Cliffhanger (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book One)

by Amy Saunders

  Jonas smirked. "You're quite the woman, Ms. Kittridge."

  Belinda gazed over at Bennett. "As my nana always tells me, status is only as good as what you use it for."

  Chapter 25

  Belinda and Kyle squished up together on the same chair in front of Belinda's laptop. What had been used as an evil spyware tool was now a way to talk to their parents face-to-face across the Atlantic. All four of them waved to each other, talking all at once.

  "There's the other one!" Belinda's mom pointed at Kyle. She gripped her chest, her golden brown eyes getting watery. "My twin babies are both okay."

  "I'm sorry about the house," Belinda said despondently. She wanted to hug the computer monitor. She hadn't realized how much she needed them through this whole ordeal until they appeared on the screen. "You're going to have to fix the back door too. And the bar glass..."

  "We're in Europe," her father interjected, sticking his nose up to the webcam like a curious puppy. "Maybe we'll find a replacement."

  "And if not," Rosalind said, "I'll come home to my house in shreds, but not my children."

  Her father, Spencer, shrugged. "You have the information. Take care of anything you need."

  "Bennett already recommended someone for the circuit board issue," Kyle said. "He's coming tomorrow."

  Rosalind squinted into the webcam, flicking back her reddish-brown hair. "Who?"

  "Some guy named—"

  "Not that!" Rosalind rolled her eyes. "Who's Bennett?"

  "He's a friend," Belinda said quickly before Kyle could open his big mouth again.

  "Have we met before?"

  "Oh, no. He's new. I mean, I only met him when I got back." Belinda could feel her face start to flush.

  "Well, that's very nice of him to help out, considering you just met." Rosalind set her knowing eyes on her daughter.

  "Bennett helped us out a lot, especially Bels." Kyle leaned across his sister. "The circuit board's kind of a minor thing in comparison." Belinda knew he was trying to help, but she wished he would just stop.

  "You'll thank him for us?" Spencer said. "And the police officer who did so much for you?"

  Belinda nodded, relieved. Saved by her father's obliviousness.

  "So will the two of you survive in the carriage house?" Rosalind said.

  Kyle grinned. "She'll keep me in line."

  Their parents laughed. "We have no doubt," their father said.

  "Whatever you do, keep the security system activated from now on. That's why we have one!"

  Belinda lit up and opened her mouth, words pouring out before she could really stop herself. "Bennett's coming to help with that later." Rosalind raised her eyebrows and Belinda's face grew warm again. "Kyle did something to the system, and I can't get it to work now. Bennett's in security." Belinda faltered, now gripping her knees. "That's what he does for work."

  "He sounds handy."

  "Oh, he's very handy," Kyle said in an exaggerated voice. "He was a police officer and did some private investigating, and now he's in event security. His range of expertise has proven invaluable through this whole situation."

  Belinda glowered at him.

  "Oh, and he loves pancakes. Especially Belinda's."

  Kyle would pay for that last remark. Oh, would he pay.

  "Kyle ran over your tomato plants with his dirt bike."

  "Hey! We had a deal!"

  Belinda smiled sweetly. "All bets were off when you said Bennett likes my pancakes."

  "Are you done now?" Spencer said, his eyes crinkling around the edges in amusement.

  "You destroyed my tomato plants?" Rosalind looked back at her husband with sad eyes.

  "Oh, honey. That was never going to work out. I think we established that last year."

  Rosalind wrinkled her nose. Belinda and Kyle laughed. There was nothing like a family reunion via video conference, even if they were crazy.

  ~ * ~

  A dance song blared from the carriage house when Bennett drew up in his truck. After knocking several times with no response, he finally just opened the door. Kyle wore a black fedora angled on his head and he and Belinda danced around each other.

  Belinda finally saw Bennett and grabbed his hand, dragging him over to their mini dance floor. He stood there while she hopped around and lifted his arm to twirl under it, and she and Kyle shouted the lyrics to the song. Bennett knew they were a lot alike, but this just clarified that their similarities went beyond appearance.

  "We earned the title best dance duo by our class," Belinda said proudly.

  "You danced together?" Bennett held his ground while Belinda yanked his arms around.

  "We went doe and stag to a lot of parties," Kyle said, tilting his fedora so it covered his eyes.

  "Doe and stag?"

  "Yeah, well, it can't really be just stag if my sister's with me."

  Belinda laughed again and held her hands up behind her. "We're celebrating because Kyle just put the last box on top."

  Bennett gazed up at the pyramid. It was hardly the most efficient way to organize their stuff, but with little time to move everything and the chaos that had erupted, it was the best Belinda could do. At least the boxes were out of the way so they wouldn't constantly trip over them.

  "All Kyle has to do now is haul in our suitcases and we're done," she said, powering down the stereo when the song ended.

  "All I have to do?" Kyle huffed. "What's happening to you?"

  "I have to go help Bennett." Belinda smiled, twirling over to the door. "And you owe me. Big time."

  Kyle opened his mouth to protest but then just nodded agreement.

  "Don't forget to sign the card for Nicole. It's on the island."

  "What did you and Victoria end up buying?"

  "Bar glasses." She smiled. Kyle's face lit up and Belinda led Bennett to the main house. He followed her inside, their footsteps echoing louder without any furniture in the house.

  "I think this is the paperwork for the system, but it's just a guess. I forgot to ask Mom and Dad and it's a pain to contact them—the time difference and all." Belinda rolled her eyes at Europe's audacity to be in a different time zone. "But it looks right, don't you think?"

  Bennett looked at the crinkled piece of paper and studied the keypad for a minute, already familiar with that type of security system.

  "Even Kyle won't be able to argue now, and I don't care if he does. We're using it." Belinda folded her arms over her chest as if that made it a done deal. After hovering around him expectantly, Bennett finally shooed her away. He could reactivate it in seconds, but not with her interrupting him.

  Once that was taken care of, Bennett met Belinda on the back porch, bearing two sugar cookies he'd picked up from a bakery en route. Belinda bit into hers, closing her eyes as the cookie melted right on the spot. Bennett enjoyed his with less drama, but he did enjoy the show. "That's a good cookie," Belinda said after she swallowed. Bennett agreed.

  "I can resist most sweets, but not sugar cookies."

  "So now I know how to bribe you." Belinda's eyes sparkled as she chewed off another piece.

  Bennett half-smiled, tilting his head down. "Never give away your tactics."

  "Well, I don't think I'd ever actually bribe you, though it might be tempting." She licked sugar off of her fingers. "Though not as tempting as the cookies themselves. I'd probably eat them before I ever got to you."

  Bennett munched and they both watched the ripples on the water beyond, the sound of a hammer banging carrying on the wind. Soon enough, Belinda would hear plenty of that racket right there.

  "Are you all right with how things turned out?" he said.

  Belinda shrugged. "Yes and no. I have a lot of pesky 'what-ifs?'"

  "Like what?"

  "This may sound far-fetched, but I started to wonder if Jeff's issues were just tied up with what he knew about Mark. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to."

  Bennett frowned. "I don't think I would say it's far-fetched, but pointless to sp
eculate now. If he did hope to tell you, he could have taken a much better approach. Or, better yet, spoken to someone who could have actually helped him."

  "I could've helped."

  "Let me rephrase then. He should have spoken with someone older. You were too young to become his confidant about a potential murder case."

  Belinda had to agree with him there. "I still feel terrible about it. Worse knowing that Lily tried to put the blame on Kyle for the whole thing."

  "Kyle, Stellan. Whoever was convenient I think."

  "One positive development has come from all of this though."

  Indeed, Bennett thought. "What's that?"

  "Kyle is refurbishing Mark's old sailboat and getting back to sailing himself this summer." Belinda beamed. "It's been so long and I was beginning to give up hope that he would ever sail again."

  "Ever is a long time."

  "True. But he did have legitimate reasons to stay away."

  "I guess he now has legitimate reasons to return to it."

  Belinda glanced at him shyly. "Maybe you can come out with us sometime. If you have room in your schedule. I know you're busy."

  "I'll make room." Bennett smiled. That true smile that she'd seen once while they fished on the rocks and his eyes turned velvety gray.

  Belinda's face did that glowing thing it did a lot when she was pleased, her heart fluttering at the thought that Bennett Tate would make room for her, and she took another bite of her cookie. If he kept bringing her sweets, he might have to make room for her in more ways than one.

  ~ * ~

  Now Available!

  Auf'd (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Two)

  Coming Soon…

  Drive-Bye (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Three)

  Other Works by Amy Saunders

  Biohazard

  The Jester's Apprentice

  Dead Locked

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  Acknowledgements

  I have to thank my ever-patient beta readers for bearing with me through multiple drafts. If it weren't for their honesty and support, I would never have made it this far as a novelist!

  About the Author

  Amy Saunders is a mystery lover with a soft spot for humor and romance—and the ocean. So it's appropriate that her first series encompasses all of these elements. She's also the author of three standalone mysteries and one short story. Learn more about Amy and her books at her website.