Hero Complex Read Online Free Page B

over to Reed’s.” She hesitated. “Didn’t exactly expect to find you here.”
    “Ha. One set of friends wonders why I’ve gone surf-centric. And you guys don’t think I’m beachy enough. Can’t win, can I?”
    Raven nudged Devon with her foot. “I’m going in. You want to be more beachy, try actually getting into the water at some point.” She grabbed her surfboard and wrapped the Velcro strap around her ankle, then nodded to the parking lot. “Here’s the surf king now. You know if you asked, he’d probably love to show you how to surf. Think on it.”
    Devon turned to see Bodhi stepping out of his blue Volkswagen camper, his own surfboard strapped to a roof rack. The door slammed shut, and Bodhi tucked his hands in the pocket of his hoodie, then turned to check out the water. He lifted his chin in a nod to Devon and Raven.
    “You’re not going in?” Devon called as he approached.
    Bodhi arrived at Devon’s boulder and sat down in the sand across from her. He squinted into the glare of the sun off the water. “Nah, the waves look a little small. I’ll wait until they pick up a bit.”
    “Whatever,” Raven said. She zipped her wetsuit up the back and jogged toward the ocean. Bodhi was silent as they watched Raven drop onto her board, paddling her way into the surf with ease.
    “Where’s Cleo?” Devon asked.
    “Probably doing whatever she wants. We’re not, like, hanging out anymore or anything, just so you know,” he added quickly.
    “At least one of you is keeping me in the loop,” Devon muttered. “Cleo never said anything. Not that it matters.”
    Why would it matter?
Why was Bodhi telling her this, anyway? It was none of her business. Although she did have to fight back a small smile. Cleo and Bodhi had always seemed like a poor match. But it wasn’t because Devon was jealous or anything. She just figured Bodhi would be drawn to someone a little more grounded, a little less mega-yacht.
    “It’s not, like, weird or anything between us, but it probably wasn’t a good call to hook up with a Keaton student,” Bodhi clarified. “You know how word gets around.”
    Devon nodded, suddenly wanting to switch topics. “So Raven said you found a weird thing with the crew on the yacht? One of their IDs didn’t match?”
    “Yeah. One of the caterers, Isaac something … Isaac Green.” Bodhi tugged at one of his own dreads, which hung loose around his shoulders, his blue eyes distant. “His ID picture didn’t match up with video from the party. Don’t ask how we found that out; it’s better you don’t know. Point is, Isaac Green’s ID showed up to work that night, but Isaac didn’t.”
    Devon’s stomach started to spin just at the memory of her slow-motion fall into the railing. That glimmer of the metal spyglass, twirling end over end and disappearing into the dark water. “You think that’s our guy?” she breathed.
    Bodhi shrugged again. “I have pictures to show you in case something rings a bell. You can come by the guest house whenever. I just keep thinking about what you were saying, that someone didthis on purpose. And I keep coming back to the Hutchins family. They’re the only ones that would have it in for you. But even Bill wouldn’t get his hands dirty like this. With Eric’s trial coming up, it just seems too obvious, even for them.” Bodhi dug his hand into the sand and slowly lifted it up, letting the sand rain off. He smiled at the water. “She actually got a good one.”
    Devon turned to see Raven riding a wave and then flipping her board over the top of the small crest, dropping down again to paddle back out.
    “Well, we know that Eric doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty,” Devon said. “I wouldn’t put it past him to have orchestrated something like this. He has enough money at his disposal. Besides, he’s been waiting out his trial at his parents’ house in Pacific Heights. It’s probably not the most restrictive situation.”
    Bodhi sniffed.