Inside, the cottage was warm, but not warm enough for the air conditioner, so I opened up the windows and the back door to the porch while the boys ransacked the basement for Seb’s backup stash. Our clothes were pretty dry after sitting in the police station for hours, but I could still smell the chlorine. So I quickly changed into fresh shorts and a top, and strolled into the kitchen to find Jaz invading the fridge.
“Gotta let Daddy know we’re back,” she said. “He’s going to want us all to come over there.”
“Then give it a few before you call,” I said. “I think we all deserve to sit down for a minute. Stress melted my brain. I need to reset.”
“I hear you,” Jaz said. “Where’s your orange juice?”
I pointed to the side door and watched her down half the juice container, not bothering to get a glass. “Hey, Jaz? You okay? I mean, Paul-wise.”
One of the first things that happened when we all got to the police station was Paul getting booked for violating his parole. Which was glorious to see—at least for most of us. But almost as sweet was watching what happened to Lulu: she had a bench warrant for her arrest issued by a judge back in Kalamazoo—failing to appear in court for shoplifting charges—and got booked alongside Paul. The last we saw of them both was them being hauled off to different parts of the station in cuffs.
Benny snapped a pic for posterity.
“Does it hurt that someone I opened up to could betray me so easily?” Jazmine mused. “Yeah, it does. But it’s been over for a while. This was just the universe making sure I wouldn’t be tempted to go back to him.”
“Not tempted, then?”
“Not tempted,” she confirmed, taking another slug of orange juice while the boys cheered triumphantly from somewhere in the basement, presumably having found what they were looking for. Jaz looked toward the door, smiling to herself. “Benny was pretty amazing with the security system hack, huh? I watched him do it, and you’ve never seen fingers type so fast. It was impressive.”
If Benny hadn’t done it, we might not be standing here. My father had kitted out his entire house in cameras like he was some kind of international arms dealer. Those trust issues came back to bite him in the ass, though, because they were able to pull allthe footage—of me showing up at the house, of him signing the paperwork, and him locking me in the bedroom.
Now he faced aggravated kidnapping charges and extortion, and had to post nearly half a million in bail. Right now, he was locked in a jail cell—at least, until he could get the funds together. He might be millions on paper, but we overheard the police laughing about his cash flow.
Anyway, in the morning I had a meeting scheduled with an attorney. I had no idea how hard it was going to be make charges stick, or how much testimony I’d need to provide. I didn’t even know if I’d be safe once he made bail.
Would he come after me? Would Big Burg send Paul after they let him out?
I didn’t know.
But there were a couple of small bright spots. I still had the Harvard paperwork that he’d signed before he went psycho on me—it was damp from the pool but still legible. And the police had recovered my phone; I’d get that back tomorrow, hopefully. If not, I’d brick it and get a new one.
And on top of that, we were all safe. At least, for now. And that was enough.
“Want to chill out back? Grab a soda for me, will ya?” Seb asked as the boys headed out to the porch. “Benny’s ordering Pete’s Vegan.”
“Thank God,” Jazmine said as we followed them outside.
The horizon above the lake was streaked with magenta as the sun fell. Everything felt magical at this time of day—past golden hour, not quite night. The painted sky. The quiet surf rolling in from the lake. I crossed the back porch, where Benny lounged on the porch swing. Jaz joined him, taking over his phone so shecould pick out what food to order. And I took a seat on the porch steps, hugging my knees as I watched Seb throwing a gnarled frisbee to Punkin.
Everyone content, at least for the moment. And a perfect picture, if I’d ever seen one.
Nana sure would’ve loved to see this, that’s for sure.
“Yo,” Benny said from the porch swing. “I know we just got back, but we’re going to need to figure out what to do now. Because even if we don’t run into any more trouble from Lulu and Paul—”
“If?” Jaz said. “That’s being generous. I’d say we’re on borrowed time.”
Benny frowned at her. “I’m just saying, no matter what happens, our treasure hunt is pretty much at a standstill because they’ve still got Mabel’s rings.”
Right. That pesky little detail. I’d forgotten all about the rings today. Well. Mostly. There was that moment when I was having a mental breakdown and on the verge of death, diving into my father’s pool from a second-story balcony. Something still niggled about that. I’d forgotten something. What was it... ?
“Can’t open a lock if you don’t have a key,” Benny pointed out.
“True,” Jazmine said. “Especially hard when you don’t know where the lock is.”
“Maybe we should put the treasure hunt on the back burner,” Benny said. “Just until we find out what’s going to happen with Paul and Lulu. Because I don’t think any of us need to even consider trying to get the rings back.”
“No one’s going back in that compound.” Jazmine then shouted toward the beach, “You hear me, Jansen? That means you.”
