"Treasure Series" Book 1: CURSE [[CURRENTLY EDITING]]

Chapter 39: Sam - When Speculating Doesn't Work, Go Straight To Sleuthing

As soon as I received Astrid's text, I made a puny excuse in front of my dad to go hang out with some friends. My adopted dad, that is. Being the busy and neglectful father he was, he dismissed it as okay without even considering otherwise and then went back to his nightly-goings as mayor. Though Kate put up quite a fit for some reason.

She started flinging out accusations that I was up to no good and that if I didn't tell her exactly where I was going, she would bring it up to Dad. I was seething with anger as I quipped, "Well, what about the things you do when Dad thinks you're doing other things? Hmm? Come, on Kate. We both know that you've done a lot of sketchy things yourself, so don't throw me under the bus when I do things that upset you."

That shut her up. I smirked deviously, knowing that I had won, and then closed the door behind me as I exited the mansion. The walk to Tanner's was fairly short, so I arrived at his house in no time. Surprisingly, Tanner was sitting on the porch when I reached his house. I tilted my head in confusion as I walked along the sidewalk leading to the veranda.

"You okay?" I asked, taking up a seat beside him. The brick I was sitting on was cold to the touch in the night air. It didn't bother me, though.

"I'm okay. Just anxious is all," he revealed, his voice distant and oddly insipid. For some reason, he wasn't himself tonight. He appeared stiff. Twitchy, almost. I couldn't quite figure out why just by looking at him, but I didn't want to push it. If Tanner wasn't his usual happy-go-lucky self, then something was wrong. Prying would only make it worse.

"You sure you're okay?" I asked, offering a gateway for him to explain his emotions. But I had a feeling he wouldn't take it.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he replied, smiling at me. His smile wasn't genuine, though. It stretched out too far in such a way that couldn't be normal and the rest of his body went rigid for unknown reasons. I patted him on the knee and then beckoned him inside, explaining that we could wait for Astrid and Gwen there. He nodded without making eye contact and then hoisted himself up off of the ground. He followed me inside. The way he slammed the door shut behind him showed me how forlorn he was.

* * *

Gwen arrived first and she was just a more jittery version of Tanner. I knew that couldn't be a coincidence, so my gut went right to thinking that something had happened between them. It looked as if there was always something going on between them these days, didn't it?

Minutes later, Astrid arrived. She was frantic and looked like she was about to detonate.

"You okay?" Astrid noticed me in the room just feet away from the doorway as soon as I asked the question. She was carrying her phone in her hand and the bun atop her head was messy and half of the hair had fallen out. The golden, platinum hair that shone in the light. The hair that I had used to comb my fingers through. I shook the dirty thoughts out of my mind as she walked into the dining room. I motioned for her to follow me and we arrived in the living room just in time to break the awkward silence forming between Gwen and Tanner. Things were obviously unresolved between them.

Astrid and I sat on soft, beige sofas that were adjacent from each other, and Gwen and Tanner lounged on the couch across from us, their posture stiff and awkward.

"Well, why don't we get started," I prompted. Gwen and Tanner looked up and Astrid turned on her phone with one click of her thumb on the home button. A lamp stood next to her and watery light splashed across her face, the contours peeking out. Astrid was looking so intently at whatever was on the phone that she didn't notice as the rest of us exchanged doubtful glances with each other. Just as Tanner opened his mouth to speak, Astrid turned the phone around for the rest of us to see.