by Ginger Zee
“Is everything okay with him?”
Helicity blinked in surprise. “Andy? Yeah, I think so. Why?”
Sam tossed a throw pillow from hand to hand. “It’s just…well, he’s been acting kind of weird since we got here.”
“Weird how?”
“He gets up and leaves in the middle of the night, and then sleeps like the dead in the morning. I hate waking him up because he always bites my head off—and then he bites my head off again for not waking him up sooner.”
Helicity stared at him. “Where does he go at night?” She groaned. “Not hanging with Johnny, I hope.”
Sam made a face that told her that’s exactly who he thought Andy was with. “Maybe I’m way off base, Fifteen, but I can’t help wondering if Andy is having some…I don’t know. Problems. Like, emotional problems. Because of the tornado, I mean, and the big question mark about his future.”
“Emotional problems? Andy?” Helicity scoffed. “No way. He’s too strong.”
“But has he changed since the tornado?” Sam persisted.
She fidgeted in her chair, feeling edgy and defensive all of a sudden. “He’s been a little grumpy, I guess. He could stand to shower more often.” She spread her hands. “As for his sleep stuff, you heard him about the air-conditioning. He probably can’t sleep in the heat. No big deal.”
“And Johnny?”
She sighed and dropped her hands back in her lap. “I don’t like him any more than you do. But Andy can take care of himself. And besides, I’d know if he was having trouble with anything.”
“How?”
“Because he tells me everything, that’s how,” she said shortly. She got to her feet. “Listen, it’s been a long day. I’m going to bed.”
“Fifteen.”
She paused with her foot on the bottom stair. “What?”
“I know how much you love your brother. How much you look up to him. But…Andy might not be as strong as you think.” He moved to her side and searched her face. “And nobody tells anyone everything. Nobody.” He continued to his room without another word.
Upstairs in her bed, Helicity laced her fingers behind her head and frowned at the ceiling.
Sam is way off base, she thought furiously. Andy is fine.
Images of her brother in the hospital that afternoon flashed across her mind. His red eyes, unshaven face, and stringy hair. The smell clinging to his clothes. How he’d walked, head down and hands shoved into his pockets.
Andy might not be as strong as you think. And nobody tells anyone everything.
Sam’s words wormed into her brain. She tried to block them out, but they kept returning. Could Andy be in trouble? And if so, why was he hiding it from her?
Finally, beyond frustrated and with the glowing red numbers on the digital clock showing it was well past midnight, she decided to head downstairs for a cup of chamomile tea to soothe her jangling nerves. She crept out of bed and tiptoed out to the landing.
And froze when she heard the tinkle of breaking glass.
Someone’s breaking into the house.
Helicity ducked behind the half wall and squeezed her eyes shut. Blood from her racing heart pulsed in her ears. She forced herself to take a deep, silent breath. Held it and listened for movement.
All was quiet.
She let the air out of her lungs slowly and noiselessly, then inched her way up to a crouch and peered over the wall.
An intruder stood in the open doorway to the deck. The dim light from the crescent moon cast him in silhouette. That same light glinted on the broken glass scattered on the floor at his feet. Otherwise, the deck was shrouded in darkness. Her stomach clutched when she realized he must have done something to the motion detectors. She tried to see his face, but it was shadowed by his dark hoodie and the night.
He tilted his head, listening. Then he stole into the common room and wove soundlessly between two easy chairs. He paused for a moment, then snatched something from the side table and jammed it into his pocket. Then he slunk farther into the house.
Helicity ducked down again and made herself small in the corner wall by the stairs.
Please don’t come up, she begged silently. Please don’t come up.
She heard the soft but unmistakable zztttt of a zipper being unzipped. She swallowed hard. Suze’s purse. She listened closer and caught the light clink of glass on the countertop. The tip jar, she realized. It sat by the sink in plain sight. Easy pickings, though the money within couldn’t have topped fifty dollars.
Footfalls lighter than a cat’s paws told her he was on the move again. Out of the kitchen. Past the bottom of the loft stairs. Through the common room. And out the back door.
Helicity sat unmoving, barely daring to breathe, until she was absolutely certain he was gone. Then she raced to her bedroom and grabbed her phone. The digital clock told her less than five minutes had passed since she got out of bed.
It felt like a lifetime.
“Helicity?” Mia said sleepily. “What’s going on?”
“Trouble,” Helicity answered. She ran downstairs to Suze’s room and pounded on her door, fingers shaking as she dialed 9-1-1. The door opened at the same time the call was answered, so she only had to say it once: “We’ve been robbed.”
For the second time in less than twelve hours, Helicity was surrounded by flashing blue lights. The police had arrived within minutes of her call. Suze, Mia, and Sam stood by her as she told an officer what she had witnessed.
Andy appeared midway through—not from his bedroom, though he was in his usual sleep attire of a T-shirt and shorts, but from the back stairs to the deck. He started toward Helicity only to find his way blocked by the policeman’s stiff arm. “Hey! What the hell!” he cried in protest.
“Let him by, please,” Suze intervened. “He’s family.”
The officer lowered his arm but stayed firmly in Andy’s path. “Where were you just now, sir?”
Andy stared at him. “On the beach. I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk.”
“Can anyone corroborate that?” the officer asked.
Andy stiffened. “I was alone. Didn’t pass anyone. I can show you my footprints.”
“Officer, please.” Helicity edged around the man to stand next to her brother. “He has trouble sleeping sometimes. We both do.” She laced her fingers through Andy’s and gave the policeman the abbreviated version of what they’d been through in Michigan as well as that afternoon’s distressing events. Andy showed him his bandage as proof of his latest injury.
The officer relaxed his stance somewhat. “I’m sorry. But I had to ask. It’s my job.”
Andy gave him a curt nod, then turned to Helicity. “What happened here?” When she repeated the same story she’d told the police, his grip on her hand tightened. “God. You must have been terrified. And you didn’t see the guy’s face?”
She shook her head. “It was too dark, and his hoodie was up.” She shivered. “And he was in and out of here so fast.”
The officer cut in. “We know he took whatever cash he could get his hands on,” he said with a nod at the empty tip jar and Suze’s splayed-open wallet. “Oddly enough, he didn’t take the credit cards. And what would he have grabbed off the living room table?”
“I don’t know,” Helicity said. “I couldn’t see it. I just know it was something small enough to stuff in his pocket.”
Suze’s eyes widened. “Wait. Mia’s pills. I left the bottle there. I just remembered.”
“Pills?” The officer scowled. “What kind of pills?”
Suze scrubbed her face with her hands. “Prescription painkillers. The narcotic kind.”
“Opioids.” The officer’s lips tightened further. “Right. I’m going to need a list of everybody who would have known about those pills.”
“What? Why?” Andy asked.
The policeman narrowed his eyes. “Because whoever broke in seemed to know what he was after. Targeted the pills and the cash and nothing else.”
/> “I can give you the list,” Suze said. “But can we let these kids get back to bed, please?”
The officer hesitated, then nodded. Suze led him through the back door onto the deck. Someone had swept up the broken glass and taped a square of cardboard over the windowpane. Helicity shivered again, remembering the intruder standing in the doorway. Then she rounded on Andy and searched his face with her eyes.
“Were you really by yourself? Or were you with Johnny?”
His grasp on her hand loosened and he turned away. “I’m not in the habit of lying to the police, Hel.”
She stared at his back. She wanted to believe him. But that little voice in her head wouldn’t let her.
Nobody tells anyone everything.
Suddenly, the energy drained out of her, and she sagged against the kitchen island. Sam made a move toward her, but Mia was quicker. “Come on, Hel,” she whispered, guiding her toward the loft stairs. “Bedtime.”
Sleep cradled Helicity in its arms soon after her head hit the pillow. But in the hours just before dawn, a new nightmare invaded her slumber.
She was adrift on a boat far out on a fog-thick sea. Something was out there with her. Something she didn’t want to see. Something she knew she couldn’t avoid.
The mist parted, and she spied a figure struggling in the waves. Invisible forces propelled her closer. Crying for help, the figure thrashed in the clutches of some unseen creature hell-bent on dragging him below the surface. She stretched out her arms, beseeching him to reach for her. To trust her.
But to her horror, he pulled away and gave himself up to the beast below. She locked gazes with him just before he slipped beneath the surface. His eyes were the same sea-green color as her own…before the monster turned them zombie-undead.
Helicity awoke in a slick of sweat and with a scream lodged in her throat. The scream had a name: Andy.
“I’m sorry, Helicity. Andy’s gone.”
After her nightmare, Helicity had fallen into a mercifully dreamless sleep. Mia was already up and in the shower when she finally awoke. She headed downstairs, hoping—expecting—to see Andy.
Now she stared at Suze uncomprehendingly. “What? When?”
Suze pulled a fresh-baked coffee cake from the oven, filling the air with the rich scent of cinnamon and brown sugar, reminding Helicity that a family of guests was due to arrive later that day. “Andy left with his friend Johnny a while ago. I told him he should take the day off, but he was determined to go.”
Helicity leaned forward on the kitchen island, covered her face with her hands, and then pushed her fingers through her hair. Her talk with Andy would have to wait. Again.
Sam was gone, too, though he texted her to say he’d be back for their visit with Trey. Where he was or what he was doing, he didn’t mention.
Helicity and Suze spent the rest of the morning vacuuming, dusting, and tidying the Beachside for the new guests. Mia helped with lighter duties that didn’t aggravate her bruised back. A man replaced the broken glass and repaired the damaged motion detectors. By the time Sam returned to take them to visit Trey, all evidence of the burglary was gone.
Helicity hoped her nightmares would vanish as cleanly.
Trey’s house was similar in style to Suze’s, except the outside was shingled with weathered gray boards rather than painted turquoise, and there were regular windows rather than huge picture windows facing the Gulf. Trey was in the living room, his injured leg propped up on the floral-patterned sofa. Mia sat in one chair facing him and Sam took another, leaving Helicity no choice but to sit beside Trey’s feet.
Mia immediately filled Trey in on the break-in. Trey’s mouth formed a horrified O when she finished. “You’re lucky he didn’t see you!” he said to Helicity.
She shook her head. “I keep thinking I should have gone for my phone sooner. Then maybe the police would have caught him in the act.”
“No,” Trey objected. “You were smart not to try to stop him. From what I’ve heard, drug addicts will do anything to feed their habit. Anything.” He gave the word a dark emphasis.
“Drug addicts?” Mia shivered. “You think this guy was one?”
“Makes sense, doesn’t it? He steals your pills and the cash, but not any of Suze’s stuff.” Then he gave a sheepish grin. “Also, the police think drugs are behind all those robberies. Said so on the news this morning.”
“You watch the news?” Mia joked.
“For the sports,” Trey said defensively. “Plus, my hospital roommate wanted to watch it. Oh, and guess who was interviewed.” He rolled his eyes. “Summer. Some reporter found out she’d been in the derecho. She made it sound like she’d saved us single-handedly.”
They all gave a collective groan. While the skier’s assessment of Summer as a “waste” had struck Helicity as a little harsh, she had no patience for that kind of shallow, self-centered person. From the disgusted looks on her friends’ faces, they felt the same way.
Sam cleared his throat. “Speaking of saving…I owe you, Trey. Big-time.”
Trey held up his hands. “You got me off that sailboat, man. We’re even.”
“Not in my book.” Sam stood up, withdrew a slightly crumpled envelope from his pocket, and handed it to Trey. “I got you this to say thanks.”
Looking mystified, Trey opened it and withdrew a letter. His eyes scanned the contents, then his face broke into a wide grin. “It’s an open invitation from the marine mammal rehab center to visit Scar!”
“Scar?” Mia queried.
“That’s the name they gave the dolphin,” Trey said, “because of the white scar on his fin.” He waved the paper in the air. “I’ve been trying to get in ever since that day. How’d you manage it?”
“I went there this morning,” Sam replied. “Told them what you did for me, and how much you’d like to see the other mammal you saved.”
“That Helicity saved,” Trey corrected.
Sam nodded. “Which is why she gets to go with you.”
“Can I go, too?” Mia asked. Then her eyes darted between Helicity and Trey. “Oh, shoot. I just remembered I’m busy that day.”
“But we haven’t said what day we’re going,” Helicity protested.
“Yeah, but still…I’m busy. Probably. So, it’ll have to be just you two. Right, Sam?” Mia looked pointedly at Sam.
Sam nodded, his expression impossible to read.
“Just us two.” Trey sat forward and caught Helicity’s hand. “It’s kind of like a date, I guess.” His fingers felt warm against hers, and his happy smile spread that warmth throughout the rest of her body.
Mia gave a subtle fist pump that Helicity hoped Trey had missed.
She almost missed something herself. A tightening of Sam’s lips. A glimpse of sadness and regret quickly hidden behind a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Sam.” She gestured to the letter. “You didn’t have to do this.”
Sam looked away. “Hey, if it weren’t for you—for both of you,” he said lightly, “I wouldn’t be here.”
They left Trey’s soon after that. Sam dropped Mia and Helicity at the Beachside but didn’t get out of the car. “Got to go set up the campsite,” he told Helicity. When she offered to help, he smirked. “No offense,” he said, revving the engine, “but you’re looking a little rough. I’m afraid you’d poke yourself in the eye with one of the poles.”
He drove off, leaving her stung by his comment and feeling abandoned for the second time that day. Then her phone rang.
“It’s Trey,” she told Mia.
Mia grinned. “Yeah, it is.” She hurried up the stairs to let Helicity answer the call in private.
“Good news!” Trey said. “Assuming my leg is healing fast, which it will because I am an awesome healer, Mom has agreed to let me visit Scar in two days. So, what do you say, Hel?”
She stared at the impressions left by Sam’s wheels, then turned away. “I’d say it’s a date.”
Suze’s guests had arrived
while they were at Trey’s. The parents, Ted and Lisa Gibson, seemed pleasant enough, if a little bland. Their teenage daughter, Cynthia, had strawberry-blond hair, brown eyes, and a shapely figure that made Helicity feel like a boy by comparison. Her younger brother, Ted Junior, had the same coloring and a talent for annoying his sister. After five minutes of listening to them bicker, Helicity couldn’t wait to escape to the beach with Mia.
“Promise me you and Andy will never argue like that,” Mia groaned as they spread their towels in the hot sand.
“You have my permission to yell at us if we do,” Helicity said. She applied sunscreen and, with a sigh, stretched out on her stomach and closed her eyes. Bathed in the sun and sand’s warmth, she felt the chaos of the previous day and night float away. She dozed off almost instantly.
Sam’s voice woke her. “So, this your first time on the peninsula?”
“Yeah.” There was a throaty chuckle. “And my close friends call me Cyn.”
Helicity’s eyes flew open. Thirty yards away, Sam was lounging on his side on a towel with the girl from the Beachside. She was propped on her elbows, her head tipped back and her hair cascading down behind her like a strawberry-blond waterfall. Her teal bikini barely covered her curves.
Sam couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Well, Cyn.” Grinning, he got to his feet and held out his hands. “Want to go for a swim?”
With the lazy slowness of a sleepy cat, Cyn smiled. “I’d rather watch you.”
Sam cocked an eyebrow. “Well. Then watch away.” He turned and strode into the surf.
Until that moment, Helicity didn’t think she could hate anyone more than Johnny. But Cyn vaulted into top position. She turned her face away and squeezed her eyes shut. A tear leaked out and traced a line across the bridge of her nose.
Don’t you dare cry, she screamed at herself. He’s a friend. Nothing more. Be strong.
But nothing she’d faced—not the tornado’s fury, the flood’s power, or the derecho’s wildness—had prepared her for that sucker punch to her heart. And gut. She felt sick all over. She had no reason to hate this girl but she felt envy growing by the moment. By the time the darkness of night fell, the green monster of jealousy had overtaken her brain.
