A/N: Three things I need to say before the chapter begins. First off, thanks to everyone who has stuck with WAHBL and reviewed, followed, and favourited. I simply cannot thank you enough.
Two: I've discovered a newfound drive and inspiration for this story and I am very excited to see where it goes. I hope you will be too as they are MANY twists and turns and surprises you may or may not see coming. I literally cannot wait which is why...
Three: I managed to have the next chapter already completed! All I have to do is fix a few things... BUT, I am hoping to get five (or more!) reviews before I upload it! Hopefully I'm not asking for too much... but a girl can ask, right?
Again... thank you, review, and ENJOY! :)
"Do you understand the plan?" Cleo asked as she stood with Lewis on the marina. Nearly two hours had passed and Lewis was getting ready to meet with Denman.
His eyes drifted over to Denman's boat, one of the last ones on the marina. He nodded but kept his eyes focused off into the distance. "Zane and I will wear wires so we can record the conversation whilst you and the others stay at the café." He looked down at his watch nervously. "Where is Zane? Time's running out and I don't want to be late. Besides," he lowered his voice as if saying it to himself, "the sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."
Cleo wrapped her arms around his neck lightly and looked at him calmly. "You will be fine, Lewis. I know it."
"I don't want to let you down. Everything practically rests on the meeting and Emma's fate and..." Lewis finally looked back towards her.
She gave him a smile as reassurance. "Hey, you're smart and clever enough to figure it out. I have all the faith in the world in you. I know I can trust you with this."
He smiled and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I feel better now," he whispered.
"Do you?" She laughed and kissed him again. "I thought that might help."
Zane then came running down the marina. "Sorry I'm late, lovebirds. I was helping Will set up the wires."
"Everything's good?" Lewis asked.
"You tell me," Zane held out another wire to Lewis. "Test yours out." Placing the microphone underneath his shirt's collar, Lewis carefully slipped the recorder into his pocket and concealed the wire from sight. "Hey, Will, can you hear me?" He nodded curtly. "The wire's live."
"Well if you two are ready, then I'll head back the café." Cleo said and gave Lewis a quick peck on the cheek. "Best of luck." They both smiled and she walked away.
Zane started forward and Lewis followed. "You ready for this?"
"No, not really," Lewis admitted. "I was hoping never to see this woman again."
"Says the guy who kept her number the past two years," Zane quipped as he fiddled with his wire.
"And look how well it served us." Lewis replied back.
A silence fell between the two as they headed towards Denman's boat. Finally, Zane spoke. "Look, all we need is to get any information we can of Emma's whereabouts and then we're out." He then stopped in front of the boat. Pausing, he scrutinized it closely. "Well, this is it. It looks the same as it did before." With a scowl, he added, "If something doesn't go right, we could always just sink it."
"Hopefully not with you in it, Zane Bennett!" Denman suddenly emerged from the boat. She wore a chilling smirk on her face. "Because I made it clear to Lewis that he would come alone." She turned and shot daggers at him.
"I must have missed that minor detail." Lewis smirked. "But two heads are better than one I suppose."
"I prefer three tails actually." She laughed whilst Zane and Lewis' expressions fell. "Oh lighten up, please. Have you no humour?" Again, they said nothing in response. "Oh come aboard! But watch your step please. Don't need anyone falling, now do we?"
She went back inside and Lewis and Zane had no choice but to follow.
"Don't need anyone falling, now do we?" Rikki, Cleo, Bella, and Will sat around the table listening to the conversation.
"I hate her." Rikki sneered.
"Me too." Cleo sighed, slumping down in her seat. "Poor Lewis."
"Zane too." Rikki agreed.
"Did that comment about three tails freak you guys out?" Bella asked quietly as she fidgeted in her seat. "Or was that just me?"
"Well technically speaking, there's four." Will sat back into his back as Bella gave him a look. "But she doesn't know that."
"Well, technically she does know that. Since she has Emma, she's bound to know our powers returned," Cleo replied.
"Even so, she doesn't know about Bella." Will pointed out, placing his hand over Bella's.
"And that's how it will stay." Cleo declared with a smile.
With a huff, Rikki bluntly stated "If not, we're more damned than we already are."
"So, boys, how have you been?" Denman leaned back in an office chair whilst Zane and Lewis sat on a bench. "We didn't have much of a chat last time, since I was kicked out so suddenly."
"I own the place, so I get to say who stays and who leaves." Zane snapped defensively.
Denman laughed. "Fine, no need to get so fired up about it." She paused for a moment, as if deciding how to proceed. "But I must admit you did a lovely job with the café. I'm particularly interested in the name though, because I'm glad to see you and Rikki are still together after the whole mermaid incident. If I were in that circumstance, I wouldn't ever want to see your face again after such a betrayal." Zane's expression hardened. "But that's just me!"
She laughed and kept her attention toward him. "But Zane, I'm genuinely intrigued as to why you've tagged along with Lewis on this chat." When he didn't answer the question, she tried again. "Oh, please, Zane, just indulge me. I'm merely curious."
Zane stayed quiet to keep himself calm; however, there was still a scowl growing on his face. Lewis decided to speak on his behalf. "Like I said earlier, two heads are better than one. You decided not to meet on common ground, so I brought backup just in case."
"In case of what?" She scoffed innocently.
"Let's not forget you did use me and then proceeded to lock me in your boat."
"Oh come on, Lewis. Let bygones be bygones."
"After all you've done to us?" Zane retorted as he eyed Denman. "You've caused these girls a world of pain and don't even want to apologise for it?" Lewis glared at him, knowing he may have said too much.
"I have apologised. In fact, I tried to reiterate my apology before, but I was kicked out. It was a pity. Perhaps Rikki and Cleo and I could have started over." Denman had a strange and haunting twinkle in her eye.
"Slim chance at that." Zane sneered but Denman seemed to ignore his remarks.
"But perhaps I could make anew with your new group." She smiled over at Lewis. "You did always feel safe in that little pack of yours. Rikki, Cleo, Emma, and now—what's her name again?—Bella is it?" She paused in rumination. "And come to think of it, Bella did seem to recognize me before at the café." She looked back and forth between Zane and Lewis. "Odd, isn't it, considering we've never met. So I must ask you, how does she know me then?"
Inside, Lewis began to panic. Denman couldn't know the truth or else the girls would be exposed. However, he managed to keep a calm and confused façade as if he did not know what Denman meant. Cocking his head slightly he asked innocently, "What do you mean?"
"Lewis, please, you're a smart boy. Don't play dumb with me." She replied back calmly. When the two of them did not respond, she spoke again. "Ooh! Have I a reason to be suspicious now? Perhaps I've hit a nerve?"
"She moved here about seven months after you left. The girls were still reeling about losing their powers," Zane began to formulate a lie. It was the only way to cover up why Rikki and Cleo told Bella. "It had almost split them up, because they couldn't find anything more in common. But then when school started up again, Bella had just arrived here in the Gold Coast. Bella had each befriended Rikki, Cleo, and Emma in three different classes and then they grew close again. It was the strangest thing; Bella was like the saving grace of the group. It really helped the three girls heal.
"There was a bump in the road, however, when Bella found Cleo's locket. She went to look at it and saw a picture of the three of them as mermaids. Of course, that was rather shocking and confusing, so the three girls had to tell Bella the truth of their past."
"So that's why they got new necklaces." Lewis played along with the lie, giving his best attempt to steer Denman away from suspicion she already had. "The lockets that Rikki, Emma, and Cleo wore were of the past and symbolized something that they weren't any longer. So, the four of them got matching necklaces that they wear now."
Denman gave a hearty laugh as she fell back into her chair. "And here I was thinking that Rikki, Emma, and Cleo never lost their powers! And then they had befriended Bella because she was also a mermaid, so they warned her about me!" Lewis and Zane desperately tried not to show any distress in their emotions, so they remained silent and both managed a small smirk. "Pardon my manners; I don't get visitors often. Would either of you boys care for some coffee or tea?"
Will and the three girls sat silently in the café, listening to the conversation through a laptop. Each had a frightful or worried look plastered on their faces. All four were so focused on listening to the conversation that no one had touched their juices or practically moved. The air was solemn and nearly vacuumed tight with pressure rising to a boiling point.
For a moment into the conversation, they all made eye contact and exchanged worried glances. And two words echoed through their minds, damning them:
"She knows."
"I don't like this." Lewis whispered as Denman disappeared into a backroom. "She's too close."
"Too close? We've already surpassed 'too close'. She practically just spelt it out for us." Zane replied. "We might as well invite her to a picnic at Mako."
"There's no need for sarcasm at a time like this."
"I reckon sarcasm is justified right now."
"Point noted," Lewis sighed. "How do we get out of this one?"
"I say try to drown her until she tells us where Emma is." Zane decided as Lewis gave him a look. "What? It's a valid idea."
"Guys, what do you think?" Lewis whispered into his mic. He heard some bustling on the other line and waited for a response.
At the sound of an interactual question, Will leapt at the chance to get the mic. He looked at the other three in concern, for they were still caught up in distress and worry.
"What's up, Lewis?"
"What do we do?"
"Drown her until she tells us where Emma is." Rikki mumbled, still halfway through a daze.
"See, I know that the idea was valid!" Zane cheered.
"Find out about Emma." Will replied. He looked at the three girls and all three nodded. "The girls agree with me."
"We… what…. Let…. Later…. Touch…." Lewis' voice became muffled as if the connection was breaking up.
"No, no, no, no, no…" Will panicked and began fiddling with the machine to try to save the connection. But soon, a loud screech echoed through the café and the signal went flat. "We've lost them."
"Find out about Emma." Will replied. He paused for a moment. "The girls agree with me."
"Alright. We'll get what we need. I'll let you know how we're doing later. We'll be in touch." Lewis spoke into the microphone but there was no response. "Hello?"
"Do you hear that?" Zane asked. "It's like a loud…" Static and a loud beep spat through the ear pieces and the two quickly ripped them out. "What was that?!"
"I think we lost signal…" Lewis quickly shoved the wire into his pocket. "Great… here she comes."
Denman returned and sat back down. "So sorry for the delay. I was back about to make the drinks when I realized there was sort of signal interfering with the fish locator and the rest of the equipment. But I took care of it." She smirked at Lewis and Zane, both now wearing nervous looks. "Now where were we?"
"What do you mean 'we've lost them'?!" Cleo jerked up from her chair.
"The signal's lost. It's like something cut it loose." Will replied, still fiddling with the laptop.
"Or someone cut it loose." Rikki scowled, sliding down in her chair. "This is a total disaster. Lewis and Zane are stuck out there with her and you know Lewis is going to spill eventually."
"Hey! Don't condemn Lewis for this mess. You were the one who suggested they go out there in the first place." Cleo replied.
"Well we can't just sit back and do nothing, can we?" Rikki quipped as she repositioned herself in the chair.
"If you're so keen on talking to her, why don't you just go yourself instead of sending Lewis and Zane to do the dirty work?!" Cleo pointed at the door.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Will settled. He raised his hands to silence Cleo and Rikki. "Let's not start biting each other's heads off just yet. I think we managed to salvage the recordings." He looked over at Bella, who had been oddly quiet. "Hey, are you okay over there?"
"Not really." She whispered. "She knows. What if she comes after us now?"
"Hey. That won't happen." Cleo answered firmly. "She'll be no match for three mermaids. And if—I mean when—" She gave Rikki a look. "When Lewis and Zane figure out where Emma is, everything will fall back into place. We just have to stay as positive as possible."
"Do you have any idea how to reconnect the microphones?" Bella asked as she looked over at Will with a hopeful expression.
"No…" Slowly Will trailed off, trying to think of something reassuring to say. "But maybe if we..."
Abruptly, Rikki rose up from her chair and walked into the back of the café. "I'm going in the cool room for something. Do you guys want anything?"
"No."
"I'm good."
"No. Thanks though."
Rikki pushed the door into the back as if entering the cool room. However, she turned toward the left in the direction of the back door. She knew long before Cleo had said anything that there had to be more action than sending Lewis and Zane out. Besides, they would need backup now. Who knows what Denman may do to them.
Rikki opened the door and headed toward the edge of the dock. "If you want something done, you have to do it yourself." With that, she dove into the water towards Denman's boat.
Swimming in the marina, Rikki kept close to the marina trying to catch a glimpse of the M.R.C. whale tail logo on Denman's boat. In her mind, she calculated the two most important things to do. The first was to stay low and close to the side of the boat to prevent being caught. The second was to listen to the conversation and make sure Lewis and Zane did not sell them out entirely. If anything were to go wrong, Rikki knew she could always fry Denman right on the spot.
Finally she found the boat and discreetly popped her head out of the water to listen to what ever was left of the encounter.
"Let's cut to the chase here, Denman. You know the real reason why we came." Lewis spoke in a calm expression.
"Do I?" Denman replied as her eyebrows peaked in interest. "Perhaps I do know. Perhaps I do not." She laughed as if not having a care in the world. "The world is a dangerous place, filled with evils and despicable cruelties—"
"So you finally admit you're evil?" Zane spat with a smirk.
She laughed. "Oh, Zane, I'm not the enemy here. At least I'm not in this instant." She suppressed another laugh that left an unsettling grin on her face. "Nonetheless, the world is also a place full of betrayal and heartbreak. Trust is rare, boys. Especially within your..." Denman trailed off slightly as if wanting to find the right word, "circumstances. Now, trust is something that builds and builds upon faith and believing in another. Yet trust is more often than not built upon lies. Mountains upon mountains of lies that seem so real they have to be true."
"What the hell does that mean?" Rikki whispered the retort. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and continued to linger at the side of boat to avoid being seen.
With a smile, Denman added another sentence. "Such semblances exist all among us, you know and frankly—"
"Would you stop playing your damn little mind games and just tell us where the hell Emma is?" Zane ended Denman's puzzling lecture with a heated tone, not wanting to hear any more of her rambling.
Surprised, Denman looked over at him with an amused and startled expression. "Well, well. I suppose someone doesn't like my words of wisdom."
"Enough with the cryptic talk already and just tell us—" Lewis began with a threatening tone.
"As I have stated before, I do not have Emma nor do I know of her current location." Denman stated convincingly. "You just keep accusing me of taking the poor girl. I have no use for her anymore if she's a human. We've been over this."
"Yeah. No use for her if she's human…" Rikki whispered.
"But—" Lewis and Zane said in unison but Denman cut them off with a raise of her hand.
"However, I have been researching the case and the filed reports. I'm very concerned about her safety, as anyone in their right mind should be, and I will make any contributions I can to help find her." She turned around and took a folder from her desk. Opening it, she pulled out a few sheets of paper and them to Lewis.
"As you can see, I have some various colleagues associated with the Australian water police and the British coastguards, so I am making a few phone calls to increase the searches." Pulling out another file, she held out a small map of England. "They are currently focusing on the North Sea and English Channel as you can see here." She pointed to both. "There have also been searches on the mainland and both the British and Australian governments are working together as well."
Clearing his throat, Lewis elbowed Zane as they looked at the papers. "Well, you've certainly done your homework."
Rolling her eyes, Rikki was far from amused. "I can't believe he fell for it," she sighed. "Please have some sense here, Zane…"
As he shuffled through the papers, Zane read them carefully. Finally he admitted, "And you've put a lot of work into this…"
"Well after all I've put you and your friends through, I thought I might as well try to make up for my errors." Denman smiled. "I hope this helps. Anything to find her, right?"
"Come on…" Will mumbled under his breath as he tried to reconnect the microphones to the recorder. "Why do they make this look so easy?"
"Hey, you're doing the best that you can! You'll figure out a way to fix things. You always do." Bella smiled in encouragement. "At least you saved the recordings before we got disconnected, right?"
"I did do something right I suppose," he admitted as he took the DVD out of the laptop. "Someone better hold onto this."
"I don't mind keeping it. Once Lewis and Zane get back, we'll listen to them again and then I'll keep it in my room." Cleo volunteered.
"You sure it will be safe there?" Bella asked. "I mean, I'm probably just being cautious about things, but what if your dad or Kim or Sam found it?"
"Well, couldn't your parents find it, too?" Will replied as Bella gave him a look. "Whoa, I was just saying. Nothing against you or anything…" He apologized and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
"I will keep it in good hands I promise." Cleo smiled as Will handed her the DVD. She placed it in front of her on the table and realized that Rikki's chair was empty. Looking around the room, she couldn't see her. "Hey, where did Rikki get off to?"
"Hope she's not eating all the ice cream in there." Will lightly joked.
"Come to think of it, she has been in there awhile." Bella agreed with Cleo. "Let's go have a look." Getting up, the two headed into the back room.
Peeking into the cool room, Bella couldn't see anyone. "She's not in there. Where else could she have gone? There are only fruit shelves in here."
"I know where." Cleo announced as she eyed the back door angrily.
"Oh, Cleo, you don't think that—" Bella tried to appease her.
With a nod, Cleo confirmed "She's gone after Denman."
"Feel free to keep these copies to look over again. I'm sure the others will want to know what we discussed anyway." With a smile, Denman continued. "Is there anything else you would like to know?"
"No, I think that's all." Lewis smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for accusing you."
"I understand your motive entirely." Denman continued to smile. "I hope everything works out. Feel free to call me with any other questions." Her smile was beginning to look forced.
"We will, thanks." Zane muttered and stood up anxious to leave.
She glanced over into her back room for a moment before saying anything. "Oh yes, give the girls my regards. I will call if there is any news about Emma."
With that, Lewis and Zane walked silently off the boat as Rikki ducked under the water and swam away.
"I'm not sure what to think here." Zane admitted. He looked back briefly to see if she was still watching them but was nowhere in sight.
"I hate to say it, but the contacts and information she has seem pretty solid." Lewis paused for a moment. "I'm not saying she's instantly in the clear, but she may actually be genuine here. That's what worries me."
"I agree. Her being nice doesn't feel right."
"Yes, but that's not what I meant. I'm worried because if Denman really doesn't have Emma, who does?" Lewis said as he felt his phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw it was Cleo and answered it right away. "Cleo, we just left—okay, hold on, slow down. What happened?" He and Zane exchanged worried looks. Then Lewis stopped dead in his tracks. "What? What do you mean Rikki's gone?" This time Zane stopped too.
"What do you mean she's gone?!" Zane exclaimed, placing his hand on his hair. "Give me the phone."
Pushing him away, Lewis listened to Cleo on the other line. "We haven't seen her. She must have been on the side of the boat—okay, just stay calm. We'll be right there."
"Rikki just left the café like that?" Zane asked angrily.
"She snuck out the backdoor and must have listened to our conversation from the water. It's fine as long as she wasn't seen, right? I mean, I didn't see her. Did you?"
"I don't think I did."
Lewis began to walk forward again. "Come on, we have to go back to the café."
"But shouldn't we look for Rikki?" Zane asked, already busying looking around the marina for any sign of her.
"There's nothing to worry about," Lewis assured him. "She'll come back and everything will be just fine."
Reclining back in a dark and empty room, Denman was still and lost in her own thoughts. After a few moments, she flipped a switch and a lamp flickered on, revealing a desk in front of her. Various papers were spread messily across it with four manila folders stacked on top of them. Two paper coffee cups were tossed onto the floor and a lone glass of hard liquor was pushed to the side.
Ending the ominous silence, she drummed in fingers on the top of the desk as if pondering one last thought. Reaching for the glass, she took a small sip and her mouth curled into an insidious smile. An idea had struck.
Clearing her throat, Denman pulled out an iPhone from one of the desk's drawers. She pressed a number and placed the phone against her ear and waited.
In the midst of ringing, it stopped abruptly and went right to automated voicemail. Her face remained unchanged as if anticipating this.
With a cunning smile, she left a simple message. "You know what you have to do."