Part 10 (2/2)

Dead, Actually Kaz Delaney 70060K 2022-07-22

It was like Macey read my mind, or maybe she just sensed my desperation, because she led Simon, with a fuming JoJo in tow, down to the other end of the deck, letting me enjoy this moment with Seth, whod suddenly leaned in close.

'Ive dropped a few hints about the phone, and apart from Davo looking like he wanted to toss me overboard, I havent had any bites. Any ideas?

Fighting back frustration that now hit from two fronts, I let my head fall to the side. 'Not yet . . . My eyes were back on the people around us. 'Fill me in on some of them.

Seth followed my gaze and shrugged. 'Theres a lot of bad blood between them all now. Chloe and Pete had a thing for a while. It fell apart a couple of months ago and they kind of hate each other now.

'Ten points to Chloe.

Seth shook his head. 'Cut him some slack, Wills. His dads a mongrel, always pus.h.i.+ng him. Always at him to prove himself. With a sigh he shoved the fedora to the back of his head. 'The past couple of months, though, hes been out of control. Booze, pills, and its like hes on some kind of mission with chicks. He shot me a look, but I answered with a shrug. What did he want me to say? Maybe nothing, because he continued with barely a missed beat. 'I tried talking sense into him, but hes not listening. His dad really wants Pete to go into the family law firm, but the way hes headed . . .

He let the sentence hang. Okay, maybe there was a reason Pete was a jerk, but it wasnt making me feel any warmer towards him. 'Does Pete want that? To be a lawyer?

'I think he wants the money that goes with it. You know that his dad and Demis dad are partners in it, right? Its huge. I think Pete wants a bit of that action. The catch is that his dad wants him to hook up permanently with Demi.

'Was his dad against him being with Chloe?

Seth shrugged. 'Dunno. Her mums loaded; made a fortune years ago, and youd think with Chloes dad being a politician that it could be a benefit to Mr Hamill. Money and power. But then again, Chloes dad stands for some weird family-values stuff thats a bit out there. Hes got a lot of knockers.

I sighed. There were soap operas that were less complicated than this bunch. 'What about the others?

His frown was thoughtful. 'Jades dads in jail: some malpractice thing. There was talk that hed been s.p.a.ced out on a development deal that went bust. He lost a bundle and started drinking and apparently operated on someone while smashed. Then there were some wild rumours about her mum. After that Jade went weird for a while, which is pretty understandable. His eyes narrowed. 'Apart from that? Their lives are all pretty intertwined. Zack and Demi got into it for a while. Mitchs the geek, hes the go-to guy for computers. Hes a pretty cool geek. But quiet, you know? Teahna has been with Pete and Christian hes a definite player. Davo has been off and on with a few of them. A few of the others have been together for a while. Ive heard Kristie plays pretty loose. Lately its like none of them want to get into it with each other. He played with his black fedora again, pushed it back and then pulled it forwards.

'So, do you reckon all this tension between them is because of JoJo?

He shrugged again. 'Could be, but I didnt make that connection before the past few days. Shes always been in the middle of everything. Not sure how any of that helps, though . . .

That was the trouble with investigating, I supposed. You turned up a lot of stuff, but probably most of it was stuff you didnt need. The problem was sorting which bits were useful. I sighed and watched Kristie disappear downstairs.

Then my heart lifted as an idea hit. 'Hey! Do you reckon whoever has the phone could have it on them? Here? Of course, thats a.s.suming its a girl. I mean, they have handbags.

'Wouldnt that be risky? Having the goods on them?

'Probably. But its worth a shot. I mean, I noticed a few girls coming up from below deck and their bags werent with them. I figure they must be in some kind of stateroom or cabin down there.

He shook his head. 'If youre thinking of raking through bags . . .

I knew what he was going to say, and put out my hand to stall him. 'I think I know a way to take the risk out of the mission. I could see the arguments building, but I wasnt going to let him talk me out of it. ”Oh, come on, whats the worst they can do if I get caught? Make me walk the plank? I looked down at the pa.s.sing water which was now a much darker, deeper green, at the white wash churning against the sides of the boat and admitted to a moment of doubt. 'But, like, they wouldnt, would they?

Seth rolled his eyes, and the pause gave me time to quickly spill my plan and then take off. My eyes zoomed in on my target. First point of business: separate her from Simon. Pity I hadnt had any surgical training.

It wasnt as hard as Id imagined, and within minutes I had her pinned against the rail. Alone. 'I need your help, JoJo.

Her eyes opened wide but I was learning the way to deal with her was to treat her like she treated everyone else. Badly. She pouted and tried to push past, but I sidestepped and blocked her again. One teeny part of my brain wondered what anyone who saw me square-dancing with the breeze would think, but, really, it was a minor concern. 'Im busy.

'And youre about to get busier. Come on, youre coming with me!

Instinctively I reached out to grab her, but she backed away and then my heart stopped beating completely. Shed gone through the rail! Right through it! Into the wat- 'Oh G.o.d! I dived forward, only halting my own fall when she laughed. Cruelly. And in a way that was so JoJo.

Yes, okay, so she was dead. A spirit. For a second Id forgotten a person cant die twice, no matter how hard you wished for it to happen. Heart still racing, my eyes widened as she hung suspended over the water, before floating back to the deck. Calling her a b.i.t.c.h was way too mild, but my fright-frozen brain couldnt come up with anything else.

'Ooooh, you might try to be tough, Willow Cartwright, but I can still play you. You could never be enough for a guy like Seth Pentecost.

And yes, my hands stretched out to push her back, this time right into that water! And hold her down! Not that it would have helped. Besides, I needed her. And Im a pacifist. Really. I am. And she was dead. And she was just trying to wind me up, she couldnt hurt me. 'Im not discussing this anymore. If you want to be free of me, then come with me now.

Her eyes narrowed as she floated back onto the deck alongside me. 'Dont ever think you can control me, Willow Cartwright.

'Youre kidding, right? That little display was just to prove whos in charge? Really? I shook my head. 'Seriously, JoJo, whoever screwed you up did a good job. Now, can we go ahead and do what we came for?

'You only had to ask.

Which is exactly what Id done. And I just barely squashed the urge to scream long and loud as we made our way down the boat.

I found the cabin with the bags. There must have been thousands of dollars worth of designer leather on that bed. Casting an eye over them, I suddenly felt sick. Really sick. Privacy invasion is so not my thing, but honestly I had no idea where else to start. I checked that JoJo was still with me, and only just stopped myself from asking her if she could hear my heart thundering. It was then I faced my moment of truth: could I really trust JoJo? I mean, she was invisible, and that made her the perfect lookout. But the girl was also pathologically devious even when you were trying to help her; like, the last person anyone should ever, ever trust. But of course I did, which made me pathologically stupid. 'Keep watch in the hallway. If anyone comes you have to yell and warn me, I told her. 'And remember, JoJo, this is for you. You help, or I walk.

Okay, it was a weak argument. If I walked shed just walk with me, it meant nothing, but for some equally ridiculous reason it worked. Pity the plan didnt . . .

The good news was that I got through nearly all the bags. Part one of the bad news was I now knew things about some of these girls that might just give me nightmares for the rest of my life. Part two of the bad news was that while I found plenty of stuff to incriminate them for having bad taste, poor hygiene and really, really bad judgement as far as I could see, JoJos phone wasnt there. And that posed another little problem: given that all the phones looked alike, how was I supposed to recognise hers? All I could do was hope shed yell if I held up the right one!

Part three of the bad news was that I got caught.

It was Jade who walked in on me. Like Kristie, I never really thought that she fitted into the A-list mould. So what were they? JoJos p.a.w.ns? Which, I thought in a burst of brilliance, was possibly enough to make them want more? That point was moot at the moment, because I could tell she was about to scream.

I was right.

'What do you think youre doing? she screeched.

My eyes flew past her to JoJo, ready to attack, but what I saw confused me. JoJo was fading, translucent and she looked really, really tired. Mind you, that didnt shock me half as much as the fact that she was whispering the word 'sorry as she faded to nothing . . .

<script>