Catch of a Lifetime Read Online Free PDF

were so many vehicles. And the noises. The smells… The refuse. So many people walking alongside the roads. Weren't they worried about getting run over?
       She looked out Michael's window. More of the same traffic. More palm trees, hedgerow after hedgerow of hibiscus and oleander, and… Wait.
       "Is that a real sand castle?"
       The biggest, most ornate building she'd seen so far stretched along a good portion of the road. Two staircases at the center swept up to a balcony that fed into double glass doors beneath an arched portico. Parapets and tow ers lined the roof and corners, with intricate scrollwork decorating the sand-colored façade. Three stories tall and almost as long as The Coliseum back home, with beautiful gardens out front, palm trees swaying in the breeze like sentries, the place could be a palace.
       She'd seen remnants of sand castles Humans had made on beaches, some incredibly large and intricate, but she'd never heard of them living in one.
       "How did they do that? How is it shored up to with stand hurricanes? Are there any more around here?" Where was her tablet, dammit?
       The Council would love to hear about this. Think of the ease of construction if they could learn the secret to building with sand. No longer would they need to con fine housing projects to the bases of islands. No more worries about the dwindling supply of Human torpedoes they'd confiscated for blasting through rock to fashion Mer homes. This would revolutionize home building. Colonies could spring up anywhere on the ocean floor. Affordable housing was another thing she wanted to pick Humans' brains about since they'd done such an amazing (though others had different words for it) job of populating the planet.
       Michael started giggling. "A sand castle? No, silly, that's a house!"
       A house?
       "They don't have anything like that in Kansas, I take it?" Logan glanced at her in the mirror again.
       Right. Kansas. "Not that I've seen, they don't." And since she'd never actually been to Kansas, that wasn't a lie.
       But it was one more gaffe on her part. Enough of them and Logan would rethink the babysitting position. Angel decided to keep her thoughts to herself.
       Which, luckily, with Michael around, wouldn't be an issue. He picked right back up with his chattering—this time going on about sand castles he'd made—on the beach, with real sand—and Angel just sat back and let him talk.
       Ten minutes later, Logan pulled up to a long block of stores, similar to downtown Atlantis.
       What wasn't similar was the clothing inside the first store Logan led her to. Silk, cotton, rayon, spandex… all the fabrics she collected in their soaking-wet form were now hanging in front of her, a rainbow of color from wall to wall.
       "You should be able to outfit yourself properly here, right, Angel?" Logan asked, reaching into his back pocket.
       She wasn't quite sure what constituted properly, although those dresses on the far wall looked good to her. But then she saw his wallet in his hand.
       "Logan, I can't take your currency."
       He arched an eyebrow. "Currency? Do you have another way to pay for the clothes? You can't go around wearing only my shirt. I'll take it out of your pay or something."
       Angel stifled the guilt. She had plenty of diamonds in her vault back home. She'd get him one somehow.
       "Thank you. I appreciate it." In more ways than he could know. She did not want to pass up an oppor tunity like this. Especially when she found a row of sequined cropped pants. She stroked a finger over the shiny faux-scales.
       Clothing was a relatively new concept among Mers. Many still used their long hair for covering up or the shell-and-kelp method, but that was mostly the older generations. She had a wonderful collection of Human clothing at home from sale day at the Salvager Market, but it paled in comparison to this selection. Dresses, skirts, bathing