Deep Betrayal

Bay Point?” Calder asked.
    “Um, I guess,” said Phillip. “I only know the roads.”
    “We’ll find it,” Calder said. “No problem.”
    “Guys! We’re loading!” yelled Zach, now in the driver’s seat. Colleen waved at me through a back window.
    “See you in a bit, Lily,” Jules said. “We’re cooking out. Don’t be late.”
    “Absolutely not,” I said, and Calder raised a hand to wave goodbye.
    Zach tentatively pulled his mom’s van onto the ferry and followed the crewman’s direction to even out the weight. The ferry groaned as it rubbed against the black rubber bumpers lining the pier.
    “That boy’s a nervous wreck,” Calder said.
    “That makes two of us. But you should cut him some slack. It’s his first time taking a car on board.”
    Calder shook his head. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
    “Oh, I don’t know, Maris hijacks the ferry and pulls them all out of the van and down to the bottom of the lake.”
    He grabbed my elbow. “My God, Lily, that’s brilliant.”
    “Brilliant?” I snorted. “It’s my worst nightmare.”
    “No, it’s genius. You know how to catch a fish?”
    “With bait?”
    “You got it, babe. We want to catch Maris, and that van is the biggest can of worms I’ve ever seen.”
* * *
    Later that afternoon, I was zipping a sundress, purple high tops, and a faux-fur shrug into a large waterproof bag. Calder watched me with amusement.
    “What?” I asked.
    “You’re serious? That’s what you’re packing?”
    “It could get cold at night.”
    Calder shook his head and added a pair of shorts and one of my band T-shirts to the bag, sealing it shut with duct tape.
    The rich, tongue-coating smell of melted chocolate wafted upstairs. As soon as we’d got back from the ferry dock, Calder had, as promised, “helped” Mom deal with our revelation about Dad. In his usual way, he’d convinced her that Dad would come back soon and that baking would speed things along.
    Five minutes later, she’d given in to a compulsive desire to feed people. Already there were six dozen peanut butter cookies cooling on the counter, and the oven was full of brownies, their molten crusts splitting, releasing an aroma that made me want to stay home.
    “Why can’t we just take your car over on the ferry?” I asked.
    “Swimming is faster. And cheaper,” he said.
    “And wetter,” I added, grousing at the bag. I still couldn’t figure out how we were going to explain our soaking wet arrival. No doubt Calder could make it look good. Amazing, even. I was going to look like a drowned rat.
    “True, but I want to test something out. You wanted to help. Let’s see how talented you are.”
    “I told you. I’m not going to help you use my friends as bait.”
    “Think of it as you getting to help me stop Maris from killing anybody else.”
    “It sounds better the way you say it, but I still don’t like it.”
    We came down the stairs and Sophie looked up from her book.
    Calder said, “When the brownies cool, tell your mom that Lily and I have gone to look for your dad. Tell her we’ll be back sometime tomorrow.”
    “Where are you really going?” she asked.
    “We’re going over to Madeline to have dinner with Lily’s friends.”
    “What’s the big deal? Why don’t you just tell her that?” she asked.
    “She’ll want to send food,” I said. “We’re traveling light.”
    “You’re swimming over?”
    Calder winked at her, and Sophie lowered her voice so Mom wouldn’t hear. “When will you take me with you?”
    “When you’re older,” Calder said.
    Sophie stuck out her tongue and went back to her book.
    Once outside and out of Mom’s view, I stripped down to my bathing suit and stashed my clothes in the bushes next to Calder’s. He was already in the water waiting for me with our watertight packages in a messenger bag strapped across his chest. “Come on,” he said. “Don’t be nervous.”
    “I’m not nervous,” I lied as my chin shook and my teeth crashed together with a mixture of anticipation and uncertainty.
    “Are you cold?”
    “No. Now be quiet and quit harassing me.”
    He waited patiently as I waded in until I was waist deep. I dropped under the waterline. When I stood up again, chin leading, my hair fell smoothly against my back and I was ready.
    “Come on,” Calder said, coaxing me forward. His voice was deep and soothing, and I felt the hypnotic pull of his thoughts invading my mind. I saw myself in his arms, and I