We found the trapped teenagers in the next section and led them out the way we came, trying to play down what had gone wrong. But when we walked out of the main entrance with them, it was straight into the path of at least four cameras, belonging to the invited journalists and bloggers.
“It’s OK, everyone, it’s a false alarm!” Maggie announced. “We’re just resetting the system now.”
But it didn’t matter. If that had been a real fire, we would just have had several kids trapped in the Mirror Maze, and no obvious way to get them out. I was no journalist, but even I could see the story here – and it wasn’t a good one.
Meanwhile, Carl Hudson was standing in front of the crowd, looking very sombre about the whole situation. “Folks, this is obviously terrible, but we are offering FREE CHICKEN NUGGETS on the pier today, and all rides are half price, so come on over while they sort this mess out!” The fickle crowd started drifting off towards the pier and he turned his attention to me. “I’ll keep them entertained for you. I’m sure they’ll come back when you’re ready, son,” he said.
He gave me a little wink that made me realize Maggie had probably been right all this time. He might come across as a sweet little old man, but Carl Hudson knew damn well what he was doing.
Ben pulled me away from him and we walked across the road and over to the wall where Efia was standing with Caleb, who had left his lemon to check what was going down. “Christ,” she said. “Didn’t you ever learn not to run back inside burning buildings?”
“Wasn’t burning,” Ben replied.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” she said. “You didn’t know what was going on, not for sure, and one thing I could do without is losing all my mates in some—”
“Efia,” Ben interrupted. “The doors in the Mirror Maze had been tampered with.”
She froze and stared at him. “How?”
“I’m not sure.” Ben shrugged. “Like, stuck with something, so they wouldn’t easily open.”
Efia nodded, slowly. “This was a set-up?”
“I reckon,” Ben said. “And I’d guess that whoever gaffed the maze also set the fire alarm off. And planted the bad egg in the goose. And is behind all the notes and the newspaper tip-off.”
Caleb was all ears, looking between us all like WT actual F?! Since he didn’t yet know about any of this, I guess it sounded like he’d just walked into a Scooby Doo episode.
“Could have been any one of them,” Ben said. We all followed his gaze, over the road, towards Wonderland. He was looking at Billy, and sure, Billy would cause us trouble, or might be more than happy to take some cash from someone else to cause us trouble. But so would Drake, depending how much debt he was in. Carl Hudson was still shepherding our punters towards his pier – would a long standing rivalry push him to engineer all this?
“But why?” I asked. “What’s the point? What are they trying to achieve?”
We watched as all the journalists swarmed around the trapped customers, getting the story that was going to damn us.
“More bad PR,” Ben muttered. “This is gonna force us bankrupt at this rate.”
Efia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Oh my god, of course. We’ve been so stupid. That’s exactly what this is all about.” She shook her head. “Cover for me, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And made off down the street.
“Wait, Efia!” I said.
She turned back. “Yes?”
“What if it’s dangerous?” I had no idea, but it seemed like it could be.
Efia laughed.
“If you need some help…” Caleb said. “I’m good at … helping.”
I stifled a smile. That was the first time I’d seen Caleb be even slightly awkward. It was cute.
“It’s not dangerous,” Efia told him.
Caleb nodded. “And what’s the one thing we’ve all learned from horror films?”
“I’ve no idea, but this isn’t a horror film, Caleb.”
“Yeah?” Caleb said. “Well, from what I’m hearing between you guys, something’s going down, and when it’s going down, you never split the squad up, do you? Rookie error. That’s when the killing starts.”
“Oh my god,” Efia said.
“Just sayin’ – safety in numbers.” Caleb stuffed his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “Plus, I can always get you refreshments or whatever. I have uses.”
I had to give it to him: between suggesting she was in danger of being chopped up by a crazed killer and offering to ply her with drinks and food, he was hard to refuse.
“OK,” Efia said.
“Yay!” I said. I couldn’t help it. Efia glared at me and I cleared my throat. “I mean, that seems sensible. In the circumstances.”
“But this isn’t…” She trailed off, thinking better of it.
“Not what?” Caleb asked, a picture of innocence.
“It’s nothing, you’re just helping me.”
Caleb nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I just offered to do.”
Efia turned and strode off down the street, giving Caleb just enough time to give me a thumbs up and a grin, and then scamper off after her.
We were all allowed back in the building ten minutes later, but the damage had been done. Half the customers had wandered off to the pier for their free chicken nuggets, and the journalists had all got their story now – of how Wonderland was basically a death trap. Only time would tell if this was the final nail in the coffin.
It was during my afternoon break that I cornered Bella. Ben was busy manning the Roswell Experience (which the customers were loving, by the way), so I had her to myself.
And I had cupcakes.
I’d already nipped out to get a couple of red velvet ones, which I offered up to her with a hopeful smile as we sat with our tea in the staffroom.
“Alex, I love you,” Bella said, taking one.
I nodded. I hoped she would still “love me” when I’d told her what I was about to tell her.
“Ben’s offered to take me swimming,” I said, thinking it best to just get it out there, straightforward and honest.
She smiled at me. “Yeah, I know.”
“Oh.”
“He said.”
“He did? OK. Well.”
“He’s a good swimmer, and he taught some of the kids when he used to work at the leisure centre, so you’re in good hands.”
I nodded.
She ate some of her cupcake.
I glanced at mine, but I didn’t feel like it.
“You two are cute together,” she said, after a dreadful silence.
I stared at her until she glanced up.
“What?” she said.
I didn’t know what to say.
A smile spread across her face. “Well, you are. I’m just saying.”
I jolted myself into action. “Yeah, but we’re not, we’re not … are we? We’re not.”
“Well, why not?” she said.
I swallowed. “Um…” I mean, you, Bella. That’s why not. Did I really have to point out the obvious to her?
Bella put her cupcake down. Oh no. Serious talk. “Ben and I aren’t…”
“What?”
“Maybe he should speak to you about…”
“What?”
“We’re not going out, right?”
“What?!”
Bella sighed. “I mean, we kind of were. But only kind of. For a bit.”
“How kind of? What bit?”
“We ended up going to Leavers’ Prom together because neither of us had a date, and, well…” She sighed and shook her head. “You know, have this chat with Ben. I’m just saying, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s my friend. Best friend. But that’s it. So this swimming thing…”
“Which is just swimming!” I protested.
Bella laughed, and I must have looked horrified because she then stopped laughing and said, “Yeah, no, I know it is.”
I nodded. I had so many questions. Like what the actual hell? And if he wasn’t with B
ella, did that mean he was gay?
“But thanks for the guilt-cake,” Bella grinned, finishing it off.
“It’s not a guilt-cake, it’s just a … cake-cake.”
“And have fun.”
And she ruffled my hair and walked out of the staffroom.
We ended up being a bit busier than usual that afternoon, and the new attractions had been well received – people had properly screamed at the Roswell Experience, we’d sold a surprising quantity of coconut milk lattes, and an entire hen party had turned up for Gay Bingo, albeit no actual confirmed gays – but the whole fire alarm thing had definitely put a downer on the relaunch. It was also so hot, and there was no relief when I walked out of the main entrance at five p.m., straight into the oppressive afternoon heat, airless and stagnant, and the crowds of holidaymakers who were starting to make their way back to hotels and self-catering flats, but just seemed to want to get in my way as I tried to cross to the road. When Newsands was this busy, I just wanted to shower it all away, then lock myself in a dark, cool room until late September, when everything went back to normal. “You’re weirdly quiet,” Ben said as he caught up with me.
“No…”
“Er … yes!”
The truth was, I was. There was all this stuff I wanted to talk to Ben about, but I didn’t know where to begin.
Luckily, I was saved by Efia as she scooted up to us, with Caleb in tow. “Walk and talk, boys, walk and talk!”
“Where have you been?!” Ben said, as we both jumped into a (completely unwelcome in this heat) speedy stride to keep up. “You’ve been gone all day!”
“What did you tell Maggie?”
“Said you had tummy troubles,” I told her.
“OK,” she said. “Now look, there’s still a chance this is all some scheme by Carl Hudson to keep custom at the pier, and I still believe there’s someone, either a staff member or customer, at Wonderland who has been carrying out all the stuff that’s happened. But I’ve been looking at the bigger picture. Like, who’s the puppet master here?”
“I’m listening,” Ben said.
Efia stopped us in our tracks and we turned to take in the row of shops along the front. “Behold, the seafront businesses of Newsands,” Efia said, sweeping her hand along the vista.
“Inspiring,” I said.
Ben snorted in amusement.
“I present item one of my evidence,” Efia continued, ignoring us. “The Bellevue Café. A stalwart of the Newsands promenade since … well, it’s always been here. Except, as we now know, the owners sold it, on the quiet, six weeks ago.”
I clocked the look of smug satisfaction on Efia’s face. “Oh my god, do you know who to?” I said.
Efia nodded. “A company called ‘Develop Newsands’.”
Something about that name sounded familiar.
“Who are they?” Ben said.
“No idea, but I can confirm they are one of a number of companies that have been buying up properties right along the front.” Efia pointed at the pick ‘n’ mix shop a couple of doors up. “Sweet Treats was purchased by Foresight Properties recently too, and in both cases, planning permission has been lodged to demolish, and rebuild with retail units on the ground floor and apartments above, including penthouses at the top that will probably be worth nearly a million.”
Ben whistled. “Still don’t quite get the appeal of the place.”
“Like Drake told me and Alex, the place is changing, Ben,” Efia said. “I spoke to one of the estate agents, and she told me that people from London are cashing in their properties there and buying bigger places for half the price in Newsands, whilst still being able to commute back to London for work if they need to. Others are just going for a lifestyle change – living the good life by the sea, going self-employed, slower pace…”
“Snail’s pace,” I added.
“Yeah, but older people like that,” Efia said. “But you’re missing the point. Two properties near Wonderland have recently changed hands – and I think that leaves two possibilities—”
Ben opened his mouth to speak, but Efia put her hand on his arm. “Don’t ruin my moment,” she told him.
He shut his mouth.
“Number one,” Efia said, “the developers don’t want a place like Wonderland dragging down the area, acting like a magnet for ‘feral youth’, and damaging the asking price of their new apartments.”
I nodded. It sounded reasonable.
“Number two,” she continued, “the developers want Wonderland too – they want to demolish that as well, and rebuild, just like the other units.”
That also sounded reasonable.
“Either way,” Efia said, “my money is on one of the developers trying to either force Wonderland bankrupt through bad publicity, and close it that way, or force Maggie to sell, and get hold of the property to redevelop.”
I blew out a breath. If that was true, this was a lot bigger than I ever imagined.
“So what happens now?” Ben asked.
“I need to dig around a bit,” Efia said. “See if I can find any paperwork from any developers. Apparently you can find out who the directors of companies are through something called Companies House – they keep some sort of register. But find that out, and I reckon we’ve good chance of unmasking who’s really behind all this.”
“So, this isn’t about someone with a grudge at all?” Ben said. “It’s probably not even Carl Hudson being stupidly competitive. It’s…”
“I reckon it’s business,” Efia said. “Underhanded business.”
“Can we do anything to help?” Ben asked.
“Boys, boys,” Efia said. “I don’t want anything to get in the way of your little get-together tonight!” She grinned at us both.
“We’re just swimming,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s just swimming, Efia,” Ben added.
“It’s not a date,” we both said at the same time. We looked at each other. We both went red again.
Efia rolled her eyes. “Oh, this is painful. OK! You enjoy your ‘not a date’ and meanwhile, Efia will continue her investigations. And yes, I am talking about myself in the third person, because I think Efia’s done rather well and I appreciate her. I’m going to treat Efia to an entire bag of doughnuts.” She put one hand on each of our shoulders. “I’m shipping you so hard, Bex. Aubergine emoji, banana emoji, winking tongue man.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Really?”
“Circus tent emoji,” she continued.
I screwed my face up.
“Erection,” Ben clarified. “Apparently.”
“Hand job emoji.”
“That’s just a fist,” Ben said.
“Volcano, splashing water emoji.”
“Got any more?” Ben asked.
“That’s quite enough for a first date!” She laughed, then headed off down the promenade, a definite spring in her step, Caleb scampering after her.
I didn’t know what to say. I was mortified.
Ben scratched the back of his head. “Seven o’clock, OK?”
“Sure.”
“You OK to cycle?”
“Uh-huh. Where are we going?”
“A little spot I know.” He smiled, and his dimples broke me again. “If that sounds all right?”
“Sounds awesome.”
“Bring your swimming shorts, a towel…” He lightly tugged at the hem of my T-shirt, like he was checking the quality of the fabric or something. He flicked his eyes up to mine. “See you in a bit then.”
And I couldn’t speak because I was all fireworks emoji, love hearts emoji, two boys holding hands emoji.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
We rode our bikes out of town, until the roads became country lanes. Ben wouldn’t tell me where we were going, except to assure me it “wasn’t too far” and, alarmingly “he wasn’t going to murder me in a remote location and bury my body in an old drain”, which sounded way too detailed and thought-out for my liking.
In any case, I w
as merrily peddling along after him anyway because I honestly think, when it comes to cute boys, any common sense I might possibly possess just goes right out of the window.
Ben looked back over his shoulder, presumably to check I was keeping up, then swung a left off the lane, on to a dirt track that led towards a wooded area. If it had been a gloomy, chilly night, this probably would have been serial killer territory, but with the warm glow of the sun starting to set between the trees, and the fact it was still insanely hot (but at least now with a very gentle breeze), it was actually really beautiful. We cycled fast, standing on our pedals and hovering above our seats over the dips and bumps in the track, until we pulled up by the side of a lake just inside the wooded area.
“Wow,” I said.
“My secret spot.” Ben smiled, lying his bike down on the ground.
I dropped my bike next to his. “Um … is this where we’re going to swim?” I’ll be honest, that really alarmed me.
“It’s a great spot to swim,” Ben said.
“Is it … safe?”
Ben smiled … but didn’t actually answer my question. “Get your shorts on.”
“Oh, they’re on.”
Ben nodded. “Oh. Me too.”
I smiled. I liked the fact we’d both put our swim shorts on before leaving home. Ben smiled too. “Forward planning, saves time!” he said.
I nodded, swallowed, and hoped Ben couldn’t see my hands were shaking.
Ben kicked his trainers and socks off, and then pulled his T-shirt up over his head.
His stomach was smooth and flat, with a tantalizing hint of abs. His chest, also smooth, with the beginnings of some pretty lovely pecs. Lean and taut, those deep brown eyes, the little freckles on his nose, those dimples… He caught me looking.
“Alex?”
“Huh?”
“T-shirt off would help.”
“Oh!” I pulled it off. “Yeah.”
I dropped it on the ground next to me and he smiled. “The water’s not too bad, once you get used to it.” He walked towards the edge where the water rippled up against the ground.
“Do you come here a lot?”
He nodded. “It’s a nice place just to think.”
He was right. It seemed like it would be. Peaceful. Just the birds gently chirping in the trees.
Alex in Wonderland Page 22