Under Cover

by Caroline Crane

“You cold?” he asked. “Want my jacket?” He reached to pull it off and discovered he didn’t have it. He laughed, and then I laughed.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “It’s just the wind.”

  The pizzeria was two blocks from the school. It must have gotten a lot of business in that location. Fred sat me down next to a giant rubber plant, went to the counter and brought back two slices.

  “Forgot to ask what you want on yours,” he said. “Extra cheese okay?”

  “Extra cheese is fine.” Was this like a date? Should I offer to pay for mine? I felt awkward either way. On the plus side, he seemed to have thawed a bit after taking offense at my questions. But because he had taken offense, I couldn’t go on with them, at least for a while.

  “What do you do for kicks?” I asked. “Are you on any sort of team?”

  “Naw. I used to play soccer, but they kicked me off.”

  “How come?”

  “What I mean is, they didn’t kick me off. I had other things to do.”

  Like kowtowing to Austen Storm, I supposed, but it was only a fleeting thought. I must forget all about who I was and what I knew, before I let something slip.

  “A lot of people think sports are the most important thing,” I said.

  “Yeah.” He chuckled. “A lot of people do.”

  I tried to keep the same casual tone. “Tell me about the kid who was murdered. With a coat hanger. Yuck. You said he was in your class?”

  His head jerked up. I got busy licking my fingers. Was I being casual enough? I could feel my heart pounding.

  “Shop class. Why do you want to know?”

  The pounding grew stronger. “I told you, it’s interesting. We never had anything like that at Southbridge.”

  “Who needs it?”

  “That’s true. It’s really gruesome. Did you know the kid who did it?”

  He shrugged. “Seen him around, I guess.”

  “Is he still in school?”

  “Can’t. He’s stuck at home with an ankle bracelet.”

  “Really? That sounds serious.”

  He fixed me with eyes that had lost their twinkle. “You think killing a guy isn’t serious?”

  “Yes, but—this is high school. Things like that don’t happen.”

  “Those things don’t just happen, Peggy. Not by themselves. People do them.”

  He remembered my alias. I’d almost forgotten it myself. He seemed very wise and thoughtful. More than he looked.

  “Why do you want to know all that?” he asked again.

  “Like I said, it’s interesting. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be gruesome. Would you rather not talk about it?”

  I’d asked him that before. He must have gotten his feelings under control, because he said, “Nah, it’s okay. I’m cool. It’s not like I really knew the kid.”

  “Did you know the one who did it? What was his name?”

  “Lee Penny.”

  “Did they know each other? Was there a fight or something?”

  “Don’t know what got it started. I wasn’t there.”

  “I wonder what happened.”

  “All I know is, he must have planned it. Who carries around a bent coat hanger?”

  “Is that what it was? Bent? Like pulled out so it made a circle?”

  “Had to be. How else could you get it over somebody’s head?”

  “Really? He slipped it over his head?”

  “That’s what they’re saying.”

  “Who says?” I asked.

  “The police.”

  “You mean they’re talking about it? Usually they don’t talk about a crime until they finish investigating. Or did they already?”

  “What’s to investigate? They found Johnny dead in Lee’s car. They could tell from the marks it was a coat hanger.”

  The way I read it, that was more of a guess than an outright statement. “Did Lee have a temper?”

  “You don’t need a temper for that. It’s cold-blooded planning, right?”

  “I guess so,” I said. “I don’t know much about it. I never killed anybody, or ever knew anybody who did.”

  I really thought I was getting somewhere, and was working on my next question, when the door swung open. Two people came in, along with a gust of wind. Sam McCallum and Austen Storm.

  “There’s your buddies.” I tried not to let my excitement show.

  Austen’s glasses swept over me. “Heard you were in here,” he said to my companion.

  Fred kept a poker-face.

  I batted my lashes. “Hi! I’m Peggy Mellin, from Southbridge. Soon from Hudson Hills. Fred’s been showing me around.”

  Austen smiled. It brightened his whole face. He looked almost approachable. I had to work at remembering I didn’t know his name or anything about him. I swallowed my nervousness and invited them both to sit with us. We had two empty chairs at our table.

  They took me up on it, but said nothing. Were they shy? Afraid of girls? Afraid of somehow being exposed for what they’d done? With all my Stacie charm, I asked Austen, “What’s your name? I told you mine.”

  Fred jumped in with what he should have done earlier. “That’s Austen Storm. And Peggy—uh, Melon?”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Austen,” I said.

  He nodded his head in a sort of bow. “I’m honored.”

  At least he had manners. Even if they were rather quaint.

  He said, “Southbridge? That’s where you’re from? Whereabouts?”

  Yikes. I’d given myself a new name but not a new address. I didn’t want them to know the real one.

  “Up in the hills,” I said. “Fremont Drive. Do you know where that is?”

  He frowned, thinking. “I can find it.”

  My heart gave a little jump. Was I afraid he’d find it? Hoping he’d find it?

  “Do you have a car?” I knew he didn’t. That was why they needed Liam.

  “Not yet.”

  “Oh, you’re getting one?”

  “Maybe.”

  “How do you get around in the meantime?” I had to keep him talking. Anything I could learn about him was all to the good.

  “I manage. You?”

  I wished I hadn’t said I lived so far out of town. And up that horrible hill where I almost got killed trying to ride up it.

  “I used to have a bike,” I told him. “Till somebody smashed it.” That part was true.

  “Too bad.”

  I was almost starting to warm, till I looked at his eyes. Behind the glasses, they seemed cold. Maybe it was the glasses that made him look that way.

  Which was he? A pleasant friendly person or a ruthless killer? It occurred to me that maybe I was a sucker to take Liam’s word for what happened. My head started whirling. In fact, it ached.

  Austen studied my hair. Finally he touched it. Gently, with the backs of his fingers.

  “Beautiful,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “How long did it take you to grow that?”

  “Most of my life, I guess.”

  “You cold?”

  I must have shivered a little. “Not really. It’s almost summer. Fred’s been—”

  No, I couldn’t put the blame on Fred and get him in trouble.

  “I’ve been asking Fred about the murder that happened here. For my school paper. It’s so weird. Do you know anything about it?”

  Austen shook his head. He did it without looking the least bit disconcerted. The other two guys just stared.

  “How can I find out?” I couldn’t force myself to look at Aus when I asked that. But I felt his eyes on me.

  “You’ll have to talk to the guy who did it,” he said.

  “Where do I find him?” I thought I did that pretty well without turning red. Just possibly I was getting the hang of this.

  Austen shrugged. “Try the phone book. Or you could ask the police.” He said it earnestly, as if he really wanted to help.

  “Like they’d tell me anything.” Once again, I looked
at my watch. The bus would be along soon. If I missed it, I’d have to wait another hour.

  They walked me to the bus shelter several blocks away and all three guys waited with me.

  I could scarcely believe this was me. Three whole guys. Fred seemed to fade into the background, along with Sam McCallum. Clearly Austen was the leader. The alpha dog. He did have a lot of attraction. Maybe taking charge was his nature. He asked me about myself. I had to invent a whole new person as I went along. Fortunately I was pretty good at that. The trick was to remember it all and keep it consistent.

  I hadn’t worn a sweater and I really was chilled by the time the bus came. I waited till I was boarding, then called over my shoulder. “’Bye, guys. See you soon!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Grandma must have been watching for me. As soon as I showed up on her radar, she scooted down the driveway to meet me.

  “What was that all about? You got kept after school? You didn’t even call and I was scared half to death.”

  “Grandma, will you please give me a little credit for being almost old enough to vote?” Actually, it was another whole year.

  She rushed me into the house and went on scolding. “And don’t give me any stories about how you were with Maddie. She called a while ago looking for you.”

  “She did?”

  “That’s what I said. Where were you, the ice cream parlor all this time? I tried them and got some grumpy old guy who didn’t know you. Musta been Frosty Dan himself.”

  “I have other things going on besides ice cream.”

  “You’d better call Maddie. I got her worried, too.”

  I stopped on my way upstairs. “You know what I need? A cell phone. I think I’m the only person on the whole planet who doesn’t have one.”

  “I doubt it. There’s gotta be people in the Third World.”

  “They have them even in Third World countries. I’ve seen pictures.”

  “Really poor people in Third World countries,” she argued.

  “I’m a really poor person,” I argued back. “I don’t even have a job.”

  “You’ve got money in the bank.”

  “Not much.”

  I went on up and called Maddie from the extension in Mom’s room. Their house phone was busy so I tried her cell. If I had a cell it would be like my own little world with my own little number. I could give that number to Fred and Aus, even Liam, and they could reach me anywhere. I could call Grandma and reassure her I hadn’t been abducted by aliens.

  “Hi,” I said when Maddie answered. “I hear Grandma got you all in a swivet.”

  “Not as much as she was in,” Maddie said. “I figured you knew what you were doing.”

  “She always thinks I’m going to be kidnapped by some dirty old man offering me a lollipop to get in his car. What’s up?” I hoped she would say there was too much typing and she would have to delegate some.

  “Just checking. Last I heard, you were taking a bus to Hudson Hills.”

  Suddenly I wasn’t sure I wanted her involved. What if she met the guys and they liked her better than me?

  “I followed your advice,” I said. “I went to the school to look up yearbooks and I found them.”

  “Found the yearbooks?”

  “The goons. The ones Liam told me about. He gave me their names. I actually found one of the guys and the other two came along. I think the capo sort of liked me. I mean, the first one did, and then the capo. He liked my hair.”

  “The what? The capo?”

  “You know, like in the Mafia. I made up a whole new identity. I took my mother’s name and said my family was moving to Hudson Hills and I was checking out the school. I told them I’d come back but now I have to figure how to work that. One thing I need is a cell phone. Where did you get yours?”

  “At the phone store. On Grand Street. I’ll go with you.”

  Maddie knew everything. I supposed all the other people in the world did, too. Even the Third World.

  “I’d love for you to go with me.” But that was as far as I wanted her to go. For now.

  The next afternoon we went to the phone store and I picked out a beautiful purple Nokia. I had to fill out some papers for an account and they had to do a credit check. They said it would be a few days.

  Rats. I wanted it now.

  Maddie offered to take me to Hudson Hills.

  “I’d better wait a little,” I said. “Too soon might look suspicious.”

  She didn’t understand. “What could they possibly suspect you of?”

  “Spying on them? Or they might think I’m chasing them.”

  “Are they cute?”

  “Maddie, they’re killers.”

  “That’s according to Liam Penny. Do you trust him?”

  “That’s what I’m looking into. He’s too wimpy to go to the police, so I have to do it. But I need some facts to give them.”

  She looked at me hard and said, “I’m worried about you.”

  “If you want to know, so am I. I just have to count on my acting ability.”

  I was grateful to her for not laughing.

  She drove me home and made me promise I wouldn’t make a move without telling her first. “So at least I’ll know where you are and what you’re doing,” she said.

  “I don’t know what I’ll be doing.”

  “Think of me as your handler. Don’t spies have handlers?”

  “You’re not handling me.”

  “Your anchor? Home base? Whatever.”

  For a while I resented the interference. Then as I thought about it, I realized it made me feel more secure to have Maddie, if no one else, know what I was doing.

  I still hadn’t heard from my dad, or seen him since that time Liam and I came out of the basement. For all I knew, he’d gone back to Borneo. At the very least, he’d have wanted a ride to the airport. Unless he got Mrs. Mulvaney to take him.

  Anyway, I didn’t think Liam was out of the woods and that was why Dad came home. For one thing, if Liam were out of the woods, then Austen would be in it. I’d find out more about that on Friday, when I made my next trip to Hudson Hills.

  I’d done the yearbook thing. Now I had to come up with another reason for prowling around the school. I had no desire to confront that guard again and have him recognize me. I would have to stay outside.

  What do we do with the outside of a building? We take pictures! I didn’t have my Nokia yet, so I went to CVS and bought a cheap, disposable camera.

  I also bought a diet Coke and put it in my bag. The bus had rules about food and drink so I had to wait till I got to the high school. It didn’t take long.

  I stationed myself where I would be visible to anyone coming out the main door, and aimed my camera. I didn’t snap it. No point in wasting film when the goons weren’t around. The camera was only for show, like a theater prop. I took phony pictures of the school, the river, the front steps as people began to spill out.

  They stared at me. Okay, let them stare. I knew what I was doing even if they didn’t. I got so engrossed in putting on a show, I never gave a thought when someone called, “Hey, Peg!”

  It took several shouts, each one closer and louder than the last. Only then did it seep into my dull brain that Peg was me, Peggy Mellin. I spun around.

  Fred stood there twinkling.

  “Oh, hi!” I said. Surprise, surprise.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like? I’m taking pictures. I need something to orient myself.”

  “Can I see what you have so far?” he asked.

  “Sorry, it’s a film camera. You’ll have to wait till I get them developed.”

  “Interesting.” He studied it as though he’d never seen one before.

  “It’s just the school,” I said. “I’m familiarizing myself. Maybe I could try some river shots.” I started toward the end of the school that looked out toward the Hudson.

  “How about inside?” he suggested.

  “Not
enough light.” I knew that much about photography. I also knew there was a guard there who’d seen my very questionable driver’s license.

  We reached where the ground began sloping toward the river. I asked Fred to pose for me.

  “Oh, no,” he said.

  “Camera-shy?”

  “You could say so.”

  I knew I couldn’t talk him into it and didn’t want to, anyway. “What’s around in back?”

  “Back’s not interesting. Neither is this here front, for that matter.”

  “Then I’ll take another of the river.” I moved up a few feet. Now I could see more of what was down there. I leaned forward and saw all of River Edge Park. It was too far away for much detail, but I caught the shape of it. I thought of snapping that, too, but not with Fred watching me.

  We walked on around toward the back of the school even though it wasn’t interesting. I offered him a sip of my Coke. He refused. “Do you know how many bacteria there are in the human mouth?” he said.

  “Do you mean somebody counted them?”

  “They estimated.” He named a humongous figure and said his mother was a nurse. I felt bad for her having a son mixed up with Austen Storm. But I was glad she’d cautioned him about sharing drinks.

  As he’d said, the back of the school wasn’t much. It had several doors, a couple of dumpsters, and it smelled of cafeteria. A few kids were hanging out, smoking. The school was weirdly placed, perpendicular to the street instead of facing it the way you’d think. It must have had something to do with the shape of its man-made plateau. Still, it was an imposing structure with a spacious lawn and nice trees.

  “Don’t you have an athletic field?” I asked.

  “Yeah, about a block away. There’s no room for it here. Too hilly.”

  “That doesn’t seem very convenient.”

  “It’s okay.”

  What did I care? I wasn’t going to be there, anyway.

  We’d almost reached the street and I was readying for a shot of it when two figures appeared in the viewfinder. Somehow they looked familiar. They picked up speed coming toward us, and quickly grew larger. Austen and Sam. In spite of the warm day, Austen wore a long black raincoat.

  “Did you take a picture just now?” he demanded.

  “No.” An irrational wave of guilt washed over me. What did I have to feel guilty about? It was the way he said it.