The next day at lunch, Emma got her answer when Kendra Radcliff’s bottle of Diet Coke exploded all over when she opened it. The redhead stumbled back from her seat, looking outraged and covered in foamy liquid.
Jade stood up and clapped loudly. “Bravo!”
“What did you do?” Olivia groaned.
“The trick is to freeze the Mentos in an ice cube first or you’ll never get the cap back on,” Jade confided smugly returning to her seat.
“This is not going to help,” Olivia said, shaking her head.
“You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it first,” Jade teased.
***
The next morning, Emma settled into Economics. Unfortunately, the class was becoming a daily political dumping ground for Mr. Biggs. Not in the mood to listen to another partisan argument, Emma idly sketched while gazing out the window near her desk.
She was tired of constant bickering, squabbling in the class and with the Rads. The feuds coupled with fires and facades made the rest of junior year start to look dismal. Emma raked worried fingers through the long hair at her temple. Lately, she had feelings of anxiety that were based on more than a childish war with the Rads.
Again, Emma noticed the bright red cardinal sitting in the tree outside. It flitted around for a moment before flying off. Flying away would be awesome, she mused. It wasn’t a new fantasy for her but a familiar and comforting one.
“You dropped this,” came a sudden soft baritone voice, snapping her out of the daydream.
Emma looked up shocked to see Jordan standing over her. Suddenly, her mouth stopped working. He looked back at her curiously, while Emma made every effort to unlock her brain.
He was holding out her drawing pencil. Emma’s mind managed to squeeze out enough of an impulse to get her hand moving to take it. He pointed to her desk. “Did you draw that?” He nodded toward her paper, glancing over the sketch.
Emma looked around. The realization that their class was over settled in. She glanced down at the sketch in her notebook, noticing the intricate work. She had illustrated a dappled valley full of trees from an overhead perspective. Emma vaguely recalled drawing it. Where the trees, paths, and grassy areas connected, defined patterns and shapes were visible in the landscape. From the size and position, only an aerial viewpoint would have revealed them.
“Yes.” Emma shrugged. “I guess, I did.”
“It’s cool,” he said. “It’s like crop circles or something.” He flashed a bright smile at Emma before heading to the door where Kendra waited impatiently.
Emma muttered to herself and gathered the rest of her things. Why had she drawn something as bizarre as crop circles?
***
Miss Bel’s art class’ current project was working in graphite and charcoal. Emma was covered in dark gray fragments from her hands to her shirt and jeans. It was messy, but she’d take it over fighting or a dull, school day.
Ryan Dunn accidentally dumped his easel over, littering the floor with graphite shavings and pencils. The teacher and several nearby students scrambled to help with the mess. Emma took the pause to pull out her Economics notebook and review the weird aerial field.
“Hey, that looks really good. What is that place?” Olivia asked as she leaned over her friend’s shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Emma replied weakly with a shrug. “I sort of zoned-out in Eco and started drawing, and this strange thing showed up.”
Olivia sat down next to her to examine the landscape. “Lots of people check-out in there, especially lately. How do you draw something like that and not know what or where it is?”
“I think it’s the area west of farm road twenty-three twenty-five,” Emma said. “I’ve seen an old drilling rig and an abandoned barn on that hill before.”
“I don’t see a rig in the drawing,” Olivia said, peering down at the paper.
“There isn’t. But there’s a shadow of one stretching across the left corner.”
Olivia nodded then took out her smartphone and hid it under the table, flipping through local aerial views. Luckily, Miss Bel was facing the other way, showing Amber and a few other students how to use a chamois to soften the edges of charcoal lines.
“Em, look!” Olivia handed over the phone.
On the west side of the farm road, northwest of the school, the land sprawled out. A section of the acreage matched Emma’s drawing perfectly, even from the overhead view.
Olivia took her phone back and deftly imported the map as an image into her paint program. A few swipes of her finger later, she handed the screen back to her friend. Outlined areas on the map now made the shapes visible.
“See here?” she whispered excitedly. “This one looks like a bird flying side-ways, and this one looks like a butterfly.”
“Livs,” Emma countered in hushed tones. She was surprised and barely blinked as her eyes darted from the screen to her drawing and then back again. “I have no idea why I drew this.”
“Yeah, but you did draw it,” Olivia chirped. “Maybe you saw it in one of your dad’s dusty-old map books?”
“Is my lesson interrupting you girls?” Miss Bel appeared in front of them as if teleported there.
The teacher glanced down at Emma’s notebook and turned the drawing around to see it for herself. “Well, at least it’s a drawing and not…” Miss Bel’s voice trailed off in recollection. She punched a dirty fingertip down onto the center of the field, leaving a darkened fingerprint. “This was where the Alba’s old farm used to be. It’s near farm road twenty-three twenty-five.”
“You know this place?” Olivia was the first to ask, standing in anticipation.
“Yes, that’s it.” Miss Bel ran a finger thoughtfully across her jaw, smearing charcoal from her hand to her face. “They sold it after a really bad fire.”
Emma looked at her drawing and back up to Miss Bel. “You knew them?”
The teacher nodded. “We used to hang out there all the time. You know, stuff like goofing around in the barn when we were kids. Miranda Alba graduated the same year as us.”
“Us?” Emma asked.
“Oh, yes,” Miss Bel smiled. “Your mom and dad and I.”
7
THE SPY
Rai was noticeably absent the next morning when Olivia went to pick up her friends. Rai taking sick days from school was nothing out of the ordinary. Emma would check in on him later to see if he needed anything like his homework. However, he wasn’t out sick. Emma caught sight of Rai across the quad between classes.
She wanted to believe that he’d had a bad morning, but during lunch he didn’t say much and shrugged out one-word answers. It wasn’t unusual for Rai to take time out to make-like-a-turtle when he wasn’t feeling well, which was often. He’d disappear from socialization for weeks while recovering. But with the fire, suspicions about his parents’ involvement, and the incident at the dance, Emma felt that something was… different.
***
The following day, Rai was a no-show again for the ride to school. Emma decided to allow one more day, and then she would press him for what bothered him. Olivia parked Flower in the usual spot, and both girls trailed slowly through the mass of students into the main hall.
“School’s quieter than usual, right Em?” Olivia said in a low, whispered tone.
Jade waited at their lockers, her face illuminated by her phone. She looked up for a second, and with a quick greeting, turned back to the screen.
Emma narrowed her eyes and whispered, “Livs, something up with her, too?” Then, she had a sudden sinking feeling when she saw Kendra making her way toward them. And she wasn’t alone. She was never alone.
The Radcliff girl’s Jimmy Choo boots clicked on the floor as she strutted up, stopping in front of Emma. She tilted her head to the side and snapped on a purposeful expression. Kendra’s “wing-girls,” Sarah and Ashley, flanked her. Sarah was, at worst, annoying. But Ashley was a different story. That girl was the star of the girls’ varsity volleyball team,
a head taller than Emma, and really mean. Something was off, and Emma could see it in Kendra’s face.
“If you didn’t know,” she announced with false concern dripping in her tone, “My dad was retained for the investigation on the fires your friend’s parents set. They’re going to be in prison for arson by the time he’s through with them.” Emma frowned at the undisguised glee in the other girl’s eyes. Kendra was enjoying this. Her boots let out another two staccato clicks as her stance shifted.
“Tragic,” Sarah muttered in a condescending tone as she smoothed down the hem of her designer skirt.
“I thought you might want to start looking for someone to foster your weird little friend,” Kendra continued as she started walking away.
Jade had been busily ignoring them up to that point. She leaned up from the locker and shoved her phone hastily into a pocket. Jade’s eyes tightened into dangerous slits as she removed her pumps and followed them.
“Was that supposed to be funny?” Jade’s bearing shifted. Smooth and sudden, she moved to the balls of her feet. Recognizable as a “ready stance.”
Kendra and her two friends edged around her and continued walking.
“I just thought of something funny,” Jade’s cutting soprano rang down the hall with surprising clarity. “You, trying to talk more crap with your jaw wired shut!” Everyone standing in the corridor stopped and went silent. Tangible tension filled the air like the calm before a crashing storm.
The sound of Kendra’s feet halted, and she stiffened for a moment. Emma sucked in a breath and darted her eyes back and forth between the two girls. Kendra tilted her head to the side, shook her shoulders twice in silent laughter, and then made a very subtle nod to the dark-haired girl to her right.
Ashley turned, and leading with an elbow, lunged at Jade. The strike passed through Jade’s brown curls as she dropped to a quick crouch on the floor. Before Ashley could regain her balance from the miss, Jade shifted to the side and sprang back up from under her. Emma heard a guttural exhale of breath as Jade’s knee connected with Ashley’s stomach hard enough to lift the girl off her feet. Ashley dropped hard to the floor and rolled over twice, curling up and wheezing. Jade didn’t even look at her. Jade’s eyes directed cold hatred at Kendra as she stepped passed Ashley.
“Time to start your all-broth diet,” Jade spat out. Kendra and Sarah glanced at Ashley, and then started backing away. Jade took another step toward them and Emma felt a sudden hot flash. It was a wave of blistering heat that lasted for a second, but long enough to set off the fire alarm and the sprinklers.
“Let’s get out of here!” Emma yelled as she scooped Jade’s shoes up from the floor. Ashley laid on her side, making chuffing sounds, trying to breath as water filled the hallway.
Jade nodded but looked murderous, but Kendra and Sarah disappeared into the crowd of exiting students.
***
“I’m telling you,” Jade said a half hour later to Emma and Olivia as they stood drying off in the school’s main lot along with every other Cypress High student—every student except for Kendra Radcliff and her friends. Emma knew this because Jade had spent the earlier twenty minutes trolling the lot unsuccessfully for them. “It was arson, but it wasn’t Rai’s family that set the fire.”
“What do you know?” Emma asked, and Olivia nodded. Jade leaned in close and gestured for the other two girls to huddle in.
“You know my dad works for Mr. Aoi? I heard something last week that didn’t make any sense until this morning.”
“Yes?” Emma gritted softly, trying not to sound too impatient.
Jade paused to take a quick look around before continuing, “Long story short. Kendra’s father’s law firm was hired by Mr. Aoi’s insurance company.”
“We’ve known that for a while now,” Olivia said.
“Yeah, but did you know that they were also hired by the City Rep for the workers?” Jade said, eyes narrowing, “One of their legal assistants came to our house the other night.”
Emma’s lips tightened.
Jade showed her teeth for a moment in something that could never be confused with a smile. “He asked my dad a lot of questions and made it pretty clear that ‘significant compensation’ was available for people who gave the right answers.”
“What sorts of answers?” Olivia and Emma whispered over one another.
“He didn’t get any further with my dad than that. That guy got a door slammed in his face.” Jade brought her fist down into the palm of her hand for emphasis.
“Sounds shady,” Emma said thoughtfully. “It’s not a fluke that they’re also representing the workers. I’m not a big believer in coincidence, but trading settlement money for testimony isn’t exactly news these days. Turn on the teevee, and you’ll get a crooked lawyer trying to convince you to sue somebody.”
“Hey, they’re not all crooked,” Olivia cut in. “My aunt got a lot of money over bad diet pills once.”
“I bet the lawyer got more,” Emma drolly replied.
“When did you get so cynical about lawyers, Em?”
“Paid liars,” Emma protested.
“Oh, my God!” laughed Olivia. “They’re not all like that.”
Emma sniffed. “Agree to disagree.”
“Are you two done?!” Jade snapped irritably at them. Emma regarded Jade with a raised eyebrow while Olivia glowered back. Both girls stopped talking and returned their attention to Jade.
“Thank you,” Jade said with more composure and made a small throwing-away-gesture that dialed the tension down a notch. “There’s more if you’ll let me finish what I was saying.”
“Sorry, Jade,” Olivia said. “I’ll be good.”
Emma agreed with a nod.
Jade leaned in close. “Okay, so after the legal assistant left, I went out to the back porch and waited in my snoop-spot.” Both Emma and Olivia knew the spot. Jade had discovered it not long after Mrs. Jones had their kitchen remodeled. Her parents would talk over all manner of Jade-related topics in their cozy new breakfast nook. All of which was very convenient for a curious ear placed right outside the kitchen window but well out of sight.
“My mom and dad showed up in less than five minutes. I could hear the espresso machine cranking up,” Jade said quickly. “My dad ranted for a few minutes before my mom finally got him to calm down. There were at least three or four words in his rant that would have gotten me seriously grounded, though.”
“So, what did he say?” Emma pressed.
“You know I don’t talk like that, Em.”
“Not the swear words, Jade! What did he tell your mom?” Emma raised her voice.
Jade smiled and nodded before lowering her voice. “Radcliff’s firm wasn’t hired to be the rep for the workers straight away. There were at least two other law firms that were in line to have that job,” Jade said seriously, “They both suddenly declined the job.”
“How did your dad know any of this?” Emma asked.
“That’s the weird part,” Jade replied as if expecting the question. “He told my mom, ‘Montega was keeping an eye on the situation.’ The only ‘Montega’ I know is a priest at our church.”
“Someone you don’t know then,” Olivia suggested.
“Probably,” Jade agreed but didn’t sound convinced. She took a deep breath, and Emma noted something odd cross her friend’s expression as she continued, “My dad is pretty sure that the fire was intentional but doesn’t think that Rai’s family did it.”
“I see where you’re going with this,” Emma said and shook her head. “As much as I dislike Kendra and her whole family, I doubt they’d burn down someone’s business.”
“I don’t think that either,” Jade agreed with a suspicious edge to her tone. “But I do believe that they're completely capable of taking advantage of the situation by trying to help the Aois’ business fail here in Wimberley.”
Emma was about to ask what would the Radcliffs want with the Aois, but everyone started heading back inside. Jad
e grabbed Emma’s arm as Olivia headed off. “The Radcliffs have been trying to buy something for years now, but the Aois weren’t selling.”
“What on earth could they possibly want that they couldn’t just buy for themselves?” Emma frowned.
Jade shrugged. “That’s a good question,” she replied before heading off to class.
Emma stared at her friend curiously as she walked away.
8
EMMA’S TRAVELS
Emma’s mother remained quiet about the mysterious “Jason” she yelled at over the phone and then denied doing so. She kept insisting it was a mix-up about Millie, estate property, and something about “taking out frustrations.” The likely answer was that her mother was seeing someone and wanted to keep it secret for some reason. Emma wasn’t sure how she felt about her mother dating. From the sound of the heated conversation, if it was dating, it wasn’t going well. The only person she ever yelled at like that was Emma’s dad.
“So, Mom,” Emma began as she served herself during dinner, “I want you to know that I’m okay with you dating.”
Cassandra paused and looked at Emma, taking a seat across from her. “Where is this coming from?”
“Dad’s been gone for like two years, now? Maybe it’s time to move on. His loss,” Emma said, trying to sound casual and then took a bite of pot roast. She barely finished chewing and added, “You got anyone in mind?”
Emma watched her mom pour an uncomfortable full glass of wine for herself. “What’s going on?” Cassandra queried in her best concerned “mother tone” between sips.
“Nothing, I swear!” she countered. “I just want you to know that if you decided to start dating, I’m cool with it. But, I would like to be on board if you had something going on already.”
“Oh?” her mom responded dryly. “Why the sudden interest in me dating?”
“I just don’t want to get blindsided,” Emma said. “You know, we’ve never talked about it.”
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