Deep Betrayal

chapter 20

FATHER’S DAY



The next day after Mass, Calder and I sat in a sunny park across the street from the Bayfield Police Station. It was quiet here, and I was glad for that. Early-morning sun streamed through the trees. Two coffee cups stood in the grass between us. This morning I’d opted for Calder’s double espresso in lieu of my usual caramel mocha latte. Calder read to me from my anthology of Victorian poets, trying to distract me from morbid thoughts, but it was tough going considering the material he was working with.

After a few minutes, he turned the page and began to recite from one of my favorites—the one that always made him roll his eyes. This time he used a funny voice, mugging and preening, as he read Tennyson’s “The Merman”:

I would be a merman bold,

I would sit and sing the whole of the day;

I would fill the sea-halls with a voice of power;

But at night I would roam abroad and play

With the mermaids in and out of the rocks,

Dressing their hair with the white sea-flower.

I knew what he was doing. But trying to make me laugh wasn’t going to work. Nothing could take my mind off Connor.

Calder had explained to me, months ago, how mermaids hunted. Somehow, the way he explained things, it sounded almost excusable. Now having seen the wasted remains of their hunt, it was impossible to think about. More terrifying than the inescapable memory of Connor’s vacant, milky eyes was the knowledge that he wouldn’t be their last.

Calder slipped into Hopkins’s “Epithalamion” without me noticing he’d turned the page.

… there comes a listless stranger: beckoned by the noise

He drops towards the river: unseen

Sees the bevy of them, how the boys

With dare and with downdolphinry and bellbright bodies huddling out,

Are earthworld, airworld, waterworld thorough hurled, all by turn and turn about.

… Here he feasts: lovely all is! …

“Lily? Are you listening?” I looked up without an answer. “Where’s your head at?” Calder asked. “You’re so distant.”

“It’s Father’s Day,” I said. “And Dad’s not—” But before I could finish my thought, tires squealed around the corner and screeched to a stop punctuated by car doors slamming. Across the street, Gabby and Mr. Pettit hurried from their van toward the station.

“I wonder what that’s about,” I said.

“One guess,” Calder said. “Come on.”

I staggered to my feet, and Calder dragged me across the road. He paused in front of the building, lifting his chin and cocking his head to listen. Then he pulled me around the left side of the building and back toward the third set of windows, which were cracked an inch. Calder crouched below the window and gestured for me to do the same. From inside, Gabby’s voice carried above the others.

“Are you trying to ruin my life, Jack? Y’know, it didn’t used to completely suck being your sister.”

“Quiet, Gabby. Don’t make me regret letting you come,” Mr. Pettit said.

“I’m sorry to have to call you down here, Martin,” said an unfamiliar male voice.

“What else could you do?” Mr. Pettit asked. “Explain yourself, Jack.”

There was a scuffle and the sound of a chair turning over. “Get your hands off me!” Jack said. “Someone’s got to finally listen. I’m not crazy.”

“This has got to stop. This time you’ve gone too far,” Mr. Pettit said.

“Your father’s right,” said the other man. “Wasting my time is wasting tax dollars. I’ve got a limited staff. What if a real emergency comes in and you’ve got my people dealing with your bogus pranks? I can’t have that.”

“Chief Eaton, I’m telling you that kid’s death was a real emergency,” Jack said. “A mermaid killed him.”

“That boy’s death was a tragic accident,” Chief Eaton said.

“You’ll be keeping Jack overnight, then?” Mr. Pettit suggested.

There was a pause. It seemed Chief Eaton hadn’t been considering that. But then he said, “S’pose we could do a twenty-four-hour hold, if that’s what you want. We can look at whether there’ll be any criminal charges in the morning. Disorderly conduct most likely. And I’m sure the district attorney’s going to want restitution for the handcuffs and the window.”

“That’s fair, Bob,” Mr. Pettit said.

“Fair?” Jack cried. “Fair? I’m trying to stop a killer, and you’re asking him to lock me up?”

“Oh, shut up,” Gabby said. “Serves you right. I’m so out of here.” Gabby’s flip-flops slapped on the floor and faded away. Calder pulled me toward the front of the building to cut her off on the sidewalk. The heavy doors scraped open, and we heard Gabby’s shoes on the concrete steps.

“Hey,” Calder called. “Hey, Gabrielle! Wait up.”

Gabby spun around and threw her hands in the air. “Oh, great. I was hoping I wouldn’t see anyone I knew.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Gabby turned her back on us and kept marching toward their van.

“Gabby!” I called.

She stopped in her tracks and threw back her head. “Fine,” she said. “You’re going to hear about it sooner or later.”

“Hear about what?” I asked, running around in front of her. It was a terrible performance on my part—playing dumb like that—but Gabby didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe about Jack breaking in to the station last night. Or how about Jack handcuffing himself to a chair and swallowing the key. He’s become completely unhinged.”

“No way,” I breathed.

“Way,” Gabby said. “He refused to leave until someone agreed to investigate that Connor kid as a mermaid victim. God, I feel ridiculous even saying that out loud.”

I massaged my temples. “What did they say?”

“They laughed,” Calder said.

“If I could be so lucky,” Gabby said. “No one’s thinking this is funny anymore. I tried to talk to him. Nobody’s going to ever take him seriously again. He told the chief it was only a matter of time before the next ‘accident.’ ” She made air quotes with her fingers.

I put my hand on her shoulder as my insides twisted in knots. Gabby was in full rant mode now.

“Jack got in a huge fight with my mom and dad last night, too. They said he’s throwing his life away. My dad’s not going to let him use the boat anymore. Jack went ballistic, of course. Threw a kitchen chair. Stormed out. Mom and I waited up, but he didn’t come home. Then this morning, Chief Eaton calls.”

The front door of the station house opened and Mr. Pettit walked out, pushing Jack slightly ahead of him, his hand clamped down on Jack’s shoulder like a vice.

Gabby muttered, “So much for the lockup. I can’t catch a break.”

Jack stopped dead in his tracks and glared at Calder. “You,” he said, his hands balled into fists.

Calder stared him down, his expression emotionless, while my heart crashed against my rib cage.

“Guess who came to see me last night,” Jack said to Calder, spit flying with each word.

Pavati, I thought. She made good on her promise to see Jack, after all. Would this make things better or worse? But then I remembered what Gabby’d said about Jack’s late-night trip to the police station, and I answered my own question. Calder didn’t say a word.

“She got close enough for me to know she was there, but then she ran away.”

“Enough,” Mr. Pettit said, and he pushed Jack into the backseat of his car. “Sorry, Lily. Calder. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to anyone.”

Gabby shook her head and climbed into the front seat, folding her arms over her chest.

After the car pulled away from the curb and raced up the street, Calder pinched the bridge of his nose and walked back to the park. He found a seat on the ground and leaned up against a tree.

I stood in front of him and looked down on the top of his head. “Do you believe him?” I asked. “About Pavati?”

“I have no reason not to.” He rested his elbows on his knees and laced his hands together, twisting his fingers.

“Do you think she knows that Jack’s been revealing her secret?”

“Doubtful. She wouldn’t risk being captured. She’s just doing her best to fulfill her promise to see him. Sick compulsion. We’ll go look again tonight. If Pavati came to see Jack, she might still be close. And if she’s close, your dad’s fast enough to catch up to her.”

“That’s good,” I said.

The look Calder gave me told me it wasn’t the same conclusion he’d drawn. I scrutinized his face to discern the cause of his conflict, but he didn’t explain.