CHAPTER 18

Later that night, Olivia and Ashley sat on the patio with glasses and a bottle between them. They had ditched the frivolity of margaritas and were now drinking straight tequila. Em and I wandered to the kitchen to find more food. Detective Smythe was still sitting at the table, pen in hand, leafing through a notepad.

There was a bowl of potato chips next to her, so I crawled up the table leg and helped myself to a wide, salty chip. It felt risky to sit and eat in front of a human, but I was hoping for a little courtesy after I helped her solve the case. Still, I sat facing her, ready to escape if she reached for me.

“Thank you, Hazel,” she said, not looking up from her notes.

“Was it about the drugs?” I asked.

“Not really.” She sighed. “Claire hadn’t seen Brina wearing her shirt. When she came in from the shower to dress, she put it on and went outside—she was mending a tear in her shorts. Leo came out of his den so completely hammered, he saw the red shirt and thought she was Brina. Dragged her inside for some reason. She had the scissors in her hand, trying to get away from him, you can guess the rest.” She looked over at me. “That is, I think you can guess. You are a mouse.”

“Yes, Detective. It was an accident.” I nibbled the edges of the chip, enjoying the saltiness.

“You know, you make a pretty good detective yourself,” she said. “Course, I don’t know where you’d carry a badge.”

Mice don’t laugh, but I made a kind of gurgling squeak that surprised even me. “I think it’s time for me to go home. Detecting isn’t really my favorite thing to do.”

“What is your favorite thing?”

I wiggled my nose, thinking.

Em appeared beside me, holding a chip of his own. “Eating is my favorite.”

“Eating’s not bad,” I said. “I think, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get some sleep. Olivia is leaving tomorrow, and I don’t want to miss my ride home.” I turned to Em. “Are you coming with me?”

He chewed around the rim of the chip in his paws. “I’m not so sure anymore. I want to stay with you but when I think about leaving this place…does your house have an ocean?”

I shook my head. “I wish it did.”

Back in Olivia’s room, I crawled through the crack to the space my family had made home when I was born. My mother had lived here, nested here, planned to have us here, until she found herself at the pier and giving birth in the storm. Then the lightning came, and everything changed.

I curled into a ball and closed my eyes, feeling the house and the beach calling for me to stay. I also felt the melancholy of loss and wanted to leave. It was a restless night.

Olivia had told Ashley to be ready early the next morning, but I knew that Olivia’s definition of early was slightly after noon, so I scampered down to the beach one last time at sunrise to feel the water wash over my toes and let them sink into the sand. Could I stay here forever with Em? He was a naïve little mouse and I enjoyed showing him how the world works. But I promised to return to my family.

I returned to the beach house to noise and humans. Olivia was on the patio having breakfast with a familiar face—her father. As I reached the steps, Ashley came to the table, along with an older man.

“I just don’t understand why you didn’t call me,” Olivia’s dad said. “If Ashley’s father hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t have known all this was going on.”

“I tried calling you, Daddy, but it went to voicemail.” Olivia stared at her coffee. “I decided I was an adult, I’d handle it all.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetheart. I did get the first message and planned to call you back. I didn’t think it was urgent, or I’d have called right away.”

I sat and rubbed my whiskers, wondering if that was true.

“I just don’t understand why you kept Leo on,” she said. “Do you know he had cameras in all the rooms? Daddy, he was creepy.”

“I’m sorry.” Her father rubbed his forehead. “It’s complicated. When I was young, I was sometimes impulsive and, well, a stupid young man. I got into some trouble—it doesn’t matter what it was, but Leo helped cover it all up. I thought it was because we were friends. Turns out, it was his way of living off my payroll—he knew I was studying to be a doctor and that could mean a steady blackmail income for him.”

Ashley looked up from her avocado toast. “I guess if you’d fired him, he’d still be alive.”

“What a ghastly thought,” Ashley’s father said.

“But true.” Olivia nodded. “At least, he wouldn’t have died in our house.” She took a long sip of coffee. “We have a murder house now.”

I listened to their words, trying to find the morbidity in living here. It was now officially a “murder house.” It was no use. I wouldn’t describe my moral compass as being fine-tuned, but I couldn’t see a reason to blame the house for Leo’s murder. I felt a nudge at my shoulder, so I turned.

“Good morning, Em—” Except it wasn’t him.

It was my dad.

“Dad!” I squeaked in proper mouse, as he did not speak English. “Why are you here? How?”

“I missed you, too.” His squeak was probably still high for human ears, but it sounded old and gruff to me. “I hitched a ride with Mr. Bent this morning.”

“But why?”

“Well, I heard Mr. Bent on the phone. I couldn’t understand all the words, but I knew he was upset, and I got worried about you.”

“Thanks, Dad, but I’m ok. I’ll tell you all about it on our way home.”

“Oh, that’s the other thing,” he squeaked. “I’m moving back here. Thought you’d want to stay anyway, and I’m ready to be back on the beach.”

I jumped and squealed in my delight, coming down to nuzzle at my dad in pure bliss.

“What are you doing?” Em said as he climbed down from the roof.

Dad sat back, staring at the white mouse that spoke human. “Who’s he?”

Turning to my dad, I said, “Dad, this is Em Ten Twelve, Em for short. He’s a lab mouse who only ever learned to speak human.” Then I turned to Em. “Em, this is my dad. He’s come to live here again so I can stay, and we can all live at the beach.”

It was Em’s turn to jump with happiness, so he did.

“Can we go see the ocean now?” Dad asked.

I translated for Em and he said, “Oh, yes. You can let the water rush over you and let the sand suck you down.”

“What did he say?” Dad asked.

“Don’t mind him,” I squeaked, and nudged Em forward. These two were going to have to learn each other’s language.

In the meantime, we’d visit the waves together from now on.