by Lisa Orchard
“Did you come up with a plan?” Lacey asked.
“Yes,” Sarah said and turned her attention back to her friends. She motioned for the group to huddle together, and then glanced over her shoulder before whispering, “We’re going to drive to Alden after school.”
“We are?” Lacey asked with a perplexed look. “Why?”
“Because I think Mom and Dad are up there.”
“We don’t know that. All we know is their phone is up there.”
Sarah frowned. “True, but it didn’t get up there by itself.”
“But someone could have stolen it and taken it up there.”
“I know. But I find it odd that the detective Aunt June hired didn’t find anything in their phone records and the FBI did.”
“How do you know the detective didn’t?” Jackie asked.
“Because, when Aunt June got the file from him there was nothing in there about the records.”
Lacey grabbed Sarah’s arm. “That’s right. The only thing in there was a paper trail about their day before the cruise.”
“So, I say we go up and check out the town of Alden. There’s got to be some sort of clue there.”
“But we don’t have any idea where to look,” Lacey protested. She twirled her long blonde hair around her finger and gave Sarah a pensive look.
Sarah bit her lip to stop her irritation from showing.
“Did the FBI give you any other information?” Scott asked. He winked at Lacey and raked his hand through his blond hair.
Sarah shook her head. “No.” She glanced at her sister and took a deep breath, trying to maintain a calm air.
“So, what’s the plan once we get to Alden?” Scott pursed his lips and gazed at Sarah.
“I’ve got Mom and Dad’s picture in the file. I say we go up there and start showing it to people. I mean it’s a small town, right? Someone’s bound to have seen them.” Sarah’s heart raced as the words left her mouth. Could it really be this simple?
“Scott, do you know anyone who can drive us after school?” Jackie asked, flashing her toothy smile.
“I’ll ask Alex Brown. He works with me during Saturday morning basketball. He drives.” Scott walked a few paces forward as the lunch line moved along. “I bet he’ll do it. We’ll just have to chip in for gas.”
The conversation halted as the group caught up to Scott. They grew silent as they studied the lunch selections. Sarah grimaced. Gross…chicken a ’la king. “You know what? I’m going over to the à la carte and get pizza. This stuff looks scary.” Sarah stepped out of line.
Jackie followed her. “I’m with you.”
“When you’re done here, grab a table and we’ll find you,” Sarah said to her sister.
“Okay.”
The two girls stepped into the à la carte line. Sarah could smell the melted cheese on the pizza and her stomach rumbled. The line moved forward quickly and in a matter of minutes the two girls had their pizza and a soda.
Sarah glanced around the cafeteria, searching for her sister. She found her at a table in the center of the lunchroom and cocked her head in that direction. “They’re over here.”
Jackie nodded and stepped toward the table. Sarah traveled behind her.
The two girls sat across from them and immediately took big bites of their pizza. Sarah relished the gooey cheese. Swallowing she said, “Another nutritious meal courtesy of Harrisburg Schools.”
The Super Spies cracked up laughing and Scott almost spewed his soda across the table. After they got their laughter under control, they finished their lunch and cleaned up their trays. They wandered into the corridor and stood together just outside the cafeteria.
“It’s almost time for fourth period,” Scott said, glancing at his watch. “I have Alex in that class. I’ll talk to him then.”
“Okay.” Sarah grinned. “Let’s meet in front of the school right after fifth period. We can take off then.”
“You’re not going to tell Aunt June?” Lacey asked, giving Sarah a long look.
“We’ll call her after school,” Sarah said, stifling her irritation again.
The Super Spies waved and went their separate ways. Sarah couldn’t wait to get through the next period. She made her way to gym, her last class of the day; thankful her last name started with C because that meant she was on the early schedule for school.
She thought back to the bombing that occurred just last week and a shudder went through her body. The school board had acted quickly and designed a plan that allowed the junior high to act as both high school and junior high. They accomplished this by developing a staggered schedule for all the students. The Super Spies had been lucky enough to all receive the early schedule. Classes started at seven and ended at one o’clock. Plenty of time to get up to Alden and do some investigating. Her fingers tingled as anticipation surged through her system.
Sarah made it to the locker room with seconds to spare and quickly changed into her gym clothes. She breathed a quick prayer of thanks that they were studying volleyball. The teams had been divvied up last week and all they had to do was set up and play.
For the last hour, Sarah concentrated on the game and forgot about her situation. She played hard, enjoying the workout, but when the whistle blew she raced for the shower. Now, I’m going to get some answers.
Chapter Two
After showering, Sarah rushed to the front of the school. When she got there, she found Scott and a tall, good looking boy chatting about basketball.
“Hi, Scott,” Sarah greeted.
“Hey.” Scott flashed a warm smile and then introduced the boy next to him. “This is Alex.”
“Hi.” She glanced at him and did a double take. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she stared into his bright blue eyes. She glanced down quickly as the heat of a blush spread across her face. He’s hot!
“Hi,” Alex said and gave her an impish grin, almost like he knew what she’d been thinking
Sarah cleared her throat and gazed at him again. She took in his dark, wavy hair that contrasted with the blueness of his eyes. A handful of freckles were scattered across his stubby nose and cheeks. He had a stubborn cowlick growing in the middle of his hair line. Sarah resisted the urge to pull the lock of hair into place and instead said, “So, did Scott ask you about a ride to Alden?”
Alex’s grin widened. “Yeah, he said you’re doing some sort of investigation. I’m very curious.” He winked at her.
She giggled. Holy cow! I’m acting like some silly girl. I sound just like Lacey when she talks to Scott. Sarah cleared her throat. “So that means you’ll do it? We’d chip in for gas of course.” She added the last part quickly.
“Awesome. I’m always up for an adventure.”
“Cool.” Sarah beamed and then glanced around. “I wonder what’s taking Jackie and Lacey so long.”
“We can start this party, I’m here!” Jackie announced with a flourish as she snuck up behind Sarah and put her hands over her eyes. “Guess who?”
Sarah laughed and pulled her friend’s hands away from her eyes. “Who else would it be?”
“True.”
“Hey guys.” Lacey jogged up to the group. “Sorry I’m late. I had a couple of questions for my teacher.”
“No problem,” Scott said, winking at her.
Alex clapped his hands together. “Is this everyone? I say we get this show on the road. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.” He flashed his grin again and Sarah felt the butterflies take flight.
She glanced toward the parking lot and cleared her throat. “Which car is yours?”
“I drive that four door beater over there.” Alex pointed at a brown vehicle with a dented passenger door and a rusted front bumper. “She ain’t pretty but she’ll get us where we gots to go.” He spoke in a southern drawl and tipped an imaginary hat in Sarah’s direction. “I call her the Brown Bomb.”
She giggled and inwardly cringed. Gross… I sound like a brainless twit.
Jackie
gave her a keen look and a sly grin spread across her face. “Let’s hit the road.” She hooked her arm into Sarah’s and pulled her forward.
Alex and Scott pulled ahead of the group and talked about basketball. Lacey walked beside Scott, listening raptly to the conversation. Sarah was about to make fun of her, but stopped when she remembered her insane giggling just a few minutes ago.
Jackie tugged on her arm. “So… you got the hots for old Alex up there, huh?”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Oh pu-leeese.”
“You can’t fool me. I can tell.” Jackie giggled and gave her a nudge.
Sarah pursed her lips trying to keep from smiling like an idiot.
“So, do you have a picture of your mom and dad on you?” Jackie asked.
Sarah took a deep breath, glad for the change of subject. “It’s right here.” She patted her backpack.
“Cool beans.”
“Are you ever going to stop saying that?” Sarah gave her friend an annoyed look. “I mean really, it’s so juvenile.”
“So what? I like it,” Jackie said with a theatrical flourish of her hands.
Sarah laughed and put her arm around her friend and gave her a quick squeeze. “You crack me up.”
They reached the car where Alex was busy moving some basketball equipment from his back seat and placing it in his trunk. “Hop in, guys.”
Sarah and Jackie climbed in the back seat and Scott and Lacey decided to ride shot gun.
Alex climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. Sarah suppressed a grin when the loud rumble of the motor filled the air. The vibration of the vehicle increased when Alex gunned the engine. He turned and flashed a grin at Sarah. “Like I said, she ain’t pretty but she’ll get us where we gots to go.”
She laughed and gave him a wide smile.
Alex glanced out the back window and then pulled out of the parking spot. “So we’re going to Alden, right?”
“Yep.” Sarah bit her lip and clenched her hands into tight fists. The butterflies in her stomach had turned into a knot as she thought about what they might find in Alden.
Alex shifted in his seat and switched gears. “Okay… it’s a straight shot right up highway ninety-six. We’ll be there in no time.”
“Cool,” Sarah said, raising her voice above the din of the motor.
The Super Spies grew silent as they drove toward the highway.
Sighing, Sarah gazed out the window. She thought about the last time she’d seen her parents and her heart grew heavy. She had been upset with them because she was stuck spending the summer with her aunt and uncle while they went on a cruise. She remembered giving them the silent treatment as they climbed on the plane.
Her mother had hugged her and Sarah had refused to hug her back. Then her mother had given her an exasperated smile and said. “You’ll have fun, you’ll see.”
Sarah had given her mother a “yeah, right” look along with a loud “harrumpff” and turned away. Looking back on that moment, regret coursed through her body like a slow-moving landslide. It never occurred to her she might not see her parents again. She cleared her throat as a lump rose. Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked quickly to dispel them.
She glanced at her watch, startled to see forty five minutes had already gone by. Sighing, she searched for her backpack and found it at her feet. She opened it and pulled out her math book.
“What are you doing?” Jackie asked, furrowing her brow.
“I figure I might as well get my math done.” Sarah shrugged and reached inside her pack again for her notebook.
“Oh… you scholarly types drive me nuts,” Jackie grumbled.
“It’s not like we can shop in the car.” Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“That’s not entirely true.” Jackie giggled and pulled out her laptop.
Sarah groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jackie laughed and said. “I’ve got this satellite internet thingy going on here. We can shop to our heart’s content.”
“Only you, Jack. Only you.”
“Scooch on over.”
Sarah moved toward Jackie as far as her seat belt would allow her. “Do you think you’ll get a signal?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Jackie opened her laptop and tried to sign on to the internet.
The girls waited in silence as the computer searched for a signal. After a few minutes they were successful and Jackie gave her a triumphant grin. “Isn’t modern technology wonderful?”
Sarah giggled. “You got that right.” She leaned forward. “Let’s find out about the town of Alden.”
Jackie exhaled an exaggerated sigh. “Oh… all right. I guess shopping can wait.”
Sarah nudged her. “What are you shopping for anyway? You’ve got everything.”
“So what? A girl can always use a new cute sweater.”
Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head again. “Type in Alden, Michigan. Let’s see what we find out.”
Jackie bent her head, sending her curls cascading around her face. She bit her lip as she typed and her dark eyes watched the screen as the computer searched. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Okay, this is what we’ve got.” She turned the computer so Sarah could get a better look.
Sarah read from the screen. “Okay, it says here… Alden has a population of five thousand during the summer months.”
“Wow, that should make it easy to spot your mom and dad,” Jackie said. She stared at Sarah with her dark, intense eyes.
“Yeah.” Sarah continued to read. “It says… the population drops down to about two thousand in the fall and winter months.”
“Sounds like it’s a tourist town.”
“It sure does.” Sarah furrowed her brow and leaned forward to get a better look at the screen. “Click on ‘history’.”
Jackie moved the cursor over to history and clicked on it. Another window popped up and Sarah continued to study the screen. Pictures of Main Street came into view. They showed women wearing long dresses and carrying parasols as they strolled by the storefronts lining the streets.
Sarah read the narrative explaining how the town developed. “Wow, it was a shipping town, right on Torch Lake.”
“Cool, maybe we’ll have time to walk on the beach.”
Sarah ignored her and continued reading. “It says here it was developed in the eighteen hundreds. And there was a prominent family that owned the shipping company.”
“Really?” Jackie shifted the laptop so she could read along with Sarah. ”You’re right. It says right here, the Robinsons.”
“Is that their house in the picture?” Sarah asked, knitting her brows together.
“Wow, it’s huge.”
“And spooky.” Sarah studied the structure with its wrap around porch and wide veranda on the front. An involuntary shudder went through her body as she scrutinized the home.
“I think it’s still standing.” Jackie squinted at the screen. “Yeah, they’ve listed it as a historical home and it sits at the top of a hill, overlooking the town.”
“We’ll have to check it out.”
“What are you two doing back there?” Alex called from the front seat.
Sarah looked up and caught his eye in the rearview mirror. “Just research.”
“On what?”
“The town of Alden.”
“You better hurry and get it done. We’re making good time and we’re almost there.”
“For real?” Sarah asked in a voice filled with shock.
“Yep. Probably have just another forty five minutes.”
Sarah stared at Jackie and her skin prickled with anticipation. She slid back across the seat and put her forgotten math book back in her pack, then pulled out the photo of her parents. She held it up for Jackie and said, “Pretty soon.”
Jackie reached over and squeezed her arm. “That’s right. Pretty soon.”
Sarah felt a grin prick at the corners of her mouth. “Dad, how much longer
?” she asked in a whiny voice and then giggled.
“Dad, I’ve got to pee,” Jackie piped up and then joined Sarah in a round of hysterical giggles.
“Shut up, you guys,” Alex yelled above the sound of the motor. “I’ll turn this car around and go back home if I have to.”
The whole group cracked up laughing. Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes and made eye contact with her friend. He sounds fun. She hoped Jackie got her message telepathically.
Jackie winked back and then focused on her computer once again. Sarah figured her wink confirmed her message had been received. A warm flush spread through her body, she loved having a friend that she was so in tune with. She exhaled a contented sigh, shifted her weight, and stared out the window. As the landscape sped past, a billboard caught her eye. It had a picture of a young child grinning and the caption read. Piper Drugs. The Drug Company that takes care of you like you were family.
Sarah furrowed her brow as images of her father filled her mind. It had been the day he had received the job offer from Piper Drugs. He had been so excited that he took everyone out to dinner to celebrate. Tears prickled in her eyes. He worked for the company for ten years. If we find my dad will they give him his job back? Sighing again, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
Chapter Three
Sarah woke with a start. She glanced around the vehicle and found Jackie shopping on her computer. In the front seat Scott helped Lacey with her math homework.
“What time is it?” She asked, before yawning widely. She stretched, raising her arms above her head and touching the ceiling with her fingertips.
“It’s about two forty-five,” Jackie answered.
“Awesome, we’re almost there.” Sarah glanced down and eyed the photograph. It had slipped out of her hand while she dozed and landed in her lap. Picking it up, she tapped the photo to her chin and pursed her lips.
“When we get there, where should we start?” Lacey asked, looking into the backseat.