Her Greatest Treasure

Chapter 6:

I honestly have no idea where to go from here. I mean, we find a locket... what does that even mean? Could it lead to something?

"Hey, look at this," Christian says as I slip into one of his sweatshirts and a pair of jeans. What? It's cold during dusk in the summer here at Bishops Island.

"What is that?" I ask as he opens the locket to reveal a picture of Doc's Marina. "What does that even mean?"

"I think it's a sign to go look there. Maybe they have our next clue or something."

"No. There's a quote written on the wall at the tackle shop there. It says, It may be hard to find, but the journey continues with a dive.

"So we need to dive off into the harbor. Avalon, we don't have scuba gear; how are we supposed to do that?"

"I know someone with gear. But... we're gonna have to steal it."

"Steal it? Avalon, who has this gear?"

"My boss."

...

We wait until dusk to even attempt to board Mr. Muthers' boat. I clean boats and his equipment here in the shipyard for a living. So yeah, not super glamorous. You would think the job pays well since Mr. Muthers is rich as fuck, but it's actually quite the opposite—I don't get paid shit.

"You got this?" Christian whispers to me with a kiss on my temple.

"I'm fine. I promise."

"I know, but I still worry."

"Don't," I whisper to him as I quickly cup his cheek and kiss him. "Meet me back here in a half hour, okay?"

"Okay."

I squeeze his hand one last time and give him a sad smile before I leave him there standing on the doc.

Alright, go time.

I grab the keys from Mr. Muthers' desk and sneak onto his boat. Oh god. This is a lot to take in. Swiftly, I sneak past the security camera and climb down the stairs to the gear closet.

"Hey!" I hear a voice say from behind me.

Shit.

"Marina, hey there!" I say as cheerfully as possible.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm just... taking the gear out to refill the air in the scuba tanks."

"At night?"

"Yeah, yeah... your Dad asked me to earlier but I never did. I can be such a scatterbrain sometimes. What are you doing here?"

"Sleeping on the boat. Our house's air conditioning broke and it's hot as hell tonight."

"Oh, well. I'll just take this gear and return it to you tomorrow."

"Awesome. Have a good night," she tells me as I grab the gear and start walking in the opposite direction. "Oh, and Avalon?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know what you need our gear for, but as long as you return it with air it'll never get back to my Dad."

"How did you...?"

"I wouldn't bring my boyfriend to my job, and that dude's been watching you from the doc for the last twenty minutes."

Christian. Damn it.

"Good night, Marina."

"You blew my cover!" I growl at Christian when he grabs the gear off my hands.

"Oh? So this is my fault? I was just trying to look after you!"

"I don't need anyone looking after me. You could have gotten me thrown into jail if Marina turned me in for stealing."

"I'm sorry that I just care about you and wanted to make sure you were okay, alright? Oops, my bad on that one!" he yells as he leaves the gear hidden at the doc and we start our trek back to the hotel.

"Maybe last night shouldn't have happened," I say abruptly. "Maybe by doing... whatever this is... it complicated things. We were a better team when feelings weren't involved."

"You don't mean that. No. You use one argument as an excuse to stop what we have!"

"Which is what? A crush?"

"Oh shut up! Do you hear yourself? I get it; you're scared shitless over us, this treasure hunt, losing your father. But wanna know something? I don't have either of my parents, so I get it. You just won't let me in."

"You... your parents...?"

"Dead. I lied and said they were alive because I knew you were going through it with everything about your Dad, so I figured I wouldn't add my trauma to it."

"Then... w-who lives up north?"

"My sister. That's it."

"I'm sorry I said those things. I'm just really overwhelmed."

"You're right, it was shitty, but... hey, that's nothing a few late night snuggles and stolen kisses can't fix. What do you say tomorrow we take a break from this little adventure and go on a date?"

"A date?"

"A date. We can go bike riding around town—"

"With what bikes?"

"We'll figure it out," he tells me with a smirk. "And then we can go out to eat with the last $30 I have to my name."

"Are you serious? What happened to all the money you brought?"

"Hotel. $125 per night."

"Shit. You didn't have to spend it all. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It was for you."

I smile at him as I take his hand in mine. "We can go stay at my house again. We don't need a computer anymore."

"How about my shack? It's... cozier."

"Sounds perfect."