“Go out in the Bomb. Tool around the bay a bit.”
She nodded like she understood. Like she knew he did his best thinking when he was out in his boat. On the water.
Jelly didn’t say another word until she had to turn off for home. “You’ll come up with something,” she said. “I’m praying you do.”
Praying. He’d do a little of that while out in the boat too. It was about time he tapped into that source—because Parker was fresh out of ideas.
CHAPTER 28
PARKER WAS ALREADY LATE for dinner by the time he beached the Boy’s Bomb. But with his mom still in Boston working the freelance job, regular mealtimes were a little rare anyway. He raised the outboard, lashed the bow line to a cypress, and mounted his bike on the fly to head home.
But his time out on the water had cleared his head. Wilson might have said it was the fresh salty air, but Parker knew it was the fact that he’d taken the time to actually talk to the God of the universe. He’d gone to the throne, as his dad liked to say. An idea came to mind before he’d headed back to the beach.
Up until that moment, every idea he’d had was about how Parker could keep them apart. He’d been thinking about the whole thing wrong. What if he turned this around so that Kingman and Maria actually wanted to stay away from each other?
His new plan was crazy. Out of the box to the point where it made the tire-flattening event look totally amateur. Everything would have to go just right if his new plan was going to work. There’d be zero margin for mistakes—and he needed to get started pronto. He pedaled past Smallwood’s Store and headed for home like he was being chased by a swarm of angry wasps. Pulling this thing off would be a perfect ending to a really decent day—if he didn’t get stung somehow.
Dad’s truck wasn’t on the driveway, but Parker found a note on the kitchen table.
Mac and cheese in the fridge. Running errands. Will be home late.
Parker pictured the bundle of cash. Imagined Dad off on some remote spit of land jutting into the Everglades somewhere, paying somebody to do something. No matter how hard he tried to conjure up the image, he couldn’t make it seem real. He couldn’t imagine Dad working on a scheme to plant drugs on Kingman—or hiring someone to put the fear of God into him. It wasn’t possible. He’d never known his dad to deliberately do something illegal, especially something that would hurt someone else. There had to be some other plan, but for the life of him, Parker couldn’t figure out what it was. “Dad . . . what are you up to?”
Whatever Dad and Uncle Sammy had planned, likely they were pushing the limits—or if something went wrong, maybe even crossing some kind of invisible boundary that shouldn’t be crossed, right?
Which was why Parker had to get out in front of this. Keep Kingman and Maria apart before his dad did something that would change his life—and Parker’s—forever. Honestly, the sooner they all escaped this place, the better life would be.
Parker slid his dinner into the microwave and hit the timer. He closed his eyes, reviewed the details of his crazy plan, and drew in the delicious smell of the mac and cheese. His stomach turned and rumbled as the plate went round and round.
His phone buzzed with a text message before he’d finished half the meal. Jelly.
She’s meeting him tonight and won’t listen to me. If I tell my dad, she’ll know---and she’ll do something really stupid. I know it. You’ve got to do something. Got a plan yet?
He texted back.
Keep her busy. On my way. Will explain plan when I get there. Meet outside.
He put the plate back in the fridge, left a quick note for his dad, and tore out the door. The plan was out there, all right. Way out . . . as in orbit. But sometimes the smartest solution was the craziest one. And this one was absolutely insane.
CHAPTER 29
ALL ANGELICA HAD TO DO was stall her sister long enough for Parker to arrive. He said he had a plan—and it had to be better than slashing tires. Actually, she didn’t care what Parker had in mind. As long as it worked.
Maria stepped back into the room. Freshly-applied lipstick. The deep red one she always wore on dates. Killer Kisser . . . Clayton’s favorite. She picked up her phone. Scrolled through it.
If only her dad wasn’t working so many hours. If he were here, Maria wouldn’t be wearing the lipstick right now.
“We need to talk,” Angelica said.
Maria didn’t look up from her phone. “So you can report to Dad?”
Her words stung. “Do you even hear yourself anymore? This isn’t you.”
Maria held her hands up and looked at them. First the palms. Then the backs. “Pretty sure this is still me.”
“See? What’s with the sarcasm? What happened to my big sister?”
Maria sat and scrolled through her phone again like she didn’t hear a word. Angelica stared at her. This was the sister who was there for her when Mom left. How could one guy change her so much?
“Do you remember how you felt when Mom walked out on us?”
Maria’s head snapped up. “Do not compare me to Mom. Ever.”
There was no comparison. Maria had been more of a mom to her than her real mom ever was. But now Maria was leaving. Pulling away from her—for a guy who was increasingly abusive. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. “I need you.”
“I’m not your mom.”
Angelica didn’t know if she gasped aloud—or just inside. But Maria’s words hit her like a punch to the gut. “No, you’re not Mom. But right now you remind me a lot of her.”
“Do not say that.”
“Mom abandoned me. Us. For some guy who didn’t care one bit about what would happen to our family,” Angelica said. “How is that not exactly what you’re doing now?”
If the accusation hit home, Maria never showed it. “Can we just drop this? I don’t want to fight.”
“Then why do you want to be back with him so much? All you ever did before the breakup was fight.”
For an instant Angelica saw the softness of the old Maria in her sister’s eyes.
The doorbell rang, and the new Maria was back. Clayton’s Maria—whoever she was.
Maria looked out the window. “It’s only Parker.”
Angelica went for the door. “Give me a minute to stall him off. I still want to talk.”
Maria didn’t answer, but she didn’t argue either. That was something. She hunkered over her phone, texting madly. Angelica didn’t need two guesses to figure out who Maria was talking to.
Parker stepped away from the door and off the porch. He bent over his bike like he was inspecting the chain. “Jelly,” he spoke to the bike instead of looking at her—like he was afraid Maria was watching and didn’t want to arouse any suspicions.
“I need you to buy me two minutes with her phone,” Parker whispered. “Can you do that?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Text Kingman.”
“With her own phone?” Angelica smiled. “Interesting. But you won’t find Clayton on the contact list. She took his name off after the breakup—in case my dad checked her phone.”
Parker kept his back to her, lifted the rear wheel off the ground, and turned the cranks a couple of times. “Then how are they communicating?”
“Look under the name Kayla. It’s actually Clayton’s number.”
He stood and brushed his hands on his cargo shorts. “When did her mind get so devious?”
For an instant, Angelica thought he was joking. But the look on his face said otherwise. “When she began dating a devil.”
“Let’s do this,” he said. “Two minutes. What’s her passcode?”
“Just remember Christmas Eve. 1224.” Angelica led the way back inside. Maria was still there—scrolling through her phone.
She looked up—past Angelica—and smiled. “Hey, Parker. What are you up to?”
He shrugged. “Trying to save the world from monsters.”
Jelly could not believe he just said that.
M
aria laughed and set her phone on the end table. “There’s no such thing as monsters, Parker Buckman.”
“Yeah, when I was a kid, that’s what my favorite babysitter always said when I had bad dreams—and I had some doozies,” Parker said. “I remember one nightmare that woke me from a dead sleep—some kind of monster with razor sharp teeth—and I must have screamed bloody murder or something.”
“You scared me half to death,” Maria said. “I sat on the edge of your bed and smoothed your hair and sang to you until you calmed down.”
Parker shrugged like what Maria had done was no big deal. Like it didn’t mean that much to him at the time—or now. But he was trying just a little too hard to be casual about the whole conversation, it seemed to Angelica.
“That’s when you told me monsters didn’t exist,” Parker said. “Remember?”
“And you believed me.”
“Until this.” Parker raised his maimed arm a bit. “Now I know monsters are real.”
Maria looked sympathetic. “I guess you learned the truth the hard way.”
“And I’m still learning.” Something flared in Parker’s eyes. Anger? “Not all monsters have claws and crawl on all fours. The worst kind walk on two legs.”
Angelica knew exactly where he was going with this, and likely Maria did too. She had to stop him before he said something about Clayton. She raised both hands. “Before you start giving all of us bad dreams, I need to talk to my sister for a couple minutes. Alone.”
Parker took a step back, toward the door. “Want me to wait outside?”
Angelica was impressed. There wasn’t even a trace of his real motive showing. “No, stay here. We’ll just go in the other room.” She headed for Maria’s room and motioned her sister to follow. “C’mon.”
Maria scooped up her phone.
Angelica stopped and planted her hands on her hips. “Really?” She pointed at the phone. “Can’t you just leave it alone for two minutes?” She held her breath.
Maria’s ears reddened at the edges. She hesitated and looked over her shoulder at Parker instead. She never used to be that suspicious before dating Clayton.
Parker pointed toward the kitchen. “You ladies mind if I hunt for some cookies and milk? Fighting monsters can really work up a guy’s appetite.”
Okay, get the guy an Oscar.
Maria laughed and seemed to relax. “Just loaded the cookie jar with Oreos.”
“Double Stuf?”
Maria nodded. “What other kind is there?”
Parker hustled for the kitchen. Maria’s thumbs flew over the screen. She studied it for another moment, then dropped it on the couch and brushed past Angelica. “Two minutes.”
She just erased the exchange with Kayla. Angelica was sure of it. She was taking no chances. She followed Maria into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Maria sat straight-backed on the edge of her bed. “If you make one more crack about me being like Mom the conversation is over.”
Angelica swung the desk chair between Maria and the door. Not that she could stop her if Maria tried to bolt, but she could slow her down. She straddled the chair backward, and leaned against the backrest. “Mom left us for a guy. He was a jerk. I was only saying—”
Maria stood. “I warned you.”
“Sorry.” Angelica held up both hands. “Not another word about her. I promise.”
Maria hesitated, then sat.
“Let’s say that Rosie started going out with a guy,” Angelica said. “And—”
“I would be happy for her,” Maria said. “Rosie Santucci is my best friend—so we support each other.”
Angelica ignored the dig about being besties. “But imagine you knew some things about this guy that terrified you, and you were absolutely sure he was going to hurt her. Wouldn’t you warn her?”
“Rosie’s a big girl,” Maria said. “I’d trust her to make good choices.”
“But let’s say you knew she was in danger with this guy. And every time you tried to warn her, she just shut you down. Pulled away. Wouldn’t you keep trying?”
Maria shook her head. “If I truly was a good friend I’d support her.”
Her sister wasn’t making this easy. “What if Rosie is too close to the situation? What if she isn’t seeing clearly?”
“In other words, I think I can see things better than my friend? Sounds arrogant to me.”
Angelica leaned in. “Not at all. But sometimes the outside view is the more clear one, right? Let’s say you’ve heard Rosie argue with her boyfriend. And you’re convinced that boyfriend will hurt her someday.”
“He’d never hurt her.”
“Maybe not as long as he believed she loved him. But what if that changed? What if Rosie saw something—but didn’t know how to get away?”
Maria looked at Angelica for a long moment. Her eyes softened. “Rosie would call me. If she believed she needed my help getting away from him, I know she’d get word to me somehow. Are you hearing me?”
Maria paused long enough to let that sink in. “If I say I really love my friend, I need to trust she’ll let me know if she needs help, don’t you think?”
“Okay,” Angelica said. “Let’s pretend you’ve seen a scary side to the boyfriend. A side that terrified you. You saw a cruel streak and a rage inside him that Rosie just couldn’t see. By the time Rosie realizes she needs help, it may be too late. Have you thought of that? Why can’t Rosie just trust your judgment for once—trust that you know this guy to be dangerous?”
“Rosie knows he won’t hurt her. Period.”
“But I’ve seen the bruises.” The words slipped out before Angelica realized her mistake.
Maria’s eyes hardened, and she looked like she was ready to stand again. “Are you still telling me a story about Rosie? Because it sounds like we’ve just entered a new chapter here. And if that’s the case, I think our little story time is done.”
Angelica took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just . . . how do you stop someone you love from making the mistake of their life if they won’t even let you talk?”
Maria sat there. She might as well have been wearing a mask, because whatever she was feeling wasn’t showing on her face. What if Maria wasn’t feeling anything at all? Could Clayton have caused Maria to be that hardened?
Angelica shuddered. She was not going to cry. Was not. She blinked back tears. Clearly the conversation was over. And if she pushed too hard now she’d lose her voice to Maria completely. There was no talking her out of this. Not until she saw Clayton for who he really was—or he got tired of her and left her for good. Had it been two minutes yet? “Talk to me about something. Anything.” She blotted her eyes on her sleeve. “I need to pull it together before I go back out there.” Which was true. She didn’t want Parker to pick up on the hopeless feeling that swept through her.
But more importantly she needed to stall. She had to give Parker the time he needed, and pray his plan to keep Clayton and Maria apart tonight was more effective than her own attempt had just been.
CHAPTER 30
THE INSTANT THE BEDROOM DOOR CLOSED, Parker was back in the living room. He practically pounced on the phone. There was no “Kayla” in recent messages—but the name popped up as soon as he started typing it in. He stretched the fingers on his bad hand. Tried to work out the numbness, and pecked out a message.
They’re on to our plan.
He sent it off and kept going. That’s the way Maria always texted Jelly. Short rapid-fire messages.
We have to abort. Tonight is out.
He paused. Turned off the ringer an instant before a text fired back. Change location?
Parker smiled. “Hel-lo, Kayla.”
No. I’ll still go. But I’ll be followed. He tapped Send and kept typing.
Promise me you’ll stay home. If you don’t show, they’ll think you stood me up. Send.
I’ll play that I’m furious. Send.
I may text, ask what happened. Send.
Write something nasty back. How it’s over---and you never want to see me again. Send.
Kayla, aka Kingman, was back seconds later. Think he’ll buy it?
Parker shook the prickling numbness out of his hand and texted back.
I’ll sell it. Believe me. Send.
Don’t contact me after that. Give me three days. They have to be convinced it’s really over. Send.
I may keep texting you, begging you to text back. I may say I don’t understand---but DO NOT answer the texts. Promise me. My dad is a phone-Nazi. He’ll be checking. Send.
I promise---but I’m not afraid of your dad.
“You should be afraid of Uncle Sammy,” Parker whispered. We’ll meet Saturday night. Send.
He glanced toward the bedroom door. Still closed—but the girls were awfully quiet. “Just a little longer, Jelly.”
Maria’s phone vibrated. Where?
Would three days be enough time for Maria to come to her senses? If he could send Kingman on a wild goose chase he’d buy another day.
Loop Road. Park at the Gator Hook trailhead just after sunset. 8pm. I’ll get Rosie to drop me. Send.
Kingman responded almost immediately. Good choice.
Parker kept texting. I’ll get there as quick as I can. I may have to lose my sister. My dad is covering a second shift that night, so if I’m late don’t worry. Send.
Parker’s hands were shaking. Actually, it was just his gimpy hand.
Kingman was back. You’re brilliant. And beautiful. I want you more than ever. I’ll be there.
Parker gripped the phone. Wanted to crush it.
When my dad is sure it’s over---I’ll get all the leash we need. OK? Send.
Parker fired off another one. See you at Gator Hook---Saturday. Send.
The phone vibrated. Godzilla couldn’t keep me away.
Sick. How perfect that the monster himself would mention another one.
Parker’s internal clock screamed he was over the two minutes he’d asked Jelly for.
Escape from the Everglades Page 15
