It has just been over two months since Lewis has disappeared. It has been two months since Cleo's entire world fell apart. At this point, the media, the school, the police and Lewis' family all believe that Lewis is dead and may never be found. At least, that's what the police are trying to prepare everyone for, anyway. Even Ash, Emma, Rikki and Zane are starting to genuinely think about the possibility of Lewis being dead. There have been no leads whatsoever on where Lewis could have possibly gone. Hell, the only evidence of Lewis actually being in the moon pool that night in the first place was the scale that Cleo found, but she can't exactly just go and turn it into the police, can she? That would just cause even more problems. Despite all of this, Cleo is still refusing to give up hope. She knows that Lewis is still alive out there somewhere… he just has to be.
Cleo's friends starting to give up on finding Lewis definitely hurts, though. At this point, she is almost sure that Doctor Denman has captured Cleo's boyfriend. Ash, Zane, Emma and Rikki aren't ruling that idea out, either. Yet, for some reason, they seem to think that it's too late to find Lewis? At least too late to find him alive, anyway. Cleo could handle all of their families, the school and the police believing that the teenage scientist could be gone, but her best friends, too? Lewis' best friends that know his secret, even sharing the same secret?
It breaks Cleo's heart to know that the only other people in the world that could have any sort of idea on why Lewis disappeared are also starting to give up hope. It's as if her friends are implying that Denman has already killed Lewis, but why would she do that? As a scientist, Denman would want to have as much data on merpeople as possible to be able to show the world, and killing Lewis would put her research at a disadvantage. However, if the marine biologist has actually managed to get everything she needs from a living Lewis already, Cleo fears that Lewis won't have much more time left.
In some ways though, the mermaid understands why her friends are beginning to get doubtful; it's not like they have managed to find any leads in the last two months on where Denman could possibly be. Still, Cleo knows that none of them are trying hard enough to find the youngest McCartney. This fact has made Cleo become somewhat distant from her friends lately, unable to pretend that life is going back to normal like everyone else is seeming to be trying. For as long as she possibly can, Cleo wants to continue shutting herself off from the world that keeps on moving forwards as if nothing has happened, as if Cleo's world hasn't been completely turned upside down. If roles were reversed, Lewis would never stop looking for Cleo — or any of his friends or family, for that matter — if they went missing. It's too early to give up on finding Lewis alive just yet, Cleo knows it.
The mermaid wishes that there was some way that she could somehow let Lewis know that she was going to find him, no matter how long it takes. The curly haired teenager is sure that her boyfriend is probably starting to lose faith in ever being found, wherever the hell that may be. As long as Lewis knows that Cleo won't stop looking for him though, surely there still has to be some sort of hope. For a tiny moment, the brunette vaguely wonders if Lewis would actually want Cleo to be searching for him. Whatever situation that he's in right now, Cleo is certain that it can't be anything good. She knows that Lewis wouldn't want her to get hurt. It would certainly be ironic if despite Lewis being the one in danger, he is worrying about Cleo more than himself. Having known the boy pretty much all of her life, Cleo is fairly sure that's exactly what Lewis' line of thinking would be, and that just makes her feel even more miserable. Life has become a cruel joke, but Cleo suspects that it hasn't even reached the punchline yet.
Currently though, Cleo is sitting at the dining table of the McCartney home, much to Lenny's disliking. Cleo isn't exactly happy about being here either, but it wasn't really hers or Lenny's choice. The mermaid had only agreed to meet up at the McCartney household because Kelly, Lewis' mother, had asked her too. If it wasn't for Kelly, Cleo most certainly wouldn't be here right now, taking part in a serious family discussion. Even now, the mermaid doesn't know if she really should be here, but Kelly had been insistent. Lewis' mother has undoubtedly been through hell in the past couple of months, and Cleo can't even begin to understand how it would feel to lose your own son. The least that she could do was try and be there for Mrs McCartney whenever things begin to get tough for the mother of four. Cleo's open offer meant helping the family plan the funeral too, apparently.
"So, are we all in agreement with the funeral venue?" Daniel McCartney, the oldest of the brothers, asks the rest of the group.
"Yeah, I think Somerville Funerals will be nice. I really like the way they handle making each service personalised towards who the individual is- um, I-I mean, was…" Kelly nods in agreement, her voice catching in her throat slightly as she begins to trail off, tears welling up in her eyes. Cleo, who is sitting directly next to the woman, quickly reaches over across the table and squeezes Kelly's hands comfortingly and gives her a soft smile.
"I'm sure Lewis would be happy with whatever you choose," Cleo says, trying to keep her own hurt out of her voice, not wanting to accidentally make Kelly more upset than she currently is.
"Yeah…" Kelly sniffles, glancing over at Cleo and gives the girl a grateful smile.
"We should incorporate fishing into the service somehow," Jacob suggests, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Bro, how? Make the coffin look like Lewis' fishing boat and place his fishing rod on top of it?" Zac raises an eyebrow at his twin brother sceptically.
"Actually, maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea..." Jacob replies as his eyebrows furrow into a frown as the cogs in his head begin to churn, trying to figure out how to feasibly make Zac's idea a reality.
"Don't forget his fishing hat. We would need to incorporate that, too." Lenny speaks up for the first time since the 'family meeting' of sorts began. Everyone glances around over to Lenny, surprised expressions written on all of their faces. Lenny has been the main one that has been putting off funeral preparations for weeks, so it is a little out of nowhere that Lenny is finally wanting to help out with the plans now. Perhaps Lenny is finally starting to accept the fact that his missing brother isn't coming home?
"Fishing hat? Doesn't Lewis have heaps of those?" Zac frowns in confusion.
"Yeah, but there is one that has way more meaning to him than the others. Dad gave Lewis his own fishing hat on one of our family fishing trips many years ago, before he got sick. Lewis would have only been about four at the time. Of course, the hat didn't fit him at the time. I remember I laughed at how silly the oversized hat looked on Lewis' head, but Dad had promised Lewis that he would grow into it one day. And, sure enough, it did." Lenny explains, smiling sadly at the memory, wishing that he could somehow go back in time to that day when his dad had taken him and his brothers out fishing. Everyone was young and innocent, unaware of what the sadness that the future years were going to bring.
"Wait… that was the light brownish-green hat, right?" Daniel asks for clarification as the lightbulb quickly flickers on inside his head.
"Yeah," Lenny nods in response.
"A couple of years after Dad died, Lewis had accidentally dropped the hat into the canal as the two of us were preparing to go on our own little fishing trip. I have never seen Lewis cry and look so heartbroken as much as he did that day. I ended up having to jump into the canal and find the hat, which thankfully I did." Lenny continues, and a sudden urge to rummage through Lewis' room to find the hat starts to rise up inside of him.
"Oh, yes, I remember that well. And you got into so much trouble when you got home because of how dangerous and reckless your actions were," Kelly chuckles at the memory. It wasn't funny at the time, of course; Lenny could have drowned, or some boat speeding past could have hit him. Thankfully, neither of those happened, and their father's hat was saved.
"Damn. That hat sounds like it has been through a lot of history…" Jacob comments thoughtfully. The group sits around the dining table silently for the next few minutes, no one really knowing what to say. The grief and hopelessness in the air is palpable as a bitter taste lingers in everyone's mouths; Cleo and the McCartneys desperately wish that they had more answers on what has become of Lewis, but until then, their minds continue to be haunted with anguish. Suddenly though, the six of them are pulled out of their saddening silence by the sound of Cleo's phone beginning to ring.
Cleo jumps in surprise, startled by the sudden noise. She quickly pulls her hands away from Kelly's and reaches into her shorts pocket to grab her phone. Glancing down at the phone screen, Cleo doesn't recognise the number. Frowning in confusion, Cleo hesitantly presses the answer button and holds the phone up to her ear while Daniel, Lenny, Zac, Jacob and Kelly all look towards her with curiosity.
"Hello?" Cleo asks into the phone.
"Hello, Miss Sertori. This is Detective Ian Jenkins." A familiar voice responds, causing Cleo's blood to go cold and her body to freeze up.
"Oh, uh, hi, Detective. Can I help you?" Cleo stammers nervously.
"As a matter of fact, there is something that you can help me with. Do you mind coming down to the station? There's just a couple more questions that I would like to ask you," Jenkins asks in a friendly tone, but the mermaid has a strong suspicion that he isn't making a request; it feels much more like an order.
"Yeah, sure, I guess. When do you want me there?" Cleo says whilst she begins twirling a lock of her hair around in her fingers, to give herself an outlet for her increasing anxiety. She has been called into questioning by the police a number of times in the past couple of months, way more than anyone else that she knows. It is starting to dawn on the teenager that the police — or at least, Detective Jenkins — might actually suspect her to be the reason for Lewis' disappearance and supposed death.
"Now would be great, if it's possible for you? And because you're not 18 yet, your dad will have to come with you. Is that okay?"
"Um, well, he is at work today…" Cleo hesitates, her voice trailing off, her heart racing in her chest as she tries not to panic. Clearly she isn't doing a good job, considering the McCartneys sitting around her are all looking at Cleo with concerned frowns on their faces
"That shouldn't be a problem, I'll give Don a call myself and let him know what's happening. How about you and your dad meet me down at the station in an hour?" Jenkins suggests, once again not exactly asking Cleo and more so instructing her.
"Okay, I'll see you in an hour then, probably. Bye." Cleo answers before she hangs up the phone and places it back into her pocket while she sighs heavily.
"Who was that?" Kelly asks anxiously.
"Detective Jenkins. He wants to talk to me again," Cleo explains as she looks around at the group.
"What? Why?" Lenny frowns suspiciously.
"Surely the police don't think that you've got anything to do with Lewis' disappearance… do they?" Daniel queries, looking deep in thought as his gaze wanders over to a random spot on the wall behind Cleo.
"I don't know, but I guess that's what I'm about to find out." The mermaid shrugs in response, honestly having no idea of what to expect to come of this meeting with Detective Jenkins.
An hour later, Cleo and her father, Don Sertori walk into the police station, gaining several glances from police officers as they pass by. Cleo takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down, knowing that she will only look even more suspicious to the detective if she is too anxious.
"Just remember, chooks, you haven't done anything wrong, okay? Just tell the detectives the whole truth and you'll be fine. You've got nothing to worry about, they just want to make sure that they have as much detail about that night as possible." Don says with a reassuring smile, sensing his daughter's electrified nerves radiating from beside him.
"Yeah…" Cleo mumbles in response, wishing that the truth could actually help her in this situation, but unfortunately for Cleo, the truth would destroy her and the rest of her friends' lives forever. Plus, all of that drama would be for nothing because the police still won't be any closer to finding Lewis. It's a lose-lose situation.
Cleo and her father make their way over towards the front desk, neither of them quite sure on what to do. This 'interview' today is already a lot more formal than the previous times that Cleo has talked with the detectives, which gives her a very bad feeling about where this is going. Once the father and daughter have signed their names, the two of them walk off to the side to what appears to be a small waiting area; it only has five seats pressed up against the wall and a small stack of magazines on top of a small table shoved into the very corner of the room. Cleo and Don sit down on the last two chairs of the row, staring down at the ground silently and awkwardly. Cleo does her best to keep in control of her breathing, unconsciously tapping her hand against her leg whilst also biting the inside of her mouth. Everything suddenly feels too small, as if the world is actually closing in on the teenager, making her feel claustrophobic. Cleo's chest tightens, making it harder for her to stay in control of her breathing, and she feels tears welling up in her eyes and blurring her vision. The mermaid closes her eyes and tries to block out the oncoming panic attack by focusing on biology revision, going through each topic in her head.
Don watches his daughter sadly, at a loss as to why Cleo is freaking out so much. She has been interviewed by the police before — albeit those times were a lot less formal than this, but the point still stands — and hasn't been in a panic like this. All she has to do is give the police as much information as she can on her last interactions with Lewis. Although, Don isn't sure why the police have questioned Cleo multiple times at this point. Surely they have everything they need from her? Unless… What if Cleo knows something about Lewis' disappearance? That doesn't make sense though, why wouldn't she want to tell the detectives everything she knows? Could she actually have had something to do with Lewis going missing? No, surely not, Cleo is not that sort of person. Besides, she loves Lewis. But why is his daughter so afraid to be here right now?
"Cleo…" Don begins hesitantly, not really sure what he even wants to say.
"Yeah, Dad?" Cleo sucks in a breath as she opens her eyes, quickly wiping the tears away from her face and glances over to Don, plastering on a fake smile that is fooling no one.
"You know that you can tell me anything, right?" Don says seriously, his eyebrows furrowing together.
"Of course, Dad!"
"Well, is there anything you need to tell me?"
"No, not really. I'm okay. I just want Lewis to be safe." Cleo responds hurriedly. Don begins to open his mouth to respond, but before he can say anything, Detective Jenkins arrives in front of the father and daughter and greets them both.
"Don, Cleo. Nice to see you both again." Jenkins smiles as he watches the two people quickly scramble to their feet.
"It's good to see you too, Detective." Don replies as he reaches out and shakes Ian Jenkins' hand. The detective then turns his focus onto Cleo.
"This shouldn't take too long, Miss Sertori. Half an hour, max. Now, are you okay with your father waiting out here?" Jenkins asks the teenager.
"What? Why do I have to wait out here?!" Don exclaims, starting to realise that the police think Cleo knows more about Lewis' disappearance than she is letting on.
"You don't, but your daughter may feel more comfortable if you weren't in the room for the questioning. Hence why I'm leaving the choice up to Cleo." Jenkins quickly explains, and suddenly Cleo feels very put on the spot with both her dad and the detective staring at her with curiosity.
"It's okay, Dad. I'll be fine. Maybe it will be better if you wait out here. We can tell you everything that happened once we're done, okay?" Cleo decides after a couple of seconds of consideration.
"Are you sure, honey?" Don asks, still feeling a bit wary of the situation.
"Yes. Don't worry about me." Cleo says as she gives her dad a small, but comforting smile. Don wants to protest, but doesn't see how he's going to win.
"Well, I'll be right out here waiting for you, sweetheart. Just tell the detective the truth and you'll be fine." Don eventually concedes and pulls Cleo in got a quick hug. Once the two pull apart, Cleo and Detective Jenkins walk off down the hallway, leaving Don alone to ponder over what the hell is happening.
"I'm sorry that we've had to question you multiple times now, we just want as much information as possible to try and figure out what happened to Lewis." Jenkins smiles apologetically as the detective and the teenager enter the interview room, closing the door behind them, and then sit down on opposite sides of the table.
"It's okay, I understand. I'm glad I can help." Cleo replies as she settles into her seat.
"Where's your partner?" Cleo asks in confusion with a frown, suddenly noticing that Detective Anderson isn't here, nor does it look like that Jenkins is waiting for him to arrive.
"Look, I'm going to get straight to the point and be completely honest with you, Miss Sertori. Something just isn't adding up with Lewis' disappearance. I think there is more to it than meets the eye. My colleagues don't believe me. In fact, most of my colleagues here think that I'm barking up the wrong tree. That includes Detective Anderson. However, I just can't ignore the gut feeling that I have about this case." Jenkins says, staring at Cleo seriously, lips pressed into a frown.
"What gut feeling is that, exactly?" Cleo asks, subconsciously fiddling with her hair between her fingers. Jenkins seems to pick up on Cleo's actions and scribbles something down quickly onto the notepad in front of him. Cleo's heart skips a beat, worried that the detective might eventually figure out the truth about her, Lewis and Mako Island.
"You work at the marine park, correct?" Detective Jenkins raises an eyebrow slightly as he looks back up at the teenager.
"Yeah, I do. I think I told you this last time…" Cleo replies with a shrug.
"Good. I was just double checking," Jenkins nods in satisfaction. After a small pause, Jenkins continues, "Do you have access to any sort of netting or rope at work? How about fishing nets, for example?"
"Wait, what? No, I work at an ice cream truck. Why?" Cleo frowns in confusion, taken aback by the strange question.
"By sheer luck, our forensics team has recently discovered a tiny piece of frayed rope caught on a tree branch on the western side of the island, right near the beach. From their analysis, the frayed material is most likely from some sort of rope or netting." Jenkins explains, leaning forwards and folding his hands together out in front of him.
"Okay… so what does that have to do with me, or Lewis?" Cleo asks, still not quite understanding where this could be going.
"Maybe nothing. Maybe it was just left behind by an innocent fisherman. Or, perhaps it was a part of some sort of net that was used to help kidnap Mr McCartney?" Jenkins shrugs while glancing at Cleo with curiosity, carefully awaiting to examine what her reaction is going to be.
"A net?" Cleo remarks, a horrible feeling of dread sinking down into her stomach, fairly certain that her worst nightmare is coming true: Doctor Denman really does have Lewis. He must have been waiting in the moon pool for Cleo to arrive, but Denman showed up instead and trapped him in a net. Cleo feels like she is about to be sick. She tries to take a shaky breath in as the world begins to spin around her for a moment or two.
"You don't seem that surprised by this," Jenkins frowns suspiciously, watching the teenager closely.
"Don't I?" Cleo shifts in her seat nervously and continues fiddling with her hair.
"Kidnapping someone with a net isn't the most common occurrence, Miss Sertori. But it doesn't seem to surprise you all that much. Maybe it worries you, sure. But does this information confuse or surprise you? No, not from what I can observe." Jenkins continues to explain, his voice quiet and serious.
"Wait… do you really think that I'm the reason behind Lewis' disappearance?" The teenager asks worriedly, her eyes going wide and her heart skips a beat or two.
"Honestly? I don't know yet. From what I have been told by your family and friends though, you and Lewis seemed to have a great relationship. There were no obvious signs of either of you having ill intent towards the other. However, I do think you know a lot more than you're letting on," Jenkins responds, looking Cleo directly in the eyes, which only increases her nerves tenfold.
"I didn't kidnap Lewis, nor have any sort of involvement in it. I'm sure you can talk with my boss and she can vouch for me that I was still working around the approximate time of Lewis' disappearance. The kidnapping, or whatever you want to call it, had to have happened between my phone call with Lewis and the time that I arrived at Mako Island. Anyone on the island was long gone before I got there." The mermaid states firmly and honestly, leaning forwards into the table as well.
"Okay. But what about the netting? Why have you been so hesitant to talk about Mako Island, or that cave inside the volcano? That's what isn't making sense to me," Jenkins questions the suspicious teenager.
"I don't see what any of that has to do with the case," Cleo tries to shrug off the issue nonchalantly, wincing slightly when Jenkins gives her a disbelieving look.
"It has everything to do with the case!" Jenkins responds with a harsh frown, his eyebrows quickly furrowing together as he begins to get frustrated, feeling like he is getting nowhere. The two glare at each other in silence for a few minutes, neither one of them wanting to back down.
"You don't want to tell me the truth? Fine. But I'm just going to keep on pressing this issue until I eventually figure out the whole story. I'll find out the truth one way or another. You know where to find me if you change your mind on the matter." Jenkins eventually says, sighing in defeat and leaning back into his chair.
"I just thought that as his girlfriend, you would want to do everything you could to help find Lewis," Jenkins mutters as he gets up from his seat and gestures for Cleo to do the same.
"Of course I want to find Lewis! More than you could ever know!" Cleo exclaims angrily and stands up from her seat in protest, offended that this police officer could really think that she cares about her boyfriend so little.
"Thank you for your time, Miss Sertori. I'll be in touch. Otherwise, like I said, you know where to find me." Detective Jenkins states with an air of finality while collecting his things and then he walks towards the door, deciding that the interview is over. With a heavy sigh, Cleo follows after the detective, ready to get the hell out of here.