“Put a hit out on Jacques?”
“As if there’s time for that.” She shook her fiery curls like I’d been serious. “I need him alive and by my side for the Booster Club New Year’s Party.”
“You still want to date him?”
“Only till New Year’s. Then, if he still wants to end it, fine. See, I have this theory that Jacques text-dumped me because he knew if he saw me in person, he’d want to be with me. I’m not bragging, it’s just a fact. I have an unusual amount of guy magnetism.”
I tried not to smile.
“I’ve decided to forgive Jacques and offer him a second chance.”
“You think he’ll agree?” I asked doubtfully. Penny-Love’s concept of romance could be a little unrealistic.
“Abso-posi-lutely.” She flashed me a confident grin. “The only hitch is I don’t know where Jacques lives.”
“You’ve been dating the guy over a month and haven’t seen his house?”
“He says a gentleman always picks a lady up at her home. I thought it was so old-world and sweet, I never thought to ask about his place. He mentioned living in an apartment on the west side. I’ll search online, then surprise him by going over.”
I was about to point out what a bad idea this was when I heard a car coming down our driveway. I knew, from the unique rumble, that it was Thorn driving up in her mom’s yellow VW bug.
Thorn and Penny-Love in the same room?
If Penny-Love was a whirlwind of drama, Thorn was a volatile black hole.
On the surface, my friends were complete opposites but stereotypical: Popularity-Plus Penny-Love and Rebel-Outsider Thorn. Yet I knew them better, and I liked them both. Penny-Love strived for perfection and popularity, embracing trendy fashions, but she mixed and matched things to suit herself. Thorn was anti-trends and anti-popularity, seeking independence from rules and society, but she was there for me in a crunch. And when it came to going after what they wanted, my friends were equally fearless.
When Penny-Love saw Thorn getting out of the VW, she took it better than I’d expected, merely lecturing me on how bad it was for my reputation to hang out with a “Goth freak.”
“Didn’t you say you had work to do in Nona’s office?” I asked tactfully.
“I get the hint. And while I’m working, I’ll Google Jacques to find his address.” She refilled her tea cup before heading down the hall. “But if I come back and find you wearing black leather or planning on getting your nose pierced, I’m not going to be happy.”
“No piercings,” I promised, smiling.
Minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
Thorn looked almost ordinary today, having replaced her usual black leather and combat boots with white sneakers and black jeans. It wasn’t until she brushed past me that I saw the barbed wire woven into her braids, the tiny rhinestones on her eyelids, and the dagger eyebrow-piercing.
“Thanks for coming over so quickly,” I told her as she took the chair in the kitchen that Penny-Love had just vacated. I stood up and went to heat the tea water, remembering Thorn’s preferred herbal flavor.
“I wasn’t doing anything better. Everyone else at my house was headed for church.”
“Well, your mother is a minister.”
“She practices her sermons over and over till I could give them myself.” Thorn rolled her eyes. “So what’s up?”
I quickly filled her in on the Josh situation.
“Impressive,” Thorn said when I was finished. “I didn’t think a prep like him would have the guts to cut school.”
“He didn’t cut—he’s missing and in danger.”
“And you know this how?” she asked, with a doubtful twist of her black-lined lips.
I hesitated, always embarrassed to talk about my visions. But Thorn wasn’t a stranger to psychic abilities and I knew she’d understand. So I described the strange place and cloaked people I’d seen in my vision. I shuddered when I told her about the knife.
“Intenseness.” The dagger in her pierced brow rose slightly as she studied me. “Still … I’m gonna pass.”
I hadn’t expected her to say “yes” immediately, but her quick refusal was disappointing. “Come on, Thorn. I’m not asking much. I just want you to touch something of Josh’s.”
“Do I look like a performing circus animal?”
“I never said you were.”
“I don’t have any real skill, not like your visions or how Dominic communicates with animals.”
“Sure you do. You’re a Finder, and I need your help to find Josh.”
“Why the obsession with Josh?” Thorn idly twisted the barbed-wire bracelet on her wrist. “He was so not right for you. Get over him.”
“I am over him,” I insisted.
“Then forget about finding him.”
“It’s his family and his dog who need him to come home,” I pointed out. And if I hadn’t hurt him so badly, he wouldn’t have left in the first place.
“Josh is almost an adult. He can go where he wants.”
“But his life could be in danger.”
“Since when did you get so overdramatic?”
I frowned. “I have this gut feeling that if I don’t find him soon, he may never come back. I wouldn’t ask for your help if I wasn’t really worried.”
“Like I can do anything—not.”
“I’m only asking you to try. Come on, Thorn. It’ll be interesting.”
She glared at me, then relaxed with a sigh. “Why do I let you talk me into these things? You’re getting to be as big a pain in the butt as Manny. So let’s get this done already. What do you want me to touch?”
I pulled out the wand. “This belongs to Josh.”
“How did you get it?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “I sort of took it from his room.”
“Stealing?” She chuckled. “You naughty girl.”
“I borrowed it. I’m going to return it.”
“Why waste your time? It’s cheap junk from a dollar store. Are you sure it belonged to Josh?”
“You tell me. Touch it.”
She sipped her tea, then pushed the cup aside and grasped the wand. As her fingers settled over the smooth plastic, the energy in the room changed; the small hairs on my skin shivered.
Thorn’s eyes closed, and a complete serenity settled over her soft features. Her aura changed, too, softening into pastels of pink and yellow. Without her prickly attitude vibes, she looked surprisingly vulnerable and pretty.
The rooster-shaped clock over the fridge ticked on, slowly.
Thorn’s glittery lashes fluttered open and she sat the wand down on the table. “Map. Now.”
I jumped up. After digging through three desk drawers, I finally found a road map of California. I rushed back to give it to Thorn.
She had a glazed look, as if part of her was still somewhere else—a feeling I knew too well from my own psychic experiences. If I closed my eyes and focused, would I slip into her world, leaving this body at home?
I didn’t try to find out, just tapped my foot while Thorn unfolded the map, spreading it across the table. She waved her arms, swaying oddly, and looked up rather than down. Then she reached out with her hand, her finger pointing as it aimed and landed on the map.
“Here,” she said.
I leaned over and saw her black-painted fingernail pointing to a dark green area of National Forest east of Auburn.
“That’s a large area. Can you pinpoint a town?”
Thorn shook her head, blinking as she came back to reality. “I don’t really know … somewhere close to where I pointed, give or take a hundred miles.” She brushed her fingers across the crystal star on the wand. “Weird thing is at first I wasn’t picking up any male energy—only female. Very strong female energy.”
I remembered the vision of the copper-haired woman I’d picked up from the wand. “A woman gave it to Josh, I think. I don’t know who.”
Thorn handed the wand back to me. “I got nothin
g else.”
“Can’t you try again?”
“I do what I can do, no promises.”
Frustrated, I stared at the map. “But that’s like a hundred miles of wilderness. I didn’t learn enough to start a search for Josh.”
“But I learned plenty,” someone interrupted.
There was Penny-Love standing in the doorway, grinning.
Thorn glared at me. “Sabine, why didn’t you tell me she was here!”
“Obviously Sabine is very good at keeping secrets,” Penny-Love said accusingly.
“I’m sorry, Thorn,” I said, the room now ridiculous with energy—and not the good kind. “I didn’t know she was listening. Pen, how could you?”
“It wasn’t easy. I couldn’t hear much until I cracked the door open. Then I heard enough to know that you can help me.” Penny-Love pointed to Thorn.
“Me, help you?” Thorn scoffed. “You’re delusional.”
“I could be on the phone right now, texting the video I just took of you doing that weird Finding thing with the map to all of my friends. It could even end up on You-Tube. Freaky news spreads fast.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, I would. But hey, I’ll delete the whole thing if you do one little favor for me. Afterwards, we can return to our mutual relationship of dislike and avoidance.”
Thorn glared at Penny-Love, then at me, then back at her.
“What favor?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“Take me to Jacques.”
Penny-Love and Thorn reached a temporary alliance. Tomorrow after school, Thorn would work her “Finding Mojo,” as Pen called it, to find Jacques. In return, Penny-Love vowed never to speak of Thorn’s skill to anyone.
But could the Gossip Queen of Sheridan High keep a secret?
Doubtful. Still, their temporary truce was better than a knock-’em-down, hair-pulling, blood-spilling fight.
After their contract was signed, Thorn tucked it safely into her pocket and went home. A short while later, Penny-Love left too, blaming family obligations. I felt restless. It was almost lunch time, but I was too anxious about Dominic to eat. I wasn’t sure what to do. I’d planned to spend the day going all “shopoholic” with Penny-Love at the mall, and now all I could think about was Dominic. What was he doing right now? What if he’d left without telling me? I had to see him, make sure he was okay. I’d just grabbed my coat when I heard the roar of a car’s engine.
“Nona!” I would have recognized the sound of her clunker car anywhere.
The door banged behind me as I hurried outside, almost crying with relief at the sight of my grandmother—and not only because I missed her. Since recovering from a serious illness, Nona was more energetic and sharper than ever. She’d know how to make Dominic stay.
Nona burst out of her car like a brisk wind, opening her arms to me. “There’s my favorite girl!” She smelled of peppermint and peach shampoo.
I hugged her tight. “I’m so glad you’re back!”
“It’s good to be home,” she said, stroking my hair lightly from my face.
“Wait till I tell you what’s happened …” I started to say, at the same time that she exclaimed, “I have amazing news to tell you!”
We both laughed, and I told her to go first.
“Well, you know I went to San Francisco for business,” she said, lifting a suitcase from the car trunk. I reached out to help her. “And it turned out to be not just a business trip.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, following her into the house.
Nona draped her knitted purple scarf across a worn leather chair. “I met a brilliant, witty, wonderful man.” A blush softened her sun-wrinkled cheeks. “His name’s Roger Aimsley, and he’s the owner of Heart Lights, a very successful online dating service. Much higher profile than my little business. He surprised me with a proposal.”
“Proposal? You’re getting married again?” I groaned. Nona had been married too many times already, twice to the same man. This did not sound good.
“Not marriage, although who knows what the future will bring? This is about a different kind of union—one that will change my future.”
Memo to self: no more weekend trips for Nona. “I don’t understand,” I said.
My grandmother shook out of her coat and draped it over the back of the rocking chair. Her green eyes sparkled and her hands moved as she went on excitedly, “I didn’t answer him yet. I told him I needed to talk it over with you and Penny-Love.”
“Why Pen?”
“She’s part of my business now. Roger has offered me a partnership, combining our businesses.”
I listened to her explain the many benefits of merging Soul-Mate Matches with Heart Lights. But she didn’t want to rush into anything, she insisted, and planned to consult astrology charts and tarot cards before signing any papers. She was practically dancing as she talked, and sparkling in a way I hadn’t seen in a long time. I hated to ruin her moment with my far-from-good news.
Still, it had to be done.
I gathered my thoughts, trying to come up with the easiest way to spring the bad news on her. Finally, I just spit it all out, starting with the phone call from Mrs. DeMarco this morning and finishing with the PI and Dominic. Her quick change of expression showed that she’d suspected Dominic’s violent secret and grasped the seriousness of his situation.
“Dominic says he’s leaving,” I finished sadly.
“Rubbish!” She shook her silvery-brown head. “He doesn’t mean it.”
“Yes, he does! He thinks leaving is the way to stay out of jail and protect us from any trouble, too.”
“That boy can be danged mule-headed.”
“Tell me about it.” I sighed. “How can we help him if he won’t let us?”
“Call in the troops.”
“Troops?”
“My angel cards and spirit guides.” Nona squeezed my hand gently. “Don’t worry, Sabine. Dominic isn’t going anywhere.”
She sounded so positive. I wanted to believe her, but my gut feeling tightened like a noose and all I could taste was fear.
*
A half hour later, Nona headed to the barn to talk to Dominic. She didn’t invite me to come along. Instead, she told me to stay close to the phones in case she got an important call. From the way she said “important,” I guessed she meant Roger Aimsley (or, as I’d mentally nicknamed him, Mr. Heart Lights).
He didn’t call, but my cell went off four times—and when I checked Caller ID I nearly threw the phone down. Jade again. Why did she keep calling? She’d shown she didn’t want to be my friend or my sister. I definitely did not want to talk to her.
I deleted her messages.
Retreating to my room, I sought inner calm by burning incense and pulling my latest embroidery project from my craft bag. Several of my Christmas gifts would be handmade. I’d already personalized pillow cases in shimmering hues for my parents and was almost finished with a set for Nona. For my twin sisters, I strung tiny alphabet letter beads into dainty ankle bracelets. Amy and Ashley appreciated our tradition of homemade gifts—it was much better than gift certificates or random items that usually needed to be exchanged.
I already had two perfectly good sisters.
I did not need another one.
I stabbed the needle into my finger three times before shoving it all back into my craft bag. Crossing the room to the attic window, which offered an amazing view of Nona’s farm, I pressed my face against the glass and peered down at the barn. Would Dominic still be here for Christmas? Was he inside with Nona right now? What were they saying?
I turned from the window. Stressing over Dominic was only making me crazy. I needed to keep busy, to distract myself. Jumbled wrapping paper, boxes, and bags were spread across my bed. There were only a few names left on my Christmas list. After crossing Jade’s name out with heavy black “hate you forever” lines, I decided to do something extra special for my real sisters.
At ten years old
, Amy and Ashley already had such distinct personalities that people couldn’t tell at first glance that they were identical twins. Glamtastic Ashley sparkled in her style and musicality. She wrote songs and loved discovering new talent to add to her playlists. So it only took me a few minutes to go online and order songs from a new R&B artist for her.
But book butterfly (not bookworm!) Amy’s biggest passion was collecting vintage girl-series books like Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton mysteries. Her collection was getting so large it was hard to find something she didn’t already have. I surfed online sites and got lucky, finding a rare book—All About Collecting Girls’ Series Books—by John Axe. As I clicked “buy” online, my IM flashed an incoming message.
It was Jade. Again. What was her problem? She’d made it clear she couldn’t stand me. Why couldn’t she just let things drop?
The message box popped on my screen:
Wkg on prob. Need 2 talk. Urgent!
“I have enough problems of my own, thank you very much,” I murmured sarcastically. “Not interested in yours.”
I deleted the message.
As I returned to surfing online, I kept expecting another message from Jade. But there weren’t any, which was good, I assured myself. As Dominic said, just because we were sisters didn’t make us friends.
I’d hoped to get Dominic’s thoughts on Jade at dinner, but he didn’t show up. I nearly stormed out to his loft to force him to talk to me. But Nona warned me to give him space, that he needed time to think. Although Nona didn’t seem worried, I lay awake long into the night with a deep gut fear that I’d wake up tomorrow and find Dominic gone.
I finally sank into a sound sleep, and it was so deep that I slept in late and had to rush getting ready for school. I’d only taken a few bites of muffin when a car honked from outside. Chewing fast, I grabbed my backpack and almost flew down the steps.
But I stopped at the sound of a horse’s whinny and peered off into the pasture, to see Dominic brushing down Rio. Thank god he was still here! He turned and looked right at me, lifting his arm to wave. I lifted my arm, too. I couldn’t see his expression, but I knew our wave was like a promise. When I returned home from school, Dominic would be waiting. For me.
Smiling, I hurried into Penny-Love’s car.
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