It feels like the walls are closing in on us. On the cliffside. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say over the buzzing of panic in my ears. “Don’t call back.”

I hang up on him.

It feels very final, even if I’m just tapping a screen.

If no one has anything to say about Emily at the courthouse, this will all pass by quickly. Right? Emily Rochester and Mateo Garza will be a local news story that everyone has forgotten by next week. Except that this guy worked for the Maine Investigator, a larger paper than the one here in Eben Cape. This could be bigger than I feared.

No. No, I’m sure it will blow over. Emily’s finished testifying. She’s with her daughter. And she lives so close. Close enough for us to keep an eye on her.

My heart keeps racing anyway.

Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Mateo Garza

It’s funny how life keeps circling back to the same things. The same people. I left Eben Cape for Los Angeles, and I still ended up with Beau Rochester as a best friend. Now we’re both in Eben Cape again. Beau lives next to the house he grew up in, and I have a small beach house I rented. I think he spends more time talking to Emily Rochester now than he did in school, and that’s saying something. Same places. Same people. We both have our own money now, Beau and I, and here we are on a fishing boat.

The boat is an upgrade from the speedboats we used to take out on the water when we were younger. This one has an interior. It has an enclosed wheelhouse so you don’t have to feel even a drop of the ocean while you steer. It looks over the bow of the boat, where we are. A couple of rich jackasses who have lost their touch.

“You should find another hobby,” I tell Beau. “You’re absolutely terrible at this.”

He glares at me from his position at the railing. “Compared to what? You don’t have a line in the water.”

“It’s too much fun to watch you.” Beau used to attract catches like he was a fish magnet. Today, not a single bite. “You’ve forgotten all your skills.”

He holds up his pole. “This is a fishing pole, Mateo. You hold it in your hands. Is that beyond you?”

“Yes,” I tease. “I usually hire someone to fish for me while I watch. You’re doing a great job, by the way. You’re going to get a huge tip when this is over.”