Elegy

THIRTY-ONE Culpable

“It’s a great night for this,” Alex said as he surveyed the beer tent at Bayside Park.

“Yep. Just us two guys and a bunch of drunks.” Daniel took a swig of his beer. “Perfect.”

Just outside the tent, he could hear the sounds of the emcee announcing the Miss Capri Pageant, and the crowd’s applauding and cheering. But in here, it seemed much quieter.

The thick green fabric of the tent kept out the sunlight and the festivities of At Summer’s End. Sure, there were tourists inside, and a few frat boys getting wasted at the other end of the tent, but something about the beer tent gave it an illusion of privacy that Daniel found comforting.

That’s not what Alex meant by a great night, though. The weather was warm, the sky was blue, birds were singing. Even though it was officially September, this was still the perfect summer day.

Alex had come right from his shift at the dock, and he’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt, but he still smelled vaguely of grease and seawater. Still, he seemed happy to be here, and had a boyish grin on his face.

It was that grin that wouldn’t let him pass for twenty-one although he had matured and looked much older than when Daniel had first met him earlier this summer. But the bartender had slapped a bright orange wristband on Alex, meaning that he’d only be served soda in the tent.

That was fine by Daniel. He’d flashed his ID, gotten a cold beer, and sat down at a picnic table in the corner. Alex sat next to him, sipping his Mountain Dew.

“I was kinda surprised when you texted me today,” Alex admitted. “We don’t usually hang out.”

“Well, I’m always borrowing your car, so I figured that we ought to get to know each other,” Daniel said, but that wasn’t the whole reason.

He hadn’t slept much since his fight with Harper last night. After she’d left, he’d kicked a dining-room chair in anger, snapping one of the legs. He spent most of today mending it, but eventually he’d grown tired of sitting in the house and feeling trapped on the island.

He hadn’t even properly celebrated his birthday yet, not that he really deserved to celebrate. Harper was right, and he knew it. He’d blown it with her because he hadn’t thought, and now he didn’t want to think. Not about her. Not about last night.

So he’d asked Alex to join him for a beer. He’d like to believe that it was just because he thought Alex was a nice guy, but the truth was that his life had become so entangled with the Fisher girls that he couldn’t even hang out with someone who wasn’t somehow connected to them.

Gemma had texted him earlier, letting him know that she and Harper had left town to meet Diana in Charleston, so that he wouldn’t worry if he came looking for Harper. But he did still worry.

And maybe that’s why he’d invited Alex out, too. In case something happened to either Harper or Gemma, Daniel wanted to know. Even if Harper never wanted to see him again, he couldn’t go on without knowing she was okay. Without being there to help if she needed him.

“It’ll be good for us to get along,” Alex said. “Since the ladies in our lives are sisters, it’ll be easier if we can all hang out and have some laughs.”

Daniel scratched the back of his head. “I suppose Gemma didn’t get a chance to tell you.”

“What?”

“I’m not sure that Harper is in my life anymore.” He twisted the bottle on the table, staring down at the condensation that dripped down the glass. “We might’ve broken up last night.”

“Really?” Alex sounded surprised. “Did she pull the same crap that Gemma did with me? Like how it’s for your own good?”

“No.” Daniel shook his head. “I did something bad, very, very bad, and she rightfully got pissed off. So…”

“Oh, man. That sucks.”

“It does,” he agreed. “So I got sick of sitting around the house, thinking about what a jackass I am, and I thought, what the hell? Why not see what Alex is up to?”

“Thanks.” Alex smiled.

“So you’re working down at the docks now?” Daniel asked when they lapsed into a silence.

“Yeah.” Alex nodded. “Just until I go to college. I’m trying to enroll for the spring semester. I’m going for astronomy or meteorology. Anything about what happens in the sky, and I’m into it.”

“Yeah? That’s pretty cool,” Daniel said, then he tried to remember if astronomy was studying the stars or horoscopes. If he figured knowing Alex, it probably had to be following stars and comets and not the zodiac.

“What about you?” Alex asked him. “Any college in your future?”

“Nah. I was never that into school. I did okay, but I’d always rather be working with my hands than reading books.” Daniel held his hands out, showing the rough calluses and faded scars from years of fixing anything he found broken. “And I like what I’m doing now.”

He’d worked on some pieces, like the chair he’d broken today and the coffee table in his living room. But he didn’t have as much time as he’d like. He’d been hoping that with the island, he’d be able to really get working on his carpentry projects, but it seemed like the sirens took up any free time he might have.

And then the silence fell over them, growing more awkward the longer they went without saying anything. There was no TV to distract them, and they couldn’t actually see the parade of girls entered in the Miss Capri Pageant.

“Look at you two,” Penn’s silky voice came from behind them. Daniel’s hand tightened on his beer bottle, and he groaned inwardly. “Boys just wanna have fun, huh?”

“We’re just two wild-and-crazy guys,” he said dryly.

He felt her hand on his shoulder, her skin hot through his T-shirt. He leaned away from it, and Penn dropped her hand but sat down next to him anyway.

“What is that?” Penn leaned over Daniel to get a better look at Alex’s glass, and she smirked. “Soda? Oh, Alex, I’ll never understand what Gemma sees in you.”

“And I’m more than okay with that,” Alex said.

Daniel wasn’t completely sure how the sirens’ charms affected Alex. He’d fallen under them before, and Daniel suspected that if Penn really tried, she could hold him captive to her song.

But she didn’t actually seem that interested in him, and Alex held his own pretty well. He wasn’t falling all over himself to please her, and there was a glint of disgust in his eyes whenever he looked at her.

“So what are you doing in here in the tent?” Daniel asked, doing his best not to look over at her. “There’s a Miss Capri Pageant going on out there. Don’t you wanna go trick the judges into giving you a crown?”

“Please.” She sneered. “Getting awarded the prettiest girl in this town is like winning cleanest hog in the pen. You have to hang out with a buncha dirty pigs to prove something that everybody already knows.”

“That’s quite the imagery there, Penn,” Alex said.

“Since we got interrupted last night,” Penn said, dropping her voice to sultry, soft words in his ear, “it seems like you’re free today—”

“Speaking of last night.” Daniel cut her off, clearing his throat. “Where is Liv?”

Penn groaned. She sat with her back against the table, so she was facing in the opposite direction from Daniel and Alex, and her black hair cascaded over the wood. It also made it easier for her to stick her chest out, but Daniel wasn’t about to look over and catch a glimpse.

“She’s on lockdown,” Penn said. “I’m not letting her out of the house until…”

“Until what?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Maybe never again. I’m getting so sick of her attitude.”

He smirked. “I told you.”

“Really, Daniel?” She cast him a look. “I’m already getting enough of that crap from Thea and Gemma. I don’t need it from you, too.”

“That’s him,” Mayor Adam Crawford said, his words booming through the tent. “You, you there.”

Daniel glanced back over his shoulder to see what the mayor was freaking out about. Since it was seventy degrees, he’d ditched the suit jacket, but he still wore the slacks and a dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. His hair was normally slicked back, but a strand had fallen forward, dipping down over his forehead.

With a severe glare, the mayor was pointing directly at Daniel, and his petite blond wife hid behind him, looking sad and shaken. Daniel glanced around to be sure, but it was obvious that Mayor Crawford’s accusation was directed at him.

He marched over to Daniel. An aide tried to stop him, but he just pushed him away. Then the aide gently guided the mayor’s wife out of the tent, apparently not wanting her to witness her husband’s outburst.

The mayor stood directly in front of Daniel, and he turned around on the bench, so he could face him fully.

“You.” Then his eyes bounced over to Alex. “Actually, both of you were there.”

“Where?” Alex asked, baffled about being brought into this. “What are we talking about?”

“During the cook-off on Monday, you had an altercation with my son,” the mayor explained, and Penn snickered from beside Daniel.

“What are you talking about?” Daniel asked. “I didn’t even say anything to Aiden. I was defending his date from Liv.”

The mayor shook his head with a comical ferocity. “No, you got in a fight with my son over his girlfriend.”

“What?” Daniel was entirely perplexed now. “No, I didn’t. I—”

Penn leaned over and spoke low in his ear, “Honey, they don’t remember any of it.”

“What?” He looked over at her, then it hit him. “The song.”

During the fight at the park, Liv had bared her teeth and almost transformed in front of everyone. To make the incident go away before the X-Files division of the FBI descended on Capri, Thea and Gemma had used the siren song to make everyone forget what they’d seen.

Apparently, it didn’t make them forget everything, though. It must’ve twisted things up somehow, so the mayor thought he’d seen Daniel assaulting Aiden though he’d done nothing of the sort.

Still, sitting in front of Aiden’s father brought up a surge of memories. Gruesome images of Aiden’s body, and the final moments when Daniel had dropped the dismembered remains into the ocean. In the back of his mind, he could still hear the splash of the body hitting the water. A wave of nausea rushed over him, and he quickly swallowed it down.

“I’m sorry you’re upset about your son,” Daniel said, his voice almost inaudible over the din of the beer tent. “If there was anything I could do to help, believe me, I would.”

Mayor Crawford didn’t seem to hear a word Daniel had said. He’d been staring down at him, his small eyes fixated on him, as perspiration slid down his forehead, and he began wagging his finger in Daniel’s face.

“I know you, don’t I? You’re John Morgan’s little brother.”

Daniel nodded slowly. “Yeah, I am.”

“He was always trouble.” The mayor glowered down at him. “I always told Aiden to stay away from him. Aiden didn’t need to get mixed up with trash like that.”

“Trash?” Daniel got up, and it was only the realization of what the mayor was going through that kept his anger under control. John had his problems, but he was a far kinder guy than Aiden had ever been.

Alex stood up then, flanking Daniel on his side. Things wouldn’t come to blows, at least not on Daniel’s account. But it was still nice to know that Alex had his back, especially since Alex had toughened up so much working at the docks. He looked like he could handle himself in a fight.

“I have no idea what your problem is, but you need to shut up and get out of here,” Alex said.

But the mayor ignored Alex, keeping his glare focused on Daniel, and for some reason, that kept making Penn giggle.

“You were always jealous of Aiden,” the mayor said. “I saw it in your eyes, and it was still there when you fought with him. What did you do to him?”

“What are you talking about?” Alex asked. Daniel swallowed hard, but he managed to keep his gaze from wavering. “We didn’t do anything to him.”

“Then where is he?” Mayor Crawford demanded.

Daniel closed his eyes and shook his head. “I have no idea where he is.”

“You’re lying.” The mayor looked like he was about to deck Daniel, and honestly, Daniel would’ve welcomed it. “I didn’t get where I am without knowing when people are bullshitting me, and you are full of shit. Aiden disappeared last night, and you were the last person seen fighting with him.”

“That can’t possibly be true,” Daniel said wearily.

“You’ve had it in for him for a long time, and I’m going straight to the police right now to tell them that,” the mayor threatened.

“I had nothing to do with Aiden’s disappearance,” Daniel lied, because he couldn’t tell him about the sirens and what they had done to Aiden.

But just then, Daniel would have given anything to tell the mayor the truth. As angry as Mayor Crawford was, he was just a scared father looking for his son, and if Daniel could give him any peace, he would’ve.

“I wouldn’t say nothing,” Penn said, giggling, and Daniel glared back at her.

She smiled and stood up, adjusting the hem of her short dress as she did. She stepped over to the mayor, squeezing into the space between him and Daniel. Putting her hand on his chest, she stared up at him with her charcoal eyes, and he melted as soon as he looked in them.

“Mayor Crawford, I think you’re mistaken,” she purred.

“What is she doing?” Alex asked quietly, leaning toward Daniel. “Is she helping you?”

Daniel shook his head because there was no easy way to answer. If he took the fall for Aiden’s murder, it would be much more work for Penn to get him out of jail, so she could have her way with him.

“What?” The mayor sounded like a man waking from a dream.

“Daniel would never hurt your son.” Penn reached up, slicking back the strand that had come loose from the mayor’s hair. “And he was with me all night. So there’s no way he could’ve done anything to Aiden.”

“But then…” The mayor’s face scrunched up, like he knew he should be worried about something else, but he just couldn’t seem to make himself think of anything but Penn and her voice. “Where’s Aiden?”

“I heard he ran off with a girl. Some hot model,” Penn lied in the convincing way that only a siren could, the melody in her voice making the mayor believe anything she wanted him to. “He went to a tropical beach to live it up, and he can’t use his cell phone. He’ll be gone for a while, but you don’t need to worry or look for him. Aiden is fine, and you won’t ever try to find out what happened to him again.”

“He’s fine.” A relieved smile spread out on the mayor’s face, and something about that made Daniel feel sick to his stomach. “I don’t even know why I was worried. Hmm. Are you busy tonight? You could join me for dinner.”

“I have other plans, but thanks for the offer,” Penn said. “Why don’t you go hit on the future Miss Capri instead?”

“Maybe I will. Thank you.” He smiled and was reluctant to look away from her, but when he did, he was back to his usual smooth political face. “Sorry for bothering you all, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the At Summer’s End Festival.”

Mayor Crawford walked away, presumably to hit on Miss Capri, and Daniel shook his head. He sat back down at the table and took a long swallow of his beer.

“What was all that about?” Alex asked, sitting back down next to him. “Do you know what happened to Aiden?”

“You’ll have to ask Liv about that,” Daniel said. He glanced over and saw a look of saddened understanding flash across Alex’s face.

“Well, that was fun.” Penn sat down, and Daniel glared at her.

“I’ve never really liked the mayor, and Aiden and I definitely had our differences, but that was sick, Penn. He just lost his son, and you convinced him that instead of looking for him, he should go cheat on his wife.”

She shrugged. “He cheats on his wife all the time, and he wanted to run off with me right now. That was his idea, not mine.”

Daniel shook his head. “That was one of the more twisted things I’ve seen you do.”

“Would you rather have let him keep searching for his son?” Penn asked. “They’d eventually trace it back to you, and I bet they could find Aiden’s blood on your boat.”

“That man has a right to mourn his son,” Daniel persisted.

“So you’re not even gonna thank me for taking the heat off you?” Penn pretended to pout and stared up at him.

“Are you kidding me?” Daniel was nearly shouting. He hadn’t been so close to smacking Penn in a very long time. “You’re the reason the heat is on me. You’re the one that got Aiden killed and dragged me in to help clean up the mess.”

“I didn’t kill him. Liv did.”

“Liv is your fault,” he told her. “You made her. Everything she does is because of you.”

“Whatever.” She gave a half shrug and tossed her hair. “The sooner we go through with our plan, the sooner I’ll get rid of Liv. Just like you wanted.” She leaned forward, her smile growing hungrier. “Why don’t we go out to your place right now?”

“Not tonight,” he said firmly.

“Why the hell not?” Penn snapped, and her smile instantly dropped. “Like you have anything better going on?”

“I need to get some things in order first.”

“Like what?” Penn demanded to know.

It would have been nice if he had a few more days to get what was left in his life sorted out, but that wasn’t the real reason he was stalling. According to her text message, Gemma thought she was really close to breaking the curse, and this would all be over. If Daniel could get out of this without sleeping with Penn, that would be amazing.

“They’re my things, Penn. All right? Don’t worry about it.”

“Then when?” she asked.

“A few more days.” He had to give her some kind of answer, and that ought to buy him enough time. Hopefully.

She scoffed. “That’ll almost be the full moon.”

“Why don’t we wait until after the full moon then?” Daniel suggested. “It’ll be easier for everyone.”

“I don’t think I can wait that long,” Penn whined.

He looked over at her. “I’m giving you forever. That’s what you’ve asked me for, and I’ll do it. Just give me a few more days.”

“Whatever. You need to hurry up and go through with this before I change my mind. You saw what Liv is capable of, but what she can do is nothing compared to what I have in store for you if you betray me.” With that, Penn got up and sauntered off, leaving him alone with Alex, who was giving him the strangest look.

“What was all that about?” Alex asked.

Daniel had finished his beer, so he stood up to get another one. “It’s way too much to get into right now.”

“Are you like … with Penn or something?”

“No, no, hell no.” He shook his head. “I love Harper. And I’ll do anything for her, even if it means losing her.”