By the time I reach the first bend of road, though, there’s no one there, just the sound of the sea washing up against the cliffs below. I walk along Highway 1 and call her name, but I don’t get an answer. Crime Reads | THE GREAT LOS ANGELES CRIME NOVEL—AND THE WOMEN WHO ARE REVITALIZING IT (Crime Reads) We stop a few feet away from my car, and he drops my arm. “Why did you come here, Alice?” he asks again. That image plays in my head, over and over. I grab my iPad and turn on something mindless on Netflix, but even that doesn’t help shut my brain up. All I can think about is that party and Steve and Brooke and what happened this summer and how unfair it all is. . . . A propulsive mystery starring two unlikely friends who give Nancy Drew a run for her money. With a totally satisfying and surprising ending, The Agathas is so, so much fun.”—Jessica Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of They’ll Never Catch Us and They Wish They Were Us

The Agathas | Rock The Boat

Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi. I will.” He smiles at her and walks over to where she’s standing. He bends down to kiss her cheek, and suddenly, I’m invisible. But it’s too late. I can feel his hands on my chest, pushing me. I’d wedged myself between them after he lunged at her. The snap in my wrist as I hit the linoleum. Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age. Brooke’s crying and her hair is in her face. Brooke has al­ways been pretty cool, and she doesn’t even have to be. She’s literally the most famous, richest girl in town. I mean, entire books have been written about her family history, which ap­parently involves some mysterious deaths at sea, a fortune made, lost, and remade, and an infamous custody battle in­volving her grandmother that made headlines around the world. All this means Brooke could be the biggest bitch in town, but she isn’t.

The silver car from earlier flashes in my memory then, and it hits me. That had to be Alice. But why would she come here after everything? From Spike and Zora, I knew all about Steve stepping out on Alice over the summer with Brooke. Then, when Alice disappeared, Zora was pretty convinced for, like, a day that Steve had done something to her, and I guess the po­lice thought so, too, because he was questioned and the whole shebang. They had a search party, Amber Alert, all the bells and whistles and then . . . Alice reappeared in her parents’ driveway, miraculously fine, with nary a scratch on her. I turn up my music as high as it’ll go, drowning out anymore racing thoughts, and take off down the driveway out to Highway 1. But, before I hit downtown, I reach my destination—the Castle. It’s on the west side of the road, set on ten acres, the big­gest parcel of land on the cliff side of the highway. It was built by Brooke’s great-grandfather about eighty years ago as a residence for their family.

The Agathas - Scholastic The Agathas - Scholastic

Even Cole is here? That had to be Kennedy’s doing. She’s wanted to get with him for years. I wonder if Brooke was okay with it. I will miss the sea when I finally get me and my mom out of here. I don’t know where I’ll take us, but it has to be far from this place. Somewhere he can’t bother us ever again. A voice hisses out of the dark. Brooke Donovan’s voice, to be precise. Who apparently followed us, along with Kennedy and Park. Kennedy has her phone out, recording everything, Park hopping around behind the two of them excitedly. I can’t take it anymore. They’re all there, having fun, while I sit here alone. I deserve to be there as much as any of them. Brooke stole my boyfriend, and somehow I’m the bad guy?

Brooke’s face flushes. She must be thinking what I’m thinking—I’ve never heard Steve speak like that before, not to anyone. Last summer, after I reappeared with no explanation, everyone was so pissed off, but Steve just ignored me—in fact, this is the longest conversation the two of us have had since the day he dumped me. He’s just not an angry guy. Alice’s house smelled like good things. Fresh flowers, food cooking somewhere I couldn’t see, the aroma wafting through the enormous front room.

The Agathas Quotes by Kathleen Glasgow - Goodreads The Agathas Quotes by Kathleen Glasgow - Goodreads

Developers bought up most of that land over the years and built huge houses like mine and Park’s. I guess it brought in a bunch of money to the town—made Castle Cove more of a liv­able place rather than just a tourist destination. More recently, they’ve turned their attention to revamping the Yacht Club. Ken­nedy’s dad has something to do with it, I think, which I only know because a few months ago she spent, like, a solid week moaning about how her dad had canceled their summer vacation to Barce­lona because he had to stay in town to help with the deal. Enter Iris Adams, Alice’s tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn’t have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward Brooke’s grandmother is offering to anyone who can share information about her granddaughter’s whereabouts. The police are convinced Steve is the culprit, but Alice isn’t so sure, and with Iris on her side, she just might be able to prove her theory. Once dressed, I sneak downstairs. Brenda’s in her room, so I manage to get outside and to my car—another guilt gift from my parents—without fielding any questions. In the distance, the surf slams into the cliffs below our house, the fall wind roll­ing the waves angrily. I’d say that there’s something in the air tonight, something creepy, but I’m not the type of person to believe in that sort of thing. It’s been here since before Castle Cove was even really a town, and all the property on the cliff side of the road used to belong to it—according to what I’ve heard from Kennedy, at one point it had like one hundred acres, all to itself. Legend has it that Brooke’s great-grandmother used to have a zoo on the property, with llamas and tigers and everything.Two high schoolers team up to investigate a classmate’s death and discover that their small California town is positively aboil with secrets.