Under Cover
Page 18
“Dad!” I screamed. He jumped out of the way just as Austen shot backward, spun around, and drove off.
Ben emerged from his truck. “Is he gone?”
Dad said, “Gone.” He turned to Liam. “Where in hell were you?”
“It’s a long story,” Liam said. “Let’s get out of here. He’ll be back.”
I hugged Ben and he hugged me. “Your beautiful truck,” I murmured.
“As long as it runs.” He looked to see if anything dripped underneath. We all climbed in and he started it. The front was bashed and the door had bullet holes, but it ran. Dad insisted on sitting in front. He thought I would be safer in back with Liam, who directed Ben to Salt Street.
We all watched carefully all the way. Austen had a habit of materializing suddenly.
We made it to the Mulvaney house, then had to tell the whole story to Mei and Mrs. Mulvaney.
“How did you hook up with Dad?” I asked Ben.
“Your grandmother,” he said, which didn’t surprise me, “got worried when you weren’t home. She thought you might be with me. Then she thought you might be in Hudson Hills. I remembered the phone number and she called them.”
“You remembered the phone number?”
“Yeah.”
Ben was good at that. He remembered the address, too. Grandma lent him her GPS. He found the Mulvaney house and they were in a panic because Liam wasn’t there. They called the police, but just then the school exploded so the police had other things to deal with. That left Ben and Dad on their own.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Phil Reimer found me at the Waterside restaurant. I was there with my dad, and Mom, and Grandma, and Liam, Mrs. Mulvaney, and Mei. Dad made sure to invite Ben and also Maddie. Ben had to take off from work. He said it was worth it for my birthday.
That time it really was my birthday. My seventeenth. They all knew how close I had come to not having it.
Reimer came up to our table and greeted everyone, even those he didn’t know. Grandma batted her lashes. Dad, ever generous, invited him to pull up a chair and join us.
Reimer declined. He had only come to deliver some information. He’d already gotten plenty from Liam and me and the story of our ordeal would be in Wednesday’s edition.
He looked at Liam and then at me. “I wanted you guys to know that the perp has been apprehended.”
“Austen?” I said.
“Aus?” said Liam. “Austen Storm?”
Maddie flushed and looked down at her plate.
“He’s in custody?” I said.
Dad was quicker. “Make sure he stays there.”
“He will,” said Reimer. “The judge denied bail. That last stunt took the cake, blowing up a school. Luckily, nobody was inside.” He looked again, meaningfully, at Liam and me. “As it was,” he added, “there were serious injuries from falling debris.”
Liam sank down into his chair. “It was Cree. She got us out, just in time.”
“You helped,” I said. “You got us out. Did you know that was going to happen?”
“I figured something was. I thought it would be Aus coming to finish us off. Not the whole school. I think Johnny had some idea.”
“Is that what he snitched about?” I asked.
“He didn’t snitch, I don’t think,” Liam replied. “Aus thought he would.”
“But why did he do it? I mean Aus.”
Reimer leaned closer. He knew all about our escape, but he hadn’t yet heard the full story. Liam gave it to him and to all the rest of us.
“See, they warned Aus a few times that if he didn’t shape up, he wouldn’t graduate. Being Aus, instead of bringing up his grades, he boasted that he’d show them. We all heard him, but only Johnny had the sense to figure out he meant something really serious.”
“Serious is an understatement,” Reimer said.
“Monstrous,” added Grandma, and batted her lashes.
“How did they find him?” I asked.
“They had a tip,” Reimer said. “Some cronies of his. McCallum and—Gravich, is it?”
“Gravitz,” I said. Sam and Freddie. Good old Freddie. I glanced at Liam, who said nothing.
“Just thought I’d let you know,” Reimer told us. “You can rest easy now. And, uh—Happy Birthday, Lucretia.”
After Reimer left, Dad said, “I rather like the name Lucretia. That was my idea.”
“Was not,” Mom countered. “It was my idea and you agreed to it.”
“Is that what happened?” Dad seemed confused.
“People, please,” I said. “No fighting.”
“That’s not fighting,” Grandma said. “You should have heard your Gramps and me.”
I was glad I hadn’t. Ben, who sat next to me, squeezed my hand under the table. We would never fight. Not ever. He smiled at me just as the whole table burst into “Happy Birthday.”
Our waitress, followed by the rest of the wait staff, came from the kitchen with a lighted cake.
“To Lucretia.” Dad held up his glass. “She almost didn’t make it to see this day. May there be thousands more.”
“Happy ones,” added Mei.
Ben gave my hand another squeeze. Then he leaned close and kissed my ear.
The End
About the Author
Caroline Crane began her long writing career with six award-winning books for young adults. After that came adult novels of mystery and suspense and one nonfiction book, Murder and Mayhem in the Catskills, for The History Press. Her novels have been translated into several languages, and some were book club selections. One, Summer Girl, became a made-for-TV movie starring Kim Darby and Barry Bostwick.
These days Caroline writes for both adults and young adults, and also has some plans for middle-grade fiction. She lives in the rural Catskill area, not far from her daughter and family, and shares a home with her dog and cat.
Caroline invites you to visit her website at carolinecrane.com
Other work by the author at Melange Books, Fire and Ice
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