Chapter 12
Twelve
The docks were strangely empty when Angie got into work.
The caution tape still hung between the wooden beams of the railing.
Except for the two police officers who were searching the area where she found Luke two days ago.
Her heart dropped when she thought of him, plunging further as she dreaded and anticipated what Kaden would have to say.
She yawned; the three extra shifts she picked up the past week were catching up to her. Her body ached for a restful night, and she rubbed her eyes.
Come to think of it, exhaustion was her default state since she came back from college.
She unfolded her to-do list for the day, which had been folded into a nice square in her pocket: Check and record inventory in the warehouse, boathouse, and supply rooms. Then sweep the walkways, gangways, and ship loading and unloading areas for debris and trash.
Essentially, her work area today was the entirety of the docks. Her mind fogged, dreading the day ahead. No wonder she was exhausted.
A woman brushed past her speed-walking, turning Angie’s attention from her piece of paper. The woman’s dark ringlets were piled in a high ponytail on her head, bouncing with each step.
It was Eva, a woman who had been working at the docks for nearly two decades. “You going to the meeting? The boss and Nick are waiting for us!”
She hadn’t heard about any meeting, and she wrinkled her nose. “What meeting?”
“You didn’t get the memo this morning? Said it was urgent. C’mon. Boss’ daughter can’t be late.”
“Clearly, the boss’ daughter didn’t get that email.”
Eva snorted with a half-smile, and Angie followed her to an empty outhouse at the dock’s far corner, by the water’s edge. “Had no time to check it.”
“I know. Can barely scrape up enough energy to have dinner with my daughter. I want this shit to be over already,” Eva grumbled. “I’d hate to see how much worse it’ll get.”
“You and me both,” Angie muttered. “How’s Celia doing?”
“I’ll show you.” Eva flashed her a toothy grin and pulled out her phone.
It was a photo of mother and daughter standing in knee-deep crystal-clear water on a white sand beach, arms wrapped around each other with broad, mirthful smiles.
The sunlight in the photo winked off Celia’s nose ring, creating a ball of light on her cheek.
“We went to Cabo when she graduated high school last year. Get away from the cold a bit, you know?”
“You two are beautiful!” Angie exclaimed. Eva’s happiness rubbed off on Angie, and she was glad to talk about something else other than the mer, for however brief a time. “Is she in college now?”
“No, she decided against college. She’s working for Creston General Hospital as an inpatient medical assistant.
Comes here every weekend to scuba dive.” Eva ran her thumb over her phone screen as if caressing her daughter’s cheek.
“Feels like yesterday I brought her home from the orphanage. How time flies.” She put her phone back into her jeans pocket, her next words spoken under her breath, but still clear enough for Angie to overhear. “If only Adrianna could see us now.”
Angie laid a hand on Eva’s forearm. She remembered her story, what felt like a long, long time ago. How Eva’s wife, Adrianna, had left her because Eva wanted kids, and she didn’t.
Eva cleared her throat. “Anyway, you should come by for dinner sometime so I can re-introduce you ladies.” Her smile vanished. “If we have enough food for more than our family, by then.”
“You’re feeling the fish shortage, too?” Angie couldn’t hide her surprise. Eva and Celia lived one hour southeast of the docks, where there was adequate farmland.
“Yup,” Eva’s voice pitch dropped, her shoulders following.
“Since we don’t have fish, we’ve been going through our crops faster than we can grow them.
We also went to the Lums’, but we haven’t had much luck.
Seemed like once the new stock came in last week, the downtowners and rich folks snatched it all up.
Doesn’t leave much for the rest of us.” Grim creases lined Eva’s eyes as she pushed the creaky wooden door open.
The room filled with the susurrations of a hundred dock workers, boaters and divers, gawking and pointing in front of them.
What interested Angie was a small group of divers gathered around a long rectangular table, and she sidled her way in. The smell of warm saltwater, pungent fish, and metallic blood filled her nostrils. She gagged at the fetid stench.
Three mer lay side by side, like fish being organized after a catch. Two mermaids, one smaller than the other, and one merman, dead by spearfishing. Angie scanned them, their tails an equal shade of brilliant, eye-catching viridian.
A family.
Angie held her breath until she grew dizzy, her clasped fingers tightening and draining the blood from her knuckles. She stepped closer, looking for markings on their bodies. There were none.
The door behind her flung open, and she jumped back. Nick and Bàba strode in with two senior dock workers in tow. Not a semblance of a smile to be found on their stoic faces. None of them looked at her when they walked past, and Angie fell into formation with the others.
Starting the meeting, Bàba produced a folded piece of paper from his pocket. First, updates to dock’s buildings and fortifying the shorelines with traps in case any wayward mer happened to wander too close. Then, he warned everyone not to approach the shoreline alone, even if armed.
Angie leaned in to murmur in Eva’s ear. “If I were still in Washington, the mer would be all over social media. And that video would have gone viral.”
Eva gave a dry laugh. “You know how us Crestoners are. We like our privacy.”
She nodded, knowing all too well. Privacy was one of the reasons their mayor turned down any request to implement a wireless network, and only a single cell tower served part of the docks and downtown for Crestoners to keep in touch with each other, and the outside world.
“I downloaded some of those apps in college, but I didn’t see the big deal.
And I couldn’t keep up with everyone, so I deleted them a week later. ”
“I never encouraged Celia to use it. I’m actually surprised she hasn’t asked about it like all my friends’ kids have. I mean, we got along just fine without it, growing up.”
Creston was an insular community, and it seemed little had changed since Angie had been gone.
Bàba reached for the water flask around his waist, drawing Angie’s attention back to him.
“I’m sure some of you have heard that other docks are also experiencing a massive fish shortage.
The Coast Guard has been deployed to investigate.
” He sipped. “In terms of us, the Creston council and mayor is assisting us with funds and recruitment.”
Then Nick jumped in, and Angie would have sworn Bàba shot a glare at him for interrupting. “Yes, Dad, thank you. They can kill them or take them alive.”
“Why would anyone want to keep them alive? As a pet? Like we’d want to stare at those things all day. Well, maybe the females,” a male dock worker retorted from beside Angie, cackling after his last sentence.
Angie flinched at the thought of them imprisoned and made to suffer for human satisfaction. Still, she held her tongue.
“Do what you want. For all I care, they’re just a bunch of good-for-nothing fish.” Nick’s voice grew louder, carrying through the entire room. “We will not stand by and let them starve us out, run us into destitution, kill us slowly!”
Gross. Nick was even more sadistic than Angie thought.
His confident proclamation ignited something in the workers, riling them.
The dissonance of their blended words crashed into Angie’s ears like old family gatherings, where her parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents tried to one-up each other by who could talk the loudest.
“Yes!” Another female dock worker exclaimed, throwing up her hands. “Where else are we going to get food? The grocery prices are insane now!”
“I’m killing more farm animals than I can raise so my family can have enough to eat!” Another worker’s strident voice pierced the room, and Angie startled.
“Not to mention, those fishes’ natural predators will also die out. And the fisheries will go out of business,” another chimed in. The room erupted into outrage, and Angie shrunk back, mind racing with endless convoluted thoughts. She wanted to counter them, but couldn’t find the words.
“They killed the mayor’s son! And the whole crew of the Odyssey and some of Castaway!” another worker chimed in. “My friends were on that ship.”
The rabble wasn’t dying down, and finally, Bàba’s voice boomed over the rest. “Enough! And Nick, you’ve made your point.
” He held up both hands, shaking his head in disdain.
Nick’s mouth snapped shut, darting a furtive glance at Bàba.
He appeared ashamed, if the man was capable of such a feeling.
“Settle down, everyone. We will ration out what fish stocks we have left.” Another angered glance in Nick’s direction, and Nick shrunk back an inch.
Angie itched to speak, but she wanted to wait until Bàba finished.
“Yes, the mer have committed some unforgivable acts. We cannot let that slide. But, do not make any rash decisions without me.” Bàba took a deep breath.
“In other news, as I said earlier, other ports are starting to feel the effects of sea life shortage, too. Namely, Anchorage, Ketchikan, Kodiak, and Kenai. The currents have also become rougher lately, and we must decrease the number of fishing boats we send out.”
“Right, because a lot are going out right now,” Eva grumbled from beside her, arms folded tight across her chest. “We barely have enough to eat as it is.”
“I know,” Angie said, voice soft, thinking.