Page 70 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay
“Thanks.” His head was spinning with all these bright lights and reflective surfaces. He wanted to take a seat, but couldn’t look any more weak than he was.
The door down the hallway opened and out walked a man with a rotund belly, greasy combover, and sagging eyes. His hands swung at his sides, weighed down with thick gold rings.
Rick blinked. He knew this guy. How did he know this guy?
“You looking for me?” he asked.
“Cliff?” Rick asked.
He nodded. “Who are you?”
It was him. The guy he and Addy met at the Flex Knock office. The one who watched them drive away with his belly pressed up against the door.
How was that possible? Was he losing his mind?
“My mistake,” Rick straightened. “You weren’t the Cliff I’m looking for.”
He spun, pulled open the door to the stairs and tore off.
Twenty-six
The Lighthouse Bay office stood on the outskirts of town overlooking a gravel lot littered with decaying ships. There was no lighthouse, no bay.
The emptiness was spooky, but Addy had been smart about getting here. Joey had dropped her off at their usual spot, and she’d caught a ride with the unofficial cab guy who hung around the docks.
She pulled her hood over her head and walked on. If the cameras perched around were working, they’d have no way to trace her.
The ships stood like gravestones. Addy ducked cracked propellers and hopped over dislodged buoys until she reached the office.
The sign on the lopsided trailer readLIGHTHOUSE BAY: YOUR INSURANCE STOP. From the corner of her eye, she saw a camera perched above the door. Its light blinked red.
Addy pulled on the door. Locked. Hopefully that meant no one was inside.
She walked around the back and peered in the window. The lights were off. A fridge stood against the wall, and a chair sat askew from a brown desk.
Addy pushed on the window. It wouldn’t budge. She tried the next two with the same result.
If Rick were here, he’d be able to pick the lock…
But Rick wasn’t here. If he knew she were there, he’d be livid. Heat flashed up her face. What would she say? How could she excuse this?
Or worse—he wouldn’t care at all.
Addy had to do this on her own. No one else thought it was worth it, but it was worth it to her.
Online, it said the office would be open. She thought she could distract whoever was working there and at least get a glimpse of the safe. Get an idea of what chance they had getting into it. She kept telling herself it wasn’t stealing if she was taking back something that was hers – or, at least, her mom’s. But the longer she stood in this eerie graveyard, the more it felt like stealing.
After half an hour of her poking around the trailer, the sound of seabird calls were interrupted by wheels on gravel. Addy stood, peering out from behind the building.
It was a white van. Her whole body got hot. Maybe it was time to go. This wasn’t the way she’d wanted things to go.
The car stopped and the engine shut off. Addy strained to listen, peering around the edge of the trailer, the hood of her sweater obstructing part of her view.
“They forgot ketchup!”
Addy gasped, darting backwards. It was Julian. She thought she could hear Sebastian too, but she wasn’t sure. Her throat tightened. Sweat poured down her back and chest. She hadn’t expected to see them, but even more, she hadn’t expected to be so afraid of them. Maybe her body understood something she didn’t.
This plan would have to wait, or even be canceled entirely. She peered around again. They were arguing, their faces obscured by the van’s open back doors. If she could just sneak out without them seeing her…
