Deep Betrayal (Lies Beneath #2) (6 page)

For a second, I wished I’d taken Calder’s advice. Maybe I shouldn’t have told Dad. He’d gone all this time not knowing and things had been fine. Well, maybe not fine, but he’d managed. Still, I couldn’t shake the thought of him giving in to temptation, jumping into the lake, the full transformation happening without any warning or explanation.

A family with three shrieking children arrived at the pool. The oldest did a cannonball, drenching his dad, who shook the water from his magazine.

I pressed on. “The way I understand it, Grandpa was supposed to give you back to Nadia when you turned one, but he refused.”

“Stop it, Lily,” Dad said.

“Think about it. He kept you from the water. He refused to ever go back to the lake. Didn’t you yourself say that you always felt the pull?”

Dad stood up fast, and his chair toppled over behind him. “I’ve been losing my mind. You have no idea what I’ve been suffering.”

He was pacing now. “You have no idea. I’ve been insane with worry, thinking I’m going crazy just like him. Seeing mermaids. My God, what next? And what about your mother? If I lose it, how am I supposed to take care of her? How can I take care of her when I’m falling apart?”

I glanced over at the other father at the pool and caught him watching us. He quickly looked away and turned back to his magazine.

“Dad, sit.”

“Gah!” He righted his chair and sat down, his head dropping to his chest. His face, pale with exhaustion. “What am I supposed to tell your mother?”

“Nothing! Don’t tell her a thing. She couldn’t handle this.”

The next time he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. “Why is it so much worse for me now?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. I turned around, hoping Calder would come help—he had to be able to hear everything being said—but the landscaped shrubs surrounding the pool were too thick for me to see him. “I have a theory.”

“What?”

“When you jumped in after me that day. That day you saw the mermaid. And Calder. You started to change. I saw the first sign. A silver ring. Right there.” I touched my finger gingerly to his throat. “But you didn’t make the full transformation. I think your body has tasted a bit of it. You’re craving the water. Your body wants it.”

“It’s always been like that. It’s only worse now.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” I said.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Again, the doubt weighed down on me, crushing me. “The mermaid, Dad. The one Jack shot? She washed up onshore. If Calder’s other sisters find out she’s dead, he thinks they’ll come after you.”

“Me? Why—? Wait, have you been in contact with that … that …? You know I told you to—”

“Calm down, Dad. Focus on what’s important here.” I launched into the rest of the story: How Nadia had grieved for him after he was taken from her. How she suffered when he didn’t return. How she died. How Maris and Pavati blamed him for her death.

“I was a baby!” he protested.

I went on to explain how Calder had come to join the mermaid family and how my attempt to save my family
had all gone terribly wrong, though Dad had been there for that part.

“You’re saying that … that was my sister in the water with you,” he said, slowly accepting the truth. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t kill her.”

“No,” I said. “But Maris and Pavati don’t know the truth, and they won’t believe Calder if he tells them.”

“Why not?”

“That’s a longer story, Dad.”

He stared straight ahead at the motel swimming pool, and I could guess where his thoughts were going.

Dad opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again and asked, “If I dove into that pool, would I turn into a mermaid?”

“Mer
man
,” Calder said, coming up behind me.

I spun around in my chair.

“And you don’t want to do that in chlorine. It’s a nasty business.”

“Y
ou!” Dad exclaimed, rising from his chair. He recoiled in disgust, and a vein popped down the center of his forehead. “What are you doing here?” Dad threw out an arm as if to shield me from Calder, and the other father at the pool gathered his children closer to his lounge chair.

“I’m here to help Lily,” Calder said. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

“Help,” Dad sneered. “You weren’t much help when she was nearly drowned by that … that …” It looked like it was going to be a long time before Dad was comfortable with the word.

Calder ground his teeth and looked sideways at me. If that look was meant to remind me that he thought this conversation was a bad idea, and that he wasn’t pleased about being dragged into it, well, yeah, I figured that much out for myself, thank you.

“I know how you feel about me, Mr. Hancock,” Calder said. “You don’t have to like me, but you do have to believe Lily.”

When I turned to Dad to see his reaction, it looked as if he was trying to grind his knuckles into his forehead.

“And,” Calder added, “I would be negligent if I didn’t explain the rest before setting you loose on the world.”

“No,” Dad said, backtracking on whatever progress I’d made with him. “You can’t expect me to believe any of this.”

“I do, and you will,” Calder said, dropping his voice lower. “You owe it to your daughter for what she did for you last month.”

Dad’s face paled. He didn’t look at me when he said, “Do me a favor, Lil. Go to the lobby. Get me a coffee.”

Calder nodded at me and I stood up reluctantly, leaving them alone by the pool.

The shabby motel lobby featured several outdated arcade games and an electric fireplace. Beside the check-in counter there was a low table with a grimy coffeemaker and a stack of Styrofoam cups. I filled one and stirred in powdered cream before hustling back to the pool. I didn’t want to miss anything.

One of the little water-winged kids ran in front of me, and I had to stop short. Half the coffee sloshed onto the concrete deck, not to mention burning my wrist.

When I got back to the table, Dad had his fingers laced behind his neck and his head bent low over his knees. I could tell by his posture that he was done being angry and the truth had finally settled in.

Calder was already into his lesson. I pulled in close, irritated that he’d started without me. I set the coffee down in front of Dad, but he never touched it.

“Ideally, you’d stay here,” Calder said.

“But I have a job. I can’t lose my job.”

Calder nodded. “I understand obligations. If you have to go back, there’s no reason you can’t teach in the fall. When you feel the need to swim, do it as soon as it’s practical.”

“Practical,” Dad said, repeating the word like it was a bad joke. “What about this winter?”

“You’ll start to dry out. More than before. More quickly, too. But you do have some options. After the channel between Madeline Island and the mainland freezes, get wet however you can, whenever you can. A tub. A sink. It’s only a temporary fix, but no one will think anything of it. And then it’ll be spring again. Trust me.”

Trusting Calder looked like something my dad was going to struggle with for a while. “What about your sisters?” Dad asked, sitting up.

“
Your
sisters,” corrected Calder. “I’m not blood related to any of you. And you’re right—Maris and Pavati are going to be a problem. See, they think Lily is dead.”

Dad turned a strange shade of green. I started to protest, but Calder gave me a look that silenced me.

Dad pulled his chair in closer. “What does any of this have to do with Lily?”

“If they discover Lily is alive, they’ll still need retribution for our mother’s death. For all I know, they’ll want two lives. One for Mother. One for Tallulah. The only thing I can predict is that they’ll be unpredictable.”

“Lily, if you’re in any danger, I’m afraid Calder is right,” Dad said. “You’re going to have to stay in Minneapolis. We’ll make something up to tell your mom. Maybe you could get a job at the U for the summer.”

“Uh-uh,” I said. “No way. If you think I’m going to stay locked up in Mrs. Badzin’s guest room like some fairy-tale princess for the next ten weeks—”

“Actually,” Calder said, “now that I’m not compelled to stay up north, I was thinking of going back to the Bahamas early. I thought maybe you’d go with me, Lily.”

My mouth popped open, and for a second any thought about protecting Dad disappeared.
The Bahamas with Calder? That could work
.

“Wait,” Dad said. “What? No. Definitely not. Lily’s staying with her family.”

Calder shrugged. “That’s fine as long as you’re not going back to the lake. In fact, I don’t know why I didn’t think about this before, but given that you’re related to Maris, I bet she’ll be able to read your thoughts. If there’s any hint in your mind that Lily survived … I’m sorry,” Calder said, shaking his head. “I won’t allow it.”

“You won’t allow it?” Dad asked scornfully. “You don’t even know for sure that this Maris person can hear my thoughts.”

“You already told him that part?” I asked. “What else did I miss?”

Neither of them acknowledged my questions.

“The other option isn’t any better,” Calder said. “If she
can’t
hear you, your silent approach will mean only one thing to her: that you’ve come to avenge Lily’s death. Maris will understand that. She knows revenge. But how do you think that confrontation is going to end for you?”

“I told you,” Dad said. “I have no choice but to go back, and I can’t allow Lily to go anywhere with you.”

It didn’t seem like Calder was listening to my dad. He was staring down at the table, deep in thought. “I need Lily with me,” he said. “She’s the only thing keeping me …”

Calder hesitated and looked up at Dad. There was a lot more he needed to explain about what Dad’s new merman nature might mean. Neither of us knew what forty years of being landlocked would do to his psyche. Maybe Dad would never suffer emotionally, like other merpeople did. I took Calder’s second of hesitation and made my move.

“Then it’s settled,” I said. Mentally, I licked my finger and made a hash mark in the air. Score: Annoying mermen, zero. Mutant girl, one. “Dad’s going back to Bayfield. He won’t let me go to the Bahamas, and I refuse to stay in Minneapolis. You won’t go anywhere without me. We’re all going back to the lake!”

“This is insanity,” Dad muttered under his breath. “All of it. But Lily’s right, we’re going back. To the Hancocks’, that is. If you intend to join us, Calder, that will be your choice to make.”

Calder scowled at the table and after a few long seconds said, “If you refuse to listen to reason, then you’re not giving me much choice. But, Lily … I’m sorry, but if you insist on going, you have to do something for me.”

“Anything,” I said.

He looked up at me as if he didn’t believe I could do what he was asking. “You have to promise to stay out of the water and close to the house. That is nonnegotiable.”

Dad shook his head slowly, his neck bent toward the table. “Are there any more secrets I should know about? I’d like to get everything out in the open all at once.”

I looked at Calder, whose eyes sparkled with good humor that felt completely out of place. He said, “Maybe now’s a good time to tell your dad about that tattoo.”

S
hortly after we left the pool, Dad developed a sudden and alarming stomachache, so my parents ended up staying in Minneapolis an extra night, which gave me time to pack and say goodbye to Jules and her family.

The next morning, Calder asked if I’d ride with him on the trip north. But when Dad learned how Calder had come by the Buick, he made him put it back where he found it. Immediately.

There was a lot of protesting, bargaining, and attempts to justify the situation. It was actually hilarious. No matter how skilled Calder might think he was in the art of persuasion,
he’d be the first guy in the history of the world to convince a dad that felony theft was a good idea.

“If you’re going to be part of this family,” Dad finally said, “there’ll be no more thievery.”

I’m not sure if he picked his words on purpose, but I could see what they meant to Calder, having no family of his own. Ultimately, Calder promised to try.

Unlike Dad, Mom was pleasantly surprised to hear about our meet-up with Calder. I thought she’d have more questions. I mean, it was all a little too serendipitous, wasn’t it? But Calder worked his charms on her better than he’d managed with Dad. No surprise that she was
only too happy
to have him ride with us up to Bayfield.

The only bad part about the trip was that the backseat was cramped with Sophie, Calder, and me squeezed together, and Dad had his rearview mirror focused on Calder, rather than the road.

Calder’s decision to come back with us had triggered a lovely father-daughter chat the night before. “We’ve got to set some ground rules,” Dad had said.

I hadn’t really cared too much what they were. For me, I was glad to obey as long as I wasn’t in exile anymore, and rules had never mattered much to Calder. I’d leave any rule breaking up to him.

A couple of hours out of the Twin Cities, towns made way for pine trees and the air temperature dropped. Calder rolled his window down all the way, and my hair whipped around my face until I was able to find an elastic band tucked under the floor mat. I looped my hair into a messy bun, exposing my neck. Calder’s fingers were quick to find it, and his
fingers worked out the tension knots in my neck and shoulders. I caught my dad watching in the mirror.

To my left, Sophie scribbled on a crossword puzzle balanced on her knees; she sang aloud to whatever she was listening to on her MP3 player, off-key and perfect all at the same time. Some eighties hair band belted out a ballad from the front-seat speakers. Dad held the steering wheel in a white-knuckled death grip. Mom buried her nose in a book.

I reached down to the floor to pull
MY SCRIBBLINGS
from my backpack. As I did, my new beach-glass pendant fell to the outside of my shirt.

Calder lifted the pendant gently in his fingers. “Where’d you get this?” he asked. “I haven’t seen you wear it before.”

“It was a graduation present from my parents.”