I signed the book, took her cash, and hurried her out the door.
Then locked up.
I looked like a crazy person. I was acting like a crazy person.
Alyson was right, though. It was seeming less and less likely that it had been a shark attack. And yet the extra nets were going up that day. And once they were up, everything they caught would be killed.
But how could we convince the entire town that they’d gotten it wrong? That putting the nets up was not going to make them any safer, because while there was a killer on the loose all right, it didn’t have fins.
16
Alyson
Calvin and I both stared up at the blank spot where the mural had been. My neck was straining. I just kept thinking about what could have been. About how close I’d been to having the nets taken down. Now there were twice as many.
Troy had been carefully avoiding me. Not texting me. Not ‘coincidentally’ running into me at the coffee shop or the beach. Very usual for him, that was. Usually, I couldn’t get rid of him even when I was trying to.
“You did your best,” Calvin said with a heavy sigh. Yeah. That seemed to be the thing people said to me. What else could they say? That I had let them down? That I had been taken in by a crazy scheme and a few softhearted articles on the internet about how shark culling doesn’t do anything to make beaches safer? They didn’t say that. But there were some people who were even holding me responsible for Rex’s death. People were saying that the double nets should have been up since day one and it was only my campaign that had made the authorities hold back.
I’d never actually been inside the mall up till that point. Why would I? I didn’t like to shop, and I didn’t support capitalism or big business.
Only the bottom level was ‘open’ officially, but the second and third floors were gearing up for their grand unveilings and there were signs up saying that the top-level shops would be higher end and more ‘exclusive,’ as though we were supposed to be happy about that.
The scent of perfume hit me, and I coughed. I had to find the management office on the interactive map and finally located it on the east wing of the bottom floor. I needed to be buzzed in, but Troy nodded and let me through the glass doors.
“I haven’t heard from you for a few days,” I said, trying not to sound too offended. I wasn’t even sure that I was. But I was…something. I just wasn’t sure exactly what the emotion was. I was slightly troubled by it.
“It’s nothing personal,” he said in this sort of gruff dismissive way that sounded really quite personal.
“Um, okay then.”
Troy looked stressed. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. “This beach shutdown was not exactly in the projections for this quarter. We are bleeding money, Alyson. I have had other things on my mind, I’m sorry.”
Right. I suddenly got it. Troy’s desire to help with the Save Sharkey campaign was all about profits. He wasn’t an environmentalist at all. He never had been. He just didn’t want the beach to shut and tourists to be scared off by sharks because it would cause his brand-new mall to lose business.
I hung my head a little.
“I’ll leave you to your profits and projections charts then.”
“I don’t want you to leave, Alyson.”
I stared up at him. “But now that I can’t actually save Sharkey, you don’t need me anymore, do you?”
He didn’t say anything. I just walked out.
Calvin looked sympathetic as I told him about what had happened. He shrugged a little. “That guy always seemed like he had an angle. An agenda.”
Yeah, for sure. Troy Emerald always had an angle. But… Had I just been stupid for thinking that deep down he was a good guy? Of course profits always came first for him. Humans, animals, they were second.
I had come to a decision. If he really had been bribing the police so that he could get his mall built quicker, the public needed to know.
17
Claire
I raced into Captain Eightball’s where Alyson was waiting for me in a booth. My arms were spilling over with books. She looked at me like she was about to burst into laughter at my appearance, and I patted my hair down. “Okay, okay. I know I must look like a crazy professor right now…” I hadn’t slept and my heart was palpitating in a weird way from too much caffeine. But that didn’t matter.
“Look at this,” I said, showing her the book about shark attacks.
Alyson nodded. “Right… I mean, I knew all this. They have something called ‘the internet’ these days, Claire.”
“Ha-ha,” I said, pulling the book back. We stood up and walked to the counter to order some cheese fries. Yes, maybe you could read articles and opinion pieces on the internet—not to mention Alyson’s news blog that she thought was anonymous but was, in reality, anything but—but a real-life reference book would always be superior. I flipped through the pages to show her the most important pictures. The bitemark pictures.
“These were not what the marks on Meg and Rex looked like.”
Alyson frowned at me. “How do you even know what the bitemarks looked like? They censored the photos they printed in the paper.”
Oh. Great. Darn. I was not supposed to let that one slip.
“Oh um, I must have, erm… I guess I accidentally…”
I glanced around for a drink of cold water, but there was no one behind the bar.
Alyson had one hand on her hip as she stared me down, like a stern school teacher. Was I crazy or had she aged like ten years in the past week?
“I am sort of friends with Rachael Beckham.”
The hand fell off Alyson’s hip. She went entirely limp. Deflated.
“Alyson, I didn’t want you to know. I knew you would be upset. I promise I knew nothing about that article she printed.”
Alyson dropped her face into her hands and groaned.
“Of course you’re friends with her. You are probably buddy-buddy with every member of the press in town. In fact! You are probably in on the whole conspiracy!”
She looked up at me and her face was beet red.
“Alyson, let me explain!”
She slammed the door before she stormed out. It scared the customers.
I heard one of them say to another, with eyebrows raised, “Well, I definitely wouldn’t vote for anyone with a temper like that.”
Rachael Beckham had her head buried in a pile of papers she was sorting through, her hair in a messy bun that was getting messier and messier.
“Hey, Claire!” She brightened up when she saw me and took her glasses off, rubbing her tired eyes. “Boy, it has been a week, I’ll tell you that much. I’m looking forward to our drink.”
So was I.
“Anywhere but Captain Eightball’s.”
She laughed. “How about The Horseshoe then?”
It was a little strange to see the Horseshoe in daylight hours. It was empty, so we were able to get a table that actually overlooked the ocean. Rachael took a sip of her white wine and grinned at me in satisfaction.
“You’re not still friends with that Alyson Foulkes, are you?”
I laughed a little and shook my head vigorously as if to say, no, that would be crazy.
“Ack. No. Haven’t spoken to her since we left high school.” I raised my glass. “And my life has been a whole lot saner thanks to that.”
Well. There was actually some truth to that. During my time in Sydney as a movie producer, I had been out of contact with Alyson almost completely—and to be honest, my life had been a lot saner.
And now it was completely insane again. I never knew what Alyson was going to do. What chaos she was going to bring down next. But now I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Yeah. She is kinda a joke.” Rachael gripped her wine glass and sat back in her chair. “I always thought you could do a lot better as far as best friends went. Anyway, I am glad we are friends again.” She grinned at me and tried to get the goss from me about my dating life.
Well, I could hardly tell her I was dating Matt Foulkes, could I?
“Ha-ha, just taking it easy at the moment. No one special,” I said. “And you are right, Alyson Foulkes is definitely bonkers.”
Rachael pursed her lips and nodded.
But I wasn’t just there for a friendly catchup. I felt like a double-agent. Playing both sides. Where did my loyalty lay?
I leaned forward a little.
“So, tell me the truth, Rach—just between the two of us… Why did you squash the story of how the shark culls actually cause more damage than they solve?”
Rachael looked a little disappointed in my question. Maybe she just didn’t want to talk about work. I felt a bit rude. Maybe I should have asked her about her dating life. But, well, not to be rude, but it didn’t look like she was dating anyone and hadn’t for a while. “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me,” I said, trying to backtrack. “Just thought you might have some goss for me, that’s all.” I smiled at her and took a sip of my own wine.
She perked up a little. I got the feeling that she was starved of human company, all alone in her office like that with only a computer and a lamp.
She stuck her hand into the bowl of peanuts and grabbed a few. Personally, I would never touch food that other people’s fingers had been in. I tried not to grimace. “Well, to tell you the truth, I did have a bit of a vested interest…” Rachael stopped chewing and glanced around to make sure that no one was listening. “The man I am seeing told me some interesting facts about how dangerous sharks are—he’s a researcher—and I wanted to impress him. You know, love makes you do crazy things.”
Hang on. So she was dating someone? I tried not to look too surprised. Didn’t want her to be offended. There is a pot for every lid of course.
“Oh, what’s his name?” I asked her.
She smiled at me. “Alex.”
I put my glass down. “Not…not Alex Higgles?” I asked, almost laughing. I was hoping I was wrong, but how many Alexes could there be in Eden Bay who were also researchers?
She looked semi-surprised that I would know the name. “That’s right,” she said, looking a little embarrassed. She took a gigantic sip of wine. “He really is cute underneath that mop of hair.”
That wasn’t what I was concerned about, though. I was concerned because he had given his number to Bianca and I knew for a fact they had a date later that week.
“So how long have you been seeing this guy?” I asked, still trying to sound casual. Not too concerned. I had to assume that things weren’t exactly serious between him and Rachael if he was slipping his number to other women.
She looked a little pouty. “Around six months.”
Wow. Not what I was expecting. “But it’s more of a casual thing?” I asked, still keeping my tone light and breezy.
Rachael shook her head. “No.” She frowned at me. “You’re asking a lot of questions, Claire.” She raised an eyebrow at me and picked up her wine glass. “Maybe you should get a boyfriend of you own so you can stop being so interested in the love lives of others.”
She was half-teasing but she was also definitely defensive. Good manners would have told me to drop the entire subject. But I needed to ask her more questions about Alex Higgles.
“Did Alex ask you to publish something? Something that you might not have known for sure was the truth?”
Now she looked really uncomfortable, but that’s what happens when someone hits upon the truth and calls you out on it.
“He told me that shark culls are the best thing for the population.” She shrugged. “It’s not like the newspaper has a fact-checker. But don’t worry, it is the truth.”
She didn’t seem so confident about that, though.
I had a text from Bianca. “Date got moved up to tonight! This Alex guy is keen.”
I glanced over at poor Rachael and wondered if I should tell her the truth. But instead, I just ordered another glass of wine.
18
Alyson
“Shh!” I said to J, who was whining that her feet were hurting and that she couldn’t crouch down any longer. But she was the one who had begged to come with me on my little stakeout. “We can either stay or we can go home.” I made a point of checking my watch. “Because it is way after your bed time.”
It wasn’t really as it was only 5:00pm, but J’s least favorite thing in the world was going to bed on time—or any time—so that made her be quiet. The threat of an early bedtime could pretty much get her to do anything. Even homework. Even eating her vegetables.
“I thought Claire was your best friend. Why are you spying on her?”
I wanted to answer that sometimes adult relationships were complicated and that sometimes you weren’t sure who you could trust and you had to always be on your guard. But instead I said, “Because I am worried about her.”
Not entirely untrue. She was clearly hiding something from me and that troubled me on several levels. Who knew who she was meeting up with in The Horseshoe at this time of evening? Maybe she was even cheating on my brother.
I gulped. Was that what I was hoping to catch her doing? I didn’t like to think that I could be that petty. But I supposed it would have made things easier for me if Claire and Matt conveniently broke up, and it would mean I’d never have to watch them canoodling at a public event again.
But what I did discover was far, far worse than that. And it was a bigger betrayal than I could ever have imagined.
Out walked Claire laughing and joking with…Rachael. Newspaper editor Rachael. My mortal enemy Rachael.
I was so stunned that J actually shook me by the shoulder and started saying, “Aunty Alyson! Aunty Alyson!” She never called me Aunty Alyson. I must have been in a complete daze. I barely even registered what J was saying to me.
“Um, yes, I am okay,” I said, gulping, my mouth dry as I tried to stand up. I saw J’s worried face and reassured her yet again.
But Claire was cavorting with my worst enemy. The person who had slandered my name and made me laughingstock, so I was far from okay.
“Are we going home, Alyson?” J asked. The kid never wanted to go home. So, if she wanted to leave, to risk an early bedtime, then I knew I must have looked worried. She was worried too.
“You stand right there. I am calling Matt.”
We’d been through a lot, Claire and I. From the first time we ever met when we were nine years old and had bonded in the computer room—I’d shown Claire how to work the computer and saved her from trouble and humiliation—we had been through fights and breakups and moves to the city and ups and downs, murders, triumphs and heartache. During that time, we had not always seen eye-to-eye. Mostly because she was the sensible, grounded type and I was ridiculous and hotheaded.
And since she had been back in Eden Bay, we’d butted heads, all right. More often than not. Finding out she was dating my brother had almost been the final straw.
If she and Matt were happy together, then so be it. I wasn’t going to stand in their way even if it made me uncomfortable, and even if I hated watching the two of them making kissy faces at each other.
But this was too far. This was too much
I felt a little like I was experiencing a heartbreak. I realized it wasn’t Dylan Fox who had given that personal info about me to Rachael… It was Claire.
Rachael climbed into a cab and got driven away. Claire was still grinning as she turned away. But then she saw me. And her smile froze.
“It was you,” I whispered. “You sold me out.” I backed away… “Who else could have known all that stuff about my family?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Alyson, I NEVER told her any of that stuff… You have to believe me…” But then she stopped, caught her breath, and it was like a dawning realization hit her. Like she was remembering something.
“Oh my gosh.”
“So, you did tell her.”
“Alyson…” She chased after me and grabbed my arm, but I yanked it right off her and r
an, ran to the beach.
We may not have been ‘allowed’ to be there, and no one had surfed there in almost two weeks, but my surfboards were still there on the sand. I grabbed one. No wetsuit. That didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered anymore.
Claire shrieked at me, “Alyson, are you crazy?”
But I was already running toward the water. So what if I was crazy? Better than being a traitor.
Better than being a fool who thought she could trust her best friend.
“Alyson, there are sharks in that water! Killer sharks!”
I stopped—just for a second—and stared defiantly at her over my shoulder. “I don’t care.” Then I paused. “And no, there aren’t! And you know that!”
Claire shook her head and ran after me. “I don’t know that for certain. Not enough to let you go into that water.”
She grabbed my board and tried to grab it, but it was waxed up and she was the one who ended up slipping over onto the sand while me and my board escaped intact.
Was I really going to do this?
I stared into the waters and took a deep breath.
I was.
19
Claire
I knocked on the door and Matt answered. “It is that stupid sister of yours!” I said, breathless and almost in tears. “She’s really done something stupid this time… Matt, she is going to get herself killed!”
J was sticking her head out of her room into the hallway, and I stopped talking. Yikes. I didn’t want to frighten her. But what if Alyson was in serious danger? The sun was setting, and she was in shark-infested waters.
“What has she done?” Matt asked quietly, stepping so that J couldn’t see us.
“She is in the waves. She’s in the ocean, Matt.”
He took in a deep breath. Then nodded. “J will have to come with us.”
Hang Ten Australian Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 70