Real Mermaids Don't Sell Seashells

by Helene Boudreau

  “That’s them!” one of the girls from our group yelled. Sure enough, Taylor ’n Tyler emerged from the back of the limousine, flanked by bodyguards. They turned toward the crowd and waved, flashing their bright white smiles as a group of paparazzi jostled to get a good picture while the police officers managed the crowds behind the rope barriers. After several minutes of posing and waving, Taylor ’n Tyler disappeared up the gangplank to head to the concert on the upper deck.

  “Hey, maybe Officer Ensel is on duty here,” Luke said. “Maybe he can clear this whole thing up.”

  I searched each officer’s face, but none of them was Ensel. “No, none of these guys look familiar.”

  “But one of them might know about Dillon’s case at least,” Luke said. “It wouldn’t hurt to check.”

  “Good point. Excuse me!” I called out. A lady cop was adjusting the barriers a little farther along the crowd. She looked my way.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “Sorry to bother you, but we’re wondering about a friend who went missing this week. We had been dealing with Officer Ensel. He told us our friend Dillon had been found, but his mother is still looking for him. I’m sorry I don’t know Dillon’s last name, we only just met, but we were wondering if you knew where he was.”

  The officer looked at me skeptically. “Who was the officer you spoke to again?”

  “Ensel,” I replied.

  “Carl Ensel?” she asked. “I work at his precinct, and there have been no missing person reports this week.”

  “That’s weird,” Luke said.

  The officer asked me for a few more details about Dillon. She wrote something in her notepad and put it back in her pocket then pulled out a card similar to Officer Ensel’s. “I’ll look into this, but if you have any other information, please give me a call.”

  “Thanks,” I said, tucking the card in my bag. I secretly wondered if anyone was actually interested in looking for Dillon. Ensel didn’t seem to be. Kiki and her boyfriend thought he’d just taken off somewhere, and his own mother had taken three days to start getting concerned.

  I looked at Luke with raised eyebrows once the officer moved on. But by then, the guides from the Sparkle Wish Club and ship staff had started to lead the spectators up the gangplank onto the ship, so there was no time to talk. Everyone had to swipe their passcards to get on the ship, just like Cori had predicted.

  “Please keep the passcard visible at all times and stay with the group,” a Sparkle Wish guide announced.

  The hallway leading to the elevators and stairs was jam-packed and Luke reached for my hand. Did that mean we were okay despite what had just happened with Cori and Trey?

  We’d finally gotten past the worst of the crowd and reached a landing with a bank of elevators when Luke dropped my hand again.

  “That was weird with that officer, right?” I asked, trying not to overanalyze the whole hand-holding thing. Oh, who was I kidding? I kept right on overanalyzing the whole hand-holding thing!

  “I know. It doesn’t sound like this Ensel guy even looked into Dillon’s disappearance,” Luke whispered.

  “Officer Ensel told my dad he would try to be discreet. Maybe he kept Dillon’s case off the books as a favor.” I was seriously starting to wonder whether we were on a wild-goose chase.

  “So should we just drop it?” Luke asked.

  “No!” I replied louder than I’d intended. Something just kept nagging at me about the whole situation.

  “Didn’t think so,” Luke said with a wry smile.

  “I mean, we’re here already,” I replied, a bit less forcefully. “It wouldn’t hurt to take a look around.”

  “Do we try to find out about the porthole first?” Luke asked.

  “That depends. How far can we get with these pass cards?” I looked at the cruise-ship staff and some of the passengers trying to get through the crowd of newcomers. They all had plastic cards on strings hanging from their necks too.

  “Ours won’t get us into private cabins or anything, but now that we’re on board, we should be able to get to all the public areas. We probably don’t want to make it too obvious that we’re snooping around though.”

  I considered this for a second.

  “Let’s go to the upper deck where the concert is supposed to be to make it look like we’re part of the crowd, then slip out once the concert gets started so we can get the lay of the land,” I said.

  The elevators were taking forever and several of the Sparkle Wishers were in wheelchairs, so we headed up the stairs. By the fourth floor, I thought I was going to puke.

  “How big is this ship, anyway?”

  “Come on. Just two more floors.” Luke laughed, grabbing my arm.

  We made it up the last few steps and rested on the upper deck, leaning on the railing over the water. The concert was being held in the middle of the ship, where they had one of the swimming pools covered with a platform for the spectators and a higher platform tricked out with instruments, microphones, and stage lights. Large video screens were already showing one of Taylor ’n Tyler’s latest music videos, and the air all around the ship seemed to sparkle with excitement.

  Kids streamed past us and headed down to mid-deck to find a spot to view the concert.

  I braced my elbows on the ship’s railing and looked overboard. I could see the balconies’ white railings tucked into the side of the ship for a few decks down, but it was hard to see the portholes from that angle.

  “The porthole I saw was way at the back,” I said. “But you can’t see it from here, especially with the way the ship curves toward the stern.”

  “Perfect for tossing mers overboard,” Luke said.

  “Mers with two-ton backpacks,” I added.

  “I forgot to ask. What was in that backpack, anyway?” Luke asked.

  I thought back to how Bobbie and Eddie had stopped those drug smugglers off the coast of Florida and got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. “I don’t know, but I’m thinking they weren’t Mickey Mouse watches.”

  Suddenly, the music from the stage pumped up and a group of very enthusiastic cruise-ship employees jumped onto the stage and started dancing and clapping.

  “Hi, everyone!” a cheery girl in a cruise ship T-shirt called out to the audience. “Welcome to Taylor ’n Tyler’s benefit concert for the Sparkle Wish Club. Wonderment Cruiselines has made a donation on behalf of all our crew, and Taylor ’n Tyler are not only here tonight to entertain everyone but have generously matched our donation as well, so more Sparkle Wishers can be granted their wishes!”

  A huge cheer rose from the audience. It made me think of how Cori and I had been so annoyed when we thought Taylor ’n Tyler bumped our reservation at the Eutopia. Now, I felt completely horrible, since they were obviously really good guys doing a very good thing for a worthy charity.

  “And now, without further ado, here are Taylor ’n Tyler!”

  Another huge cheer erupted, and Luke and I were jostled between enthusiastic fans.

  This is crazy, I rang to Luke in my mer voice so he could understand me over the noise.

  And pretty cool. Look! He pointed to where Taylor ’n Tyler had taken to the stage. They sang and danced to their new single, sending the fans into a frenzy.

  Once the concert was in full swing, Luke grabbed my hand again (good sign!) and we casually made our way through the crowd to the edge of the deck where he dropped it again (bad sign!), so we could slip back to the stairwell to try and make it to the floor with the porthole. The sun had set by then and it was nearly dark.

  “Can you get your grandpa on the phone again?” I asked Luke once we were safely in the stairwell. “If he and Bobbie have Henry, we could find out a bit more about this Baldie guy.”

  “Good idea.” Luke took out the phone and pressed redial then handed the phone to me.


  “Hello?” Eddie answered and passed me off to Bobbie.

  “Hi, Bobbie, it’s Jade. Did you find Henry?” I asked.

  “Yes, he’s here with us at the marina. Should I call your parents? Where are you?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. Mom and Dad were getting married the next day. At least I hoped they were. The whole thing with Henry was handled as far as I was concerned. I just wanted to see if there was any evidence that Dillon was indeed on the ship. If so, I promised myself I would call the police and my parents right away. Baldie had already proven to be a very bad dude, and I had no intention of coming face to face with the guy.

  “Oh, no. No need to call my parents but if you see them just tell them Luke and I didn’t want to miss the concert so we’re on the cruise ship like we’d planned.”

  “Trey and Cori should be there soon,” Bobbie said. “They’ve got my phone if you need them.”

  She told me the number so Luke could program it into his dad’s phone.

  “Good, thanks. I was also wondering if you could ask Henry a few questions. I’m curious if he knows anything else about the bald guy who did this to him. Like what part of the ship does he work in?” I asked.

  “Just a second,” Bobbie said, and I could tell by the ring through the phone that she was asking him. I waited a few moments, then Bobbie came back on the phone. I tilted the phone a little so Luke could listen in. “He says the bald man got him on the ship in a shipping container through the loading dock then transported him in a maintenance cart to a room with a porthole. Henry was kept tied up and gagged, but he heard the man call his boss to tell him he was closing part of that deck for maintenance.”

  So that’s how Baldie got away with holding someone hostage on the ship all the way from Florida.

  “Does Henry know what room it was?” I asked and waited the few moments it took for Bobbie to ask the question.

  “He says 1078,” Bobbie replied. “The phone in the room was disconnected but that’s what the display on the handset said. But why do you want to know? I don’t want you kids to do anything silly. That man is obviously dangerous.”

  “It would be good to know so we can tell the cops if there’s any way to get this guy in trouble.”

  “Unfortunately it will be really hard to do that since there are mers involved. Not exactly the kind of evidence we want to turn over to the police,” Bobbie replied.

  That was true, just like I’d told Luke. But I had a feeling there might be something else we could pin on Baldie. A way to make sure he never bothered Henry again. And if my hunch was right, it might mean helping someone else in trouble.

  “You’re right. Okay, thanks,” I replied and hung up.

  “So what’s next?” Luke asked.

  “More stairs?”

  “Let’s do it.”

  Luke and I hoofed it downstairs. The landing on the first floor opened into two hallways, and we went the wrong way at first but then got ourselves turned around and headed in the right direction toward 1078. We could only get as far as cabin 1070 where part of the hallway was blocked off with yellow tape. A sign hung from the tape: “Electrical Work in Progress. This Area Closed.”

  “Electrical work, yeah right,” I said to Luke and we ducked under the tape. Cabin 1078 was the last room at the end of the hallway. I knocked on the door.

  “Are you crazy?” Luke whispered behind me. “What if he’s in there?”

  “Isn’t that why we’re here? To find out?” I asked, not quite understanding what Luke meant.

  “Jade, this guy is dangerous,” Luke said. “You saw what he did to Henry.”

  “Not Baldie,” I replied. “I’m talking about Dillon.”

  But Luke had a point. What if the door opened and I came face to face with a mer-kidnapping smuggler? I’d come too far to turn back now, though, so I put my ear to the door, ready to run for my life if necessary. There were thudding sounds from inside, like someone was trying to send a message.

  “Dillon?” I whispered as loudly as I dared. “If you can hear me, knock three times.”

  I waited a few seconds, and sure enough, three knocks sounded from inside the room. My heart seized in my chest. How long had Dillon been held captive in this room? I wondered. How scared had he been all this time?

  “Don’t worry, Dillon. We’re going to call for help,” I whispered back. “Hang in there.”

  I hadn’t stuck up for Dillon that day back at the Straw Market and look where that got him. I had to make this right. But rescuing a prisoner from a locked room was beyond my skill set. It was time to get the police involved.

  “Do we call 911?” Luke asked, pulling out his phone.

  “I’m not sure if 911 works in the Bahamas.” I slid off my backpack and pulled out the lady officer’s card. “Here, try this number.”

  Luke took the card and held up his dad’s phone, looking for reception. “I can’t get a signal down here. We’re going to have to go back to the upper deck.”

  “We can’t just leave him here,” I said, looking at the door and wondering if Dillon was hurt. “You go and I’ll stay.”

  “Forget it,” Luke said. “There’s no way I’m leaving you down here by yourself.”

  The decision was made for us when the door to a maintenance room a few feet away creaked open. We hustled down the hallway and ducked under the yellow tape.

  “Hey!” I heard a booming voice and stole a quick glance over my shoulder. I couldn’t get a good look at the guy, but he had a blue Wonderment Cruiselines hat on. “Hey, you two!” he called again, sending a shudder of fear through my body.

  “Go, go, go!” I said to Luke. We ran to the stairwell and started back up the stairs. “We can get lost in the concert crowd.”

  Gah! So many stairs!

  I thought I was going to lose my lunch by the time we reached the top floor but thankfully, it didn’t seem like the guy was following us because I couldn’t hear his footfalls on the stairs. By then, Luke had gotten reception on the cell phone and was dialing the lady officer’s number. He explained who we were and that we’d found Dillon.

  “Our friend is being held in cabin 1078, but hurry! We think the man who’s been holding him captive is after us,” Luke said.

  “Do you really think that was him?” I whispered. “Maybe it was just some other maintenance worker.”

  No sooner were the words out of my mouth than the elevator doors slid open and a goateed, ball-capped man stepped out.

  “You’re that girl from the marina, aren’t ya?” Baldie pulled a large wrench from his pocket and slapped it into the palm of his other hand. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s not polite to snoop around where you don’t—”

  We took off before he could finish his sentence.

  “This guy’s even crazier than Finalin and Medora,” I called over my shoulder as we ran out onto the upper deck to the blaring music and crushing crowds of the Taylor ’n Tyler concert. I reached behind to grab Luke’s hand, remembering the two homicidal mers we’d met in Talisman Lake earlier that year. The only difference was that Finalin and Medora were crazy with a good cause—to free all the mers who’d been wrongfully imprisoned in the lake by the Mermish Council.

  Baldie was just a straight-up maniac!

  He won’t try anything with all these people around, Luke rang to me in his mer voice as we traveled deeper and deeper into the crowd.

  I hope not, I rang back, looking around at all the happy fans clapping and singing along to Taylor ’n Tyler’s music.

  “Hi!” Someone grabbed my arm, nearly scaring me out of my flip-flops. It was Macy, with Nick and their parents. “Are you guys having fun?”

  “Oh, hi!” I replied in surprise.

  Baldie might not do anything stupid with all these people around, but could I really take that chance? Hadn’t Henry said he’d forced
him onto the ship? What if he had a gun? That was nothing to mess around with. “We’re having a ball. Thanks so much for the tickets.”

  “Where are your friends?” Macy asked.

  “We’re actually looking for them right now.” I could see that Luke was texting Cori and Trey to let them know what was going on. I caught a glimpse of a blue Wonderment Cruiselines ball cap on the right side of the ship near the railing. “Stick close to your parents, okay? And enjoy the rest of the show.”

  We have to get out of here. Who knows what this guy is capable of doing. I don’t want any of these kids getting hurt, I rang to Luke and pointed to the other side of the ship away from Baldie. That way.

  Baldie was in the path of the stairs, so we worked our way through the crowd to the bow to hide out until the coast was clear. There was another large swimming pool at the bow with the super-big waterslide that went out and over the water. Just looking at it made my stomach do somersaults.

  The pool was closed for the evening, and no one was around since most people were at the concert.

  “Let’s hide under here,” I suggested and led Luke underneath the waterslide where we could take cover until help arrived. Something nagged at me as we waited.

  “What I don’t get is why go through all the trouble of dumping a merman into the water to do your dirty work?” I whispered. “And then to kidnap Dillon?”

  “You saw the security coming in here,” Luke said. “There’s no way Baldie could have smuggled the bag through there. Plus, I’m pretty sure it would have had to go through customs and that wouldn’t have worked out too well for him.”

  “I bet he never intended to help Henry get home,” I said, my body boiling with seething rage aimed at the man in the blue Wonderment Cruiselines baseball cap.

  “But now Baldie’s in so deep. No wonder he doesn’t want Dillon talking,” Luke said.

  Then it occurred to me. “What if he gets back to 1078 before the cops get there?”

  “You’re right. I should call that officer again,” Luke said.