegal immigration papers scheme they have going. I foresee him slipping right through the noose and back into his comfy New York City penthouse. But, I do have to say, I actually like him better now than when we were kids."
"And Byrne?" Jonas said. "Will you follow through on your promise to him? Even if he was Lily's right-hand man?"
Belinda had actually forgotten about that. And she knew more about his involvement now than when she'd thrown that out there, but no matter. Her word was her word. "He did cooperate as it turns out, so I guess I don't have a choice. I suppose I can do something so he doesn't take all the blame. Stellan did accept a payout from Lily when he discovered Sea Stud in his warehouse, and that was after he told me about Mark. He should have learned his lesson and called the police."