“Why?”
Chaz smiled. “Just take my advice for once.”
Booby traps. Had to be. The dude might be brainless, but he was shrewd.
AJ drew a ragged breath. “You better be at work tomorrow. And I’m coming back here with you.” He walked around the trailer, stopped and looked back.
Chaz’s voice floated over the treetops. “Keep walkin’.”
The click of the rifle forced his retreat down the black lane.
Chapter Nineteen
Footlights along the bridge showed the top of his guitar case. As AJ approached, the slender neck of his guitar still leaned out of the case, as if beckoning him to lift it. He fought against the tears that sprung to his eyes. After losing Cassie, to lose his guitar would have seemed like the end of all hope. He latched the case shut and walked home.
AJ fell onto his bed, too exhausted–mentally and physically–to take off his shoes or anything else. Grateful for the comfort of his bed, but tonight would be torture, knowing Cassiopeia was away from her home, trapped in Chaz’s manmade hell. If she’d felt confined in the ocean, he could only imagine how claustrophobic that tiny pool must make her feel. And terrified.
What was he going to do? He had to make this right. How could he get her away from Chaz, the madman?
The light flicked on, and Grandpa stood in the doorway. “Do you realize how late it is?”
AJ flinched and shielded his eyes with his forearm.
Sleep fled his grandfather’s face as his keen gaze swept over AJ. “What kind of trouble are you in?”
The concern in Grandpa’s voice made AJ want to blubber and fall into his arms. He pushed himself up. “It’s not me.” His voice sounded as ragged as his nerves.
Grandpa narrowed his eyes. “It’s that scumbag, isn’t it. Chaz.”
“He took something from me.” AJ held back his tears. “Someone.”
His grandfather sat on the bed. “What do you mean, someone?”
AJ’s hands clenched into fists atop his knees. “The girl I told you about.”
In amazement, Grandpa shifted to face him. “He kidnapped her?”
How could he explain this? But Grandpa, of all people, wouldn’t doubt him.
AJ steadied his voice and looked his grandfather in the eye. “She’s a mermaid, Grandpa.”
“What?” Grandpa’s face contorted with shock.
AJ shouldn’t have told him. The old man looked ready to have a stroke.
“That day on the river. It wasn’t a girl pretending to be a mermaid. She was a mermaid. She saved me from the alligator. I met her at the beach later, and…” He couldn’t tell the whole story. He closed his eyes and held his head in his hands.
Maybe Grandpa thought he was pulling his leg. Pulling a fast one. AJ could feel the heavy weight of his stare.
AJ clenched his teeth. “I have to get her away from him. He wants to train her. To make her into a freak show. Then he’s going to try to sell her to Sea World, or whoever will buy her first.” His voice rose as he spoke. Unable to sit still, AJ stood. He wanted to hit something, pound it into bits. “God knows what he’ll do to her. He’s insane, Grandpa. He already threatened to shoot us. And he has a knife.” He trembled as the night’s events replayed in his head. “I’m afraid for her. I have to save her.” He turned and met his grandfather’s gaze. “What can I do? Can you help me?”
Grandpa rested his hands on his knees, his face a craggy scowl as he stared out at nothing. “I don’t know.”
AJ sat beside him. His grandfather was too quiet. Something was wrong. “But you know about mermaids. You met one, you said so yourself. You—”
“Yes. I met one.” His grandfather’s cold gaze stopped his rant. He turned to AJ. “For a long time, son, I’ve wrestled with how to tell you.”
“Tell me what?” His grandfather only called him son when it involved something big. Or he was trying to talk him into something he didn’t want to do.
Grandpa let out a heavy breath, apparently struggling for words–a first. It must be something huge.
“Tell me what?” AJ repeated insistently.
“The mermaid I met.” His grandfather leveled his steady gaze on him. “She was your grandmother.”
It felt as if Grandpa had sucker-punched him. AJ could hardly breathe. “What? Grandma? She was the… the one you…” All the oxygen seemed to have been sucked from the room. He bent over, his head reeling.
His eyes like glass, Grandpa recited the tale as if in a trance. “Yes. The one I told you about. I fell in love with her, and she gave up her family for me. Her world. To have our own family.” His grandfather’s face looked as hard as a statue. This was no joke.
“Grandma was a…” AJ’s stomach twisted. Maybe he’d fallen asleep, and this was some crazy nightmare. Or maybe Chaz had drugged him. “So what does that make Mom?”
With a single nod, he said, “The daughter of a mermaid.” As if it were a logical conclusion. Tonight, no logic existed. All the boundaries had shifted. Nothing, and no one, were as they seemed.
AJ couldn’t string two thoughts together. “But how… no one ever… Mom never said…”
Grandpa exhaled. “She doesn’t know.”
“You never told her?” Incredulous, AJ ran a hand through his hair. “Wait, what does that make me?”
“One quarter merman.” The way he said it, AJ suspected his grandfather had mentally prepped himself for this moment. No one could just churn out sensible responses to life-changing questions with such clarity.
“Holy shit.” Life had rocketed from normal to bizarro in less than one minute. Shaking, AJ paced and rubbed his arms.
Grandpa went on as casually as if they were discussing the weather. “Oh, I don’t believe you have any special gifts from… her side of the family. None I’ve seen, anyway. Except for your good looks, and apparent gift for charming the ladies.”
Oh, well. That made all the difference, he wanted to say. No special gifts except attracting girls. Just a certain affinity for mer people. Was that why Cassiopeia was drawn to him? Could she have sensed it?
Too many questions crowded AJ’s head, all struggling to be first. He stammered, “You’re going to have to talk me through this. It’s all… too much.”
His grandfather’s cool demeanor freaked him out more. “I’ll answer what I can.”
A tremor went through AJ. “OK. So is that how Grandma died? Because she couldn’t live on land for long?” He couldn’t let that happen to Cassiopeia.
His grandfather’s gaze slid to his. “She didn’t die. She left me.”
Stunned, AJ had to sit. Otherwise his legs might give out. “You should warn me before throwing any more curve balls my way.”
“I’m sorry, son. I know it’s a lot to take in at once.”
AJ blew through his lips. “Yeah. A bit much.”
Grandpa continued his tale. He told it as he might tell any story, over a beer, detached, as if it had happened to someone else. As if his life hadn’t been ruined by it all. “When I was young, I had somewhat of a reputation as a ladies’ man. After I met your grandmother, of course, I didn’t want anyone else. She was spectacular, the most incredible and desirous female on earth.”
AJ could relate. Cassiopeia had the same effect on him.
“Women still flirted with me. I couldn’t help that. And I… may have flirted a little too. Out of habit.” Grandpa raised his voice insistently. “But nothing ever happened.”
AJ believed him. He knew his grandfather’s whole world had been built around Grandma. When she left, that world fell apart. The photos of Grandpa smiling were the only proof his grandfather had ever been happy. “But Grandma thought you cheated?”
The agony in his grandfather’s voice was unmistakable. “Yes. She found me with someone. The stupid woman was drunk, hanging on me. I was only helping her to get home. But I couldn’t reason with your grandmother. She left your mother and me. Ran back to the sea.” His voice became small. “They
took her back.”
This was way too much. His hands over his eyes, AJ fell back on the bed. “All this time…” He leaned on his elbows. “Does mom know she’s alive?”
Grandpa’s shoulders slumped. “No.”
“Oh, man.” No wonder his mom was so screwed up. She didn’t even know who–or what–her own mother was. What she was.
His grandfather stood. “I need a beer. You?”
“Oh, yeah. More than one.” AJ followed him to the kitchen, then onto the patio. The breeze from the ocean helped untangle his thoughts.
With a grunt, his grandfather sat on the glider. His unfocused gaze wandered.
AJ’s nerves jangled. He was either on the verge of collapse, or he should run another few miles until his legs gave out. That might be the only way he’d sleep tonight. His legs carried him back and forth across the patio.
The sea breeze washed over his face, reminding him where Cassie should be. “You have to help me.”
His grandfather lit the candle on the table in front of him, picked up a half-finished mermaid carving, set it back down.
AJ sat beside him. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”
Grandpa’s face softened. “Oh, you lost your head. And your heart.” He grunted. “To a mermaid, of all things.”
“If anything happens to her…” Tears stung his eyes. AJ bit his lip.
His grandfather studied him. “Let me think on it.” He grasped AJ’s knee. “Between the two of us, we’ll come up with something.”
“Thank you.” AJ released a ragged breath.
Grandpa scowled. “But I’ll warn you now. Don’t let it go any further with her. Unless you want your heart ripped from your chest. People should never get involved with the mers.”
They drank together, each immersed in his own thoughts. The waves washed ashore, one after the other. AJ imagined his grandfather sitting out here, night after night, listening to that sound. Wondering if those waves would ever bring her home again.
“Did you ever try to get her back?” AJ asked.
“Oh yes. I brought your mother to the beach every day for a month, to our special spot. Thought I could appeal to her maternal sense of duty, if nothing else.” He grunted a laugh. “I used to have a boat, you know. A very nice boat. That’s how I met her. I’d dropped anchor. She heard me singing, and came to listen.” His eyes grew moist as he stared at the candle.
“What happened to the boat?” AJ had never even seen a photograph of it.
Grandpa set his jaw. “After she left, I went looking for her. Day after day, calling for her out on the water. A whole swarm of them surrounded me. They were angry because of what they thought I’d done. I demanded to speak with her and refused to leave. I thought if I made a stand, she’d have to come back to me.”
Scarcely able to blink, he asked, “What happened?”
“The mers surrounded the boat. They swam so fast, they stirred up a whirlpool that nearly took me away.”
AJ could believe it. If Cassiopeia could make a whirlpool by herself, a group of mer people could easily bring a boat down.
“How did you get away?”
“She came. I was foolish enough to think she came for me, but she stopped them. Made them leave. She stayed until the boat righted itself, then told me to go away. So I went home. And I never went back.” He drank. “I got rid of the boat. I had to. It would have killed me, and then your mother would have had no one.” The steely resignation in his grandfather’s face said everything. He could almost see his grandfather watching the boat towed away by a stranger until it faded into the distance, his last hope fading with it.
AJ stared out toward the Gulf. An entire world existed beneath the surface of the sea, a world where some of his relatives lived a strange existence, completely foreign. “I had no idea.”
Grandpa chuckled. “Why would you? Except for hundreds of these. But any raving lunatic can carve a mermaid. Eh?”
The thought of Cassiopeia in Chaz’s pool made him clench his fists. “I have to get her away from him.”
His grandfather grasped his shoulder. “The boy is a buffoon. We’ll outsmart him.”
Grandpa’s confidence wasn’t so contagious now. With a cruel clarity, AJ saw Chaz holding the knife to Cassiopeia’s heart. “He’s mean. And greedy.”
“And devious. So we’ll have to be even more devious.” Grandpa’s smile was the first thing that gave AJ any glimmer of hope.
Chapter Twenty
If AJ’s nerves were ragged yesterday, today they were a train wreck, one synapse car disconnected from the last. His brain was definitely not wired to his ears–when Grandpa spoke to him this morning, it took a repeat or two before it registered with AJ what the old man actually said. Nothing important. Keep cool. Stay calm. We’ll figure it out. Just go to work and play along with Chaz so he doesn’t become suspicious. Like the annoying background noise of a television left on, Chaz only half-heard it as he moved through the house, half-drinking a cup of coffee, then walked toward the door.
Grandpa grabbed his keys. “I’ll drive you to work. In your state, you’re likely to walk into traffic without knowing it.”
His grandfather was right. His thoughts swarmed like thousands of bats crowded into a lidded container, all screeching and throwing themselves at the top, wanting to be first to get out. The most persistent thought screamed for him to make sure Cassiopeia was all right.
Grandpa parked the Caprice close to the door. As AJ reached for the door latch, his grandfather’s steady voice halted him. “Son.”
On autoresponse, AJ turned.
“Remember what I said. Keep your cool, boy.”
With a nod, he pushed himself away from the car. The sight of Chaz’s truck made his stomach churn, and his hands ball into fists. He walked, zombielike, into the building. Keep your cool. Keep your cool.
Unlike most other days, Chaz laid low, or worked elsewhere. AJ lingered at his locker, hoping to catch him. He scoured the Underwater Theater as he walked through. No Chaz. Where the hell was he? The one time AJ actually wanted to see him, he was nowhere to be found.
By rote, AJ went through his morning, reciting the Wilderness Cruise spiel as he steered the boat through the river a little too quickly. He docked it at lunch time and avoided the main pathway as he looked for Chaz. He bought a toasted fish sandwich and milk and ate as he walked, scouring the grounds for any sign of him.
For cover, AJ fell in step behind a group of people. He finally spotted Chaz, standing near the back of the banquet hall. He talked on his cell phone, gesturing, as if pleading. An overwhelming urge to choke him came over AJ.
Keep your cool. You’d land in jail, and he’d have her all to himself.
AJ ducked his head behind the tallest man. Still shorter than him by half a foot, the man’s girth more than made up for his lack of height, but their waddle was maddeningly slow. When Chaz flipped his cell shut, AJ slipped to the outside and rushed at Chaz. At the sight of AJ, Chaz’s face went blank with fear, and he glanced right to left as if gauging the best exit.
AJ caught his arm and drew him behind the building. “Chaz. So nice to see you. Somehow I missed you this morning.”
Chaz’s shoulder jerked. “I was late gettin’ in.”
AJ’s teeth clenched. “Why’s that?”
A helpless look came over him. “She’s a hazard, man.”
He tightened the grip on Chaz’s arm. “What did you do?”
Chaz twitched from his grasp. “I didn’t do nothin’. I went out to check on her, and she sent a wall of water over the side of the pool at me. I had to go back in and change. Stupid whale.”
AJ swallowed his giddy relief as he relaxed. She’d drenched him. He wished he could have been there to see Chaz, stunned and dripping wet like a stray mutt left out in the rain. But Chaz would only stand for so much of that.
“Keep your cool, man. She’s upset.” AJ tried to sound casual. “But you’re sure she’s OK?”
“S
he’s fine. Pissed, but fine.” Chaz grinned. “Oooh, is she pissed at you. I mentioned your name, she went ballistic all over again.”
AJ’s stomach tightened. “What do you mean?” Of course she hated him. She had every right.
Chaz laughed. “She flew around that pool like a water witch.”
AJ had to look away. A water witch. If only Chaz understood how stupid he really was.
Not stupid. Uneducated. He was dangerously smart, in all the wrong ways.
“I’m coming with you as soon as you leave.” AJ couldn’t make sure Chaz would sneak away without him, but at least now AJ knew where the trailer was.
But what if Chaz moved her? He could take her anywhere and AJ would never be able to find him. Oh, but he’d surface. You couldn’t hide a mermaid for long. Not when you wanted to make money from her.
Chaz’s face screwed up as if he’d eaten a sourball. “Nah, no need for that.”
AJ slipped into his cool demeanor. “We need to start training her, don’t we?”
“I don’t know. I guess.” Chaz pushed past him. “I gotta get back to work.”
AJ checked his watch. He’d have to sprint to the dock to be on time. “Me too. But remember, don’t leave here without me today.”
Watching Chaz strut away, AJ thought he could hate no one on earth more.
Chapter Twenty-One
The damn heat never let up in Florida. As Chaz drove down the highway, hot air blew at AJ’s face, not even cooling the sweat on his brow.
He gripped the edge of the window frame. “Can’t this bucket of bolts go any faster?”
A toothpick between his teeth, Chaz gave him the once-over. “It’s going fast enough to get us there without attracting unwanted attention.”
AJ clucked his tongue. “Attention from whom?” He’d grown tired of Chaz’s paranoid delusions.
A subtle nod toward the line of trees made AJ turn. A police cruiser wedged into a narrow spot.
Surfacing Page 11
