Troubles in Paradise (Paradise #3)(56)
Maia feels anxious on the Centerline Road. It’s a short walk, but at any moment, one of their parents or teachers could drive by and see the five of them. Once they turn onto Lovers Lane, Maia’s nerves fray with anxiety. The FBI have seized the house. There’s no way Maia should be going anywhere near the place.
They climb up the hill past the dummy driveways, and Shane grabs Maia’s hand.
This makes the whole plan worth it. Maia doesn’t care if she goes to federal prison!
At the top of the hill is the villa. The gate is wide open. Maia had assumed it would be closed but she knows the code—her mother’s birthday—and if that didn’t work, she knows a way around the gate through the dense landscaping, which isn’t great but would work as a last resort.
They walk up the empty driveway. A piece of yellow police tape hangs limply across the stairs up to the deck. Maia ducks under it and the others follow suit. Colton and Bright, who usually never shut up, are silent.
Maia climbs the stairs. The deck looks…the same. The furniture is all there. The pool is full but the water down the slide has been shut off. Maia goes over to the control panel and flips the switch, and water starts flowing down the slide.
She’s going to get arrested for sure.
“Can we go in?” Bright whispers.
Maia holds up a finger. “Let me check out the house first.” The outdoor kitchen is the same; there are fancy Italian sparkling waters in the fridge—and they’re ice-cold! “Help yourself,” Maia says.
There’s a sign on the sliding glass door into the kitchen: PROPERTY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. NO TRESPASSING. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED. The door is locked. Maia cups her hands around her eyes and peers inside.
It looks…the same. The kitchen counters, the sink, the cabinets, the fridge, the living-room furniture, the television. Everything is exactly where it was. But what about her room?
“Do you know where there’s a key?” Joanie asks.
Maia says, “Follow me.” They go across the deck, past the hot tub, and down the stairs to the shuffleboard court. The cues are hanging on the rack and the black and red disks are stacked in a milk crate. Maia reaches around to the back of the crate and feels the key taped just under the lip. Ha! She pulls the key loose. This is the key her mother used when she and Maia arrived before Russ got here (sometimes Rosie brought home-cooked meals—her jerk chicken with beans and rice—or pints of coconut ice cream from Scoops, which was Russ’s favorite), and this was where they put the key when they stayed after Russ left (which was sometimes very, very early in the morning). This means the last person to touch this key was Rosie. Maia brings the key to her lips.
She leads Joanie to the door that the key fits. It pulls right open, and seconds later, they’re up in the kitchen, opening the slider.
“Hey, guys,” she says to Shane, Colton, and Bright. “Who’s hungry?”
There’s still food in the fridge, though all of the fresh stuff has grown mold or gone bad. The cabinets and pantry, however, are a treasure trove. The boys dive on the bags of chips while Joanie unearths a package of hot dogs from the freezer (Joanie’s parents are vegan; for her, a hot dog is the ultimate forbidden treat). Maia opens three cans of SpaghettiOs and dumps them in a pot.
Ten minutes later, they have a feast: bowls of SpaghettiOs, hot dogs with yellow mustard and relish, Cheetos and dill-flavored potato chips—all washed down with Italian sparkling water.
Maia thinks maybe now is the time to start a conversation. “Does anybody have anything they want to talk about?” She looks at Colton; it was his parents’ divorce that brought the group together. But Colton and Bright are tussling on the banquette; Colton bumps up against Joanie, who must love it.
“Let’s go back in the pool,” Bright says.
“Should I turn on the hot tub?” Maia asks.
“Yeah!” they all say. The afternoon is sunny and very hot but there’s still something alluring about the bubbles and all of them close together.
“I’ll do it after I clean up,” Maia says.
Colton, Bright, and Joanie head outside. Shane stays to help Maia bring the plates and the bowls to the sink. He throws the empty bags and cans away.
“The FBI owns this house now?” he says.
Maia shrugs. “I guess so.”
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s living here.” He gazes upward. “Do you think they installed cameras?”
“I think…” Maia tries to remember if she overheard Huck and Irene saying anything about the fate of the villa. Gone was all they said. It’s gone. “I think maybe the government will sell it? And take the money and put it into their budget?”
“Yeah,” Shane says. “You’re probably right. When do you think the new owners will move in?”
“Probably not for a while,” Maia says. “Everything looks the same. It’s almost like the FBI locked it up and then forgot it was here.”
“So maybe we can use it again?” Shane says. “Because this is an awesome hangout. What’s upstairs?”
“There are nine bedrooms,” Maia says. She knows this is an outrageous number because she heard her mother say so. “Want to see my room?”
Shane’s eyebrows shoot up. “Sure.”
Sure, sure, sure, Maia thinks. Is this happening? She should not be doing this, she’s twelve and a half, too young to have a boy in her bedroom. If you listen to Huck, twenty-five is too young. But this is an opportunity she may never get again. What if the new people move in next week, or tomorrow?