Fatal Secrets

by Richie Tankersley Cusick

  I have to make some sense out of this.… I have to talk to somebody—

  She grabbed the phone and dialed Phoebe’s number. After seven endless rings, she was finally answered by a blast of rock music.

  “Jinx!” she tried to shout but barely managed a croak. “Is Phoebe there?”

  “What?”

  “Turn down the—” Ryan took a deep breath. Come on, Ryan, get a grip.…“Jinx, turn that down and get Phoebe!”

  “She’s not here!”

  “When will she be back?”

  “When she wants to. Get lost, McCauley—I’m not a social director—”

  “I’m not kidding, Jinx—it’s a matter of life and death!”

  “Huh?”

  “I said—” Ryan shook so violently that she had to hold the receiver with both hands to keep from dropping it.

  “I heard that party last night was wild,” Jinx said. “I heard someone spiked the cider.”

  The cider! So I wasn’t drugged after all.… Charles wasn’t trying to get rid of me … he really did hit the dog … he really did leave me there by mistake—“Jinx—”

  There was a thud as the phone was thrown down, and then the volume of the music took an unexpected plunge.

  “Okay.” Jinx sighed. “What do you want me to tell her?”

  “Tell her I have to talk to her. Tell her I need her to come and get me as soon as she can!”

  “You might have a long wait. She and that Michael guy went out early this morning. She must be in love to have her eyes open before noon on a Saturday.”

  “You don’t understand how important this is! I have to come over there—”

  “So fly. Jeez, McCauley, you sound terrible. You have a hangover or what?”

  “Can your mom or dad come and get me?”

  “They’re down at Aunt Agnes’s. They won’t be back till late tomorrow night.”

  “Jinx, please—”

  “Oh, no, you don’t. I just took a nice big pizza out of the oven, and I’m very comfortable here on the couch.”

  “I’ll pay for your gas.”

  “With what, your looks? That wouldn’t even get me out of my driveway.”

  Ryan slammed down the phone and sat stiffly on the edge of the bed.

  How did that necklace get away from Marissa?

  How did it get in the bedroom?

  Ryan’s head came up, her blood going icy in her veins. What was that? For just a second she thought she’d heard something downstairs … a door creaking open … a footstep …

  “Steve?”

  Ryan went to the top of the stairs and peered down. The house held its breath around her. She went back to Marissa’s room and crawled into bed, feeling cold all over.

  Someone was in this house … someone knew where Marissa’s room was …

  A car door slammed outside, and as someone came in and started up the stairs, Ryan scooted back against the headboard and watched the door with frightened eyes.

  “Steve?” she called fearfully.

  “No. Me.” Jinx poked his head in and scowled. “Don’t worry, McCauley, your secret’s safe with me.”

  “What secret? Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!” Ryan threw off the covers, and Jinx quickly turned his back. “You don’t have to be so polite, Jinx—I’m dressed.”

  “I’m not being polite. I just didn’t want to throw up on the rug when I saw your body.”

  “I can’t believe you came.” Ryan slipped up behind him and tried to give him a hug, but he wiggled out of her arms. “I didn’t think you really would.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s obvious. So who is he, anyway? I probably know him, right?”

  Ryan frowned. “Who?”

  “No, that’s what I asked you. Pay attention and try to get it right this time.”

  “Jinx …” Ryan sighed. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, come on, I’ve already seen him, so you don’t have to play dumb.” Jinx snapped his fingers. “Oops, sorry … I forgot you weren’t playing.”

  “You’re making even less sense than usual,” Ryan said, annoyed. “Will you please tell me what you’re—”

  Jinx sighed. “The guy, McCauley. The boyfriend. The secret admirer. I saw him just now sneaking out the back door, so quit pretending …” His words faded as he watched the reaction on her face. “The guy,” he said again and tapped Ryan on the forehead. “Hello? Anyone home?”

  “What guy?” Ryan whispered.

  “I told you, he—” Jinx broke off as Ryan sagged back against the wall.

  “You’re teasing me, right? Please say you’re—”

  “He was coming out the back door when I drove up—I could see him through the trees. By the time I hit the driveway, I guess he’d taken off through the woods.”

  “Oh, Jinx, nobody was here—I mean, nobody I knew about—”

  “You mean you’ve been here alone? You didn’t see him?” Jinx was already out in the hall, racing down the stairs. “Stay here—I’ll take a look!”

  That noise I thought I heard downstairs … someone must have been in the house with me.… On shaky legs Ryan stood at Marissa’s window with its clear view of the backyard. She saw Jinx searching the area, and she saw prints in the snow leading down the slope and into the woods. Jinx looked back toward the house, and she raised the window to call down to him.

  “Jinx, come back inside!”

  “Want me to see where these footprints go?”

  “No! Just please come back in here!”

  “Should I call the police?”

  “Jinx!”

  “Okay, okay, I’m coming.”

  Ryan went downstairs and was holding the kitchen door when he came back inside.

  “Did you see anyone?”

  “Not a soul. You sure you weren’t expecting anyone?”

  “Positive. When you saw this person—”

  “Guy,” Jinx corrected. “He was a guy.”

  “Are you sure he was coming out of the house?”

  “Well, he was on the kitchen steps, with his back to the door. I just figured he was.”

  “Maybe you scared him off, and he never got inside. What’d he look like, could you tell?”

  Jinx shook his head. “I wasn’t close enough—but he looked pretty big. Hey, you better sit down or something.” Dragging her to a chair, he forced her into it, then ran cold water on the dishrag and dabbed clumsily at her face.

  “I need to talk to Phoebe,” she whispered.

  “Not unless your name is Michael. Only Michael’s got her attention this weekend.”

  “Oh, Jinx, please … I’ve got to tell her what’s going on.…” Ryan closed her eyes wearily. When she opened them again, Jinx was squatting on his heels in front of her.

  “Maybe it was a hunter,” he said helpfully. “You know how they’re always wandering onto your property. Maybe he wanted to use your phone, and you didn’t hear him knock.”

  “No … not a hunter …” she mumbled, and Jinx tried again.

  “A delivery man.”

  “I didn’t order anything. And anyway, where was his car?”

  “A delivery man on foot.” Jinx rocked back on his heels, holding on to the rungs of her chair for balance. “You look terrible. Even more than usual, I mean.”

  “I feel terrible. I …” Her eyes misted, and she stared down at him, her voice small and frightened. “Jinx … do you think I’m crazy?”

  She’d expected the usual insults, delivered in the usual quick-fire manner. What she hadn’t expected were his hands reaching out to hers, grasping them tightly, and the way his eyes looked suddenly serious and sad.

  “Come on, McCauley,” he whispered. “Talk to me.”

  She told him everything—all that had happened, all her fears and suspicions—and the whole time she talked, Jinx never said a word, just crouched there, holding her hands.

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore,” she ended. “I don’t know what to think.”
/>   Jinx was silent a minute. “You really spent the night with Winchester?”

  “Jinx!” Ryan looked indignant. “That hardly seems very important compared to the rest of this mess.”

  Jinx looked a little embarrassed. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. So how come you never told anyone Marissa might be in some kind of trouble?”

  “She made me promise not to. At first I thought she was just joking. And then …” She caught herself, feeling disloyal.

  “Yeah.” Jinx nodded. “Some guy.”

  “But then she was gone, and whatever it was didn’t matter anymore anyway,” Ryan said miserably. “And I swore I wouldn’t tell. I shouldn’t even have told you.”

  “Ryan, Marissa’s dead. I really don’t think she’d care.”

  “But I promised. It was our secret. The last secret we ever shared.” Ryan groaned. “I think something terrible is happening. Or going to happen. To me, maybe. I don’t want to think that. Talk me out of thinking that.”

  “Okay. Nothing bad’s happening, and nothing bad’s gonna happen.”

  “Promise?”

  “Look—” Jinx rubbed his chin and began pacing. “What if everything’s just the way it seems?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Some kid just messed up the dollhouse. Coincidence. Some fat guy likes to window-shop. Coincidence. Charles really is a friend of Marissa’s … he really has just come here out of the goodness of his heart … he wants to be your friend—” Jinx glanced up. “Obviously, the guy must be desperate for friends, but that’s his problem.” Jinx kept pacing. “He didn’t know you got out of the van, and you nearly gave him a heart attack, and Winchester saved your life, and you slept there.”

  “Jinx”—Ryan shot him a chilly glance that he chose to ignore—“what about the necklace?”

  “I’m thinking.”

  “What about the garage? The body in the car?”

  “That door’s always jamming, you know that.”

  “The body,” Ryan repeated impatiently. “The ghost in the woods.”

  “Both times it was dark, right? It could have been shadows—”

  “Shadows don’t honk. Shadows don’t talk.”

  “Come on, McCauley, you already said you felt weird at the party—”

  Ryan gave an exasperated sigh. “I only had one cup of cider!”

  “Then it was probably some farmer. He didn’t see you, and he was”—Jinx thought quickly—“talking to his buddy. He said, ‘I can’t come home for Christmas, I’m staying here instead.’”

  “No.” Ryan thought a moment. “That wasn’t it.”

  “‘I can’t come home for Christmas … I’ll be sick in bed.’”

  Ryan gave him a scathing look.

  “‘I can’t come home for Christmas … I’m Fred.’”

  “Fred!”

  “Ed?”

  “Jinx—”

  “Well, you said talk you out of it!” Jinx said crossly. “You’re not being very cooperative.”

  “Don’t you understand this is really serious!”

  “What’s serious is that you spent all night in a cabin with Winchester Stone! That’s what’s serious.”

  Ryan stared at him, her anger rising. “He was a perfect gentleman! And anyway, why do you care so much about it?”

  “I don’t,” Jinx said quickly, shrugging his shoulders, looking away. “I don’t care at all.”

  “A perfect gentleman,” Ryan reiterated. “I trusted him completely.”

  “Right. This coming from Miss Approachable of Fadiman High. Face it, McCauley, any guy who even looks at you is a criminal, as far as you’re concerned. You don’t trust anything male, and you’ve got about as much self-confidence as a rabbit. There’re lots of guys who’d grab you up if—” Abruptly he broke off, then busied himself at the sink filling a glass of water.

  “If what?” Ryan said, embarrassed. “How would you know?”

  “Trust me on this one. I know.”

  “Who, then? Who’s interested in me?”

  “You wouldn’t catch on if they looked you right in the face.” Jinx scowled. “Which no one could do and live, ’cause you’re so ugly.”

  “We’re way off the subject here—quit being a jerk.”

  “Well, excuse me! Going over all the ways you’re being terrorized just happens to put me in a bad mood, okay?”

  “Then … you believe me? That someone’s after me?”

  “I didn’t say that. I believe you’re paranoid as hell, but what’s new?”

  “Should we go to the police?”

  “With what? All your concrete evidence? The ghosts you’ve seen? A four-inch tall victim of doll abuse?”

  Furious tears filled Ryan’s eyes. “It’s not funny, Jinx—I’m so scared!”

  “Am I laughing?” he challenged her. “Do you see me laughing at all this, McCauley? I’m just telling you that if you go to the cops with these wild stories of yours, they’re really gonna wonder about some things—”

  “Like what things?”

  “Like what you had to drink at that party—and all your problems at school—and where you spent the night last night—”

  “But—well—I know it all sounds kind of funny—”

  “Right, and that’s what the cops’ll think, too. Just listen to what you’ve been telling me! You said yourself Mrs. Corbett had a conference with your mom—they think you should see a shrink!”

  “But that’s not fair! I’m telling the truth!”

  “Okay, then, where’s the necklace? Let me see it.”

  Ryan stared at him. She hung her head and shook it slowly. “I don’t have it. I guess Charles still does.”

  “I rest my case.”

  “Look, Jinx, someone might have been in the house a little while ago—he could be the one following me all this time!”

  “Following you? You’ve actually seen someone following you?”

  “Well … no … I …” Her voice sank. “I’ve just felt it.” She raised her eyes again, imploring him. “Oh, Jinx, what am I going to do? You’ve got to believe me! Say you believe me—please!”

  “I believe you.”

  “You’re just saying that!”

  “Oh, hell …” He glanced at her quickly, then toward the hallway. “You’re giving me the creeps, McCauley. Let’s get outta here.”

  “You’re the only one I’ve told,” Ryan said, following him downstairs. “I’m not crazy.… I’m not imagining things—”

  “And I gave up pizza for this,” Jinx grumbled. “I gave up pizza and my nice soft couch for this. I gave up pizza and my couch and the football game for—”

  “I’ll buy you a new pizza. We can stop on the way.”

  “And gas.”

  “Yes.” Ryan sighed. “And gas. Just let me leave a note.”

  “Terrific, McCauley. Now they’ll come to my house and terrorize me!”

  Ryan felt drained. She sat stiffly in the car and scarcely even realized when they pulled into the service station. She reached into her purse and handed Jinx a wad of bills, watching vacantly as he hopped out to pump gas. A tapping sound startled her, and she looked up to see Winchester’s father smiling in at her through the window. She rolled it down, and he leaned partway in.

  “How you doing there, little lady? After what you been through last night, you should take it easy.”

  Ryan couldn’t help smiling back. “I wanted to thank you again. I could have died out there.”

  “Hey, now, no thanks necessary. I’m just glad Winchester was there to help. Hope your folks weren’t worried, though, wondering about you.”

  “No,” Ryan fibbed. “They understood about the phone and all.”

  Mr. Stone fixed her with a puzzled grin. “What about the phone?”

  “The storm knocking out the lines,” Ryan said. “I hope you got it fixed okay.”

  “Nothin’ to fix.” And Winchester’s father was shaking his head while something cold snaked up Ryan’s
spine.

  “Oh, I must have misunderstood …”

  “Must have,” Mr. Stone said cheerfully. “Far as I know, that phone worked just fine last night.”

  Chapter 13

  Jinx slid in and started the car, he eyed her skeptically. “You okay?”As

  “I just want to sleep, that’s all.”

  “Well, do it in Phoebe’s room. I got friends coming over.”

  “Not those slimy little guys you always hang around with.”

  “Well, who asked you? Like it’s even your house.” Jinx took a corner too fast, and the car skidded on some ice.

  “If you’re not careful, I won’t even live long enough to get to your house.” Winchester lied to me … and I just said I trusted him.… “Why are we stopping?”

  Jinx looked at her in amazement. “I swear, McCauley, you’ve got a brain like a slug. Pizza. Remember?”

  He held out his hand, and Ryan dug through her wallet for more money. Not finding any, she searched through her purse, then emptied the contents on her lap.

  “Terrific,” Jinx grumbled. “So I starve.”

  “Oh, just wait a minute,” Ryan grumbled back. “The lining’s loose on the bottom—sometimes I find all kinds of money under there.” As she pulled out a twenty, her look of triumph turned to surprise. “Look—some film!”

  “Big deal. Declare a holiday.”

  “No …” Ryan shook her head. “No, I remember—Marissa gave this to me. The day of the accident. God … it’s been buried under here all this time.…”

  “With your brain. Come on, I’m hungry—”

  “Oh, Jinx, can we stop and drop this off at the drugstore? Please—”

  “Yeah, yeah, just give me the money before I’m too weak to walk!” He disappeared into the building, and Ryan leaned back with a groan.

  Maybe he didn’t know about the phone—you really want to believe that, don’t you, because he was so nice and—

  Someone’s watching me.

  Ryan jerked upright, her hands slamming flat against her window. She could see the whole parking lot and the street beyond, but there weren’t any people anywhere. Come on, Jinx, hurry up.…

  Taking a deep breath, Ryan started to sit back.