Cliffhanger (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book One)

Chapter 15

Bennett took Belinda to the Ocean Walk the next afternoon. He reasoned that she could use some fresh salt air after inhaling smoke from a fire, but he acted suspiciously and Belinda figured something more was at work than her oxygen supply. She forced a smile and tugged playfully at the edge of his newsboy cap. Then her lips curled down.

"I forgot," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm still mad at you."

"I'll take it, considering you're still alive."

Belinda's joy evaporated thinking about that. "Poor Mr. Trebor. Do you know what happened?"

Bennett summarized what he'd seen, skipping how he died. As he spoke, his whole countenance turned down. "I know Jonas won't overlook anything, but I just...I feel responsible."

Belinda wanted to blow away the cloud that screened his expression. "Why? You have nothing to do with this."

"I drew attention to the footage on his cameras."

"The police would have checked that out anyway."

"I know, but...maybe I got him thinking."

"Whoever killed him wouldn't have known about all that."

"Necessarily."

Belinda frowned, skipping down a set of stairs to the path, squishing to the right to let some oncoming foot traffic pass. Bennett strolled behind her, trying to keep his eyes on the back of her head and not on other pieces of her anatomy that popped out at him with every step. 

"Guess where my favorite place is," Belinda said, hoping to distract him.

"The gelato place in town?"

Belinda wrinkled her nose. "You're just being cheeky."

Bennett lifted his brows, his eyes flicking down her back.

"It's coming up. Don't fall asleep back there."

The Walk spread out and opened up into a half-moon lookout. The cliffs jutted out, offering a clear view of the Atlantic. Belinda jogged to the lookout, leaning her palms on the stone wall guarding it and waved for Bennett to hurry up. "Look at that," she said. "Now that is the crown jewel of Portside."

Bennett caught up to her, shading his eyes to see what the jogging was for. The emerald green water rippled out toward the horizon.

"Doesn't the water just look like it stretches out forever without any land blocking its path?" Belinda stood on her toes, though she didn't need to. "When I stand here, I understand why people took to the sea to explore it. Even knowing good and well what's out there, I still want to jump on a boat and see for myself." Her eyes grew romantic and misty.

Bennett admired the view, but he admired Belinda admiring the view more. She grabbed his forearm, dragging him to another entrance and down a set of stairs to the bottom of the cliff where the waves steamrolled over the rocks, frothing at the edges. What had been a din became a roar at the bottom of the stairs. Belinda clasped her hands behind her back, looking out at the endless water, more melancholy than she'd been minutes earlier. "The police just think Kyle ran, don't they? That he's guilty and he took his opportunity and ran." Her face tightened as she struggled to keep the tears in.

With the chaos and her fear, Bennett felt bad telling her, but she had a right to know. "He took out a large sum of money the other day, and leaving his phone and car behind would just make good sense."

"But why leave it near the museum?"

Bennett kept his gaze on the water below. "Maybe he just wanted to make sure you were safe first."