Chapter Eight

A t exactly 4:50 that morning, Olivia’s eyes had sprung open and remained open for the rest of the morning. She lay beside Brock, feeling the warmth of his body and listening to the rhythm of him breathing in and out, a sound mixed with the roar of the waves outside their patio door. Despite how relaxing she cared to admit all of that was, her head was very much awake again and noisy with thoughts. They had been on the trail of the case last night and even though she had finally given in and gone to bed, her last thought had been about Josh Gallegos and wondering about what Brock had said about a possible influencer for these kids, some figure pulling the strings from the shadows. It was far too early to do any investigating outside, but she could do what she was able to from her hotel room. Her laptop gave her access to the whole world from the comfort of the easy chairs where she and Brock had sat last night.

Moving carefully so as not to disturb Brock, who was out like a light, she slipped from the covers and padded her way to the easy chair, pulling on a robe as she did. Grabbing her laptop, she settled into the chair, propped her elbows up on the arms and opened it. The blue light flooded the hotel room, the only source of light other than the small lamp she turned on. In a few clicks, she had the files of the other missing teens pulled up on her laptop. She started with Ellie, intent to work her way back to the others.

Ellie Cline. Young, pretty, though a shadow of sadness in her amber eyes. Olivia managed to find her social media pages and scrolled through what little pictures she had posted. She Instagrammed a lot of selfies of her and Mae and other friends at Breakers, but nothing obvious that pointed to Josh. A secret relationship, maybe? Her relationship status wasn’t publicly posted for all the world to see, so she gave up on the idea of tracking down any boyfriend she might have in her life. From what she remembered, she didn’t have anyone obvious in her life so that threw the notion out of the window. Besides, if this thing that Josh might be involved with was so secretive, it was no surprise that it wasn’t plastered all over.

Olivia knew all about cults. Cyrus Lockwood and his Cult of Apep had been an up-close and personal taste she would have rather done without. But what about a teen cult? What would motivate teens to join something like that?

She started by typing in the most obvious conclusion: astrology. After all, Josh was handing out pamphlets and phrases that pointed back to it.

“May your stars align,” she murmured to herself. Did that mean: may everything work out for you ? People often say the stars aligned when they met their significant other. Or maybe it was some type of code message that the people in the cult would be drawn to? A secret message, perhaps, that would identify members of the cult with a specific code answer?

Curious, Olivia typed in “Astronomy News and Events” along with the dates of the week and her page filled with news articles. One in particular, the top of the page, caught her eye.

“ Meteor showers hit Sunday and Monday night. Astronomers say the best viewing will be these locations.”

Olivia clicked on the article and any fatigue she felt fled. Among the list of locations where the viewing would be best, Charleston, South Carolina was listed. Olivia did a quick search on the map and found that Charleston was only about an hour away, depending on traffic. That was close. Too close.

A meteor shower the night Ellie disappeared? Coincidence, or did it mean something?

She didn’t even hear Brock stir in the sheets behind her as she kept her eyes bolted to the screen. She’d been at this for a while and the sun’s rays were just starting to hint at coming up. Brock padded his way over to her, also adorned in his bathrobe. “You’re up early.”

“Researching.” Olivia pulled the lid of her laptop down a bit so they could talk. “Did you know there was a meteor shower here in South Carolina the day Ellie disappeared?”

“I did not know that.” Brock looked bewildered, probably stunned by the news she hit him with first thing in the morning. “You think it’s related?”

“It’s possible.” Olivia fully closed her laptop lid. She heard her computer wind down and cast a look out of the patio door at the turquoise melting into the sky. “What if those missing teens didn’t go missing here in Cape Fremont? What if…” She couldn’t stop now. Her thoughts were racing. “What if these guys are so good at hosting their cults that there is some remote location that hasn’t been searched yet?”

Brock rubbed his eyes. “Do you want some coffee? So that we can talk about this with a clear mind? ”

Olivia had to laugh. “It better be the good stuff.”

“I’m on it.” He fiddled with the coffee maker as Olivia continued to ponder the idea. By the time Brock returned with two piping hot cups of coffee from the machine, Olivia had fully prepared her presentation for him. “Thank you.” She took a cup of coffee for herself. She gave Brock time to get in a few sips before jumping back into it. “You asked a good question yesterday.”

“I tend to do that a lot.”

Olivia rolled her eyes playfully and ignored his little remark. “Why have there been no bodies found? Maybe because they were lost to some remote location somewhere that no one would think to look?”

“It makes sense.” Brock sipped his coffee, cringing at the taste of instant hotel caffeine.

“So maybe after we hit the school today, we can investigate some good stargazing spots. Maybe even ask some of the local youth. After all, it’s a weekend. No one would question two newlyweds wanting to go stargazing. There’s no reason to wonder if we’re onto something.”

She tossed a few ideas back and forth while Brock pulled himself from his groggy stage. After a few minutes when the coffee had time to work its magic, he ran a hand through his hair. “We have a lot to do today. What do you say? We go for a short run on the beach while the sun comes up?”

Though her mind was racing with the information she’d uncovered, something as simple as a meteor shower, the idea of running alongside Brock with the ocean as their backdrop sounded better than a Thanksgiving meal, maybe it would help her get a clearer mind if she did. “Let’s do it.”

They finished their coffee and donned their workout clothes, nothing too clingy to hide the weapons that never left their person. The sun was just cresting the horizon by the time they reached the shoreline. The first rays of sunlight burst forth before the orange, glowing sun peered above the horizon. The brilliance of the sunlight turned the ocean into a flaming gold and caught the clouds on fire with awesome beauty. Gold and pink were the colors that painted the eastern sky today, and Olivia kept casting as many glances to the sunlight as she could without losing her place in her run. Running on sand wasn’t like running on pavement, as it felt like the ground was moving beneath her feet, but the saltwater morning was too perfect to slow down now.

She and Brock made it far up the beach before turning back and heading back to where the hotel was. A handful of people had trickled into the chairs, maybe drawn out by the brilliant sunrise, but there was only one person on the water. Olivia slowed her pace, looking to see the person on the surfboard, riding the early morning breakers like a pro.

“Susanna?” She nodded her head in the teen’s direction as Brock glanced over.

“At this time in the morning? That’s unusual for a seventeen-year-old,” he puffed.

They deliberately slowed their pace as Susanna rode one of the waves ashore. Her face lit up brighter than the sunrise as she waved to them. “Olivia, Brock, good morning!”

“Good morning,” Olivia greeted her. “You’re awfully bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.”

Susanna acted like getting up before sunrise on a Saturday was something as everyday as eating. “Oh, this is the best time to surf! There’s hardly anyone out here to judge me.”

“No one is judging you,” Brock laughed a bit. “I can promise you that.”

“You’re up early and it’s not even a school day.” Olivia had to remind herself that it was Saturday.

Susanna looked back at the waves, slowly returning to their blue-gray appearance after the sun had gone behind the clouds. “I take every moment I can to perfect my craft. If you want something, you go for it, right?” The cheerfulness in her voice held no hostility to the idea of getting up early. “I figure the best way to do that is to come out here every morning and ride the early morning breakers when nobody’s around. I don’t live far. ”

“Every morning, wow.” Brock was impressed, and he let it show on his face.

“So you come out here before school even starts.” Olivia glanced around the beach.

Susanna’s laughter mixed with the spray of the ocean. “Believe it or not, it helps me calm down before school. Also helps me focus.”

“You don’t seem like the type to lose focus in school, though,” Olivia pointed out. “Not the party type or the daydreamer.”

“Oh, a daydreamer, absolutely.” Susanna laughed again. “But, nah, I couldn’t care less about any parties. I’d rather hang out with my friends at Breakers or ride the waves.”

“That’s not a bad thing,” Brock told her. “Keeps you out of trouble.”

“And it makes my dreams more attainable,” Susanna mentioned.

On that note, it only seemed logical to ask another more personal question aligning with the thought of Susanna’s dreams. “So,” Olivia asked, a note of teasing to her tone. “Do you have a special someone in your life who shares your dreams?”

The gentle blush that spread through Susanna’s cheeks and the small lowering of her chin indicated that Olivia had hit the mark. “Maybe,” she said in that tone that spelled out “yes.”

Before Olivia or Brock could pursue the topic further, a sudden voice, breaking with anger, cut across the morning air from the neighborhood, loud enough to be heard over the waves.

“ Susanna!”

Susanna uttered a small gasp and she jumped, snapping her attention toward the neighborhood. Olivia and Brock couldn’t help but follow her attention to where a man stood on the outskirts of the neighborhood with his hands cupped to his face.

Susanna’s behavior changed from a strong, confident girl to a teenager fumbling for her surfboard. Her eyes were huge and her breaths came more rapidly. “Uh… I have to go. Sorry, guys! ”

Without even waiting for a goodbye, she took off running, kicking up sand as her strides brought her closer to where the man stood, arms folded over his chest. Susanna grew smaller until she stood before him. Olivia couldn’t make out any words, but she did make out an angry tone echoing across the beach. The angry gestures of his hands and the cowering behavior from Susanna didn’t speak well of their situation.

“Did you see that?” Olivia muttered between her teeth.

Brock’s face creased in anger and he nodded, angry eyes focused on where Susanna turned to go inside the house with who they could only assume was her father. “Rough home life?”

“Sure seems to be that way.” Susanna didn’t even show any signs of it. One would never know it when talking to her. The light in her eyes and the excitement that bubbled from her personality gave no indication that she had a rough home life. “I hope she’s okay.”

The place where Susanna and her father disappeared into the row of houses behind the hotel held their attention for a few moments longer until Olivia and Brock both let it go, knowing there wasn’t much they could do at this point. Still, that didn’t mean Olivia wouldn’t turn it over and over in her head.

“Well.” Brock’s voice sounded both defeated and duty-filled. “We still have a case to work on. You ready to head to the neighborhood where the school is?”

Olivia nodded. She hadn’t set the case aside. Her brief interlude with Susanna had only been a distraction, but even now, she felt ready to do more investigating. “Let’s do it.”