Hotwire

by Cindy M. Hogan

  I rolled my eyes. I thought about my bad behavior to Jericho and hated the idea of having to eat crow and be nice to him. Maybe I could approach Mikado. He seemed like a more civil option. “What about Mikado?”

  “Does that guy ever talk?” Halluis said.

  “He’s not the one who called that person.” Ace yawned. “As much as you hate it, it has to be Jericho.”

  I put my head in my hands and sighed, resigned.

  “I still don’t like it,” Jeremy said. “I’d rather limit her exposure to that sociopath than increase it, but I see no other option, yet. Halluis, just stick with Christy and give her the protection she needs. And Christy, there’s no need to become his girlfriend. Just…get close to him.”

  “She’s already got his attention, why not go full force and get as much from him as she can?” Halluis argued. “She’ll be able to get a lot closer to him as his girlfriend than as an acquaintance.”

  Strain registered on Jeremy’s face. An argument ensued, with Halluis trying to shout over Jeremy’s concerns. I turned to Ace for some support. Ace gave me an apologetic look, but kept his mouth shut.

  Jeremy hit his hand on the table and said, “Enough!” Then he turned to me. “Get in the good graces of Jericho as fast as you can. Not as his girlfriend. At the same time, work hard on Shareweather and see if you can’t entice him into taking you on. Then wow him. Not in the unbelievable sense. Fail here and there, but show him you’re a quick learner and would be not only a valuable member of the team, but someone he needs to introduce to the higher ups. Do it fast and then get the heck out.”

  Exasperated sighs sounded from Halluis as he shook his head; he obviously wanted me to forget about Shareweather.

  “I think it’s best if we put a record out there on you as a known car thief. You can use that as an in.” Jeremy tapped one finger slowly on the table. “Ace, could you get on that as well? And we need a better way to track the cars.”

  Even though I thought Halluis was right, my loyalty to Jeremy made me say, “I like Jeremy’s plan. I think it’s the safest and most likely the fastest route to the top. I played with Jericho tonight, and I’m not sure if it was the right move—I may have burned some bridges there. If I made the wrong move, that relationship could take a while to sweeten. Jeremy’s plan gives me two ways in. I can always abandon one if need be.” Jeremy’s face softened, and he winked at me. I turned to the other agents. “If for some reason Shareweather doesn’t take the bait, I’ll be rebuilding the bridge with Jericho.” I swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump lodged in my throat.

  Chapter 10

  Once inside the school the next day, I heard a guitar playing and someone singing along. It sounded amazing, and I peeked in the door where the sound was emanating from. Carson sat on a chair in the middle of the room, playing and singing his heart out. I hung onto the doorjamb and listened.

  “You like what you’re hearing?” a familiar voice whispered into my ear, hot breath tickling my neck.

  I started, opened my eyes, and turned to see Jericho grinning at me, carrying a guitar in his hand and passing me by. I suppressed a shudder, took deep breath, and said, “Hey.” He sat next to Carson and joined him, their guitars blending to make an even more beautiful sound. It was shocking to hear Jericho add his voice to Carson’s and having them complement each other perfectly. Jericho turned to look at me, which must have caught Carson’s attention because he turned also.

  I felt my eyes round as they both smiled at me. The juxtaposition of the two was mind-blowing. Jericho looked at me like a wolf looks at his prey, while Carson looked at me like he was reuniting with a long-lost friend. It seemed I hadn’t ticked Jericho off enough to scare him away. I could move forward with him. I was about to go up and sit with them, but Jeremy’s voice rang in my ears. I should get in Jericho’s good graces but hit Shareweather hard. Since it seemed Jericho still had me in his sights, I wouldn’t need to suck up to him yet.

  The five minute warning bell rang, and I realized I’d missed my opportunity to check on the shop and possibly run into S-Dub and let him pull out of me that I needed money. I’d just have to make that happen in shop class. In the interest of mending torn fences, I waved sweetly to the boys and then took off for personal finance class.

  I made sure to not only acknowledge, but smile and say hi to both Karina and Gina. If S-Dub asked about me, I wanted the people I knew were on his team to like me. Karina had a bruised-up face with a couple stitches on her chin. My chest heated up when I thought about how Karina had been injured. To think a grown man had hit her hard enough to cut her chin made me want to scream. At least I knew she’d gotten medical attention.

  I wondered if the girls had made their schedules around each other. They probably had all the same classes. They sat in the back of the room, however, and the only open seat for me was in the front. Personal finances numbed my mind. Anyone with half a brain would face a comatose state during it. I pretended to listen while I pondered how to get to the guy above S-Dub in the least amount of time.

  I made sure to make it on time for my next class, and much to my surprise, Viktor walked right up to me and said, “Hey, I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to diss on your friends.”

  I was so shocked, I couldn’t speak.

  “So, do you accept my apology or not?”

  This was the most menacing way I’d ever seen someone offer an apology. I nodded.

  “Good. I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with me tonight?” His face changed again, his nice one returning.

  Was he kidding? I not only didn’t like Viktor, but it would take away time that I needed to work on the case. I’m sure my eyes flashed a bit too much, because his eyes narrowed slightly, and I thought he was about to lash out at me when Carson joined the conversation.

  “Hey, Viktor. Any way you could pick me and my date up tonight? My sister has dibs on the car.”

  Viktor’s eyes reluctantly moved to light on Carson.

  Carson was going to be there? Carson and Viktor were friends? Had I misjudged Carson?

  “Sure, if,” Viktor swung his face back to me, “I can talk newbie here into being my date. I can’t go to Jericho’s senior dinner stag, but I’ve discovered I just can’t stand the thought of going with anyone but Amber. If she says no, I don’t know what I’ll do.” His eyes drilled into mine, something of a warning flickering through them.

  At the mention of Jericho’s name, my mind changed completely. “You know what? I’d love to.” I smiled, unable to keep smugness from entering my eyes. It would be good to spend time with Jericho outside of school.

  Viktor stood there, a smirk on his stupid face. Did I see glee in them?

  “You’d love to?” Viktor took a step closer to me.

  “That’s what I said.” I smiled up at him, genuineness seeping from me, even though I didn’t feel that at all. “I’ll have to make sure my parents are okay with it, but yeah, sure.”

  “Awesome,” Carson said, walking away. “See you tonight.”

  “Where do you live?” Viktor asked me, not suspecting a thing.

  “I’ll just meet you there.”

  “It’s far, way out on Long Island. We’re carpooling out there.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Why don’t you want me to come to your house? Don’t you want your parents to meet me?”

  “It’s not that,” I said a bit too quickly.

  “What is it, then?”

  I was silent.

  “Forget it,” he said, waving his hand in the air and walking away.

  I rolled my eyes and reached out, taking his arm. I hated that I couldn’t let him walk away. “Look, I just don’t want you to see where I live. Okay?” I bit my lip and brought an embarrassed flush to my cheeks as I leaned on a wall of lockers. If he was friends with Jericho, maybe he could spread the word that I was poor.

  He blew air out of his nose and said, “Hmmm.” He eyed me
like a cat looking over its prey. “I don’t care where you live.” I could tell by his tone that he did.

  “Why don’t we meet at some subway hole or something?”

  “All right. Wear something warm—sometimes we play night games when we go to his house.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Wait. Whose house?”

  “Jericho’s.”

  This was too good to be true. I would have to let Ace know ASAP that I needed a bunch of bugs. Not only would I be in close proximity to Jericho, I’d have access to his house.

  “I’m gonna be late. See you tonight.” His dress shoes clacked on the shiny tile floor as he walked away. He had a strut that I’m sure brought girls to their knees. Something about the way he walked was familiar, but I couldn’t place it—it gave me an eerie feeling, like there was something I should remember about it, but I couldn’t think what. Maybe it was just the generally creeped out feeling I got around Viktor—my insides felt like they were full of worms. I so didn’t want to be “close” to Viktor at all. I wished it’d been Carson that had invited me. I shook my body, trying to rid it of the awful feelings that guy gave me. He had an aura of danger around him. Good thing I was who I was. I could handle him.

  I heard a lot of kids talking about the party at Jericho’s house and felt a bit of comfort in knowing it wouldn’t be an intimate group. I texted a coded message to Ace at the brownstone to work on getting me some techie gadgets for my date and let everyone know of the lucky turn of events.

  Jeremy texted back. It’s a school night. You could refuse. We could refuse.

  I laughed. It’s at Jericho’s. That should make him excited to get some real traction on this case.

  He texted back. Even more reason for you not to go.

  I gritted my teeth. We’d been over this. Jeremy was my handler, so I was glad he was looking out for my safety, but he also needed to trust me. I tucked the phone away. There was no point arguing about it anymore—we both knew I had to go.

  I slid into P.E. and took a seat just as the teacher, Mrs. Moore, walked into the studio from her office.

  “Lucky,” Carson whispered and sat down next to me. I guessed we were both lucky not to be late.

  I hadn’t noticed that he was in my P.E. class until that moment.

  He leaned over to me, whispering. “Did everything work out…you know, with your friend last night? I was worried about it all night.”

  “Yes, thanks to you! I got her to the hospital. She’s going to be fine.”

  He smiled slightly. “So, I uh, I didn’t realize you and Viktor—”

  “Don’t worry, darling,” I said, in a tart tone, reminiscent of the dance. “He was in a pinch and needed a date. I didn’t have one, so I obliged. Too bad you didn’t think to ask me before he did.” I raised an eyebrow at him, smirking. I couldn’t help but think about his whispered words at the dance. I had to turn things around and help him see me as a friend only.

  The teacher, Mrs. Moore, cleared her throat. “I must say that I am extremely pleased with your efforts at the dance yesterday. Many of you tried some of the dances out. Yes, it was me who forced the deejay to play them. You were very brave. Most of you, however, didn’t try. Just so that we are clear, I must see steady improvement over the next three weeks before the practical exam. Jensen, I need you, Michelle, and Danica to work with me. We’ve got a long way to go. Now, Shelly and Aman, please demonstrate the correct way to samba.”

  Shelly and Aman stood without a second’s pause and moved to the open floor of the studio while Mrs. Moore started the music. I hoped I wouldn’t still be at the school in three weeks and had a hard time paying attention. All I could think about was going to Jericho’s house and what luck I’d had in securing an invitation. After the demonstration, Mrs. Moore started the class in on clapping. After a good thirty seconds of applause, Mrs. Moore, said. “Now, it is your turn. You all need to work on looking like Shelly and Aman.” She clapped her hands and said, “Up, up. Everyone up.”

  “I, too,” Carson said, offering me his hand, “wish you had been here two weeks ago when I asked Laura to be my date.”

  Had he been thinking about my comment that whole time? I had to do something to make him see where we had to stand.

  “I would have taken you in a heartbeat.” He pulled me into standing position and then up tight to him. I had to lean my head back to prevent it from smacking into his. I cleared my throat.

  “Listen, Carson. I need—”

  The music started, and he grinned before putting us into samba starting position. “Can we talk after this?”

  I knew this class was important to him. I’m sure he didn’t want to get in trouble because of me. I’d have the talk with him after we danced. I nodded.

  “Let’s knock ‘em dead.” I thought I might die trying to keep up with him. In fact, Mrs. Moore stopped us and gave me a quick private lesson on swinging my hips and arms in the most unnatural ways to make us look like we were dancing the same dance. I couldn’t imagine ever being at an event where I would actually dance this suggestive of a dance, but as I looked around, I noticed that all twenty in the class took it very seriously, though only a few were actually able to do it. It seemed most of these boys had never danced any ballroom before and, while I had, with this dance, I felt as they probably did.

  I let out a sigh of relief once the song ended. “Sorry I was such a lame partner. I’ve never learned the samba before. I felt like an idiot.” I breathed hard and brushed my arm across my forehead.

  “We can’t be perfect at everything, but one thing’s for sure, no one was critiquing your abilities,” he said, pulling me close to him. “I just like having you in my arms.” I saw a flash of his perfectly straight white teeth before he pushed away from me, his hand sliding down my arm to my hand. “Let’s get a drink.” I followed him, my mind whirring with questions about this guy.

  Could he get me closer to Jericho and if so, how? Was he a player like Viktor, just smoother so that he didn’t seem like a parasite? He grabbed a clean hand towel from a stack next to the sink and wiped his neck and face. I followed suit, but only dabbed at my sweat. I took a long draw on the water shooting out of the drinking fountain, and Carson did, too. I hadn’t noticed his beautifully bronzed skin until I saw him in the light of that room. His muscled arms looked like they could wrap around a girl and keep her safe. Too bad we lived totally different lives. Too bad I didn’t feel for him what he apparently felt for me. I pulled him away from everyone.

  “Listen, Carson. You and me?” I moved my hands toward him and back to me several times. “It would never work.”

  “What are you talking about?” He frowned.

  I’d have to be totally clear and leave no ambiguity. “I think of you as a friend. Nothing more. I mean, I see you in my life as a very good friend or best friend, just not as a boyfriend.” I bit my lip waiting for his response.

  “You like someone else?” He leaned back.

  I did, so I nodded. “Are we okay, then?” I raised my eyebrows.

  He curled his top lip over his teeth and then, sighing, said, “Yes.” He nodded a few times. “I don’t like it, but yes.”

  I grinned. “Good, because you make me laugh, and I love to laugh.” I grabbed his arm and led him back to the dance floor for more practicing.

  I was bushed when class was over, but I didn’t want to miss the chance of asking Carson what I could expect at Jericho’s.

  “So, Jericho lives out on Long Island. Is he one of the super rich in one of those amazing mansions out there?” I laughed quietly.

  “Actually, yes.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Nope. They own something like sixty acres. You can’t even see the neighbors from his house. It’s crazy gargantuan. I’ve been there a lot, and I don’t think I’ve even seen all the grounds. They even own a private island. It’s crazy.”

  “Wow! And you’d never know it.”

  “Uh. Have you met the same Jericho I kno
w?”

  “I mean, he’s not that different is he?”

  “Trust me, he is. No one can have a bedroom the size of most people’s houses and be normal.”

  “If you don’t like him, why do you go to his parties?”

  “He didn’t used to be as psycho as he is now. We grew up together. Not that we lived near him. We just happened to go to the same preschool and have been in the same schools ever since. I probably wouldn’t go to this party if it was a regular one, but this is the senior bash. I wouldn’t miss it, even if it is held at Jericho’s family mansion.”

  I wanted to ask about it being the senior bash, but I had to stay on target. I needed more info on Jericho before tonight. “So he has a huge room huh?” Carson nodded. “So I’m assuming he has servants and all that jazz, too?”

  “At least a hundred of them. All at his beck and call.”

  “Well—”

  He didn’t let me finish. “I’d love to keep chatting, really, but I have guitar lessons in fifteen minutes, and it’s twenty minutes away.”

  “Oh, sorry,” I said, giving him an exaggerated frown.

  “Call me later. We can chat, as friends, as long as you’d like.” He ran off.

  The halls were practically empty. With no one to hit up for information on Jericho, I headed for the nearest hole.

  ***

  I didn’t have a chance to rest when I got back to our brownstone.

  I found Ace in the back room on a computer.

  “Ace! I thought I was all alone. Where is everyone?”

  “Jeremy’s at headquarters, and Halluis is working with a team on getting the repeaters that we need to set up from Long Island to get the feed from these little babies.” He pointed to a bunch of little items on his desk. “Your wish is my command.”

  “I guess it’s safe to say that Jericho’s life is about to be invaded. His secrets are our secrets.”

  “You got it.” Ace taught me how to use the devices he’d created, and we practiced different things I could do to gain access to Jericho’s room and what to do if I got caught—one of which included me sailing onto his bed and pretending I wanted to hook up with him. I didn’t even give that option a second thought.