Lullaby (Watersong Series #2)

THIRTEEN - Sanitize

Harper stared at what had become of Bernie’s house and tried not to let it overwhelm her. She put her hand on her hip and took a deep breath.

“It’s really not that bad,” Daniel said from behind her, sensing her unease and trying to calm her. “It’s mostly junk thrown around. We can pick that up, no problem.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” She nodded to convince herself.

Daniel brushed past her, carrying a box of cleaning supplies she’d brought from home. “Do you want to start with the living room, since that looks a bit easier than the kitchen?”

The kitchen wouldn’t have been so bad if the sirens hadn’t emptied the fridge. Apparently there wasn’t much in there, but a jug of milk had been spilled on the floor for nearly a week, along with some fresh veggies that had begun to rot in the heat. “Why don’t you take the living room?” Harper suggested.

“I’ll start with the kitchen.”

“I can help you,” Daniel offered. “I mean, that is why I came out here today.”

“I know.” She smiled at him. “But you’re already helping me enough. I think I can handle scrubbing up some sour milk.”

Harper’s father had gone to see the lawyer yesterday to sign the papers. The lawyer had made a special point of meeting Brian on a Saturday since it was hard for him to get off work during the week. The house wasn’t theirs yet, not officially, but it was only a matter of the papers being processed. So Harper thought she’d get a jump start on cleaning the place. She’d asked Daniel to help her, since she needed a boat to get out to the island and they were working on being friends.

The police had released the crime scene a few days before, but there was still yellow tape stuck to the door and around the trees where they’d found the body. Other than that, the place didn’t look like it had been disturbed much since Harper had seen it last, so she wondered how much digging around the police had even done.

If they did any fingerprinting, Daniel and Alex would have to make up a story. Gemma and Harper had plenty of reasons to have fingerprints there, since they’d both been out to Bernie’s many times.

But Harper wasn’t too worried about that. She, Alex, and Daniel had come up with an alibi for that night, which they’d already told the police: they were arguing with Gemma, and then she ran off with Penn, Lexi, and Thea.

Alex and Daniel could easily come up with logical reasons for being at Bernie’s place. Alex had visited with Gemma once, maybe. And Daniel delivered groceries to Bernie.

Both of those excuses would work, and the police would probably go back to pursuing the three unidentified sets of prints in the cabin. Harper seriously doubted the sirens had ever been fingerprinted.

“So are you moving out here, then?” Daniel asked, drawing Harper from her thoughts as she scrubbed milk off the kitchen tiles.

“What?” She glanced back to see him picking up all of Bernie’s books and putting them on the shelves.

“Now that you own the place, I was wondering if you’re going to move out here,” Daniel said. “Is that what we’re cleaning it up for?”

“No, I’m not moving out here.” She’d gotten the milk off the floor, so she stood up and wrung out her washcloth in the sink.

“Why not?” Daniel asked. “It’s a nice place.”

“No, I know. I just . . .” A strand of hair had come loose from her ponytail, and she tucked it behind her ear. “I’m leaving for college soon. And even if I wasn’t, there’s too many memories here.”