Oceania: The Underwater City by Eliza Taye (novels for teenagers .TXT) 📕

with me. I was going to have to be more careful with my visits to the restricted beach.

. . .

“Alexandria? Dear?”

“Huh?” I forgot about playing with my peas instead of eating them for a second and looked up at Gran.

“Did you get a chance to ask your friend about what time would be best to meet his parents so I can ask their permission to take their child to San Francisco?” Gran scraped the remaining mashed potatoes on her plate into a pile, scooped them up and spooned them into her mouth.

“Oh, no, I forgot to ask today.” I put my fork down and glanced up again as Gran went to get up and take her plate to the sink.

“Well, you better hurry up and get the courage to ask them. It’s only a few days before the weekend and I need to meet them before then.”

“Um, Gran?”

Gran tugged down the handle of the dishwasher which always seemed to stick, then pulled the bottom rack out as she replied, “Yes?”

“Have you heard anything about anyone around here going missing last night?”

Gran shook her head, looking at me with a puzzled face at the absurdity of my question. “No, I haven’t heard anything about that. Why do you ask?”

“Well, a man claiming to be a private detective came up to me, told me about it and asked me to call him if I see them.” I reached into the pocket of my shorts and pulled out the business card to show Gran. “He even gave me a business card.”

Gran’s eyebrows furrowed as she walked up to me. “That is interesting. I thought the idea of business cards went out long ago…along with paper. Everyone just adds a link to their HoloNet business profile. Besides, people don’t go missing around here. We haven’t had a case of kidnapping, murder, larceny, or any serious crime for that matter in well over fifty years.”

“I know; that’s what bothers me. Sunnyville isn’t Chicago…things like that don’t happen here. When he gave me his business card, I wouldn’t have known what it was if he hadn’t explained it.”

“Hmm.” Gran continued to study the card. I could see her chestnut eyes moving back and forth across the small piece of paper in her hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“It is weird. I have never seen or heard of this person before.” Gran’s eyes turned worried. “Where did this man approach you?”

“I was downtown riding my bike back from my friend’s house when I stopped for a break and he approached me.”

“Alexandria, if you see this man again, do not stop. I’ve lived here for well over forty years and I’ve never seen or heard of this man, so clearly, he is a stranger. You know how dangerous strangers are in this world. Stay away from anyone that you don’t know, and don’t make any more stops on your way to or from your friend’s house unless you are with your friend or their parents…do you understand?”

“Yes, Gran, I understand.”

Gran nodded definitively. “Good, now finish each one of those peas before you get up to do anything else.”

Ugh! She’d gotten me. The distraction technique was not going to work in skipping my vegetables this time.

However, what she said about the man I ran into tonight started to worry me. Something was going amiss in this town, and I had no idea as to what. Perhaps the government was on to me going to the restricted beach and had sent this private investigator to spy on me. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be carted away for trespassing on government property. Even more so, I hoped that the so-called “private investigator” hadn’t seen me with Dylan.

But wait.

Maybe this man was somehow connected to Dylan’s people. Was this man here to keep me from ever getting to Oceania again? Would I be barred from seeing my friend or visiting the enchanting underwater city ever again?

Chapter 15

Peering in every direction, I checked for any human or drone in the vicinity that could be watching me. Confident that I was alone, I shoved my bike behind some low lying bushes bunched together off the side of the road. Stepping back a few feet, I checked from either side to see if it could be easily seen from the road—it couldn’t.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my omniphone and brought up the music interface. Typing in the pop genre, a playlist was created based directly on my tastes. Still holding the omniphone, I reached into my other pocket for the wireless earbuds, and gently placed them into each ear. The music began to play, so I didn’t need to hold the omniphone anymore; the sync was complete. Holding the omniphone an inch from my triceps, it magnetically attached to the armband holder.

Tugging my purple exercise tank over my matching purple skin-tight shorts, I started jogging down the road, acting as if I were only out for a morning jog. Out of the corner of my eye, I constantly searched for anyone who might be following me, but there was no one else around.

Still, the encounter yesterday had left me somewhat frazzled. Gran’s reaction only made it worse. I knew she could be a bit of a worrywart sometimes, but usually, nothing scared her. Watching her eyes, as she’d told me to stay away from the guy I’d seen on the beach that claimed to be a private detective—there was fear.

Allowing my thoughts to drift away from the event last night, I instead focused on my music. The next song wasn’t one I particularly liked, so I simply said, “Next song,” and a new one immediately replaced it.

I’d left my bike about half a mile away from the restricted beach, so it only took me about five minutes of jogging at a leisurely place to arrive there.