of. His eyes were violent in the same way I knew Charlie’s fists could be. I wondered what that mind of his was truly capable of.
“You have to understand, for as long as I’ve known Charlie, he hasn’t ever expressed a want for anything. That seems to have changed with you.”
I made myself look at him. I was shivering again and wished Charlie were there to hug the cold from me. “I had hoped your spell over him would dissipate, or at least waver when we got to port. But when Charlie couldn’t find you…” Ben Walden rolled his eyes again and crossed one leg over the other. With each of his movements, I could see the weariness. Had he been part of my search party, too? “And Reid opened up that big mouth and started with the mermaid jokes.”
I looked away, ashamed. I remembered what Charlie had said about my going overboard during the storm. Could I really have caused so much trouble?
“I’ve never seen him like that before.” Ben Walden’s voice changed. He was quiet now, more contemplative. “When he gets upset, things tend to happen, people get hurt or objects get broken.” Ben rubbed the end of his chin. I wished he would stop talking, I didn’t want to hear what he was about to say. The syllables would form sentences I didn’t want to touch, reveal truths I didn’t want to acknowledge.
“This was entirely different, though. The four of us had to hold him back from throwing himself in the ocean after you.”
“Stop.” I couldn’t take it anymore. The idea that my stupidity had nearly made Charlie kill himself made me queasy. I saw dark spots in front of my eyes when my mind envisioned the scene. I grabbed onto my stomach. Though it was empty, I thought I might be sick.
Ben Walden sighed. “I’d like to blame you, though it wouldn’t be very factual.” He laughed and stretched his legs out in front of him. He began talking again, though I couldn’t hear him. I ignored him completely, fearful that he might contribute more to the all-too-clear picture I had of Charlie’s end in my mind.
“Wallace stole from me once before. Of course I couldn’t prove it.” Ben’s voice came in and out, static with the fuzz in my brain. “Which is partly why I informed him he wouldn’t be paid this time. Frankly, however, his lack of obedience in regard to what we were going to do with you was just the excuse I needed to terminate his employment.”
He laughed then, a low, bitter sound. “After Charlie defended you, I should have just paid Wallace. I certainly underestimated how badly things could get out of control here. A kidnapping!” He smacked himself in the forehead.
I tried to smile. “No one can predict the future.”
“I never considered that Charlie might want you, nor that you would live.” His laugh increased, grew heartier, livelier. “That’s right. But we can try. My prediction is that if Wallace doesn’t kill me, he’ll most certainly kill Charlie Boy!”
I didn’t know what to say. How could Ben Walden be so casual about someone he considered a friend? All I knew was that, no matter what happened, Charlie had to be okay. In the end, Charlie had to be okay.
“I-I don’t want anything bad to happen to him. I don’t care about how you guys make your living or how you have to justify yourselves.” I rubbed both sides of my temple to ward off the impending headache. “I just care about him.”
Ben Walden leaned forward again and smiled. This time it was a Ben Walden smile. He reached out and patted the end of my blanketed foot. It was strange to witness him trying to be a source of comfort. “If I didn’t already know that, dear, do you think you would still be alive?”
I nodded through the shiver. As terrifying as it was, I did, in fact, know that. An idea occurred to me then, an almost insane notion, though as it turned in the wheels, it was not quite out of the realm of possibility.
“That’s how it was supposed to be, though, wasn’t it?”
Ben Walden wasn’t stupid. Even Yuri had said that I was evidence in their long series of crimes, something left behind in an otherwise carefully organized plan. I considered the abandoned house and how easily Ben Walden agreed to let me go free. If what he said now was true, then the organization of his