Page 38 of Just My Luck

“Zara, I swear to you, I wish I could. I’d tell you everything if I could.”

“Aren’t you a billionaire? Ruler of the universe and all that? Can’t you do anything you want?”

“It’s not that simple,” he said through clenched teeth. “There’s danger involved.”

“What danger?”

He didn’t answer. She flashed on the Japanese badass in hale twelve, the one who had said he worked for Lincoln Kerr. “Are you talking about the Japanese security guy?”

Again, no answer.

“Jim—uh, I mean Lincoln—at a certain point it’s more dangerous for me not to know what’s going on. When Mia went missing, for a moment I thought⁠—”

He swung his head toward her. “You thought what?”

“That it had something to do with you, and the mysterious people chasing after you, people who know who I am and where I live.”

“Fuck.” He stared at her while the Mercedes veered to the right.

She reached over and grabbed the steering wheel. “Careful!”

Turning his attention back to the road, his jaw clenched hard. “Fuck,” he repeated.

She saw that the possibility of Mia’s disappearance being connected to him really shook him up. That made her heart soften toward him. He cared about her siblings, and that went a long way.

“Look, it’s very unlikely to be that. Mia has always wanted to surf a storm surge, and I always said no. She’s been acting out lately so this is probably more of the same. We’re almost to Banyans now so let’s just focus on finding Mia.”

He gave a tight nod and focused all his attention on the turnoff she directed him towards. But they got no further than a few blocks before a police barricade stopped them. An officer waved them down.

“Beaches are closed,” he told them after Lincoln rolled down the window. Zara could practically hear the “dumbasses” that came silently after that.

Zara leaned across Lincoln to flash her most endearing smile. “Hello, Officer, thanks for working out in the storm like this. We’re looking for my little sister, we think she might have gone down to check out the surge.”

His expression changed to something more grave. “You better hope not. We don’t have the manpower to chase after anyone foolish enough to surf in these conditions. Our search and rescue teams are overloaded as it is.”

Her stomach clenched. He was right. If Mia had gone out on the water and gotten into trouble, there might not be help available.

Images of Mia tumbling off her board, getting knocked unconscious, or swept away by currents raced through her mind. Her mouth went dry and all of a sudden she couldn't get a word out. She tried, but managed nothing but a wheeze. Blood pounded in her ears. She readied herself to bolt out of the Mercedes and run to the beach if the officer wouldn’t let them through.

As if from a million miles away, she saw Lincoln hand something to the officer. He said a few words in a low voice, something Zara couldn’t hear through the drumbeat of her fear. Whatever he said did the job, and the officer moved the barricade just enough so they could nudge their way past.

“What…did…”

“Don’t worry about it.” He grabbed her hand, and she clutched it tight. The warm contact grounded her and she felt her head clear a bit. They drove toward the shore.

Banyans Surf Spot was located along the shoreline below a condo complex that was built around an iconic banyan tree. Usually it was nearly impossible to find a free parking spot at Banyans, but today it was completely empty except for one vehicle. The sight of it made her heart clench. It was the vintage-model Jeep Cherokee that Mia’s friend Dave borrowed from his parents. He was the only one of her friends who had his license.

And it was empty.

She stumbled out of the Mercedes and raced down the beach. All the condos were closed up tight, and the branches of the banyan were swaying and moaning in the wind. The waves were much bigger than normal, A-frames at least fifteen feet high, topped with white curling foam. The surfer in her salivated, despite the driving rain. The sister in her screamed out loud.

“Mia!! Dave!”

She shaded her eyes to keep the rain out of them and stared at the relentless parade of swells barreling toward the beach. She didn’t see any surfers out there, or stray surfboards, for that matter.

Was that good or bad? Had they been swept out to sea? Drowned?

A deep voice called her name. She spun around to see Lincoln striding toward her, his hand on Mia’s shoulder. As soon as their eyes met, Mia ran across the wet sand toward her. She flung herself into Zara’s arms and sobbed.