Dark Water: A Siren Novel (31 page)

I rested my fingers lightly on the side of Colin’s face until his eyes found mine. The burst of energy was slight, but it was there, traveling down my arm. Encouraged, I stood on my toes and brought my mouth near his ear.

“I want you to tell me,” I said softly.

He inhaled. Exhaled. “Tell you what?”

“What you’ve been doing.”

“What I’ve been doing … when?”

“The past few weeks. With the girls.”

“What girls?” He tried to pull back. “Vanessa, I know you didn’t have to twist my arm to come in here, but trust me—I don’t just do this kind of thing. The second I saw you on that
beach … I don’t know how to explain it. I just … felt this thing. This connection … you know?”

This wasn’t the confession I was hoping for—but somehow, it was exactly what my body wanted to hear.

I wouldn’t tell anyone about what happened next. I wouldn’t tell them how I moved my mouth from Colin’s ear, across his jawline, and to his lips. Or how we kissed for minutes on end, without once coming up for the air we so desperately needed. I wouldn’t tell them how he’d lifted me up until I sat on the edge of the sink, and stood between my legs, and kissed wherever his mouth could reach. Most importantly, I wouldn’t tell them how good—how
amazing—it
felt.

Natalie, on the other hand, was another story.

“Oh my God.”

I sat up, shoved Colin. He stumbled back, confused. Natalie stood frozen in the open doorway, her mouth agape.

“Sorry.” She stepped back. “I didn’t know—I didn’t mean to—the door was unlocked and—”

“It’s okay.” I slid off the sink, grabbed my purse. “And I can explain.”

“You don’t have to. Really.”

She darted into the hall, and I ran after her. As strong as I felt, Natalie was stronger—and faster. It wasn’t until she was swallowed by the bar crowd that I remembered Simon’s finding out wasn’t the worst possible consequence of what I’d just done.

But by the time I made it back to the restroom, I was too late.

Colin was gone.

C
HAPTER 23
 

“Can you please close the computer?” Paige asked.

I didn’t answer. My eyes moved from the words, to the accompanying photo of a white gazebo encircled by yellow crime-scene tape, and back.

Paige reached over and closed the laptop. “We get it.”

Simon, seated next to me on the employee deck, took my hand. I sat back and looked toward the harbor.

It was July eighteenth. The anniversary of another death, and yet another day I’d never forget. Only this time, the date wouldn’t stick simply because an innocent girl had died.

It’d stick because I’d helped kill her.

“We have to go to the police,” Caleb said.

“With what evidence?” Paige asked.

“The e-mails,” Caleb said.

“You and Simon, like, broke the entire Internet yesterday trying to track the IP addresses,” Paige reminded him. “And what’d you find?”

Caleb sighed. “That each e-mail was sent from a different place.”

“Where?” Paige prompted.

“All over the country.”

“So that would help the police how?” When no one answered, Paige continued. “What it
would
do is tell them that we’ve been sitting on potential clues to the identities of future victims. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think they’d be especially grateful to us after the fact.”

“What about the recording?” Caleb looked at me. “Let’s listen to it. I know you didn’t get an outright confession, but there could still be something on there we can use.”

“The stairwell door’s locked,” Paige said. “No one else will come up and accidentally hear anything.”

I didn’t argue or try to talk my way out of it. There was no point. I squeezed Simon’s hand before releasing it, then took the voice recorder from my purse, placed it on the table, and
pressed Play. As Colin’s and my voices filled the air, I watched Simon’s face, noting every wince and cringe. The expressions were fleeting, which I knew took conscious effort on his part … but they were still there.

“Vanessa, where—”

“Be right back!”

I reached forward, clicked off the recorder.

“You texted me right after that?” Simon asked. “From the bathroom?”

I nodded.

“And he was gone when you got back?” Caleb asked.

“Yes.” My voice was surprisingly steady. “And again, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for leaving right then. I was so surprised by the way he talked around things, and when he said he’d gotten an e-mail … I just needed a minute to get myself together.”

Simon leaned toward me, lowered his voice. “You have nothing to apologize for. You did what you were comfortable doing, and now we’ll come up with another plan. It’s okay.”

Behind my sunglasses, my eyes welled briefly, then dried. My body was too depleted to cry.

“So should we share this with the police anyway?” Caleb asked. “It might—”

“No,”
Paige and I said, at the same time.

“It would raise way too many questions we don’t want to answer,” she added.

I agreed. I was also more determined now than ever to keep
the secret Charlotte had wanted kept between sirens—and sirens only.

“Can I at least send them an anonymous tip that these dates match the ones from last summer?” Caleb asked. “Just in case they haven’t put that much together on their own?”

No one could argue that. We were silent as he composed and sent an e-mail. When he was done, he closed the computer and checked his watch.

“It’s almost seven.” He nodded to Simon. “We should probably get down there.”

Betty’s was hosting another fishermen dinner and contest that night. Simon and Caleb, hoping Colin would make another appearance, had insisted on attending. They were going to stake out the parking lot and watch guests arrive.

“We’ll be right outside if you need us.” Simon kissed the top of my head as he stood.

“Be careful.” Caleb aimed this at Paige, who promised she would.

“I don’t get it,” she said, when they were gone. “What’s this guy trying to prove? That he’s just as strong, if not stronger, than us?”

“I’m not sure.” I took a bottle of salt water from my purse and drank. “But if someone has it in him to kill another person, he probably also has it in him to do so with no good reason.”

“I guess.” Paige watched me finish off the bottle. “Vanessa, are you okay? Physically, I mean. You seem a little … tired, or something.”

She was being generous. I’d examined my appearance in the mirror that morning. I’d seen my skin flaking and the bags under my eyes. I’d even found a single strand of gray hair, which I’d instantly plucked from my scalp. Paige was either too kind to tell me how terrible I looked, or too distracted. “I’ve been feeling a little off,” I admitted. “I guess my body’s been having a hard time dealing with everything that’s going on.”

“Of course it is.” Paige reached across the table and rested one hand on my arm. “You should go home and rest. We’ll be fine.”

“And risk being locked up forever by my parents? Who, after reading today’s paper, have probably already put up an electric fence lined with barbed wire? I don’t think so.” I didn’t add that I’d already made matters worse when I lied about where I was going when I left the house earlier. I’d planned to quit Betty’s as they’d asked but had put it off in light of recent events. “There is something else I could use, though. And I’ll need your help to get it.”

I wasn’t even halfway through my explanation when Paige agreed.

“You’re my best friend,” she said simply. “And I know you’d do the same for me.”

Back downstairs, she stayed in the kitchen to talk to Louis and I headed for the hostess stand. Most of the guests had attended the first dinner and were more than happy to seat themselves when I gave them menus and asked them to sit anywhere they’d like. This saved me energy while allowing me
to stay put—and not miss a single person walking through the door.

I left my post only once, when Natalie walked by on her way to the restroom. I excused myself to the two men who’d just come in and followed her.

“Hi,” I said, when she came out of the stall.

She stopped, then continued to the sinks. “Hi.”

“I just wanted to thank you,” I said, heart racing. “For not telling anyone about yesterday. I really appreciate it.”

“Yes, well. You were nice to me during my meltdown on the beach.” She shook the water from her hands, patted them on her apron. “Not to mention it’s none of my business.”

“Still. Thank you. And I’m so sorry for putting you in that position. If you have a second, I’d be happy to—”

“Vanessa, honestly. It’s not necessary. Relationships are complicated.” At the door, she turned and smiled. “Believe me, I should know.”

She left. I still felt uneasy, but reminding myself that this was my problem and not hers to fix, I tried to shrug it off as I returned to the lobby.

Ten minutes later, Paige joined me at the hostess stand.

“I found him,” she said quietly.

My heart leapt against my ribs. “Colin?” I whispered.

“No, but way to ruin the mood.” Our eyes met. “The thing you asked me to do? I picked a guy to do it with. He’s cute, too.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “We’ll be on the back patio if you want to watch.”

I started after her as she walked away, tempted to tell her to forget it, that I’d changed my mind. But my legs moved so slowly, she was out of hearing range before I could. I lingered by the contest table for a few minutes, pretending to check out the catches as she got situated outside, and then weaved through the crowd and toward the French doors at the back of the dining room.

Paige hadn’t wasted time. She leaned against the stone wall enclosing the patio, her back to me. An attractive guy who looked to be in his early twenties faced her. He had light brown hair and wore khakis and a red plaid shirt, unbuttoned, over a white T-shirt. They talked, laughed, grew closer. I was twenty feet away, but I could still see the glimmer in his eyes as Paige’s power took hold and the world around them began to disappear. When his head lowered toward hers, I turned away. I was embarrassed to watch them kiss, and felt guilty, too. Paige had agreed to help without reservation, but I couldn’t help thinking I’d put my best friend in an uncomfortable situation.

Not that she
seemed
uncomfortable. When she found me standing there a few minutes later, still inside the dining room, her smile lit up her whole face, her blue eyes gleamed silver, and her skin radiated pink.

“His name’s Jaime. He’s twenty-four, from Bar Harbor—and all yours.” She handed me a glass of iced tea. “I told him I’d be right back with this.”

“Thank you.” I hugged her.

“No problem. Anytime you need me to do that again, I’m more than happy to help. Trust me.”

She headed for the microphone on the other side of the room. I stopped by the bar for a quick shot of salt water, then went outside. As Paige started the contest festivities, the fishermen hanging out on the patio congregated near the open French doors to watch and listen. Grateful for their distraction, I straightened my skirt, smoothed my shirt, and went to Jaime.

“Hi, there.”

He looked up, his hazel eyes slightly unfocused. “Where’s Paige?”

“She had to take care of something inside so she asked me to bring you this.” I held out the iced tea. He studied it for a moment, as if trying to remember whether he was thirsty. When he didn’t move to take it, I rested it on the wall behind him.

“Is she coming back?” He peered over his shoulder.

“I’m not sure. She’s pretty busy.” I waited for him to turn back. He didn’t. “I’m Vanessa, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” he mumbled, without looking at me.

I stepped toward him until I was so close, I could see his chest lift with each breath. “The pleasure’s mine.”

For a split second, his chest stopped.

“It’s such a nice night,” I said quietly, hating each word more than the last. “Would you like to take a walk?”

He turned back. His eyes, slightly clearer, narrowed and searched my face. Guessing he needed a bit more encouragement, I leaned into him and sang a single note so softly, I knew
no one but us could hear it. It was a variation of what Charlotte had taught me, and given how that had failed with the fisherman at Murph’s yesterday, I didn’t think it’d work. The most I hoped for was that it helped shift Jaime’s focus from Paige to me.

Which was why I was stunned when his eyes widened and locked on mine. And my body felt a surge of life so unexpected, I gasped and grabbed his shirt for support. Taking this as an invitation, he reached for my waist.

“Let’s walk,” I whispered.

He followed willingly. My head spun as we crossed the pier and headed down the beach, away from Betty’s. Part of me wanted to take the energy I’d just gotten and return to the restaurant immediately. But a bigger part wanted to keep going. Charlotte had said that attracting the affection of a guy who was interested in another girl was the best way to stay strong—at least, I assumed, until more was required. If that was true, and if Paige had done her part well enough, then a few more minutes with Jaime wouldn’t hurt. If anything, they should give me the strength I’d need to correct yesterday’s mistakes.