Page 91 of Better Than Revenge

“You all knew what I meant,” Max said. “So were there any other clues in the message? Like who owns this place now and how we can get past the impenetrable gates or contact the owner?”

“It almost looks abandoned,” Lee said, passing off the binoculars to Theo.

“The message just said this was where Andrew Lancaster lived the last ten years of his life and that maybe the surfboard was somewhere on the property.” I’d gotten lots of tips from lots of different people in my DMs this week after publishing the latest episode and posting the pictures of the surfboard to my Instagram. But most of the tips didn’t help. They talked about locations in different states where his art installation had passed through. They mentioned people who were impossible to get a hold of or information that was just completely wrong. I wasn’t even sure if this tip was right. If we were really looking at the house where Andrew had spent the last ten years of his life.

It was tucked in the hills off a small two-way section of Highway41, quite a bit off the road. There were trees and greenery obstructing most of the view, but I could see pieces of the house.

“You’re a delinquent who doesn’t worry about things liked locked gates and security cameras,” Theo teased, placing the binoculars in my hand. “What should we do?”

“Funny,” I said, bringing the binoculars up to my eyes. It was disorienting at first, having everything in front of me magnified to that level. It took me a moment to find the house, bits of brown shingles poking through the surrounding trees.

“We might not have guns,” Deja said. “But the person who lives there probably does.”

“What’s that?” I asked, adjusting the focus wheel on top of the binoculars.

“I said,” Deja started, “that we—”

“No, not that.That.” I pointed with one hand, while still looking through the lenses.

“I see nothing,” Lee said.

“A corner of light blue. It looks like…Is it…a lifeguard tower in the back corner of the yard?”

“Huh?” Deja said. “Let me see.” She held out her hand for the binoculars, and I gave them to her.

“We need more binoculars,” Max said.

“Oh, now you all think my dad’s bird-watching hobby is useful,” Lee said.

“Yes, tell him to take us next weekend,” Max said.

Theo was squinting. “It’s probably just a shed.”

“I swear it’s a lifeguard tower,” I said, taking him by the shoulders and turning him in the right direction. He smiled, like my hands on his shoulders were the precursor to a kiss. To be fair, he wasn’t wrong.Everythinghad been the precursor to a kiss this week. “Concentrate,” I whispered.

“I have no idea what you mean,” he returned, his hand brushingmy thigh. I was standing behind him, higher on the hill, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He leaned back into me.

I kissed his cheek.

“I think you’re right. That’s a lifeguard tower,” Deja said, squatting to get a better view.

“Why would someone have that? Their backyard is ten minutes from the ocean.” It felt significant. If this really was Andrew’s old house, it had to mean something.

“We need a closer look,” Deja said.

“Let’s go,” I said.

The walk down the hill was faster than the walk up it, and soon we were standing outside the gate again. I was looking through the binoculars into the backyard while Maxwell was messing with the intercom box again.

“Hello,” he said, his mouth close to the speaker. There was no answer.

I combed over every inch of the yard meticulously until the blue was magnified in my view again.

“Did Andrew Lancaster live here?” Max asked the little silver box now, pressing various buttons while he did.

I gasped.

“What?” Theo asked. He was standing at my shoulder squinting through the iron bars of the gate.