Chapter Nineteen

“S o, what do we do now?”

The afternoon sky leaked into the evening. Olivia and Brock wandered up the shore, then turned and came back again, not caring where they ended up. About an hour had passed, giving them time to hash out every detail they could. In the end, they both decided it was better to try and get some more information from the local teens. Their steps brought them closer to Breakers, but at a slower pace. Olivia wasn’t ready to stop overthinking the case, yet. She mentally prepared herself to give Mae a list of questions while keeping her eye out for anyone else the questions or observations might bring to their attention. Even if the direct questions they asked following the night of Josh’s arrest would cue them in to the fact that they might be investigating some things, Olivia didn’t care at this point. It was getting to the point that they had to make the next move, as their current approach wasn’t getting them near as many answers.

“When we get back to the hotel, let’s look up the staff at Cape Fremont High,” she told Brock, swinging her arms idly by her side. She wished she was internally as relaxed as she appeared on the outside. “Then, maybe do a background check on every single one of them.”

“It might behoove us to talk to some teachers there, too,” Brock pointed out. “Especially if we can’t gather any information from the local teens that we can use. Even if it means blowing our cover.”

Olivia shook her head. “Then any would-be kidnappers, cult leaders or otherwise would know to keep their mouths shut and lay low until we leave. Maybe even give it a rest for a year or two, only to come back in full force after they think it’s all blown over.”

“We need to find a way to get to those teachers,” Brock replied. “There’s got to be a way.”

Olivia halted her steps, straining her ears to hear better. Breakers came into view and with it, the shouts of an angry man could be heard even over the waves. She couldn’t pick out any words, but there was no mistaking the rage that cracked the voice. But who was it? She and Brock redirected their steps to bring them closer to the Breakers where a woman stood against a wall, looking up at the man who yelled down at her face with terror.

Olivia stopped. It wasn’t just any young woman, it was Mila. But was that Alasdair, yelling at her?

The man didn’t turn his head from her for an instant, but Olivia recognized the chiseled cheekbones and the striking blond hair. That was Alasdair all right. But why was he coming off the rails when he seemed like the perfect gentleman? Seemed was the word, if this is how he treated her. What was he hiding beneath that knightly facade ?

Shock was written all over Mila’s face. Her mouth hung agape in a desperate attempt to interrupt Alasdair’s angry tirade as he erupted angry words right in her face. “What were you thinking , Mil? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? That stuff is permanent! ” His voice cracked with rage.

“I... I’m sorry,” Mila bleated, disbelief soaking her tone. Olivia could have cried at the frail way she tried to defend herself against whatever had awakened Alasdair’s wrath. “I thought you’d like it. I did it because I’m so in love with you!”

“You should have checked with me first.” Leaving her with his pitch, he threw a hand into the air. Olivia’s lungs refused to give her any air for a moment as she thought he might be about to strike her. Her body tensed with the move to interfere. But it turned out to be little more than an angry gesture as he pivoted, scattered sand and stormed away. Mila melted into the side of the building, her sides heaving with shocking sobs.

“What in the world…” Brock wasted no time jogging up to her. Olivia was on his heels. She knew that after a fight, the last thing she’d want was someone sticking their nose in her business, but neither she nor Brock was anyone to walk away from something like this without giving it a second thought. They had to be sure Mila was all right; she was too fragile to be treated like that.

Mila saw them before she had a chance to speak. Olivia kept her tone of voice calm, though laced with concern. She didn’t want to cause her any more upset. “Mila? Are you okay?” It was all she could do to keep from bombarding with her questions. What was that about? The demand hovered on the edge of her tongue, but she held it back. Whatever it was, there was no excuse for the way he was talking to her.

Mila’s hands came up and she examined them. Both of her hands trembled like mini earthquakes and her breaths came more shallow. Poor girl was scared. It made Olivia’s blood boil. One of the good ones, my butt.

“I... I thought he’d be pleased with the tattoo I got.”

The tattoo of Alisdair’s initials .

“But he was mad! So. Mad .” She sniffed, turning her gaze out toward the waters rather than meeting theirs. “I’ve never seen him like that before. I don’t understand why something like this would be so offensive to him.”

Offensive. What a polite term to say that he was flying off the handle, completely coming undone. Olivia had seen grenades that were less explosive than this. But what could she say? Not only did his behavior strike her as odd, it angered her.

She softened her voice. “I’m sorry.” There were more words she wanted to say, but suddenly, she couldn’t remember any of them. The thought that popped in her mind was so disgusting, so, so obvious that she could have kicked herself for not seeing it sooner. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t have. Because while obvious, it was also hidden.

“Mila... I’m sorry. There’s no reason he should have yelled at you like that. You don’t deserve that.”

She just replied with a sniff, looking down with crimson on her cheeks. She was embarrassed, and there was nothing Olivia could do about that now.

“Give him space to cool off,” Brock’s voice was so kind that it finally brought Mila’s gaze to something other than her feet. “Then maybe you two can talk about it.”

“I’ll just get it removed.” The hurt that strung her voice was too heavy. She sniffed again, running a finger underneath her nose and pushed off of the wall. “I have to go to work. Thanks, y’all. I’m sorry about,” She looked behind her as if looking back on the memory that, no doubt, embarrassed her. “This.”

She didn’t say much as she turned her back to Olivia and Brock, heading to the front door of Breakers, bolting into a jog like she wanted to leave as fast as possible. Brock shifted his weight, ready to say something, but Olivia started marching away from the scene. She fought the urge to run full tilt toward the hotel. “Let’s go back to the hotel room. ”

Although she didn’t run, her pace was fast enough and Brock fell into line beside her, jogging to keep up. “Um, why? What’s wrong?”

“Because…” It made sense. Too much sickening sense. “I just realized something.”