Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

in her eyes. Really though, what would it accomplish, telling her I’d gotten caught by the dirty cop and Rich Guy at the tide pools? More fear. More paranoia. She might even insist on going home, which I refused to do. I had a group of strange guardian angels out there. Even if something else did happen, that “motley group” would have my back. And really, would it be so terrible if they did come back? A pair of gray eyes in a handsome, solemn face drifted to my mind. I shook my head. Stop thinking about him.

“I guess all we can do now is get on with life,” I said. “Eamon told us we were safe. I don’t think anything else will happen now that the men who kidnapped me got what they wanted.”

“A weird seashell?” Sam asked with a huff. I shrugged.

“Maybe it’s endangered. Maybe it’s a new species.”

“Doesn’t seem like enough to kill for.”

She was right, but I didn’t say anything. No matter what anyone said, I wasn’t going home. I clenched my teeth and turned on the TV.

Things needed to get back to normal soon.

I woke up in the morning with my shoulder feeling a hundred percent normal. Weird. Those “special medicines” Samantha told me about must have worked miracles. I had managed to sleep well and even had a growing desire to start my marine biology studies again. I had a scholarship project I needed to finish. I still had no idea what to base it on. I needed a theory and I needed it quick. I got up. Before leaving the room, however, I looked in the mirror to make sure I wasn’t as pale and gross as the day Eamon O’Dell and his buddies left.

I looked at my face for a while, then over the straps of my tank top. I turned and looked at the reflection of my shoulder. The remains of the wound stood out, pink and puckered, but I felt no pain. Covering the scar was going to be hard. I sighed. No more tank tops in public for a while, until I could think of a good story besides “I got shot in San Diego because some foreigners were fighting over a seashell.” I put on a tee shirt and walked out of the room.

Later that morning, I went to check the mail as part of my housesitting duties. I peered out the front door. Everything appeared quiet, just as Eamon said it would be. I eased myself outside, closed my eyes, and inhaled a deep breath of sweet ocean air. The smell sent a wave of calm from my head to my feet. I opened my eyes. Slowly, looking up and down the street, I went down the little steps and crossed the sidewalk to the mailbox.

In between a couple bits of junk mail, I found a letter postmarked in some European language from Aunt Shannon. I smiled and took them inside while tearing open the envelope. When I pulled out the letter, two tickets with pictures of dolphins on them fluttered to the ground.

Dear Olivia,

A few weeks ago, I was on a discount deals website and saw an offer for these passes to a new aquarium-type adventure park. Then of course, I forgot about them! I found them in a side pocket in my purse during our train ride to Hamburg. So sorry I forgot to leave them with you! Anyway, I thought you’d like to check out the park, so I dropped them in the mail the first chance I got. Please contact me if there’s anything else you need. I hope you’re having a good time. I’m having an amazing time out here! Hamburg is incredible. We’re headed to Berlin next and I can’t wait! I’ll send you a post card for every country I come to.

Love you, sweetheart!

Aunt Shannon

I smiled at her signature and grinned at the tickets. A swirling logo read Oceana Marine Adventure Park. A dolphin smiled from underneath the wording. This was just the thing I needed to get my mind off the last few days. I’d never been to this Oceana park before, but a crowded, out-of-the-way theme park should be totally safe. And full of park security, so we’d be well protected.

“Look, Sam,” I said as she came out of the bathroom with her hair in a towel. I held up the two tickets. “My aunt just sent them.”

“What’s Oceana Marine Adventure Park?”

“Some new theme park in the area. You want to go?”

Her eyebrows knit together in worry. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’ll be great. Lots of crowds.”

She sighed. “Okay. Just don’t make me take any notes about fishies, Liv.”

I laughed for the first time in three days. “Hey, you owe me for making a fool of myself trying to talk to that Scottish guy, remember?”

She flinched.

Samantha turned on the radio and rolled the window down as we pulled away from the house. With the anticipation of going to see dolphins, I almost felt like myself again. Almost. I feared hearing more gunfire. I feared seeing faces, familiar now because of the number of times they'd shown up in my nightmares. And even weirder, I worried about finding more glossy clam shells. But Eamon had said Sam and I were out of danger. Yes, he told me to go home, but he also said we should get on with life. Getting on with life meant getting on with my summer plans, not running away.

As I watched the city pass by on our way to the theme park, I allowed myself to relax and only concern myself with it being too crowded. What day was it, anyway? Thursday? Friday?

“What do you want to do once we get there?” Sam said as she played with the settings on her camera.

“I’m not sure what’s there. Aquariums, for sure. I think there might be shows like the ones at Sea World. Based on what the website said, it sounds