The next morning, a loud banging from the front of the house woke me from a deep sleep. It was seven o’clock. The excitement from the night before had been like a sleeping pill, knocking me out for eight straight hours. I sat up and checked the clock. The doorbell then rang three times in a row in quick succession.
Dad’s heavy footfalls raced by my room and Mom’s came shortly after.
I flung my feet over the side of the bed and yawned, realizing I wasn’t going back to sleep until I figured out what was going on. I shoved my feet into my slippers and threw my black hoody over my T-shirt and shorts. I didn’t want whoever was at the door to see me braless.
Sharp voices floated down the hallway. Dad’s and one other that I dreaded hearing ever again in my house.
I went to the hallway and approached the living room. I got as close as I could without being seen.
Madison opened the door to her room. Her hair was messy and her eyes bleary. “Who’s here?”
I waved a hand at her and mouthed, “Shut up.”
She rolled her eyes and came out from her room. She passed the living room and went into the kitchen. She looked back at me and shrugged.
“I don’t understand what you’re accusing my daughter of,” Dad said. “Don’t you have everything you need to close Joseph’s case?”
“This isn’t about my case, Mr. Daniels,” Detective Devereaux growled at my father. “She has been involved with my brother and I’ve warned her once before.”
“What do you mean you warned her?” Mom cut in.
“I informed your daughter that she should not hang around my brother.”
“And who is your brother?”
“Ryan Cassidy, he’s here—”
“For the summer,” Dad said, his tone sharper than a knife. “They’re friends. What’s the problem?”
A long pause stretched out between the adults and for a moment I thought I’d imagined the entire conversation.
“You know Ryan?” Devereaux asked.
“He works for me at Chester Bay Inn.”
“Excuse me?” Uh-oh. I wasn’t sure how Ryan was going to handle Dad blowing his cover.
“I don’t see why any of this has to do with you pounding down our door on a Sunday morning,” Mom chimed in.
“Your daughter has a problem with authority and I think you should be aware,” Devereaux said.
“What are you talking about?” Mom asked. “Cara is a well-behaved young—”
“There was a break-in last night at the Blair residence,” Devereaux said, cutting her off. “Where was Cara?”
Kat had called the police last night.
“With Ryan,” Mom said. “So, if you’re accusing her, then you might as well accuse your brother.”
“If Ryan did anything it was under her influence.”
“You’re out of line, Detective,” Dad said. I’d heard that tone only a few times, when Madison or I had messed up really bad. I’d never heard it directed at anyone else before. “Cara has done nothing wrong and, unless you have proof, this conversation is over.”
“I will prove it,” he warned. “I suggest keeping her on a tight leash.”
“I suggest you get out of my house,” Dad said in a low, threatening voice.
I waited a few moments after he left before facing my fate. Mom tried to calm Dad down.
I took a breath and I rounded the corner into the living room. Both my parents focused on me.
“Mom?”
Mom pushed her hair away from her face. Her expression was tight. “How much did you hear?”
“Some of it,” I lied.
“Where were you last night?” Dad asked.
“We went down to the boardwalk. That’s all.” I hated lying to them. I thought that was over when Kat ejected herself from my life, but I couldn’t tell them Devereaux had been right about the break-in. Once we figured out what really happened to Joe, I would tell them. Until then, I couldn’t risk the massive grounding that would inevitably come from telling the truth. Postponing my punishment would prove a good excuse for coming straight home after school in the fall. I wondered if I could get into enough trouble for the entire school year. Breaking and entering might be enough. I’d have to play it by ear when the time came.
“It seems like he and Ryan are going through something,” Mom said. “It’s not right that he roped you into it.”
“Not right?” Dad said with a snort. “It was downright unprofessional for him to come in here like that, accusing you of being a bad influence on his brother. Ryan discussed with me the reason he came to Chester Bay—” He stopped speaking abruptly.
“What reason?” I asked.
“I’m sorry I misspoke. That’s employer–employee privilege, Carebear. But it’s nothing out of the ordinary for a teen boy. Detective Devereaux isn’t even Ryan’s guardian. If anything, he needs to keep his concerns under his roof. I’m almost in the mindset to report the fella.”
“Don’t do that,” Mom said. “We have to live in the same town.”
“The next time he accuses my family of anything, I’m going to march right down to the station and see what he has to say in front of his peers,” Dad said.
A swelling of pride filled me. Dad was always nice to everyone, even when he was in a disagreement. I’d never witnessed his protective Papa Bear attitude. I would stop him if he tried to approach Devereaux. When the truth came out, I’d hate for Dad to have exposed himself like that and then have to give an apology to Ryan’s brother.
Later that afternoon, the doorbell rang again. I wasn’t ready for Round Two with Devereaux, especially because I was alone this time. Mom and Dad were out with Madison for the afternoon while I was still in my pajamas, watching repeat episodes from my favorite small-town drama series.
I shot up from the couch and sneaked over to the window. I couldn’t make out who was at the door yet, my car was the only one in the driveway.
The doorbell rang again and I hesitated but eventually answered it.
Ryan stood at the door, his hands in his pockets. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief and moving away from the door to allow him inside.
I caught my reflection in the mirror above the entryway table and gasped. I looked as if I’d just rolled out of bed after a night of heavy partying. I’d forgotten to take off my makeup the night before and clumps of mascara dotted the skin under my eyes. I pulled out the elastic from my hair and smoothed my hair back into a more presentable ponytail.
At least I’d brushed my teeth that morning, or else I might have had to excuse myself.
“Is anyone home?” he asked.
I turned to him. “Just me.”
He sat on the couch and rubbed his hands over his face. “We’re busted.”
I sat next to him. “We’re not. Your brother suspects us from last night but my dad told him off.”
“At least our cover story worked,” Ryan said wearily. “But Phil found the case file in my room.”
“Why was he in your room?”
“That’s what I asked him,” he said. “He did it while I was in the shower and when I came out he showed me everything he found and demanded I give him the rest. I need to start locking my door.”
“Did you give him the rest?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
He turned to face me. “I had to. As much as I wanted to leave when I got here, I don’t anymore. And he said if he caught me snooping around again then he would definitely send me back home.”
I didn’t want that either. Our friendship was the only thing keeping me sane.
“So what do we do now?” I asked. “Do you want to stop?” The question lingered in the air between us. I could almost hear the “yes” on the tip of his tongue, and his curiosity pushed him to agree.
“We have to be really careful,” he said. “Phil can’t see us together, or else I’m on a plane.”
I touched his hand. “That’s not going to happen.”
He looked at our hands.
I stood, shaking off the feeling of his skin against mine. “I looked online for information on The Spider when I got home last night,” I said. “It’s a bar across town. And I don’t have a fake ID.”
Ryan stood, too. “I can get us some.”
“Really? Where?”
“The less you know, the better,” he said. “I should go before your parents get home. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“You won’t.”
He shrugged with one shoulder. “Who knows if Phil has a tracking device on my bike?”
“See you tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow,” he said then left.