by Rush, Lynn
“No!” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I wouldn’t tell you if we did, though.”
“I’d like to see you try and hide that massively huge, life-altering piece of information from your twin sister.”
A pair of headlights approached, fixed on bright. “Okay, buddy, we see you. Dim the lights, man.” Georgia must have taken her foot off the gas because the car slowed. The sign identifying Trifle as only ten miles away flashed as our headlights splashed against it.
The bright lights guy went by and we continued on.
“So…” Georgia said.
“No, we didn’t do the deed.”
“Oh you’re crass. The deed?”
“We didn’t have sex. Is that better?” I rubbed my thighs with my slimy hands. “I don’t know if I want to. You know? I mean—I want to, very much so—but should I? Heck, I don’t even know if he wants to.”
“He’s a guy. Of course he wants to.”
“Zip it romance-novel-reading-sister of mine. Zach isn’t like that.”
“You’re right. But still, he’s a guy, he’s probably thinking about it.”
“Well, I am, too. Mom and I didn’t really get to this part before she died. You know?” I pulled some hair forward and twirled it around my finger. It’d grown so much in the last couple of months. It was almost to my waist now. I loved that.
“Speaking of moms…Mine always preached that I should wait ‘til marriage.”
“Are you going to?”
“I guess.” She shrugged. “No one’s really challenged that decision. Dan hardly did anything more than kiss me.”
“So, you’ve never done it.”
“Nope.”
“Yeah. Me neither. Tonight was the closest I’d been, and we were still fully clothed.” I snuck a glance at her. “Well, mostly clothed.”
“Mandy!” She looked at me with wide eyes.
“Watch the road, Blaze!”
She snapped her attention forward again. “What do you think our mom would tell me?”
“To wait. All moms would say that, wouldn’t they?”
“I guess. I mean, what’s the big deal, anyway?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just so shy. And, well, I hear it’s a big deal with the whole seeing someone naked and all that.”
“True.” That was a big step.
“It’s a really big deal. Not something I want to just hand out freely.” She glanced at me again. “I’d wait if I were you.”
“Easier said than done.” I shook my head. “Hey, catch back up to Zach, slow poke.” His tail lights had vanished into the darkness a few minutes ago.
My phone whistled at me, Zach’s new ring tone since I took off that embarrassing teapot one. I clicked answer and said, “Hey.”
“A car’s pulled off the road up here. Looks like a girl, and she’s by herself. Want to stop and help?”
“Yeah. Pull over. We’ll be there in a sec. I think I see your tail lights again.”
“Where’d you guys go?”
“Georgia’s a slowpoke. Just pull over, we will, too.” I set my phone in my lap and gestured ahead to Georgia. “See Zach?”
“What’s going on?”
“He said he saw someone pulled over, might be a girl, and he wants to see if she needs help.”
“Aw, such a sweetie.”
The car slowed and Georgia maneuvered it in front of Zach’s Jeep. I pushed the door open and hopped out. Once again I was on a shoulder of a dark, creepy road. I was sure I’d gone way past the allotted times I should be in this situation.
Then again, we’re stopping to help a total stranger in the middle of the night. That made me beam with pride that Zach thought enough to want to help a girl in distress.
I hurried around the back end of my car and to his driver’s side.
“Mandy. I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize her car. I—”
“Zach! Oh my gosh, I’m so glad it’s you!” Samantha Jones’s voice rang like a gong in my ears.
No, it was more like fingernails down a chalkboard.
Rocks scattering nearby pulled my attention behind me, and I saw skinny, big-haired, Samantha Jones scurrying toward me. I glanced back to Zach and he mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”
“Samantha?” Georgia said, as she neared Zach’s car. “What the heck?” She looked at me.
“You know what? I don’t even care that you two losers are here. I’m just glad someone drove by on this god-forsaken desolate road. You’re the first cars I’ve seen in almost forty-five minutes.”
“What happened?” Zach asked, as he pushed his car door open.
I stepped back, shocked into silence. I mean, what were the freaking chances of this happening right now? Didn’t she go to college somewhere up in Alaska or something? Or, was that maybe just in one of my better dreams?
“I don’t know. I hit something in the road. My tire’s flat.”
“What? No triple A?”
“Try no cell service right here, you blue-streaked, loser.”
“Hey, Sam, that’s enough,” Zach said. “Just show me and let’s see what I can figure out.”
My boyfriend the mechanic. Handy to have around. Not so handy to have Samantha Jones, who totally loved my boyfriend, around, though. She led him to the passenger side of her car, and I turned to Georgia.
“Can you believe this crap?”
I glanced around the darkness. Tall pine trees lined both sides of the single lane road. The moon, thankfully, was full and beamed over us like a Hollywood spotlight, but still. Samantha Jones?
“Didn’t she go away to college?” Georgia asked, as she leaned against Zach’s jeep, arms crossed over her chest.
“My luck, she decided to go to PCC and will be in every one of my classes. All two of them. And her assigned seat right next to mine.”
Georgia giggled.
“Hey, don’t laugh. It’ll probably happen. You watch.” I slapped her shoulder.
“We wanted to move into the bigger town to help people, right? Since Trifle is so freaking small.”
“But helping Samantha Jones?” I shoved my hands in my hair. “Ugh.”
“Hey, we’re not even settled into our apartment yet, let alone ready to start doing the super-hero thing.” She grinned. “Helping people won’t always look like this.”
“Come on, let’s see if we can help move things along so we can get to Jess and Scott.”
I navigated the front of Samantha’s car. Zach knelt beside the back tire, inspecting it. Samantha hovered behind him, her hand on his shoulder.
Why wasn’t he shrugging her off?
“So what’s the verdict?” I asked.
Samantha shot her sharp gaze in my direction. I glared at her hand, but she didn’t move it. Instead, she gave me a smug look as if daring me to object to her touching my boyfriend.
“Flat. Must have been a big hole you hit, Sam.”
She giggled. “Well, if they’d put a light out here every once in a while.”
“Or. You could, I don’t know, watch the road instead of texting?”
That earned me another glare.
I glanced in her back seat. Empty beer cans littered the floor. I stepped closer to her and took a big whiff. “Son of a bitch. You’re drunk!”
Zach darted to his feet. Samantha’s hand slid off his shoulder and fell lazily by her side. Her bottom jaw dropped. I’d had enough of drunk drivers.
“I am not!” She stomped her foot, as if that wasn’t a dead giveaway in itself. “Those are from earlier.”
“Like how much earlier. Ten minutes?” I looked at Zach. “She can’t drive home, even if you fix that stupid tire.”
“Zach can drive me. He lives almost right next to me.” A grin split her smug face.
He looked at me and slouched.
So not a great way to end the night. It started out rocky with Nate and Zach facing off. The middle part was fantastic since it involved me kissing him—a lot—then to end with stupid
Samantha Jones in the picture.
Grrr.
“It’s true. She only lives a few blocks from my house. I was going there anyway.”
My turn to slouch. “What about her car?”
“Let her deal with it tomorrow.” Zach nodded toward Samantha.
The tiny girl swayed. I could probably sneeze hard and she’d topple over. Tempting.
“Oh, man,” Georgia said, from the other side of Samantha’s car. “She is going to PCC. Look there in the front seat.”
“What?” I glared at Samantha as I strode to the passenger side window. Sure enough. A welcome packet sat in the front seat. I almost stomped my foot that time.
Samantha looked at Zach, then nodded.
“Thought you were going to State?” Zach asked.
“Didn’t work out.”
“You must have heard Zach wasn’t going and switched, huh?” I snarked.
I was totally kidding, well, almost totally, but when her eyes shot wide just before she denied it, my gut churned. Had she done exactly that?
Zach shook his head, but said nothing. He tugged at his hair and looked at her, then to me. It was dark out, so I couldn’t really see all that well, but if I wasn’t mistaken, Zach’s cheeks flamed crimson, which looked almost black for how dark it was.
Okay, what was going on between him and Samantha?
Chapter 10
“So her married name is Lois Elizabeth Kelsey. I found her under Liz Jacoby,” Jess said, as he pushed away from Scott’s kitchen table, holding a can of Mountain Dew, of course.
“Why Minnesota?” Georgia asked.
He shrugged. “My computer found her, but it doesn’t find out why humans do what they do.”
“Any links to The Center or Andrey?” Scott asked.
Georgia and I sat next to each other at the kitchen table. Scott and Jasmine on the opposite side, while Jess sat at the head. He seemed to enjoy that, with his chest all puffed out.
“No links that I can see,” Jess said.
“So. She really did just bolt, you know, to divorce Gary, huh?” Georgia said.
“Something doesn’t feel right, though. I mean, right before she’s supposed to tell her daughter she’s adopted?”
“Any chance your Mom—er Lois—saw what was on the disc and it spooked her?” Scott asked.
“No one hacked that disc. I would have noticed,” Jess said. He scrubbed his face with his hands. “Well, I’m pretty sure I would have been able to tell. Computers leave traces of activity, even antiquated discs like that. Plus, it was wicked hacker-proof. Only a few people in the world could hack through that thing.”
“One being Gonzo.” Jasmine shook her head. “Nice web-name.”
Jess scratched his cheek with his middle finger.
“What do you want to do, G?” I leaned my shoulder against hers. “Your call.”
“Jasmine. Can you go hover around her and see if you can hear anything?”
Jasmine looked at Scott, then back to me. “Really?”
Georgia nodded. “Timing’s just…curious.”
“I can set you up with a ticket and new ID if you want,” Jess said. “Quick trip.”
“Can you hook me up, too?” Scott asked. “I don’t want her going alone.”
“What about the store?” I asked.
“We’ll just close it down for a few days. Unless you want to man the show.”
“G and I can handle that,” I said.
“Shouldn’t I go, too? I mean, you know to see her? Talk to her? Maybe I could convince her to come back. Or just talk to her right then and there about what she knows.”
“Ah man. I don’t want to stay here alone.” I slumped against my chair. “I’ll come, too.”
“Wait. Now hold on. Scott and I will go listen. If something comes up, we’ll call in the troops if we need to,” Jasmine said.
“But I want to see her. She’s my m—” Georgia shook her head. “Was my mom—” She slammed her fist on the table. “Damn it, I can’t decide if I’m mad at her or I miss her.”
I dragged my hand over her warm back. “G. Just let Scott and Ms. Super-Hearing go check things out. We’ll get settled in the apartment, hold the fort down here at the smoothie shop. If they need us up there, Jess, you can get us tickets somehow, too, right?”
“Sure.” He nodded as he peeled a part of his fingernail off.
Gross.
“See?” I nudged her. “Scott, what do you think?”
“You two stay, me and Jas will go check it out. We’ll call if you’re needed.” Scott laid his hand on Georgia’s. “Don’t worry. We’ll find out what’s going on. I really think it’s just that she wanted to bolt. Jess has found no trace of Andrey or any more Centers.”
My gut wrench at the mention of Andrey. My Mom and Dad’s killer, whom I let get away. I still had nightmares about him escaping.
“Jess. When can you get us there?”
He clacked away at his laptop. “How’s tomorrow? Got a flight here that leaves around noon.”
“Deal.” Scott faced me. “You two sure you can handle the store?”
“Oh please. She’s fire and I’m ice, what’s the worse that could happen?”
Chapter 11
“Running a smoothie business is a lot harder than it looks,” Georgia said, as she mopped up the floor. “How’s Scott do it all by himself?”
“He’s got Jasmine helping him a bunch now. But before I was his free labor.”
“But all this money and counting down the drawer stuff. Ugh.”
“We’ll just leave it all for him when they come home.” I glanced at my watch. “They should be landing in Minnesota about now, right?”
Georgia stopped and pulled out her phone. “They’re two hours ahead, right?”
“Until Daylight Savings ends, then it’s only one. They’ll call when they land.”
“Where’s Zach been all day? I thought for sure he’d stop by and hang with us.”
“He’s in a living prison at his house or work. But you’re right, he hasn’t returned my text from earlier. Wonder if he got Ms. Snooty home okay last night.”
“What’s up with her, Mandy? Seriously.”
“She’s nuts.”
“But going to PCC, too? She didn’t go there because of Zach, did she? I mean, she’s not that nuts is she?”
“Man, I hope not, because I don’t want to get all up in a cat fight with her. But Zach did seem a little squirrely around her last night.”
“You noticed, too?”
“Crap. I was hoping it was my imagination.”
“Nope. Sorry.”
My gut sank to the floor as I wiped down the counter. “You know what? I’m going take out the trash before the evening rush, okay?”
“There’s another rush? Feels like we just got done with one.”
“It’s the weekend, people come in waves. Deal with it.” I flicked a little slush from my finger in her direction. She zapped it with some fire before it hit her face.
I flung my soggy rag onto the counter and spun on my heel toward the prep area. I grabbed the three garbage bags and a couple boxes and headed out toward the back dumpster. Yeah, a little bit of heavy lifting would shake Zach from my mind. Something nagged at me about him and Samantha.
I kicked the back door open and stepped out into the murky day. The desert gave us nearly three hundred clear days a year or more, but boy, when the clouds took hold of the sky those few random days, it sucked major.
I moseyed up to the gate surrounding the big, green dumpster. Strangely it was propped open. Scott was meticulous about that thing. I pulled it open with my fingertip and stepped away. Something dark busted out, brushing against my leg.
My bags went flying and the boxes tumbling as I jumped to the side. A cat’s meow and a hiss trailed the dark feline. My heart shot up in my throat, and my skin prickled.
Stupid cats.
I stepped into the area and saw the cat’s destruction. Shards of paper
and cartons littered the ground.
Where did that thing go? If I saw it, I’d spray it down good with some cold water.
I flicked the lid open and threw my stuff in. I squatted down gathering up the mess and tossed it in. More trash stuck out from beneath the side. I glanced down and saw more junk. I looked around, then lifted up the side of the dumpster and snagged a cardboard box.
How the heck did that get under there?
I let the dumpster down with a bang and shut everything up, working to stuff the dread that was thickening in my stomach.
One glance around showed me nothing but the usual. I’d taken the trash out hundreds of times, but today, something felt off. Like I was being watched.
I dug out my phone from my jeans pocket and clicked it to life. No text back from Zach. I opened a new message.
How are you?
I grasped the phone and sauntered to the picnic table in front of the store. Just a quick break while I waited for Zach to text back.
If he did.
I plopped onto the tabletop and propped my feet on the bench. My phone clock read four o’clock, that’d be six o’clock in Minnesota, so I clicked a text message to Scott.
You landed? Find out anything?
I looked skyward and sucked in a deep breath but coughed on the smell of smoke. I shot a quick glance around, but the parking lot was empty and just a few cars passed by on the street. Behind me was a little patch of trees separating our building from the next one. Then around the corner led to the back where the dumpster was.
A small breeze rustled the trees, but other than that, it was quiet. I hopped off my perch and went around the corner toward the back again. On my way, I squinted, looking through the trees for any sign of someone lurking around.
The tingle of my power tickled the back of my neck as I let it surface, ready for action. As I approached the dumpster area, the smell intensified. The back door of the store was closed tight.
I must be imagining things.
But then I heard the familiar crackle of flame and wood. I remember the sound and smell all too well from our little destruction marathon on The Center. I hurried around the back of the structure enclosing the dumpster and found a small fire, about the size of a campfire.