I watch Erie jump until I can’t see her anymore, then watch the horizon, feeling dead inside. No amount of comfort will heal this wound. Jen must realize it; she squeezes my hand and goes into the cabin, leaving me with the water.
The coast guard is waiting when we reach American waters, and they escort us back to the harbor. A police car waits in the parking lot.
“Finnegan Jarvis?” the officer says.
“That’s me.” I jump onto the dock. I went through all that trouble to free Erie legally and she undid it with one rake of her claws.
“I need you to come to the station for questioning.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not at this point. We just want to make sure we have all the facts straight.”
I turn to Shaun. “Thanks for your help, man.” I shake his hand before turning to Jen. “I’ll call you after.”
“Good luck.”
She squeezes my arm, and I get into the cop’s car. At the station, he takes me into a questioning room and grabs a cheap paper cup full of coffee.
“Thanks,” I say. “I haven’t slept much lately.” My hands are jittery as I lift the cup to my mouth. He waits for me to take a sip before he sits and opens a notebook.
“We’ve watched the security footage, but there’s no sound. I’d like to know what happened in your own words.”
I tell him everything I can remember, and he starts writing, occasionally questioning me for clarity. By the time I’m done, I’ve had two cups of coffee and need to pee.
“Well,” he says at the end. “Your story matches Mr. de la Cruz’s, and it’s clear you didn’t have a hand in Mrs. de la Cruz’s death—”
“Aunt D’s dead?” A whole fistful of emotions punch me in the chest. Aunt D. She was my mentor, my “aunt,” my . . . my everything, until Erie. Everything I’ve done for the past six years has been for her and my father. I mean, yeah, she was about to shock and drown me, but . . . I still can’t believe she would have actually done it.
“Are you okay, Mr. Jarvis?”
“No.” I rub my face, wishing the coffee had been spiked. “I just . . . I haven’t had time to process what happened yet, and now . . .”
“I understand.”
I can’t believe Erie killed Aunt D. Corporate. Who’ll take over Oceanica? “What . . . what does this mean for the rest of the Mer?”
He taps his pen on the notebook. “I have no information about that.”
Fuck. I’ll have to ask Sergio, and I really don’t want to. “Are we done, then? I could use a beer and a good night’s sleep.”
“Of course.” He stands and opens the door behind him. “We’ll call you if we have any other questions.”
I shake his hand and call Jen. When she arrives, the bag of necklaces is sitting on the passenger seat. I had no time to give them to Erie.
Jen stops the car in front of my house. “You want me to come in?”
“I need to talk to Serge,” I say, though really, I just need some time to myself. I haven’t told her about Delmara yet. “You want to help me get Niku tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
The TV is on when I walk in. Serge sits on the couch next to the door, beer in hand, but I don’t think he’s actually watching it because the local news is on. We never watch the news.
“Hey, man.” I shut the door behind me and stand awkwardly next to the couch. “The cops told me about Aunt D. I’m so sorry.”
Sergio sets his beer on the coffee table and stands. His eyes are red-rimmed, his face blotchy from crying. His fists are clenched like he wants to punch me.
“Serge, I—”
Before I can apologize again, he does punch me. Pain flares through my jaw and my head snaps to the side.
“Fuck!” I throw my arm up to block any further threats, but his fists are back at his sides as he yells.
“This is all your fault! My aunt is dead because of you!”
“She was going to kill me!”
“You fucking deserved it!”
I step back, the door handle digging into my spine. “You don’t mean that.”
He’s shaking with rage, and I think, at this moment, maybe he does mean it.
“Do you know how many lives you’ve ruined to save a fucking fish? How many you’re about to ruin when you shut down Oceanica?”
“Whoa.” I hold my hands up in surrender, the bag of necklaces still dangling from one. “I just wanted to get Erie out. It’s over, dude. I’m done with Oceanica.”
He stares at me, chest heaving, before he leans back and shakes his head. “You stupid motherfucker. You don’t even know, do you?”
I slowly lower my hands. “Know what?”
“Fuck.” He sighs and drops onto the couch like all his muscles gave out at once. “I figured you knew.” He grabs the beer and chugs it.
“Knew what?”
Sergio stares at the empty beer bottle, shaking his head. “Aunt D never changed her will after she fired you. Oceanica is yours.” The bag of necklaces slips from my slack fingers. Holy shit—I had no idea I was even in Aunt D’s will, much less the recipient of her half of Oceanica. No wonder she was so pissed I chose Erie over her. Guilt squeezes my chest until it’s hard to breathe. “I . . . I didn’t know.”
We’re both silent for a long moment before I collect the bag from the floor, deposit it on the kitchen counter, and grab a beer from the fridge. I take a swig, then grab another and take it to Serge before dropping onto the other side of the couch.
“You didn’t actually think I’d kill Aunt D to get control of Oceanica, did you?”
“No.” Sergio’s shoulders sag. “There’s no way you could have set that all up. I’m still pissed you didn’t tell me you were the buyer, though. I would’ve stayed inside with Erie.”
“I wouldn’t have made it past the guards without you.”
“Then I would’ve put someone else in the room.”
“Which would have been suspicious.” I take another sip. “I’m sorry, man. I had to play this one close.”
Serge faces me, hands gripping his knees so hard his knuckles are white. “At the very least, I would have grabbed Aunt D’s radio so she couldn’t tell Maddy to foam Erie. Then no one would be dead.”
I swallow hard, because he’s got me there. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. I was just . . . too worried someone would find out. Erie means everything to me. I couldn’t let it spill.”
He watches me a moment, jaw clenched, then makes a physical effort to release his hands. His face is still red, but I bet mine is, too.
“Well.” He takes a deep breath. “I hope Erie’s safe, at least.”
Even just hearing her name makes my heart break all over again. “Home by now, I hope.”
There’s another long, awkward silence as we both drink our beer and stare into space, mulling over what happened. Sergio is the one who breaks it.
“So, now that Oceanica belongs to you, what are you going to do, boss?”
What am I going to do? I now own the controlling stake of Oceanica, which means the other shareholders can’t outvote me. They can sue the shit out of me, but ultimately, Oceanica’s fate is in my hands.
“You know what I’m going to do.”
Serge sighs and drinks the rest of his beer.
“Clair, Huron, and Niku first.”
He slaps his forehead. “Fuck! Niku.”
“What do you mean, ‘Fuck. Niku?’”
“With everything that happened, I forgot about him. I don’t think he’s been fed in two days.”
Dealing with a grumpy, ill-fed Niku isn’t going to be fun. I drink the rest of my beer and stand. “We’ll get him tomorrow.” I take the bag of necklaces to my room and try my best to keep worried thoughts of Erie at bay while I fall asleep.