“Just give me the keys. You’re spending the night here anyway, right? To go over your footage? I’ll be back in the morning to return them,” Connor argued with him.
Ben looked reluctant.
“Plus,” Connor added quickly, “You have to finish the work on your specimen.Andyou have to comb through the data on the sphere that Arthur just brought in. There’s no way you’ll have time to go home today.”
“Well… I suppose you’re right. Alright,” he agreed.
Connor was relieved. He knew it was a fifty-fifty chance of his dad simply digging in his heels with a hard “no” and getting irritated with him, but the risk had paid off this time. “Thank you.”
His dad became withdrawn and zoned out, too entrenched in documenting what Connor had told him to bother answering any of Connor’s questions. He didn’t even give Connor a speech about not telling anyone else, leaving Connor alone in the lab when he returned to his office with the fresh coffee pot.
Connor retrieved his abandoned book, though continued to neglect it as he proceeded to sit on the steps and stare at the water.
The intercom buzzed, breaking Connor’s concentration. A voice came through the speaker above the elevator: “Edith is at the gate.”
Connor flipped his book closed and stood.
He emptied his bag of books onto the desk, knowing he’d be back tomorrow, and took the empty bag with him upstairs. The taller guard walked him to the gate, where Edith was waiting with the car turned around for a speedy getaway.
The shorter guard watched them approach, and he jutted his chin toward them. “Where’s our coffee?”
“There’s none left,” the taller guard said, a sour look on his face.
The short one cursed, and both his dogs hunkered down, alert for what he was mad at. Connor wondered when their shift would end, and the next pair of guards would take over. Did they know what was being studied in the lab, or did they think they were there to guard equipment? They seemed too scary to think they were only guarding two scientists, and not the knowledge of a new species.
Connor climbed into the car where his mom was sipping a takeaway cup of coffee. “Don’t tease them, Mom,” he said, noting that both guards stared at her drink. “They might rob you.”
“What?” she asked, voice irritable. She glanced between the guards and Connor as if they had some inside joke at her expense. Connor saw her suspicion.
“I didn’t mean—actually, never mind. Dad gave me his keys to drop by his house and pick up some things,” Connor said. He double-checked that their weight was in his pocket. Mom’s house had a spare set hidden at the front door, but dad had one key that was kept on his person. Given that his dad often left equipment and tech lying around at home, Connor had always assumed there were too many valuable things at home to risk a key being somewhere nearby.
Mom pursed her lips. “He should have brought you himself,” she said, irritated.
In all honesty, Connor had expected an entire argument to get her to bring him to his dad’s place, but she had decided on silent hate for the car ride today. The driveway to Ben’s house was paved and lined with stone walls, and the house itself was giant. There was even an indoor hot tub, in Ireland, where people didn’t have hot tubs. Connor could see now why someone studying the ocean made so much money; the fish were more interesting than anyone realised.
Connor thought back to the face he’d seen in the ocean. The top half had looked human. Did that mean it had the intelligence of a human? Was it just like a person, except part fish and living in the sea? It was stupidly intriguing.
“Be quick,” his mom snapped.
Connor jumped at the sudden raised voice. He’d been zoned out, not moving toward the house even though they’d stopped. He glared at her, hating that she’d made his heart skip a beat in surprise. “I can’t wait to see Trevor’s face when he hears you using that tone.”
The look she gave him was lethal. “Two minutes, and then I’m leaving.”
Connor resisted rolling his eyes at the drama of it all. If she was serious, Connor didn’t reckon he’d find a lift home after that. His dad wouldn’t leave the lab, even if Connor could get a hold of him, and this early in the season meant no taxi services were running.
He left the car without a word and went to the house, unlocking the door and keying in the house alarm code before alarms started blaring. Connor paused at the keypad, touched for a moment that his dad had set it to Connor’s birthday. Though it had probably been a throwaway thought at best, he had still been thought of.
Connor sighed. He walked through the empty house, going straight to the living room. It was entirely unlike the living room at home with its rustic furniture; here, it was white couches and a fireplace of grey marble that didn’t look as though it had ever been used. Along the walls were tall bookcases all filled to the brim. Connor stared at the large tomes, uncertain for a moment about where to start, and picked a spot at random on the nearest shelf.
His gaze skittered across the spines of the books until his eyes caught on a cover of bubbles and green waves. He deposited it into his bag and collected several other books about biodiversity, the ocean, and sea creatures. His ribs tweaked in complaint as he lifted the heavy bag.
Connor left the house, priming the alarm and locking the door behind him. He’d been over two minutes, barely, yet his mom was still parked in the drive. Connor took her in, considering.
Trevor was a game-changer for this dynamic.
Chapter Six
Connor’s merman was a tease. Despite spending the rest of the week staring at the ocean, Connor saw no sign of him. As he watched with intent, he noticed the unique patterns of the fish as they swam among the swaying seaweed looking for something to eat. To stave off boredom, he identified all the creatures in the waters and jotted down his observations in the notebooks given for his probation.
