Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Author:Tricia Rayburn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Published: 2011-06-25T11:27:58+00:00

CHAPTER 14

"IT STARTED IN the spring. I even remember the exact day, because before all the days that followed, it was the strangest of my life."

I handed a cup of hot tea to Caleb, who was wrapped in a fleece blanket on the couch, and one to Simon, who sat across from him. There was room on the loveseat next to Simon, but embarrassed by the vise grip I'd put him in earlier in the day, I sat on the floor near the fireplace instead.

"I mean--this is Zara . Zara Marchand. Before May first, the girl couldn't be bothered to look at me, let alone talk to me. And then she just showed up at the Lighthouse." Caleb winced as he looked at Simon. "By the way--I left the marina."

"I heard," Simon said.

"I had to. I needed the money. I didn't tell you--or anyone--because everyone who knows me knows how I feel about Monty and the marina, and I didn't want to be talked out of it."

I frowned into my mug. He'd needed money? What had been so important--and expensive?

"It's okay," Simon said when Caleb's voice wavered. "We'll get to that later."

"So she just shows up one day," Caleb continued. "I'm hauling boxes to the supply shop, and she stops me on the dock to say that she had a note from her mother for one of the owners, Carsons."

Paul Carsons. The first victim to die after Justine.

"And honestly? I wanted to ignore her. I wanted to walk right by and not say a word--treat her the same way I'd seen her treat so many people at school." He looked out the window behind the couch. "And I really wish I had."

I glanced at Simon. He watched Caleb intently.

"But you talked to her?" Simon asked.

"Yes. The Lighthouse is all about money. Its investors want it to grow, expand, and be the best waterfront resort in the country."

"Which means keeping its customers happy?" Simon guessed.

"Exactly. Employees are required to be polite and helpful so guests feel wanted and important. That's why I couldn't just brush past her. If word somehow got out that I wasn't helpful--even to someone who wasn't a resort member but could one day become a resort member--I would've lost the job. And I needed the job."

I caught Simon's eye and knew we both wondered the same thing: Why?

"Anyway, I tried to find Carsons for her. I went through the entire property and told her about all of its features, just like we do for anyone visiting the Lighthouse for the first time."

"Sounds painful," Simon said.

"Not as much as you'd think. She was impatient at first, but she lightened up the longer we walked and the more I talked. She asked questions and listened. She even laughed when I made the same stupid jokes no guests ever laugh at." He sipped the tea. "We never found Carsons, but after looking for him, she seemed to forget he was why she was there. And then ..." He stared at the mug, which twitched in his hands.

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