Then Sam says, “It’s eleven-thirty.”
Sandy, the main player today, is a freaking light bulb. I say, “Tone it down. They’ll figure something is up.”
I get lost in watching her face, trying to figure out how she does it. She stops smiling for one thing; not frowning, just uninterested. Her eyes, which had been focused on me, now rove around the mall, bored. Her shoulders hunch a bit and her bouncy step becomes slow and steady.
“Is this better?” she asks, in a pout not at all like her natural voice.
“You’re too good at this.”
I recap, suddenly nervous. “Remember, this is just a food-court meeting. Get what we can and then signal Sam. He’ll come get you and you both exit. Got it?” Sam and Sandy ignore me. They know what to do.
Sam the Nervous Non-actor says, “It’s time.” He crosses the mall away from us.
I drop back into the short bathroom hallway as Sandy steps up to the sunglasses booth. During Iowa winters, sunglasses aren’t a big item. The college guy working the booth is thrilled.
More people stream through the nearby movie entrance—kids, couples, singles, and then Mandy, Tammy, and Vampy. I step further back in the hall and out of sight. Only my head sticks out.
Sandy’s back is to the food court. I give my finger-swipe-against-the-nose con sign from The Sting that she insists we use. She studied the movie last night to prepare for her role. Sam is pretending to not mind Sandy’s new infatuation with Robert Redford.
Sandy loses her bored look and excitement bursts out. Then she locks back into acting mode. Eat your heart out, Jennifer Lawrence.
She sets the sunglasses back and gives the disappointed salesclerk a smile. Heading toward the food court, she pretends to be looking for Sam. Mandy, Tammy, and Vampy are in the Hungry Panda line. Sandy joins them, oozing into their group with ease. Trays in hand, they set up at a round table on the raised circle platform, about two feet higher than the mall floor. It’s the natural throne for the queen bees overseeing their mall fiefdom. Sam absorbs himself in a shop window: Victoria’s Secrets. The Sam I Love is staring at mannequins wearing bras and thongs. Flustered, he electron-flips to a nearby men’s apparel window instead.
That’s when the plan goes haywire, at least my part of it.
“Hey. You blew me off—again.” Gavin with the Emerald Green Eyes says beside me.
I fall into gorgeous emerald eyes. “Hi. Yeah, things got out of control—again. Should have texted you but I don’t have your phone number.”
“Let’s fix that. I’m meeting Jimmy and Sally for food and then movies. Come with me? If you don’t…You know, odd man out.”
Trapped, I say the only thing possible. “Sure. Lunch sounds good, but no movie. I’m meeting…Trish later.” The lie doesn’t roll off my tongue the way Sandy can do it, but it works. Telling Emerald Green Eyes I’m on a surveillance mission? No way.
His hand is kinda moist. It’s like I’m his lifeline or something and where had that stupid thought come from? We decide on an American-anything-goes place. Gavin picks a burger and fries and I get a veggie wrap, thinking I can snarf it down fast. I lead him up the steps to the raised area and we sit near the queen bee table.
My sudden appearance doesn’t slow Sandy’s loud obnoxious lament over horrid Mr. Conrad teaching American History. The queen bees look affronted; someone unworthy sat at their table. Sandy’s blown through their defenses; a force of nature when she wants something. Vampy V keeps predatory eyes on the mall traffic. If she’s looking for Daniel, she can forget it. And she really does look like a vampire.
Sitting with my back mostly to Sandy’s, she doesn’t see me. Almost bored, Gavin plays with his French fries. Conversationalist, I’m not. Naturally, he settles on pep band and my being kicked out.
Behind me, Sandy continues, “Did you guys get a call from Sam? About Julia? He and I have been going out, you know. Anyway, he’s researching a teen suicide post. He won’t use her name, but he’s trying to get everything he can. You knew her, right? From the stable?”
And at Sandy’s table the conversation goes sort of like this: Yes, Sam called. Yes, we talked to him. No, we didn’t know anything about her wanting to kill herself.
“What confuses Sam is that no one met her boyfriend. Did she make that up like some girls said? That would be ssso ssssad!”
Huh. Actor Sandy switches her elongated ending “s” sounds to the front. Interesting.
Mandy takes the bait: hook, line, and sinker. “We thought so, too, but then we saw them together. He was a complete hunk. I’d hook up with him myself. Julia told us he was sixteen and some college genius or something, but he didn’t look sixteen to me.”
Out of the corner of my eye, Mandy reaches for her designer, Texas-sized purse covered in silver crosses and pulls out her phone. “She had a fit that we saw him. The guy tore out, and Julia stood there screaming at us in front of everyone.”
Tammy says, “That’s when I knew she was crazy. She reamed us out right here in the food court. I think she was on drugs.”
The conversation actually lulls as they think about Julia. How had Julia’s parents missed those signs? If they’d…But what was it Grandma used to say? Something like, “If wishes were horses, everyone would ride.” Yeah, Mom got her love of horses from Grandma, who was a rodeo queen in her youth. Mom wasn’t the only one with a broken heart when I’d switched from riding lessons to MA classes.
Sandy sighs with enough angst to match Jennifer Lawrence at her best. “So it’s true? There was a boyfriend?”
“Oh, yeah.” Mandy punches buttons on her phone and shows it to Sandy. “See, I took a photo. If Julia had known, she would have attacked me. She…she was weird at the end, you know?”
Sandy plays it right. She takes the phone and looks at the photograph like she doesn’t really care. Then she sweeps in for the kill. “Would you mind if I send a copy of this to Sam? He’d like to find the guy and interview him.”
That’s when the drama kicks in again at my table. 3J and Sally are coming from the mall entrance and Gavin, who’s been happy to play with his French fries, snaps out of his boredom and takes my hand. I’ve been holding the veggie wrap midway between the table and my mouth.
With a look toward 3J, he says, “Here, let me help you with that.”
Then he guides the wrap to my mouth. It’s awkward, but intimate. Some of the sauce slips off and lands on my chin. Embarrassed, I start to dab at it with a paper napkin, but he leans in and licks it off. His tongue is slow and sensual, and my heart jumps up to NASCAR levels. Holy crazy crap! Then, he inches his chair closer and his lips shift from near mine to right on top of them. The kiss is long and sweet as his lips flutter over mine. Like last time, my mouth opens a tiny bit and our breaths mingle. It’s suddenly freaking hot. I want out of my coat, out of my shirt, and probably out of my pants.
To the side of me, Sandy stands up and swipes her finger past her nose. Turning her back to the queen bees she sees me and her eyebrows go about a mile high. She recovers fast. “There’s Sam now. Thank you for sending the photo. You’ll tell me if you think of anything else?”
Her words come through thick fog, breaking only because 3J, with his arm around Sally, punches Gavin in the shoulder and the kiss ends—but not quickly. It’s slow and aching as Gavin pulls back, looking down at me. Fluster bunny me says, “I have to go meet Trish.” Liar, liar pants on fire.
Gavin whispers, “Hey, I don’t have your phone number.”
I give it to him, and then tell him to text his. Before I leave him, he takes my hand, pulls out a pen from his backpack, and writes his number on my wrist. The feel as he makes his scratchy marks on my bare skin shoots tendrils into all kinds of private body parts. I have to drag myself away and my nerve ripples won’t fade. In the end, he’s the one who walks away from me.
Twenty
Whe
n I reach the bathroom hallway, Daniel stands huge and frozen, legs spread apart like he’s on a ship’s deck in rough water. His arms cross over his chest in matching pirate mode. And yeah, wouldn’t you know it? He’s got his backpack so there’s a clink. Clink. Clink. Without warning he storms toward me.
I ask, “What are you doing here? Do you want Vampy V to see you?”
That clink, clink, clink never stops. I step in front of him, blocking him. “Turn around and get out of here. And send that text!” The text where he claimed his mom grounded him, but he couldn’t wait until their next meeting.
He asks, “Who was that guy you were with?”
WTF. Now was not the time to discuss Emerald Green Eyes. Finally, I say, “Nobody.”
He tilts his head and snorts. He says, “Get out of here. Victoria won’t let this go. I’m going to do whatever it takes.”
From behind my back, Victoria says, “I was worried you weren’t going to show.” Daniel steps around me. I spin in time to see him wrap his arm around Vampy V and lead her behind one of the mall’s pillars.
I lean around the pillar, and freeze. He’s got Vampy V’s long blond hair in his hand, exposing her pearl earrings. She moans as Daniel presses her against the pillar and locks lips. His tongue cuts off her moan. Victoria’s hand drops to his lower back and tightens on Daniel’s coat.
In my shocked state, it takes a minute to realize that Daniel’s pulled back slowly. He says, “I need a week. Then I’ll be free to call you.”
“I’m not…”
Her protest is cut off when Daniel closes in for another kiss. Again he pulls back. “You don’t threaten me anymore. I set the rules. I’ll call. No more threats, Victoria.”
That makes her angry. Her hand on his back leaps toward Daniel’s face with nails to rake at him. With ease, Daniel grabs her wrist. He kisses her again, and he’s wearing her down. He was right; the text about being grounded wouldn’t have worked—this is.
He pulls away slow. “No more threats, Victoria. I’ll call when I can. Are we clear on that?”
She nods. Her lips are swollen and red.
Daniel pushes it. “Say it. Say you’ll wait and not call or follow me.”
Her voice is husky and deep—not at all like a high school student’s. “I won’t. I promise. I’ll wait.”
“Good.” Then Daniel turns and heads to the exit. With nothing else to do, I trail after him, giving Victoria a shy glance. She doesn’t even notice because her eyes are locked on Daniel’s back.
In the parking lot, Daniel reeks of he-man anger. I get in his face. “What was that about? You were...”
“It got the job done. She’s not going to bug us.”
“But you…How could you…?”
“Told you. Whatever it takes.” His fist strikes the door; the car is an undeserving metal punching bag. His rage makes me back up a couple paces. I really don’t know Daniel at all. Then he turns and leans back against the door to look at me.
His voice drips, yeah drips, with sarcasm. “At least I had a reason. What the hell were you doing with that guy? You forget to tell me you have a boyfriend?” And his hand on his backpack goes clink. Clink. Clink. “Let me explain this straight and on the table. That lie to Victoria was the exception—the only exception. I don’t play games with women and I keep it honest.” I believe him.
Then in separate cars, we head for the Bat Cave to meet the others. I arrive first, take off my coat, and lean back on the sofa with my feet on the coffee table. Daniel shows up with a clink. Clink. Clink. He sits down in an easy chair. He leans forward and continues the conversation from earlier. “Who’s the guy at the mall?”
“A friend.”
He continues the clink. Clink. Clink.
“I’ve known him most of my life. It’s…” I don’t know Daniel at all. We don’t have anything set in stone. I get ticked off with myself. Why am I explaining like I’m guilty with a big embroidered A on my breast? Where does he get off getting all possessive? “It’s none of your business.”
Luckily, Sam and Sandy roar in at that point, ending the discussion. They’ve printed an eight by five photograph and smaller ones for us to carry around. Sandy’s on cloud nine and she should be. We have a photograph of the mysterious Ink.
Sandy takes out her scotch tape and posts the photo on the crime board, labeling it, “Suspect.” And isn’t that satisfying? She takes control; after all it is her discovery. “Okay, first impressions of the photograph?”
We all stare at the smaller photograph in our hands.
I say, “He’s way over sixteen.”
Sam says, “He’s at least nineteen, but probably older. Something about this is hitting my yuck-radar. I mean, Julia was only fifteen. Those e-mails and text messages were really explicit.”
Daniel doesn’t say a word.
I say, “To be honest, take a look at her freshman photograph. The way she’s wearing her makeup and her shaved head make her look a lot older.”
Sandy points to the angel photograph. “She worked hard to dump that angel look.” Then she punches the second photo. “This little girl got buried deep in this new makeover. Bet she changed how she talked too. You know, swearing and talking a lot older than she was. If she was hanging around the queen bees, it wouldn’t take long to do that. Same with the sex angle.”
Daniel shoots out of his chair and starts pacing. If we solve this mystery without him breaking a hand from hitting a concrete wall, I’ll be shocked. I stand in his path. One look from me and he settles down. I turn back to Sam and Sandy. “What matters is getting this creep. Is he a college student? He dummied up the Facebook page and said he’s a student. Is that true?”
Sam digs a tooth into his first knuckle, thinking. Then he points at his laptop screen and the guy’s address. “Has to be. E-mail’s an iacollege.edu tag. To get one you have to be a registered student. He might be gone now, but he was a student.”
Daniel asks. “Can we go through the college records?”
Sam’s quiet for a long time, thinking. Then he says, “Here’s the deal. Privacy rules are huge and the guy’s protected unless we have the police go after him. They’d need a search warrant. Do we try your handler’s contacts, Daniel?”
I don’t like that. “And then what? They tromp all over campus looking for him? It’s a small place. Ink, if he’s still there, will figure it out, cut, and run. That leaves Daniel dangling on the hook. The police can’t infiltrate the campus like we can. No, we canvas the campus ourselves. We show everyone the photograph. Of course, identifying him can take weeks.” That clock ticks in my head, unless I lie and don’t tell Dr. Bartlett, we have until Thursday.
Daniel is frustrated. “The college knows.”
I say, “You’re right. When doing research, you don’t spin your wheels when someone else has the answer. You go to the source. And the source is his college records.”
Sandy asks, “Scam it out of them? The way we got the guy’s photograph from Queen Bee Mandy?”
That seems unlikely to work. I lean back on the sofa thinking. There has to be a way.
Sandy says, “Recruit Gavin.”
***
At the same time, Daniel asks, “Gavin?” I ask, “From the pep bus, Gavin?”
Sandy blinks her eyes. “Seriously? You don’t know? He’s this computer hacker guru. He got into the college database once; I bet he can do it again.”
“My Gavin? My Gavin with the Emerald Green Eyes? Sandy, you never told me that.”
Daniel changes up his poker tell on my words, my Gavin, Fist. Clink. Fist. Clink. Fist. Clink.
Sandy says, “I figured you knew. You’ve known him since kindergarten. He got caught getting into college records and he’s on probation. How can you not know what he does for fun?”
Gavin with the Emerald Green Eyes does computer hacking for
fun? He breaks the law for fun? And then mentally bash my head like a cartoon character. All those times over the years that we’d talked and I hadn’t known that?
Daniel asks, “So who is Gavin?”
Sandy says, “The guy lip-locking Kami in the food court.”
Then Sam the Stupid adds, “And he kissed her by chaos locker.”
I’m not lying. Daniel’s mouth drops open. I feel like a slut. Can’t even say I didn’t kiss back, because I did, both times.
If I don’t say something, my team’s going to fall apart, so I say to Daniel, “Gavin’s a friend. Maybe he’s more than a friend. Is that a problem for you?”
Daniel’s blinks once firmly, then turns to Sandy. “So how do we get Gavin on board? We have to find Julia’s boyfriend, that’s all that counts.”
And don’t I want to climb under a shell and close the front flap like some freaking turtle?
“I can call him.” Sam says. “I’ll use the same angle I used on the suicide phone calls. Anyone have his phone number?”
When Sandy doesn’t step forward with it, I’m stuck. I raise my sleeve to reveal the number Gavin wrote on my wrist. “I’ve got it.”
Daniel huffs like I’m Eve caught in the Garden with the apple. Is that anger or surprise? Then Sam says, “Give it to me and I’ll call him.”
Yeah, that isn’t going to happen. “If he’s good at computer hacking, he won’t be easy. If we scam him and he catches on, he’ll never help us.” Besides, if we bring Gavin on board, he needs to come in with full knowledge. If Gavin breaks the law getting us college records, he has the right to know why.
I say, “No. I’ll call him and set up a time for tonight.” But I’m damned if I do it in front of everyone.
My BFF gets the message. “Hey, Sam and I are going to get some food. We’ll be back soon.”
Chaos Theory Page 13
