by Harper Lin
Tom chuckled and squeezed my hand.
“Oh, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. They’ve got hot dogs, nachos with cheese, slices of cheese pizza.”
“You had me at hot dogs.” I smiled happily.
When we got to the Bibich football field, we were just in time for kickoff. The place was packed, and there was so much team spirit that you could cut it with a knife. Everyone was bundled up and cheering madly as the players took the field.
“Hot dog?” Tom asked after we had found a seat on the aluminum bleachers.
“And nachos, and pizza, and a can of pop.”
“Coming right up.” He bounded down the steps as if he had been doing this every day for the past year. I suffered slightly from vertigo and was happy we weren’t up too high.
It was a beautiful night without a cloud in the sky. I peeked around to see if there was anyone I might know, but not surprisingly, I saw a sea of strangers. As I took in the sight of the field, the opposing team’s colors, and the cheerleaders wearing sweatshirts and turtlenecks while still having bare legs, I came across a set of eyes that were definitely trained on me. He smiled.
Now, I’m not going to be falsely modest. I’m not ugly. I’m certainly no beauty like Bea, but my curves are in all the right places. But there was no way this handsome man could have known that since I was wearing a long coat and he was all the way down in the bleachers closer to the field. I didn’t smile back. Instead I searched for Tom and finally spotted him chatting with a couple of guys before he headed back my way with half a cardboard box filled with food.
Before I could say anything, the loudspeaker interrupted.
“Ladies and gentlemen. We’d like to take this time to welcome the newest addition to the Bibich High School faculty. Mr. Hank Tumble!”
I watched as the students went absolutely crazy, clapping and cheering. To get teenagers to do anything other than sulk or complain was a huge accomplishment. The same guy who had been smiling at me just a short while earlier stood up and waved around to the crowd as some of the kids around him patted him on the back and whooped even louder. Once again, his eyes scanned the crowd and found me. He was good-looking in a perfect, male-model way. He waved and smiled broadly.
“Do you know that man?” Tom asked as he sat down.
“Never saw him before in my life,” I admitted.
“Well, he sure looks like he wants to get to know you.”
I rolled my eyes and looked at Tom.
“Please don’t tell me you’re jealous.” I sighed.
“Me? Jealous?” Tom took his seat next to me. “Not at all. I knew I’d be in for some competition sooner or later. I’m ready for it.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together as if he were getting ready to start chopping wood or pulling boulders out of the ground with his bare hands or some other manly task.
Mr. Tumble continued to look in my direction for several more seconds until he finally sat down.
“I got a large pop. I wouldn’t have been able to carry another one. I hope you don’t mind if we share.” He grinned as he handed me the box.
“I don’t have cooties,” I replied. “Soft pretzels, too? This is the best dinner ever.”
Tom scooted closer. We cozied up together, and once again I found myself forgetting about everything else, like Aunt Astrid and the weird snowstorm from last night. It wasn’t until Bibich High School scored their first touchdown that the conversation became much more serious.
“It looks like the whole town had the same idea as us. I’ve never seen a high school game this packed,” Tom said as he unwrapped the silver tinfoil around his second hot dog. “It’s nice to see everyone getting together to make sure the kids feel their support.”
“I agree.” I scooped some nacho cheese on a chip and shoveled it into my mouth. There was nothing quite like hot nacho cheese on a cold winter evening. “It’s really a shame about that boy going missing. My family and I know his mother. She’s so sad. It’s heartbreaking.”
“You mean girl.”
“What?”
“It’s a girl that’s gone missing. Her name is Donna.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Bruce Lyle has been missing for over a week now. His mother said he had been having some trouble at school with some kids and he was also part of the group that accused Mr. Wayne of that stuff,” I whispered.
“What are you talking about?” Tom asked. “The girl, Donna Flint, went missing about three days ago.”
“I’m just telling you what I heard. From the police and from the boy’s mother as well.” I felt as if I should apologize, but Tom put his hand on my arm and looked me square in the eyes. “Bruce Lyle Jr. has been missing for over a week. Just up and disappeared.”
“You’re sure a boy went missing?” he asked.
“One hundred percent.”
“It’s got to be because I am Unincorporated Wonder Falls and you guys are Wonder Falls. Our fire and police and waterworks and road construction are all separate, even though technically we should all be under one umbrella.” Tom rubbed his chin. “I need to talk to your police department. If there have been two disappearances, we’ve got a serious problem on our hands.”
Runaway
In between the downs and the passes and the fouls and the touchdowns—the last of which there was only one from the opposing team—Tom and I talked quietly about the two teens who went missing.
Donna Flint was a sophomore and had just broken up with her boyfriend.
“From what her parents told us, she was not an especially troubled girl,” Tom said. “Just the normal teenage angst. Everything was a drama, but she had good grades, and no one seemed to have anything really negative to say about her. She wasn’t popular, but she wasn’t unpopular, either.”
“Breaking up with a boyfriend can be hard,” I offered. For some reason, the image of Blake Samberg popped into my head, and I felt a sharp twang in my chest. For sure I thought Tom could read my expression, and I prayed he wouldn’t ask me about it. “Especially if it was her first serious boyfriend.”
“From what her mom said, she had been the one to do the breaking up.”
“I’m assuming you checked the boy out? Teenage angst and all?” I shook my head, thinking of how cruel and selfish teenagers could be.
“We did, and he was upset but not enough to harm anyone.” Tom lifted his eyebrows. “Besides, he was lanky and on the short side. Donna could have probably held her own in a fight. Plus, he was with his parents at the movies the night she disappeared. I didn’t get the vibe the ex-boyfriend was anything more than that. Just an ex-boyfriend.”
Tom said Donna was supposed to go to her job at a burger place after school but never showed up. They checked with her boss, who said she was a responsible employee and got along well with everyone.
“How did she get to her job?” I asked.
“She walked. It was only about five blocks from her house,” Tom answered. “It really is like she vanished.”
“Runaway is out of the question?” I leaned closer to Tom. “Bruce Lyle’s mom said that he was gone but that none of his clothes were missing. No coat. No shoes, even. It was like he was just plucked up and taken away as is.”
“Donna just had what she wore to school that day and her book bag. Nothing more.” Tom sighed. “How about some more nachos?”
“Soft pretzel?” I asked. As crazy as it may seem, I’d had enough nachos. Tom gave me a wink that made me blush. He stood and made his way down to the concession stand.
Bibich was losing by one touchdown, but it didn’t seem to be dampening the spirits of everyone in attendance. I looked around and saw the groups of teenage cliques and chatting parents and thought nothing had changed since the days when I went to high school.
As I adjusted my scarf, I saw that Mr. Tumble was again looking in my direction. In return for eye contact, I got a wave and grin as though I had invited him to dinner or something. It was a little unnerving. There was somethin
g about this Mr. Tumble that rubbed me the wrong way. He wasn’t ugly, and he certainly hadn’t done anything to make me cringe or clutch my pearls, but there was something in his dark eyes that flashed every so often that made me think of the eyes of a cobra.
“Sorry, they are all out of pretzels.” Tom flopped down next to me.
“That’s okay.” I patted him on the knee. “How about we go to the café for a nightcap?”
He nodded and smiled. As he took my hand and led me carefully down the bleachers, I kept an eye on Mr. Tumble. He was watching us with that same grin on his face.
The kids around him were talking and asking him questions. He was completely accepted by the young crowd, but I could tell that he was more absorbed by Tom and me walking out of the football game. I’m not sure how far he watched, but I will say that I didn’t feel out of his range until we were completely out of the parking lot and heading toward the café.
“So what do you think Bruce and Donna had in common?” I asked as Tom drove. The sound of my own voice startled me.
“That’s a good question,” he mumbled. “Right now, all we know is that they go to the same school.”
“I wonder if they had any of the same classes,” I offered. “Bruce’s mother said he was one of the children involved in the scandal with Mr. Wayne.”
Tom slowed the truck for a second. “The Flints said the same thing. They said that he had made inappropriate comments to her but that it had never progressed to anything further than that.”
“My gosh.” I was used to seeing monsters and ghouls, but to be part of an investigation where the culprit was your average, run-of-the-mill pervert was a totally different ballgame for me. “That’s definitely a commonality, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” Tom gripped the steering wheel tightly as he drove. “The parents didn’t make a big issue of it. I don’t know what Bruce’s experience with the man was, but if it was something big, Mr. Wayne would be in even hotter water. It might’ve been worth it to silence the boy.”
“You don’t think he took those kids?”
“A desperate man will do desperate things.” Tom would know better than I. “If he was confused about the roles of teachers to children, then heaven knows what he thought he should do in the face of possible arrest and charges being brought.”
“My gosh. I don’t mean to sound so Pollyanna-ish, but the guy had to do this at Christmastime? It isn’t enough he has hurt these kids but now has to seek revenge during the holidays when families are together the most. It makes me sick.”
“Well, the guy is innocent until proven guilty.”
“Yikes!” I had completely forgotten about the incident at the Brew-Ha-Ha and quickly filled Tom in on the details.
We finally pulled up in front of the café just as Aunt Astrid and Bea were cleaning up for the night.
“Can you spare us a leftover brownie or maybe some of that chocolate fudge Kevin made this morning?” I smiled, leaning over the counter. “I was just telling Tom about what happened the other day with Mr. Mavery and Mr. Wayne.”
“What an ordeal,” Aunt Astrid exclaimed.
“It was re-donk-u-lous,” Bea added as she served up two tiny one-inch squares of fudge on a tiny teacup saucer. “Enjoy.”
“If that’s how the adults are acting, we aren’t going to get anywhere with them.” Tom looked at us. “I hate to say this, but the kids probably have more answers than any of us on the police department—either department—put together. Bea, do you think Jake would talk to me about this?”
“I know he would,” Bea replied. “I’ll tell him to expect you to drop by the precinct tomorrow if that works for you.”
“Tell him I’ll be there first thing. Thanks, Bea.” He popped the square of fudge in his mouth but within seconds was regretting that decision.
“Unless you have teeth made of one-hundred-percent sugar, usually you just nibble chocolate this rich.” I laughed. I had to. He was working his jaw like a dog that had stolen a lick of peanut butter.
After a few more minutes of small talk, Tom offered to drive me home. Aunt Astrid and Bea were leaving together, so I waved good-bye. As soon as I got in the car, Tom asked me about the Policemen’s Christmas Ball.
“Have you got a dress?”
“I have something in mind,” I lied. I hadn’t been able to pick out a Christmas present for Tom, nor had I been able to find a dress that I liked for this fancy, formal affair. Now, with this disappearance of two kids, I was afraid Christmas was going to be shanghaied by the Ghost of Indecision.
“Maybe I could come in and you could show it to me,” he said innocently but with a naughty smirk.
“I think you are just going to have to wait. I still need to find the right accessories and shoes and things.”
“All right. But I won’t wait for this.” He leaned in and kissed me on the lips. I would have liked to stay there in his warm truck, pretending we were teenagers ourselves, but I was too distracted to fully enjoy myself. I kept thinking about those two missing teens.
They had Mr. Wayne in common. He was out on bail, and they were now missing. That looked pretty suspicious, but of course, the police couldn’t just lock him up with no evidence.
“I think I better go in before you lead me down the path of scandal and destruction.” I eased away from Tom, who held my hands tightly.
“I don’t need to tell you how crazy I am about you, do I, Cath?”
“Maybe you don’t need to,” I said. “But it’s nice to hear.”
He scooted closer to me again.
“I’m crazy about you, Cath.” He kissed my cheek. “Really crazy about you.” Then he kissed my other cheek. “So much so I don’t even want to think of a day I don’t see you even for just a few minutes.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” I replied. “Would you carry my books home from school tomorrow?”
“I’ll stop by the café after I talk with Jake.”
I nodded and gave Tom a full kiss on the lips before hopping out of the truck and giddily shuffling to the front door.
“You’re late.” Treacle looked at me sternly from the edge of my small foyer before he busied himself licking his paw.
I shut the door and locked the dead bolt.
“Late?” I peeled off my coat and hung it up so I could pick up Treacle. “Late for what?”
“Late to let me out for an hour or two.” Treacle looked at me seriously.
“I’ll let you out now. Just be back in an hour, and I’ll…”
“I’m not going out into the dark.”
“What?” I was shocked. Treacle not going out at night was like me turning down a cheeseburger. It never happened. “Why not?”
“There’s a cat out there.”
“So? You’ve dealt with some of those ornery cats before. I know you can handle yourself.”
“No. There’s a cat out there I haven’t seen yet.” Treacle purred against me. “I’ll wait until morning to go out.”
“Okay, big kitty. You stay with me.” This was unusual, for sure. I knew Treacle, and he rarely, if ever, backed down from a confrontation with another cat. Sometimes he’d win the turf war, and the extra few feet of territory would be his to roam freely on. Sometimes he’d lose and be missing a piece of his ear or a clump of hair from his tail. Either way, he never backed down due to the size or attitude of the opposing cat. This beast must have been a bit meaner and larger than Treacle had been used to.
“There is nothing wrong with walking away from a fight,” I said encouragingly.
“Or running away?” he asked with a serious tint to his eyes making them an even more opaque green.
“Yes, honey. It’s okay to run away from a fight at times, too.” He didn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore, so I didn’t push it. I assured him he could go out in the morning if he liked or even come with me to the café.
“The café sounds good.”
“Then it’s a date, handsome.”
S
piderwebs
The next day as Treacle and I stepped outside and walked across the street to Bea’s house, I had the feeling something was going to happen.
“Do you feel that?” I asked Bea as we walked down the sidewalk. When the weather was nice, we preferred to walk to the café. Today was cold, and we were bundled up in scarves and earmuffs and gloves, but the sun was shining, and there was no breeze of any kind. Not even the slightest rustle of the trees.
“I don’t feel anything,” Bea admitted, looking at me then tilting her head as if she were listening. “Nope. Just seems like a regular morning to me. Maybe it’s…no. I won’t say it.”
“Say what?”
“Maybe it’s…I don’t know… the feeling of love?” Bea swung her hips with her steps and pouted her lips. “You did seem extra calm last night when you guys stopped in the café. Relaxed, even. That isn’t your usual modus operandi.”
“You are off your rocker.”
“Well, if you aren’t, then I sure do feel sorry for Tom because he is totally smitten with you, and I’d hate to see such a fine-looking man with such a good head on his shoulders go to waste.”
“Nobody’s going to waste. We aren’t at the love stage yet. Come on. It’s been just a handful of months, and you know these things take time. How long did it take you to know Jake was the one?”
“Not long. But I’m not talking about Jake and me; I’m talking about you and Officer Thomas Warner.” Bea slipped her arm through mine and squeezed it. “I’m just happy to see you happy. Let’s be honest, I know you had feelings for Blake, maybe still do a little, but he just didn’t move fast enough. That’s what I told him when he asked about you and…”
“Blake asked about me?” I was slightly embarrassed by my blatant interest. I really wished that I could shrug it off. I knew for a fact that Darla Castellan, that bad girl from my past, would’ve been able to move on without looking back even once. Of course, she had a heart of stone, ice in her veins, and probably several demonic voices in her head, so that might be a contributing factor. But I wasn’t like that. I wanted to know.
