Page 33

Twenty-Five

Benny

Present Day

Benny’s heart thudded in her chest. Her stomach tensed and she almost knew what was happening before she even said it aloud. Be careful who you trust . She wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. The first time she put her faith in someone else, they double-cross her. How did she not see this coming? “You tricked me,” she realized.

Ryan’s smile was eerie in the low light, the friendly smile she remembered nowhere in sight. “Took you long enough to realize it.”

“Trick? What trick?” Zara asked, clearly not part of whatever Ryan was up to. “What is wrong with you, Ryan? Give us back our flashlights and let’s find the island together.”

Ryan ignored her and stared at Benny. “Thanks for finding the entrance for me.” His voice was eerily calm and he didn’t sound like himself. “The fact that it’s downstairs at one of my dad’s restaurants feels like fate.”

Benny didn’t understand how this had happened. “What do you want with the island?”

“You’re smart, Benny. Don’t make me spell it out for you. I’m sure you know what we want,” Ryan snapped.

“ We? The treasure,” Benny said.

Ryan clapped mockingly. “See! I knew you were smart. Why else would I make sure my dad’s restaurant was closed tonight unless I wanted to make sure whatever you found wasn’t found by anyone else?”

“You flooded the restaurant,” Benny realized. What a fool she’d been. She slipped the compass back in her pocket, hoping he hadn’t seen it.

Ryan’s face was hard to read. “Turns out sodium metal works well with pipes too.”

“What is wrong with you?” Zara asked.

Benny studied him closely. Ryan’s shoulders were tense; his expression was pained; he was even talking funny—all serious and angry. This wasn’t the Ryan she’d come to know. Something changed. “Why do you want the treasure? Is your dad okay? Or is this about your sister?”

Ryan gave a disgruntled laugh. “You mean my half-sister? Who lives with my ex-stepmom? And I never get to see either of them.” Pain flickered across his face. “All I have left is my dad and—” He cut himself off. “I need to do what I can to make things right between him and Vivian Rudd and finding that treasure is it.”

“She’s an investor in his restaurants?” Benny assumed.

“Something like that,” Ryan said coolly.

“And your dad is in financial trouble.” Benny had to keep him talking.

“Big trouble,” Ryan confirmed. “My dad is in so deep, I heard him tell our lawyer he might have to take out a second mortgage on our house! On our house , Benny.” He freaked out. “He sold both boats. He canceled our summer vacation. He has to pay child support for my sister and alimony for my ex-stepmom.” His eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not losing my house because he is on this mission to prove—” He stopped himself. “He’s the one who foolishly invested in too many restaurants that aren’t working. I’m not losing the life we’ve built because of it.”

Benny could almost understand his twisted logic. Ryan wanted to feel safe and secure, just like she did, but the treasure was messing with his head. Just like it had Axel’s. The irony was eerie. “I understand where you’re coming from.”

“You do?” Zara and Ryan said at the same time.

“I do,” Benny told Ryan, trying to remain calm. “I know what it’s like to worry about money. About a house. How it feels to try to fix thing for your parents, but Ryan, this isn’t the answer. If I win the game, I’ll have the money to help you. And I will.”

Ryan’s face twisted miserably. “I don’t want your handouts! I want my life to stay the way it is, and if I get the treasure, it can. He’ll be so proud of me for fixing things with the Rudds,” he said wistfully. “Then he won’t need to keep investing in failing restaurants, or tell me there is no time for me to visit my little sister, or sit on the stupid Terry estate board of trustees—which doesn’t pay a dime, by the way. We will get to keep the life we’re accustomed to, and he’ll owe it all to me.”

“Ryan, you tool,” Zara started shouting. “This isn’t about some stupid treasure! There are people trapped on that island. People ! And they’ve been there for two hundred years! My ancestor is one of them.”

“What are you talking about?” Ryan demanded. “The last page I read of the journal said Evelyn gave Aggy a coin and it didn’t work.”

“There’s more. The last pages of the journal were down here,” Benny explained, pulling them out of a pocket. “Evelyn wrote that once her friends took the coins on the island, the island disappeared with them on it. We think that means they’re still there. Trapped.” Ryan just looked at her. “We think they’re probably alive. Immortal. Like Kimble. And the whole reason Evelyn created this game for me was so that I’d save them.”

“Even if Evelyn wrote that, you don’t know that anyone is on that island,” Ryan said, sounding more hesitant. “If the island disappeared, maybe they did too. Like Kimble. If he’s alive, where is he, huh?” He shook his head. “No. The only thing I care about on that island is the treasure. That’s what I need, and I’m going to get it.”

“Ryan, listen to me,” Benny tried again. She was so mad at herself for letting him into her world, but she couldn’t focus on that now. She had to make him see reason. “It’s not that simple. If you take that treasure, you’ll be cursed, like it is.”

“I’ll worry about that later,” Ryan roared, trying to push past her.

Benny and Zara blocked him.

“No!” Zara yelled pushing him back. “I’m not going to let you trap these people there another two hundred years by pissing off some supernatural island and taking its treasure chest.”

Was that what would happen if Ryan ran off with the treasure? Or would he just be cursing himself? Truthfully, Benny didn’t know enough about the treasure or any of this to know for sure. But Ryan wasn’t thinking straight. “This treasure has to be returned to wherever it came from. But first we have to save Evelyn’s friends. You’re right—we don’t know for certain they’re there or they’re alive, but Evelyn thinks they are, and I have to believe they are too. Don’t doom them to stay trapped there. Read the last pages of Evelyn’s journal.” Benny held out the last pages.

“Please, Ryan,” Zara now begged too. “We have to help them. Forget the treasure.”

“Taking the treasure only leads to doom,” Benny added. “The only chance we have to fix what happened is to rescue Evelyn’s friends now, during the Blood Orange Moon. I don’t know how long the tunnel will stay open.”

Ryan stared at the pages a moment and stepped away. “I don’t have to read them. I don’t care what those pages say. I’m sorry. I need that treasure.” He swayed slightly. “It’s hot down here, isn’t it?”

“Actually, it’s much cooler,” Zara noted.

“No, it’s hot and I’m feeling faint,” Ryan said, stepping back. “I—”

Benny heard a loud noise and then the sound of debris falling, water rushing into the hole and raining down on them. Benny and Zara clung to one another, trying to shield their heads. Something crashed through the floor above and a piece of ceiling landed on Ryan, who went down hard. Benny looked up in wonder. It was a man. He jumped up and dusted himself off, shaking Sheetrock out of his wet hair.

Benny inhaled in shock. It was Ansel.

He looked from Ryan on the floor to Benny and Zara, and groaned. “Kids. Great. Why is it that there are always kids in my way?”