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I checked my watch. The island’s thirteen temples all held services at nine a.m. on Sundays, and it was half past eight. Where was Ben? I had stood just outside the Bakewells’ property for fifteen minutes already, wanting to get a jump on things.
Had he chickened out or set me up to get me into trouble?
The sound of the front door opening made me flinch, and I peered a little further around the tree.
George, with his arm around Michaela’s shoulders, led her toward the car. Morty followed them, dropping the house keys into his jacket pocket.
Once the sound of the car engine had disappeared into the distance, I stepped up to the fence and looked around. Still nothing.
Either Ben had overslept or this was a trap. The urge to turn around and go home was strong, but the compulsion to look for answers just about outweighed it.
Movement across the backyard caught my eye. Ben, dressed in a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, hopped the fence and waded through the grass to the back door.
I rolled my eyes and clambered over the fence to join him.
“Any reason you’re late?” I asked as he rummaged through a weedy flowerbed.
“Overslept.”
“And you were just going to go in there without me?”
“Didn’t want to waste any time.”
“Saving time is a lot easier when you set an alarm.”
Ben glowered at me over his shoulder before returning to his rummaging.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“Back door key Tyler hid out here,” Ben said. “So he could sneak in after a rager.”
I peered over Ben’s head at the tangle of weeds.
How in the hell could anyone find a key in that mess sober, let alone after a night out partying?
Suppressing the urge to snipe at him, I squatted down next to Ben and helped search.
“Are you all right? After the other day, I mean.” He didn’t look at me while he asked.
“Why do you care?” I asked.
“I’m trying to talk my uncle out of pressing charges against Keith Arrowood,” Ben said. “If I can talk up your injury a bit, I might stand a chance.”
Well, in that case…
“I got burned with a fire wand pretty bad,” I said. “But I’m not pressing charges. You can tell him I’m the bigger person, if you like.”
Ben wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving a slight trail of dirt above his eyebrows.
“How do you get into so much trouble?” he asked. “First with Adrian, now this?”
“Not to point fingers, but I didn’t start either of those things.” I shrugged.
“Neither did we.” Ben shot me a dark look.
I chewed my lip to stop myself answering. Neither one of us would take responsibility for the things that went down between our families. It was a waste of energy arguing about it.
Time to change the subject.
