Blackfin Sky Read Online Free PDF Page A

suspects.’
‘Suspects?’
‘Had to rule out murder, I suppose. Nobody really believed Skylar Rousseau could accidentally kill herself.’
Suddenly Gui’s impromptu fishing trip and her mother’s willingness to let her out of the house made sense – they were avoiding Officer Vega. Or at least keeping her away from Sky.
‘You’re really starting to sound annoyed that I’m alive.’ Sky forced a joking tone, but she knew Bo wouldn’t miss the reproach behind it. Bo looked away silently; the closest she would ever come to an apology. Cam went on, oblivious.
‘You’ve missed so much stuff going on, Sky! Have you seen the new guy who’s working with your dad? His name’s Jared and he’s got this whole goth-pale but with a smokin’ hot bod thing going on and like a bajillion piercings – even in his tongue – and the smokiest eyes I’ve ever seen!’
Sky laughed at Cam’s enthusiastic appraisal. ‘Yeah, Dad mentioned he had someone working for him now. Maybe I’ll go and check him out soon.’ She grinned at Bo’s raised eyebrow. ‘Unless he’s already off-limits?’
‘Pah.’ Bo’s laugh never quite sounded like a laugh, as though she couldn’t be bothered putting in the effort to make it convincing. ‘As if you’d be interested.’
‘So, what else did I miss?’ Sky fidgeted a little. ‘I mean, while I was … away?’
‘Since your party, you mean?’ Something in Bo’s tone was even more pointed than usual, and Sky looked up to find an equally pointed look aimed at her. The kind that said, we’ll talk later. But Sky didn’t want to wait until later.
‘Did something happen at my party that I don’t know about?’
Bo arched one immaculate black eyebrow. ‘I doubt it.’
‘Ooh!’ Cam smacked her palm against Bo’s thigh, she was so excited. ‘I almost forgot! The chess club got closed down because they didn’t have enough members!’
Quite why Cam was so invigorated by relaying this piece of news was a mystery to Sky. It had quite the opposite effect on her. ‘Really? But we’ve always gotten by with six members…’ Comprehension cut her off. ‘But it’s only been a few months, and I’m back now. Maybe Mr Hiatt will start it up again.’
Bo laughed her flat laugh. ‘Of course he will, if you ask him.’
The silence that followed was marred only by the distant sounds of some of their classmates fooling around further along the beach. At least until Sean appeared at his sister’s back holding three cans of coke in a precarious pyramid. Once he’d handed a can to each of the girls, he came and sat in the only vacant log-spot, next to Sky. He squeezed her arm for a second, like he was checking she was still there.
Sean wasn’t especially tall, or even very muscularly built like a lot of the boys in their school year, but there was something so confident in the way he moved that it was difficult to peg him as a nerd – despite his two-tone cardigan and green Converse trainers.
Sky popped the top on her can as she gazed into the darkness further along the sand where a group of boys were still fishing bottles out from under the pier. All manner of flotsam washed up on Blackfin’s shores, and there was always an assortment of bottles in among it. Whenever they were at the beach, the Blackfin teens would search through the bottles for messages – and would generally find one or two in a good haul. Sky listened to the clink of glass in the distance.
‘Find anything good?’
Sean nodded. ‘One angry letter to Father Christmas. But you can hardly see them now, and the last one Charlie fished out had a dog turd in it. At least I hope it was a dog’s.’ Sky laughed, but Sean seemed distracted as he stared into the low fire, his brown eyes burning like hot coals with its reflection. ‘Aunt Holly’s been trying to reach you. I said I’d call her if I saw you here.’
‘Sean!’ Cam hissed and kicked out at her brother, but Sean deftly moved out of the way, ending up almost on top of