Hook, Line & Sinking (Completed)

42. The Last Meeting

Hi! Can't believe I'm saying this but... This is the final chapter guys. The last one! Woah... can't believe we got there so fast! But then I did manage to keep to my updating schedule perfectly! Two updates on the dot every Wednesday and Friday! So happy about that! ^.^

Hope you enjoy this final bit!

Much love,
Robin

*

The Last Meeting

After a big breakfast and a health checkup courtesy of Matt's mom, we dispersed to our various homes for a change of clothes and a nap. After that, we all reconvened to the Stonefish. Matt had spent some time discussing what had happened with his father, older brother, Noah, and his two navy buddies. That is after he'd gotten over his consternation at finding out that Fletcher was a supernatural creature just like him and a dragon to boot.

Honestly, at this point I was hardly surprised myself, it seemed like these days I was finding a supe under every rock and stone. Sure, a dragon was a bit much, I mean? How did that work? A dragon had so much more mass! Where did it all go when he became human? I'd asked Fletcher and he'd laughed, flexed his massive bicep, and declared, "Right here sweetheart." So, that line of questioning was clearly a bust, Fletcher probably didn't know himself.

I felt bad for Noah, who had to be helped by Thorne into the bar, awkwardly hopping on one leg. He didn't seem to like drawing attention to his injury and got flustered every time someone tried to help him. But he easily took the lead once we'd all settled into the bar, piled into the various booths. Even George was there but he'd tried to take the spot furthest away from everyone, a barstool all by itself, and then was clearly annoyed when Mitch and Dev dragged their own seats over to flank him.

"Okay, here's the deal, we had a party on the island and we haven't seen or heard hide nor hair of the Corenths. Right?" Noah demanded, eyeing the McLaren patriarch once when he realized he might have usurped a position of authority he shouldn't have. Thomas however gave the guy a nod and then settled in next to his wife and curled his arm around her shoulders.

"What about our injuries? How do we explain those?" Orly asked, "Not to mention your busted truck?" But Noah had an answer ready, "We crashed, that's what happened, we stick as close to the truth as we can. We got it towed remember? Mariana and Clara took care of that." The women nodded, "The tow company won't ask questions. I know them." Clara declared this with a confident look.

"That's settled then, isn't it? There's nothing else to say. It's not very likely they'll come round to ask us questions regardless. Their ship is drifting off the coast, empty. The older Corenths are locked up, but I doubt they'll say a single thing." Noah gave a decisive nod at his final words, moved as if he wanted to get up, and then with a defeated sigh sank back down.

"What about Matt and Thorne defusing the bomb?" I asked, I had no idea if they'd been seen or talked to by the coastguard. Thorne made an expansive gesture, "They talked to me, but they never saw Matt." After which Matt leaned into me and loudly whispered, "What he means to say is, he talked to the press and is now a minor celebrity."

That broke some of the serious tension in the room and after some chuckles, people scattered to get a drink and unwind. As it was a Monday evening, the bar was closed so we had the place to ourselves.

I got up and stretched before suggesting to Matt we take a walk along the beach, I wasn't sure I was fit for company yet. I was still struggling to come to terms with what had happened and was considering asking Matt for that number of the therapist he liked after all. Maybe it would be smart to process some of this with the help of a professional.

We had just headed outside, hand-in-hand, when I spotted Jamie getting out of a car in the parking lot. She was with some guy I had never seen before, though he was dressed to the nines, including a glittering and rather ostentatious gold watch on his tanned wrist. They matched so I hoped that meant she was seeing him and done bothering me.