Chapter 12 #2
“No. It’s dissection labs in general.” How was she ever going to tell him it positively disgusted her to watch a mer cut up, people who she loved and respected? “I want to sit for a bit, clear my head.”
“I’ll sit with you.” Leo followed her to a nearby bench. “You’re going to have to get over that soon though. We have six more labs this semester and just for this class.”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Once her bottom met the metal bench, Angie dropped her face in her hands, her breathing raspy. Now that she was outside the lab, the sickening feelings vanished.
Angie had never been so glad to return to her apartment after class, and more fortunately, she didn’t have to go to the aquarium until tomorrow, so she could sit by her lonesome.
If her lonesomeness included a meddling cat that appeared out of nowhere and joined her on the couch beginning to knead her jeans.
Taking another sip of plain, chrysanthemum tea, Angie opened her phone’s notepad again, giving her notes another once over.
The dive shops had gotten back to her, as promised, after calling the divers themselves.
None of the divers had been around the Creston Docks in the days surrounding Serapha’s murder.
But what if they weren’t telling the truth? Why would they confess if they were involved with causing Serapha’s end?
Either way, she had hit a dead end. What was she to do now?
A news article notification popped up on her phone’s home screen.
Research Facility in Anchorage
procures Mermaid for Study
Tiān. So, Dr. Williams wasn’t going to be the only one studying mermaids; Angie thinned her lips.
Clicking on the website, she scrolled through.
They left the research facility anonymous at their request. Further down was a note about mer being shipped to various facilities.
Aquariums, universities, laboratories, and the last making her shiver: other undisclosed locations.
At least five caught, not counting the mermaid and merman Dr. Williams had, all purchased and shipped, their sellers unknown.
Meanwhile, another article spoke of people filming themselves ‘looking for mermaids to sell and making some money’ and posting viral videos on social media.
Dr. Williams obtained the mermaid and merman bonded pair sometime last week. Now with his colleagues at SMOSA and the biology department at Pacific Grove University seeing merfolk for themselves, people would look for mer with ignoble intentions.
Angie forced herself to stop doom scrolling for the sake of her own mental health and she shut her phone off.
Sunday came and Angie slipped into her deep blue Nissan Sentra and slammed the door shut, inputting GPS directions to the aquarium, and secured her cell into her dashboard phone mount.
It was noon, so in Creston, it was eleven a.m.
Gray skies loomed overhead, clouds swollen with the threat of impending rain.
If she could be inside the aquarium before the rain started, that would have been perfect.
Bàba would be finishing up work at the docks for his morning half-day and last she talked to Mia, she was taking the kids out with Nick’s family.
Angie started up the car and put Bàba on a video call. She would call Mia after she left the aquarium.
His face came on her phone as Angie pulled out of her apartment’s parking garage. A quick glance to her phone screen showed Bàba to be in his office at the docks.
“Beibei? Are you driving?”
Oops. Maybe a voice call would have been better.
“Yes—”
“I asked you not to call me when you’re driving! You could get into an accident if you’re not paying full attention to the road. What have I taught you?” His tone was chastising, and inadvertently, Angie’s shoulders tensed.
“I’ll be fine. Promise. I’m driving to the aquarium. I’m familiar with the route.” She kept her eyes on the road, and out of the corner of her eye, came a flicker of movement from Bàba. Her shoulders relaxed.
He sighed. “Fine. But next time, please, call me when you’re not driving.”
“Okay, sure.” She had told him multiple times that driving was the best time for her to call, when she wasn’t caught up with work, studying, cooking, cleaning, and caring for Lulu.
Throwing in her concerns with Kaden and the queendom and looking for Serapha’s killers, and she was lucky she found enough time to even take a moment to herself.
He hadn’t wanted to hear it, but she called him when she was driving anyway. Usually a voice call. But today, she missed him and wanted to see his face, even if it was only out of the corner of her eye.
And each time, he picked up and stayed on the phone, always opening with the same speech he had given her. She filled him in on the merman they dissected and the mermaid he and his colleagues were following.
He sucked in a gasp. “I–I don’t know what to say. Our truce is broken and now your professor has captured one and is cutting another up? These SMOSA people. I don’t know if the mer could ever find out, but this could worsen things between us and them.”
“He said he wants to use the knowledge to teach people about conservation,” Angie replied. Bàba harrumphed but said nothing else. “How are things going at the docks?”
“Quiet.” The sound of papers rustling came through her phone. “There were mer still coming up around the surface every now and then. They seemed young, but since the news of the queen’s death, we haven’t seen them. Wait a minute.”
His voice drifted into the distance as he called out an answer to someone’s question.
Angie made a right turn, driving down the road that would take her straight to the aquarium.
The Space Needle, Seattle’s icon, appeared in her rearview mirror, tall and majestic.
She kept driving, passing a bustling outdoor market and a street of boutique books and clothing stores, and small eateries.
Bàba continued. “I’m investigating some divers who went missing from the next town over. Their local authorities are expanding the search area up to Creston.”
Her next breath caught in her throat, her heart feeling as if it seized in her chest.
It was only a matter of time and the time was now.
A single possibility flickered through her mind.
Mer.