Changing course, I made my way to the billiard room.Keme sat on the chesterfield, his long, dark hair stringy with saltwater.I knew it was saltwater because the faint tang of it ran like iron under the usual smells of leather and old books and the fireplace.He was dressed in sweats, with a blanket around his shoulders, and his face was blank.Millie was snuggled up against him, her expression tight.And Fox, who had apparently found time to change clothes since the farmers market, was now dressed somewhere between merfolk and Knott’s Berry Farm employee.(The emphasis was on shiny red-and-white scales.) They examined me with what a writer prone to cliché might have calleda murderous disposition.
“Uh, hey.”I glanced around again.Millie wouldn’t look at me.Keme wouldn’t look at anyone.Fox wouldn’t look at anyonebutme.AndIwouldn’t look at Indira.“What happened?”
“You—” Fox began.
Red-eyed, Millie raised her head from Keme’s shoulder.“YOU MISSED KEME’S SURF COMPETITION!AND IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HIM!”
“What?”
Okay, that wasdefinitelythe wrong thing to say, because I could feel static electricity gathering behind me like Indira was going to blast me.
“Oh my God,” I said.And then I said a word that Iknewyou weren’t allowed to say at Knott’s Berry Farm.“Keme, I’m so sorry.I got distracted—”
With surprising gentleness, Keme slipped out from Millie’s embrace and padded toward the door.He was barefoot, and a fresh scrape showed where he’d caught up on a rock.
“No, wait, please—” I reached out, but I didn’t touch him; my hand floated there, doing nothing.
And then he was gone, heading down the hall.A moment later, the sound of bare feet on wood came from the stairs.
“I didn’t mean to forget—” I explained to the other three, who were currently competing for the roles of judge, jury, and executioner.
Foxhissedat me.
“WHERE WERE YOU?”
“I was trying to solve a murder!Two murders, actually!Someone else got killed today.And in case it matters to anyone, yes, I’m still the lead suspect.”That bit of steam ran out pretty quickly, though, and in a more subdued voice, I added, “I didn’t mean to forget.”
“Well,” Fox said with their usual aplomb, “you did.”
“Yes, I’m aware—”
“AND IT HURT KEME’S FEELINGS!AND HE’S A BOY SO HE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO TELL YOU!”
“Yes—”
“SO I’M TELLING YOU!”
“I got that part.”
“AND YOU NEED TO FIX IT!”
“Okay, jeez, I—” Millie didn’t actually screech like a banshee in rage, but something in her face suggested this was a distinct possibility, so I checked my ’tude and in a, uh, better tone said, “I know.I will.”
A chorus of sniffs and huffs and dirty looks suggested I was not forgiven.
“I know,” I said.“I screwed up.”
“It’s all right, dear,” Indira said, which is proof she might be the kindest person alive.She even patted my shoulder.“You have a lot going on.I’m sure he’ll understand when you apologize.”
I nodded, butIwasn’t sure.Because Keme didn’t extend his trust lightly, and even though he and I had been through a lot together, I also knew that his natural tendency was to draw back and protect himself.
Well, I had nobody to blame but myself.Although weirdly, I wanted to blame that call with my parents.Because I’d beenplanningto go.Ihad.It was that there had been that call, and I’d been thinking about the show, and then there’d been Steven’s murder to deal with, and—
And a lot of excuses.
“I’m going to go upstairs,” I said.“See if I can apologize.”
Indira patted my shoulder again.Millie wiped her eyes—they were angry tears, but they still made me feel about an inch tall.Fox pretended I didn’t exist or had never been born orsomethingand busied themselves checking their merfolk boots.
