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My reverie brokethe moment Alyssa let loose a string of swear words, slamming her hands down flat on either side of the computer terminal. I rushed to her shoulder, scanning the screen to find out what had made her qualify for a position as a sailor.
“Shit,” I echoed.
The feed was static. As in, old-fashioned analog TV static. The last time I visited my grandfather before he died I was six, and I still remembered him battling with the funny antennas on top of the fat little television set. I whined for five minutes straight, hands thrown over my ears in protest of the awful shushing sound that accompanied the fuzzy black-and-white undulating screen.
How was this even possible? “Why isn’t it working?” I asked.
“The system claims that it is working,” she said, typing at the keyboard again with a furrowed brow. “The other cameras are fine. This one was fine too up until around eleven p.m., when it did this.”
I swallowed, a cold feeling sliding down my back. This was an awfully inconvenient coincidence. “When does it start working again?” I asked.
“Around 2:00 a.m.,” Alyssa said.
“I’m guessing Mrs. Lakewood died between the hours of eleven and two last night,” I said.
Alyssa scowled like she’d just eaten a bad Coney dog. “Maybe not. We can’t assume…”
“Computer,” I said, rolling up a chair, not confident my knees would hold me up much longer. “Give us a timetable for Mrs. Lakewood’s spa appointment last night.”
“11:30 p.m.,” the computer chirped. “Mrs. Lakewood called in her appointment at 11:08 and arrived at the spa at 11:32 last evening.”
Alyssa put her face down on the center of the keyboard and whimpered.
“I remember seeing her last night,” I said, realizing she’d been half of the couple swing dancing when Mason had asked me to join him on the floor. “She might have strained herself doing some of those fancy moves on the dance floor and gone for a massage or something.”
“I remember her talking about how much she loved dancing. And I think she’d been dating Carl.” Alyssa raised her head a few inches, tears filling her eyes.
“Carl?”
“Carl van Morris. He works in Life Systems. Making it not only livable but comfortable down here at this depth was maybe the trickiest part of this whole endeavor.”
I nodded, remembering the older man happily twirling Marcy around last night. My stomach churned. “We should tell Mrs. Bennet about their relationship. He’ll need to be told too.”
“Told what?”
I spun at the sound of Mason’s voice. Seeing him there opened a hole in my chest I hadn’t realized existed until that moment. With all that had happened, his betrayal felt like a minor detail, but not anymore. He wore a white polo and light khaki shorts, and his tawny skin practically glowed against it. His hair was still damp and mussed. He was a gorgeous asshole, and I hated that my body instantly responded to his presence like a hormonal teenager.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, and he stepped back.
“Looking for you. You left last night without saying goodbye. You didn’t even leave me a glass slipper, so it’s a good thing I already know how to track you down.” He grinned wide, expecting me to jump in his arms, I supposed.
“Let’s get something straight right now,” I said. “I am not looking for a handsome prince or a knight in shining armor.”
“Sorry,” he said, face falling. “I didn’t mean it like that. I knew you were starting your job today, and since it’s almost lunchtime I thought…”
Looking directly at his electric-blue eyes was like staring at an eclipse. Dangerous.
“I have a lot of work to do,” I said, glancing at Alyssa in the hopes she’d back me up. But she remained completely distracted, studying something on the computer.
“I believe you still owe me a date. And you have to eat,” Mason pressed.
“What are you even doing down here? You aren’t an engineer.”
“I have access everywhere. Are you going to snap my head off, or are you going to come with me? I have a picnic all set near the fountain. Your brother said you like sushi.”
Jackson the traitor. He probably figured if I got with Mason, Tasha would be all his.
