Chapter 51 The Thief
602words
That was what Mom, Lachlan, and Harris believed had happened when they abandoned the boat to look for me.
Before everything went down, I'd have laughed at how ridiculous that sounded. Now, I was suspicious of which mermaid was responsible.
Or well, merman.
My bets were on Hector since Kayn was with me the whole time. Unless he somehow managed to grab the footage when he left me a few minutes on the beach to get Mom.
It was a devastating blow to her. "I can't believe, after all that—the damage the cabin cruiser sustained. Lost equipment. I almost lost my daughter!" Mom flung her arms in the air before she slugged into a chair. "I can't believe our luck."
"At least we're all still alive?" I felt all kinds of bad for Mom. This meant everything to her, and I didn't even want to think how much money's worth of equipment she had lost. Those things did not come cheap.
Dad, who rushed home when Mom informed him of what had happened, rested a hand on her shoulder. "Carly's right, dear. It could have been a lot worse. I can't imagine losing either of you."
Mom released a deep sigh. "I know. You're both right."
It was past seven in the morning, the sun, a golden spotlight rudely intruding the kitchen. I had moved my chair to a corner where there wasn't any scorching light, and I ended up neglecting my bowl of cheerios.
None of us had slept since yesterday, and it was showing.
However, sleep was the last thing on my mind, even if I was beyond exhausted.
"But you got to see a Kraken, love," Dad exclaimed with excitement, resulting in Mom smiling. He always had a way to bring out the best in a situation.
"Yeah, we did," Mom grinned. "It's a pity Carly doesn't remember anything."
My eyes flicked down toward my bowl of a goopy mess, pretending to find it interesting all of a sudden.
"I still think we should take her to the hospital, you know, to check if she got any damage. Something went wrong if she can't remember a thing," Mom said.
"Mom, I'm feeling fine, I promise."
"Your mother is right, Carly. It's better if we have you checked out by a professional. Not by some fish-camper junkie."
My brows shot up. "A what?"
"I don't trust that man," Dad spoke. "Hector is up to something. It wouldn't surprise me if he took the footage."
I held in my breath. "Dad, I know he's not the friendliest person, but don't you think he's a bit old to climb the cruiser and remove everything in that short amount of time?"
Dad thought for a moment. "Anything is possible. Isn't that right, Sarah?"
"I told you it was the mermaids." Mom sounded confident. "It's the only reasonable explanation as to what happened. They don't want us to know they exist. They would do anything to stop us from finding them. Carly is right. Hector has nothing to do with it. Crazy old grump or not."
I bit down onto my bottom lip, hiding a smile. If only she knew they were the same thing, and chances were, it was him who took it.
"Regardless of who took it, we should go to the hospital," Dad said. "We will finish breakfast and then go. We can stress over the lesser important stuff once we had Carly checked out."
Mom nodded in agreement. "Great idea."
"I really don't—"
"No, buts, you're going, and that's final," Dad's voice was firm.
