“Now, I feel like crap for thinking bad about him,” Olivia said.
“Yeah, I do, too. The more important thing is that it appears someone is out to get Rai’s family.” Emma was stoic as she made her way to the opened bay doors and peeked in.
“If that’s true, we need to be careful.” Olivia said and stepped inside.
The fire and water had ransacked the first building. Built with a steel-frame, it didn’t look like it was about to fall over. The girls made their way around the decimated debris. Broken boxes and scattered packing material laid strewn about the floor. Some intact items had been cleared away, while other damaged goods were piled along support pillars. The girls poked through piles until sunlight through the non-existent roof indicated sunset.
“Other than a tetanus shot,” Olivia remarked, “What are we looking for?”
“I’m not sure, yet. I’m running on instinct here,” Emma answered.
“I’m fine with you relying on the Force, but we’re running out of daylight.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Emma muttered. She turned over several lids of wooden crates then made her way into the main area to look around. “I was hoping this was the building the fire started in, but it isn’t.”
“How can you tell?” Olivia asked with her phone out, tapping something onto the screen.
“I did a lot of reading on the fires after the warehouses blew up,” Emma confessed. “They made a big deal over the discovery that there were unreported flammable chemicals on location. Any exploded containers would’ve been removed already. But look over there,” she pointed out. “There’d be signs on the walls and floors where they’d been. Also, notice that the sprinklers up in the ceiling still have their orange caps.”
“Orange caps?” Her friend looked up and inspected the ceiling.
“Uh huh. They’re dust caps to keep the fire sprinkler-heads clean,” Emma explained. “If the cap is still there, it means the sprinkler didn’t go off.” She turned to regard her friend.
“That means the sprinklers weren’t working,” Olivia completed the speculation, still tapping her phone. “…or they’d been turned off.”
“Exactly!” Emma agreed.
“Very suspicious,” Olivia said with a nod. The sudden camera light from her phone illuminated her face in the growing gloom.
“What’s that?”
“Me blinding myself,” Olivia complained. She blinked a few times and then waved her phone in Emma’s general direction. “I’m using the flashlight app.”
Olivia helped Emma set up the app in her phone, and the two renewed their search.
An empty wooden crate half the size of Flower drew Emma’s attention. Its lid leaned against the side, hiding markings on the edge of the box. Kicking the lid aside, Emma held her light to the image on the crate. It was a company logo of a fiery phoenix with Asian-style lettering.
“It’s Korean,” Olivia announced behind her a moment later. “It stands for ‘Icarus Freight.'” Olivia read from her phone. “Some of the crates in this room have the same logo.”
Emma perused the remaining shards of wood, and from what she could see, her friend was right.
The two girls made their way out of the storage area and into the office section of the building. Long, ominous shadows cast the sheer volume of destruction in stark contrast. Much of it removed during the investigation, containers and water-damaged papers remained. Emma no longer wondered why investigations took forever to get completed, especially when a bureaucracy was involved.
“So much red tape,” she muttered aloud.
“That’s not all,” Olivia announced with excitement and headed toward a shattered door laying on its side. “Look at this!” The name on the door placard was still legible: Jason Jones, Supervisor.
“Well, we have to check this room.” Emma nodded. Unfortunately, this office was in worse shape than most of the others. A few semi-empty filing cabinets stood with drawers pulled out. Also, an office chair with padding burned off sat beside a pile of charcoal that might have been a desk. Emma was about to leave when Olivia started waving her light around over the remains of a huge section of wall.
“Another burned wall?” Emma asked not seeing the relevance.
“Take a look.” Olivia motioned her over, shining the light from the phone at the broken, lower corner. “Those are hinges under there, right?” Olivia asked. “Why would there be hinges?”
“A hidden panel,” Emma answered and poked around the blackened wood for a catch or trigger. Emma quickly found the seam within the charred wall and tried prying it open. “I found where it opens, but it’s stuck or locked.”
“Muscle it?” Olivia offered.
“It’s worth a try.” Emma agreed. Working together, the girls pulled on the panel. Eventually, Olivia laid on the grimy floor and propped both feet against the base for leverage. The entire panel came away with a loud crack.
“Is there treasure?” Olivia asked as she got up and dusted off.
“It’s a map,” Emma replied. Behind the panel was a recessed, triangular alcove. A map of Wimberley and the surrounding area covered the entire space. “It wouldn’t be unusual for a warehouse to have maps of delivery areas, right?”
Olivia leaned in and panned her light upward. “You would think. So, why hide this one?”
“I’m not sure,” Emma ruminated. Looking it over, the map appeared intact. The panel covering it had protected it from the worst of the heat and flames. Scribbled notes covered one area that started around FM 2325. It was the same place she drew in her notebook during Economics! Though the map covered a larger area than her sketch, it included the same strange symbols etched in the landscape. One symbol looked like a spiral, and South-West of it were parallel wavy lines. Someone else had taken a red sharpie and outlined more shapes, including a bird, butterfly, skull, and triangle. Emma scanned the area, then stood back to examine them as a whole. An overall pattern appeared. The shapes surrounded one central location. A now familiar field was circled three times in bright red ink and included the words, “Claire Winters here??” Emma whispered out loud, “Whoa…”
“Oh, crap!” Olivia muttered as a sudden flicker of light shown from outside, “Shh! someone is here.” The friends clicked off their phones and scrambled away from the wall and hid behind a cluster of damaged file cabinets.
Heavy footsteps and clanking keys echoed through the open space as a beam from a large flashlight tracked back and forth. When the sound rounded the crates, a silhouette of a security officer was clear. The girls pressed their bodies against the back of the cabinet, hiding in the shadow. Emma’s wild pulse raced in her ears, knowing that her mom would kill her if she was arrested for trespassing. For several breathless moments, light passed over and roamed across the room. Then, it was gone as the guard’s steps moved away.
Finally, Olivia whispered, “We should head out before we get caught.”
“Yeah,” Emma agreed. “Which way did the guard go?”
“I don’t know!”
“Window?” Emma suggested.
“Window,” Olivia agreed.
The two scrambled out through what was left of a window frame. Emma landed hard, scrambled forward unbalanced, and dove into a small pile of discarded packing material.
“That’s lucky,” Olivia remarked as she hopped down from the window.
“It’s all wet and moldy,” Emma complained.
“You could’ve landed in that pile of old boards and rusty nails next to you,” Olivia said and helped Emma out of the crumpled stack of Styrofoam.
“I didn’t even see it. That would’ve been bad.”
“Oh, yeah,” Olivia agreed.
They darted out through the lot in the moonlight. Once down the street and in the car, Olivia exhaled with a scream of exhilaration. Emma joined in the relief of their daring escape turning into excitement.
“I can’t believe we did that!” Olivia yelled. “We’re like Sherlock and Watson!”
“Pfft! Watson didn’t wear a funny hat, but I’ll still let you be my sidekick.”
“Why am I the sidekick?” Emma laughed.
“Because you’d look silly doing all this spy- stuff while riding the bus?” Olivia said with a superior air.
“A valid point, Miss Gutierrez,” Emma said, putting on an accent.
“You know what, Em?” Olivia said as they sped away.
“Yeah?”
“We should’ve taken a picture of that map!”
“So,” Emma turned to her, arching a brow, “You want to go back, Sherlock?”
“No!”
11
THINGS HEAT UP
In the following days, Rai was more withdrawn, and Emma was worried for him. It was difficult, but she decided to be patient and available when he was ready to talk. She sighed out loud as she watched him walk to his class without noticing her. Jade grabbed Emma’s shoulders and escorted her down the hall to her first class.
“He’ll be okay,” Jade offered. “You’ll see. He just needs time.”
Emma forced a smile but wasn’t feeling it. When she reached first period, even that class conspired against her. Mr. Biggs announced that he was splitting the class into groups for a project on ideas for healthcare reform. A sudden sense of dread filled her when she was assigned to Jordan’s group, and Kendra to an opposing group. A long-term class assignment designed to put her in opposition of the Queen of Clan Rad was not going to end well. All Emma could think about was how much she wanted to fly out the window with that red bird. It didn’t help that the room felt unusually warm today.
Emma glanced around the room, eyeing copper-headed Kendra. She talked animatedly with her hands as if conducting an orchestra. Emma recognized that Kendra was letting the members of her group know their proper places in the newly formed hierarchy.
The students moved their desks into their respective groups. Jordan took no time settling his desk next to Emma. She looked at him, and he looked right back. A flash of heat welled inside her that had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. Shifting her eyes to the left, she noticed that Kendra had positioned herself to face Jordan—and hadn’t missed a thing.
“She’s looking right at us,” Emma whispered.
“Who is?” Jordan replied. He leaned across her desk handing out a small stack of prepared questions to Connor. Jordan was so close she could smell him. And it was wonderful.
“Your girlfriend,” she muttered.
“Yeah,” he said with a thoughtful frown. “We should talk about that sometime. over coffee, maybe?”
“Coffee?” Emma blinked. Was this really happening?
“I don’t care for it, myself,” he said. “I’m more of a tea-guy, but I know you love the stuff.”
“Dude, are you seriously asking her out with your girlfriend sitting right over there?” Connor leaned in and asked with an expression that could best be described as “awe.”
“Don’t judge,” Jordan shot back. “You don’t know the situation, man.”
“Hey, I’m not judging,” Connor said much too loud. “I just wish my stones were half as big as yours.”
The sound of Mr. Biggs sliding his chair out from his desk and walking over to the room’s thermostat interrupted the conversation. The teacher grumbled about the school’s old system and tried adjusting the dial. “I should be hearing ideas on reform!” He announced without turning around.
The room hummed with the sound of talking students working on group assignment answers. Kendra kept looking toward Jordan from across the room.
“So, what do you say?” Jordan whispered near Emma’s ear. Connor leaned in again as well, monitoring the exchange.
“Connor,” Emma hissed. “If you don’t back off, I swear I’ll tell Jade you put that note in her locker last year!”
“How did you...?” He began but scooted away from her when Emma glared at him. “Fine!”
“I say that I don’t need more drama in my life,” She said in a faint voice to Jordan.
“It’s just coffee.”
“Maybe I don’t want just coffee.” She surprised herself with that boldness but pressed on anyway. “Maybe I think you don’t want just coffee either. Or tea, or whatever.”
“What’re you saying? Yes or no?” He asked.
“Sort out your drama, and let’s start with just coffee.”
“Okay,” He agreed with a smile.
Finally, Emma’s group settled into their discussions. Their voices fell into a low hum of background noise. Something was off with the the air conditioning. In fact, the room had gotten unbearably hot.
The thrum of the students talking nearby drew Emma’s gaze. Across from her, Kendra was seated in a defensive pose, glaring. Emma calmly ignored the redhead and listened to the group as they discussed the assignment. It was difficult. Connor was talking with an impatient tone, and she wondered if he felt that strongly about the topic or thought speaking more quickly would make class end sooner. Someone else was saying that their whole family was worried about their grandmother’s medicine costs with all the healthcare changes.
Emma noticed that other students had removed their jackets and coats. Ryan, who was so tall he barely fit in his desk, fanned his red face with the question sheet. He announced what everyone else was thinking, “Mr. Biggs? It’s hot in here.”
The teacher was already on the issue. Mr. Biggs opened the door to the hallway and the one window not stuck with paint. A gust of fresh air wafted in through the opening but was quickly squelched by the increasing temperature of the room. Emma wiped her forehead and felt like panting. Even condensation started coating the windows.
“What the heck is going on with the thermostat?” Mr. Biggs complained as he started banging on the control with the back of his hand.
“I hope the sprinklers go off again,” Ryan said.
“They just might, at this point,” Mr. Biggs replied. “But we’re not waiting around for that. Okay everyone! Gather your things. We’re ending early!” he announced.
***
“I swear it was like a broiler in there,” Emma said to Jade and Olivia as they sat at lunch.
“They really need to fix the heating system in this school,” Olivia said, shaking her head. “This is like the second time, right?”
“At least,” Jade agreed. “First, it was the hallway, and now, in Biggs’ class.”
“Nothing weird like that happened to you guys?” Emma asked.
“Nope,” Olivia replied. “Not today. It would’ve been nice to get out of math early though.”
“So…” Emma began, changing the subject.
“What?” Olivia and Jade chorused.
“Jordan Riley asked me out,” Emma blurted out. A Frito corn chip hung suspended from Olivia’s lower lip before finally dropping to the table.
“He what?” Jade asked, breaking the silence. “When did this happen?”
“In Eco,” Emma said.
“Isn’t Kendra in the same class?” Olivia jumped in.
“Oh, yeah.” Emma nodded.
“Was she absent today?” Jade asked, popping up and scanning the lunch room in a way that reminded Emma of a prairie dog. “I don’t see her.”
“Oh, she was there.”
“No!” Olivia gasped.
“Yes!” Jade exclaimed, looking elated.
“Are you sure?” Olivia asked.
“That Kendra was there?” Emma asked.
“No, that Jordan asked you out!”
“Pretty sure, yeah,” Emma said. “He wants to go have coffee with me.”
“And Kendra heard this?” Jade asked. “Please tell me Kendra heard this.”
“I don’t think she heard anything,” Emma admitted. “But she was watching us talk and didn’t look happy about it.”
“I’ll bet,” Olivia added. “Well, what did you say?”
“You won�
�t believe me,” Emma said.
“Why not?” Jade and Olivia asked together.
“Because I don’t believe I said what I said.”
“Well, now you have to tell us!” Olivia demanded, and Jade nodded her agreement.
“I basically told him I wanted more than a cup of coffee, but he had to break off whatever he has going on with Kendra first.” Emma said, feeling her cheeks heat.
“Wow,” Olivia said.
“You are scandalous, girl!” Jade exclaimed, looking impressed. “You’re right! I can’t believe you said that.”
“I still can’t believe it either,” Emma agreed. No one responded, and she looked up to see Ryan Dunn.
“You’re at the wrong table,” Jade scolded.
“And you’re not the only person sitting here, Jones,” Ryan said before turning his attention to Olivia. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Olivia replied, looking up. Ryan held an expensive looking envelope in his hand.
“There’s a party this weekend.”
“Okay…” Olivia said and sat up a bit straighter.
“Yeah,” Ryan continued. “I’m supposed to bring people with me. But I figured out that you’re the only person I want to bring.”
“Really?” Olivia asked.
“Really.” Ryan confirmed. Emma and Jade both looked at each other then back at Olivia and Ryan. Awkward silence followed for a moment.
“So, you asking her to go or what?” Jade said, clearing her throat.
“Yeah,” Ryan said, nodding his head to Olivia after frowning at Jade. “Would you go with me?”
“I’ll go with you,” Olivia answered, smiling brightly.
“Hang on, what kind of party is this?” Jade cut in.
“The kind you weren’t invited to, Jones,” Ryan replied.
“No, seriously, Livs,” Jade said, turning to Olivia. “Find out what you’re agreeing to here.”
“It’s a birthday party.” Ryan said and glanced at the envelope with a shrug.
“Who’s birthday?” Olivia asked curiously.
“Kendra’s,” Ryan said in a muffled voice.
“I’ll go!” Olivia replied at once.
Red Page 6