Evermore (18 page)

Jacob ran in just as I finished painting one of the last sections of the trim in the main room, my shoulder aching something fierce.

Dried blood covered his arm.

I stood. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Uh… just a little accident.”

He ran his forearm under the water. Two little pink bite marks were next to an even larger crescent — the one my sister had given him the day of her fake promising to Azor.

“It’s fine.” He dried off his arm and hands. “So you finished with the trim?”

“Yeah, just about.” Whatever had happened, he wasn’t going to tell me. “Good thing, too. The girls are going to storm the castle, so to speak, if we don’t finish up and get out of here. They’re eager to play house.”

Jacob shrugged. “Poseidon love ‘em for it.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Uh, hello?” A guy stood with a clipboard. His eyes skimmed over the tools and materials spread across the floor.

I dusted off my hands. “Can I help you?”

“I have a delivery for F. Helton.”

“Delivery?” I asked.

“Yeah. Sign here, please.” He handed me a pen, pointing for me to sign the bottom of a receiving order that listed row upon row of furniture items.

“But this stuff is supposed to come next Monday.”

The guy shrugged. “It is Monday.”

“What?” I smacked my forehead with my hand, then looked around at the chaos. We needed a day to clean up the mess, at least.

“If you don’t accept it, I don’t know when I’ll be able to redeliver. Possibly another week or two. And you’ll be charged again.”

“Over my dead body.” Galadriel stormed past. She stopped and gasped at the mess. “What in Poseidon’s name is this?” She huffed. “Sing and tell him to wait.”

“Galadriel,” I grated through my teeth.

She put her hand on her hip. “I’ll make a scene. You know I will!”

“Can you hang for a bit?” I asked the driver. He looked at his watch. “I’ve got another delivery to do after this.”

Galadriel spun and stepped forward. She leaned in and dragged her finger across his jawline. “We just need a pretty minute to get this
junk
out of here.”

The guy’s eyes closed, then opened half-lidded. “Whatever you want.” He walked backward, tripping down the stairs as he went back to his truck.

“That’s how it’s done.” Galadriel gave us a satisfied smile.

Jacob and I looked at one another, then just shrugged.

“Girls!” Galadriel yelled outside while she clapped her hands twice. “If it’s not nailed down, it goes in the yard! Get to work!”

The gaggle of mermaids poured inside. Girra sauntered in last and plucked the paintbrush from my fingers. “I’ll take that.”

“Oh, no you won’t.” I took the brush back.

She stamped her foot and looked up at me. “You can paint later.”

Jacob snagged the brush from me. “Just give us ten minutes, Princess, and then we’ll get out of your hair.”

She let out a huff, but clearly she’d allowed his charm to change her mind. “Ten minutes. And that’s it.”

“Come on, Fin,” he said with a laugh. “Before they kick us out.”

“I think you’re right.” I grabbed another paintbrush and followed him.

We quickly painted the trim in the main room, then rinsed out the brushes before Galadriel had a hissy fit. Jax joined us as we stood outside, far away from the mayhem surrounding sweating movers. Poor guys were forced to follow their every command.

“Dude, do you think we should help?” Jax asked.

“And be steamrollered? No, thanks, brother.” Jacob folded his arms. “We’re paying ‘em. Let them do it.”

Jax pointed to his brother’s arm. “What happened to you?”

He let his arms fall. “Nothing.”

“Is that a bite?” Jax leaned over for a closer look. “You and Tatch doing—”

“No! Geez!” He stepped away from him.

“Maybe we should sing,” I suggested, still watching the movers.

“Sing what? The funeral song?” Jax laughed. “They’ll be done soon.”

I shook my head. Each time I thought they’d unloaded the last piece; they took another out and unwrapped the plastic off of it. At this rate, it would take all day — a day I didn’t have to waste.

Jax nudged me in the side. “So, your bachelor party.”

I glared at him. I’d completely forgotten about that.

“It’s tonight, you know,” he added.

I let out a measured breath. “What? No. I— no. We can’t go now.”

Jax lifted his hands. “Dude! Can’t go? Why not?”

I gestured to the movers. “How can you suggest we go party in the Pacific when we’re behind schedule?”

Not to mention, I still needed to follow up on Ash’s stalker, which kept getting bumped for one reason or another.

Jacob put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s just cosmetic stuff. Your furniture is in, so you’re pretty much there. You need this break.”

“I want it done. We’re having a kid.”

Jax laughed. “It’s never done. She’ll want to change stuff. Add stuff. Move stuff. Just embrace it. We all need to let loose after the schedule Jack’s had us under. You’re wound up tight! Look at you.”

“No, I’m not.” I rolled my shoulders to prove I wasn’t wound up tight, feeling the ache. “We’ll go… next week.”

“No doing,” Jax said. “Gladdy has my social calendar booked.”

“And with the baby. This is the only night Tatchi is letting me out of her sight,” Jacob added.

I sighed. Going to the Pacific meant leaving at 4 p.m. at the latest to drive there. “Then let’s cancel it.”

“Whatcha be doin’?” Badge walked up, put his burly hands on my shoulders and shook. “Watchin’ the women folk work?”

“More like staying out of trouble,” Jax said with a snort.

Badger laughed. “Never.”

Jacob jerked his chin to me. “Fin wants to flake on tonight.”

“What?” Badger squeezed his hands, hurting me. “You ain’t doin’ no such thing.”

“Owww.” I wiggled free and turned to him. “There’s a lot to do and not a lot of time. It’s fine. We don’t need to—”

“We are leavin’!” he barked. “And not another word!”

“Let me handle this.” Jax cupped his hands over his mouth. “Gladdy!”

She marched over mad as a hornet fish. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

I frowned at the both of them. Galadriel, of all the mer, didn’t have any say over anything I did or didn’t do.

Jax leaned over and whispered something in her ear. All of the anger melted off her face, a half grin took its place. She tugged out her necklace from between her cleavage. The vial of black liquid attached sent a shiver through me. I took a few steps backward.

“I’ll go!” I held up my hands. There was enough octopus ink inside to knock out every merman in Natatoria. “No need to use that.”

“Darn right ya will.” Badger hit me on the back and howled with laughter. “We got some stuff planned that’ll put hair on yer chest!”

Afraid to ask what that meant, I was going whether I liked it or not. Poseidon, have mercy.

Then again, maybe the furniture delivery came at a good time. I could drive to Reno, find out where Ash’s stalker was right now, then grind his face into the dirt… I mean, mind-wipe him.

“Hey, Jacob, you busy?”

He glanced over. “No.”

My lip curled. “Wanna go hunting?”

He returned my smile. “You betcha.”

“Just…” I said, eyeing his attire, or lack thereof. “Put on a shirt. Will ya?”

A scream came from somewhere inside the cottage. Jax, Jacob, Badger and I bolted to the front door just as a dark-haired mover tried to run out.

I latched onto his arm, smashing him into the side of the wall. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“It’s him!” Girra yelled out of breath. “The guy! The one who tried to take Ash!”

“Get your hands off me,” he yelled.

I grabbed his collar and pressed him up against the siding, spotting the stitches just under his hairline.

“Explain yourself before I introduce you to the bottom of Lake Tahoe,” I seethed.

The guy swallowed, sweat beading on his forehead. “I didn’t. She lies—”

“Hey!” another mover yelled as he marched toward us. “What’s going on here?”

“Shut yer gob and get back to work!” Badger sang, finger pointed at the truck.

The guy’s expression relaxed into that of a zombie, and he turned and went back to the truck.

“It was him. I’d know that face anywhere,” Girra raged.

“Talk!” I pressed my forearm harder against the guy’s throat. “I swear to Poseidon if you don’t tell me—”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he choked out.

“Does calling my wife a guppy ring any bells?” I reached for his phone attached to his belt with my free hand.

“Hey! What are you doing?” He tried to swing a punch at me.

I jumped back and sang, “Don’t move.”

He froze in place, arm outstretched in a weird angle. The tendons on his neck pulled taut as I retrieved the phone from his belt and touched the screen of his cell phone.

“What’s the password?” I sang.

Powerless against my commands, he spouted out, “Superman.”

I chuckled. “Figures.”

Flipping through the texts, I found the ones to Ash and her friends. I turned the phone to his face, sticking it an inch away from his nose.

“Explain yourself, asshole!” I raged.

“You could do this easier with—” Jax started.

“Don’t!” I warned.

I was done with persuading people. He’d tell me of his own accord or lose a testicle and remember every last detail of it.

His eyes widened. “I… I… I was just doing what I was told.”

“And what was that?”

“To watch her… and…” He clamped his mouth shut.

I lifted my hand, then slowly balled my fingers while singing for him to stop breathing. His eyes started to dart around as his face reddened. Then he opened his mouth like a fish out of water, his jaw flapping.

“Uncomfortable, isn’t it.” I kept my glare trained on him while the others shuffled nervously around me.

Still stiff as a statue, the guy started to go limp, his lips turning blue, then purple.

“Fin,” I heard Jacob say.

“You can breathe,” I said, voice hard.

The guy pushed out a strangled breath. “What are you?”

“I’m your worst nightmare. Now tell me.”

“Yes,” he whimpered. “I was hired to do surveillance, and then try to kidnap Ash. I’m sorry. I’m
so
sorry.”

My hackles rose, but I kept my cool. “By whom?”

“A company with the initials ARC. That’s all I know.” He grunted, still fighting the grip I’d sung on him.

ARC?

“And what have you told them?”

“That Ash is engaged to you. That you live here with your parents and sister, and Ash and her family are your neighbors. And you’re planning to marry her this Saturday, here on the beach, which is …” He stopped talking, and the curious crowd grew around us.

I leaned in. “Continue.”

“No one in your family is on social media, but Ash, her sister, Lucy, and mother. And that Ash climbs out of her bedroom window every night and doesn’t return until morning, and that your family and friends have come here daily for weeks now, without cars or any form of transportation. The house is big, but it’s not finished, so you all can’t be staying there, especially when after sunset, there’s no noise, lights, or anything. Then I saw Jack on the beach with a big fish tail. I was able to get a picture of him. I sent it to all of Ash’s friends to see their reaction. Most of them didn’t believe it.”

The crowd shifted around us, whispering their worries that our secret had gotten out, but I didn’t care at this point. It would end here.

“How does ARC know about us?”

“Ash’s blood test from her school.”

“Her blood?” someone said softly.

My shoulders slunk. Her coach had said the test had gotten lost, and I’d been a fool to believe her. But I didn’t think there would be anything odd in her blood, considering I’d healed her so long ago. “Is there anyone else working on this case?”

“Not that I know of.”

I pressed him up against the wall again. “Take me to them.”

“Aye,” Badger said. “We’ll teach ‘em cute
hoors
a lesson.”

The guy shuddered, face becoming pale. “I don’t know where they are, man. Honest. They just drove up in a black sedan with tinted windows. Gave me a package with money, and keys to the van.” He continued to shake. “Like I said, they offered me a deal I didn’t think I could refuse.”

I stepped forward, the song bursting off my tongue, “Go back and tell them that they are nothing but a bunch of—”