Soon enough, however, Belinda sidelined the curiosity of the washed-up painting in favor of an intense volleyball game: girls vs. boys. Belinda watched in admiration as her friend, Ardith, leaped into the air, back muscles flexing, and slammed the ball over the net–and straight into Jonas’ head. He stood there dazed for a few seconds.
Ardith swung her jet black ponytail around, glistening in the sunlight, her chest heaving. “Are you alright?” Ardith asked Jonas. “I didn’t mean to hit you in the head.” Belinda rubbed her lips together, knowing that might not be entirely true. Jonas had just landed a hit right out of Ardith’s reach and scored, and Belinda knew Ardith’s competitive spirit came out on the court.
The day was going how Belinda hoped it would. Ardith and Jonas arrived around the same time, settled their beach paraphernalia where Belinda and Bennett had staked a claim, and after intros and the initial weirdness of everyone settling in, they’d started talking with ease. Ardith was impressive physically, athletic with flawless bronze skin and the face of a glossy magazine model with dark, contemplative eyes. But she was impressive intellectually, too, and as the day progressed, she could sense Jonas’ growing interest in her friend.
Jonas grinned back and gave a thumbs-up, a definite twinkle on his roundish face. Apparently he liked it rough. Ardith smirked back, kicking sand around where she stood. She’d always been comfortable around any kind of sport, and Belinda felt a twinge of envy at her taut frame, though Bennett looked perfectly pleased once she stripped to her striped bikini, even if she was soft around the edges. (And, of course, with her sunglasses on, she’d felt free to ogle her boyfriend’s gropeworthy abs–and chest–and biceps–as much as she wanted.) Belinda and Jonas had exchanged an appreciative once-over, too, so she guessed she was just different from Ardith, not hideous in comparison. Jonas was wiry compared to Bennett, but no less attractive topless.
Bennett grabbed the volleyball off the sand and served, shooting it in Belinda’s direction. She punched it back over the net, and this time, Jonas returned with a sophisticated sideways move. Ardith dove and drove the ball down the middle and scored, winning the game. Belinda and Ardith high-fived. Bennett’s lip curled up, and he smiled back at her in his way through the net. “Impressive, Kittridge.”
“You hustled us,” Jonas said, grinning. Clearly, it either impressed him or turned him on, but didn’t seem to make him mad.
“Hustled is a strong word,” Belinda said. Ardith nodded in agreement. “How about, refrained from giving you the details of our volleyball accomplishments?”
“Or, hustled,” Bennett said flatly.
Belinda kissed him through a net loop. Jonas clapped his hands together. “I say it’s time to eat!” They all agreed, Belinda feeling weak from the exercise, letting Bennett guide her down the wood path back to the beach. The volleyball courts were to the side of the bathhouses, hidden by sand dunes.
They wove around the crowds now taking up most of the real estate, sitting, standing, and some walking to or from the bathhouses like them. Belinda could make out their rainbow-striped umbrella, relieved their food hadn’t been assaulted by seagulls, when a blood-curdling scream cut through the noise of people and waves. Initially, Belinda figured it was an unhappy child–she’d heard plenty since they got there earlier–until a clearly adult scream followed and a few people rushed out of the water.
Shark? Belinda thought, not daring to utter that word aloud on a crowded beach. But sharks had been hanging out around the New England coast lately.
Jonas’ policing instincts took over and he ran in that direction and the three of them followed. Belinda jumped over a crater someone had dug and saw one of the adults pointing toward the water. The woman hugged her crying daughter, shivering despite the heat.
Jonas ran toward the danger with Bennett right behind him. “Stay here,” he yelled back at her.
Belinda waded in, ignoring his instruction, with Ardith right next to her. Bennett and Jonas swam out, corralling something hovering around the wave line. Belinda and Ardith pushed out farther, catching up. A rogue wave caught what was out there and rammed into Belinda’s chest. She plunged under water, coming face-to-face with the lifeless eyes of a man. They floated together for a moment until another surge pushed him past her.
A hand caught her arm and dragged her up, coughing and blind. Ardith stabilized her, slapping her back to get the water out of her lungs.
“Dead…man,” Belinda spluttered.
Once she rubbed water and salt from her eyes, she could make out the man’s figure floating facedown. He was fully clothed in jeans and sneakers and a plaid shirt, which ballooned out from the water with pops of white skin peeking out. Another wave rode under him, lifting him up and forward.
She stared, unaware of the growing number of onlookers as the rumor spread that something went down on that part of the beach. Or of the lifeguards running into the water to help or yelling at people to stay out of the water and away from that area. Belinda didn’t feel Ardith pinching her arm or notice the water pushing her to shore as she automatically started walking that way.
The scene became clearer once her feet sunk into the wet sand and the body that had floated above her like on air hit the ground solidly. Jonas told the lifeguards he was a police officer, and snapped into action. She made eye contact with one of the younger lifeguards, who’d pulled the body onto shore, his face drained of color. An older lifeguard took charge, asking Jonas what they needed to do. Regardless of the fact that Jonas was shirtless in a pair of striped trunks, he listed orders to the lifeguards with all the authority of a uniform. The older lifeguard delegated duties, mostly consisting of controlling the crowd and creating a wide berth for the police when they arrived, which happened in minutes.
People up and down the beach tried to see what was happening as on-duty police officers taped off the area and stood guard. Belinda saw one guy on the town beach end standing on the rocks with binoculars. People closer to the scene tried to snag video and photos…as souvenirs? Even Jonas was sidelined with them after he spoke to one of his colleagues. “So much for a day off,” he muttered, taking a stance next to them. Energy radiated off him, and Belinda could tell it took all his self-control not to dive under that yellow tape and do something.
A hand rubbed her back and Bennett slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She let him support her weight, realizing she had goose bumps in the breeze. His skin was warm and she rested a cheek against his chest, his steady breathing a comfort. “Are you okay?” he said into her hair.
Belinda evaluated herself before replying, “I feel…numb. Do you think he drowned?”
His arms tightened around her. “It’s possible.”
Belinda shivered. Growing up around the water, she’d always feared drowning on some level. Most people on the beach glanced up as a helicopter flew overhead. “We’ve got news crews,” Bennett said. He nudged her. “Your friend’s here.”
Belinda followed his gaze and whispered, “Oh no.” Colleen Maguire of the local news station was plowing into the fray with her crew to report. For a second, Belinda froze, thinking Colleen was staring at her. After her recent news escapades, and finally shedding the social ostracism it brought, Belinda was in no hurry to be interviewed. But then she saw Colleen’s face fall a little, even from a distance, and turned to notice Jonas and Ardith whispering to each other, their bodies and faces in close proximity. When she looked back to Colleen, she was focused on work again, setting up with her cameraman like nothing had happened.
“Should I wave?” Belinda said to lighten her own feelings more than anything.
Bennett rubbed her shoulder. “I think we should slip into the crowd and get out of here before she sees you.” They’d already given their statements to the police, and there was nothing else they knew, so they tapped Jonas on the shoulder and the four of them grabbed their stuff and went out to the parking lot. Even if they couldn’t drive off yet, they could at least hide from Colleen.
Belinda’s face fell when she opened the trunk. The painting. She frowned up at Bennett. “We should give this to them. It may be more than a curiosity now.”
“Give them what?” Jonas strolled over, peeking into Bennett’s trunk. “What’s that?”
“It washed up on the beach,” Belinda said.
Jonas’ eyebrows arched. “When?”
“This morning. Before you guys came down. We were walking and I stepped on it.” Belinda shrugged. “It just seemed weird at the time,” but maybe it belonged to the dead man, she added to herself. She moved over so Jonas could get a better look. He propped his sunglasses on his head and squinted down, keeping his hands off like he’d been trained, though with what it had been through in the salt water, it didn’t matter much. “I don’t know if it helps, but I know the artist.”
Jonas smiled up at her. “Naturally.” Belinda bumped him playfully with her shoulder. “But, yeah. You should turn this in.” Jonas’ face went flat again, like he was filing things away in his mind. Belinda figured he’d get involved one way or another.
Belinda pulled out her phone and took several photos of the painting. If she had to give it up, that didn’t mean she had to forsake her find completely. She still knew the artist, and now this painting could have special significance. Satisfied, she looked to Bennett. “What’s the safest route around Colleen?”
“Who’s Colleen?” Ardith stood next to Jonas, also fascinated by the painting, or maybe Jonas’ manly demeanor as he morphed into his Super Detective persona.
“You don’t want to know,” he said without emotion. Belinda had been tempted to ask Bennett about the Jonas and Colleen situation, but she’d shied away from it. That might be a topic better left closed.
Belinda picked up the torch when Ardith gave her a curious look. “Colleen’s a news reporter who nearly ruined my life.”
Ardith nodded sympathetically. “Oh.”
“But she didn’t,” Belinda added, “and we’re on okay terms now. Doesn’t mean I want to see her, though.” After taking out the painting, they threw their beach chairs and umbrella inside.
Bennett picked up the painting, and he and Belinda hurried back to the center of activity, her momentary worry about other matters dissipating when she caught sight of a white sheet over the body in the middle of the beach. She could still see his sneakers poking out at the end. Bennett squeezed her hand and they marched toward the officers guarding the crime scene.