Zip by Ellie Rollins Read Free Book Online Page B

blinked on and off from the streetlamps above, flooding the marina in eerie, orange light
    Lyssa slowed her scooter. The wind made twisting spirals in the water and caused it to crash over the side of the docks. Boats rocked on angry-looking swells
    Taking a deep breath, she started down one of the docks, pushing Zip with one hand. There were so many boats here—there had to be at least one she could hide out on.
    But every boat was covered in thick tarp and secured with ropes and padlocks. Lyssa scurried onto one of the few uncovered boats and tried to open the door leading belowdecks. Locked
    The wind cut into her skin, letting cold seep all the way to her bones. She hadn’t considered that people would actually
lock
their boats. She climbed back onto the dock and wandered past the boats, trying a few more doors to see if, maybe, one of them had been left open. None of them were.
    There was nowhere else to go, and nothing to do but return to the bus depot. Lyssa supposed she could curl upnear the door, underneath the little ledge that shielded from the rain. It would be cold and miserable—already Lyssa’s fingers were numb—but at least she’d be the first person at the depot when it opened. She thought about huddling near the door, holding her sweatshirt over her head to shield herself from the rain. Maybe, if she dreamt of Texas, she wouldn’t be so cold
    Then she saw something glitter on the dock, barely visible beneath the water running over the wood. Curious, she leaned over to examine it
    It was a small, silver key—too small to belong to a house, and not quite the right shape for a car. Maybe it was a key to one of the boats? Lyssa leaned over to scoop it up when something small and furry streaked out in front of her. She stumbled backward, landing hard on the dock. Her scooter clattered to the ground next to her
    Sitting on the dock in front of her was the black cat with the lopsided whiskers. Licking its front paw, it cocked its head, as though challenging her
    Goose bumps rose on Lyssa’s arms—it felt like someone was pinching her skin with a tiny pair of tweezers. That cat was
following
her. Pushing herself to her feet, Lyssa searched the dock for the key. But it was gone. The cat must have pawed it out of the way when it streaked past her.
    “Where did the key go?” Lyssa demanded. “What did you do with it?”
    The cat looked at her and blinked, all innocence. It flicked its tail, seeming to point at the frothing water below. Lyssa’s heart sank. Even though she knew it was hopeless, she leaned over the side of the dock and thrust one hand in the waves, aimlessly groping around in the water for the key. She leaned over so far that she nearly tumbled into the waves, catching herself at the very last minute
    That’s when she heard it—a low rumbling, like a distant car engine. Shielding her eyes with her free hand, she tried to blink away the rain. She pulled her other arm out of the waves, sitting back on her heels
    The noise got louder and she watched as a bright blue remote-controlled boat shot out from between the yachts. Who would be playing with a toy boat tonight, in the middle of a storm?
    She looked up and down the dock but saw no one. The little boat swayed in the angry waves, heading for the dock at the very end of the marina. Just before it ducked out of view, Lyssa saw something glitter on its tiny deck: the key
    The boat bobbed on the water, then disappeared behind a sailboat. She jumped onto her scooter and tore after it

CHAPTER SIX
The Hidden Lair
    L yssa raced after the toy boat, watching helplessly as it disappeared behind the dock near the end of the marina. She sped across the maze of docks until she reached the place she’d seen the toy boat vanish; then, dropping to her knees, she leaned over the side of the dock and searched the water below. The water was shallower here, and it crashed against rocky land underneath the warped wooden planks of the dock. But the boat