A chill ran over him, bringing with it the dawning of a horrible suspicion. “They’re putting this in the vending machines, aren’t they? I’m putting this in the vending machines.”
She got up from the couch and walked toward him, watching him warily. “Calm down, baby. You’re freaking out over nothing.”
“Then please tell me I’m wrong.”
She reached out and took the drugs from his hand.
Nick thrust the Hot Tamales box at her. “When you asked me to take this job, it wasn’t to watch for Mission League kids in the park, was it? You knew I’d be putting drugs in the vending machines.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
That she didn’t deny his theory hurt. He glared at her. “I’m on probation! I can’t be putting drugs in vending machines. You want me to go to jail?”
Kimatra rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to get caught.”
“How do you know?” He pushed past her and stalked over to the door. This apartment was too small. There was no place to go. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall.
“I’m sorry, Nick. You know how they are. They wanted me to talk you into taking the job. They didn’t really give me a choice.”
Those creeps again. “You need to get away from them. We both do.”
Her eyes flashed wide. “I can’t leave! They’ll come after me. They’ll come after Faith.”
“We’ll move somewhere they can’t find us. The Midwest or Canada or something. I’ll get a job. They won’t care about Faith then.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to move. I like California.”
“Wow. Just like that, you pick geography over a normal life with me?”
Her brow crumpled. “It’s not about geography.”
“You know what? Never mind. I’m done with this.” He jerked the door open.
“Wait!” Kimatra sprinted across the tiny apartment and slid in front of him, standing in the doorway. “It’s not what you think, but I can’t just move away.”
“Why not?”
She shook her head. “Nick, please just trust me?”
“It’s clear to me that’s the one thing I can’t do.” He pushed past her and through the opened doorway. She grabbed his waist and squeezed. “Okay! Okay. Baby, come back inside and I’ll show you. Please?”
Nick didn’t want to go back inside, but the tears streaking down Kimatra’s face had piqued his curiosity.
He went in and Kimatra shut the door behind them. She coaxed him to sit on the couch, then went into the bedroom and returned with the framed picture of her nephew Rudy. She handed it to Nick. He took it, but kept his eyes on hers.
“What about Rudy?” he asked, clearly missing something.
“He is Rudra Dev Patel. He is my son.”
****
Nick drove home, terrified. He needed to get Faith out of town for a few days, somewhere safe until he could figure out what to do.
When he reached his house, the driveway was packed with the cars of people in his mom’s Bible study. He went in through the back door and packed two bags: one for him and another for Faith. His sister was so intent on her puzzle, she paid no attention to him rifling through her drawers. He wrote his parents a note, telling them he’d taken Faith to the mall, then he coaxed his sister out of the house with the same lie.
“I can get a chocolate sample?” she asked as they climbed into his Lexus.
“Sure, Faith. I’ll buy you some chocolate.”
“No buy.” She pushed his arm. “Sample. I want a chocolate sample.”
Right. She liked the free samples at the See’s candy store. “If they’re open,” Nick said.
She accepted that and buckled her seatbelt with no further questions. Nick headed for I5. As always, Faith was smarter than he gave her credit for.
“Wrong way. Mall is back there.” She twisted in the seat and pointed over her shoulder.
“Yeah, I know. We’re going to a different mall. It’s a surprise.”
“Nick! I want a chocolate sample.”
“I know, and I’ll get you one. Just not here. Why don’t you pick some music off my phone?” Nick pulled it off the dashboard and handed it over.
That distracted her perfectly. For the next two hours, they listened to the five Disney songs he had on his iPhone, eight times each. He got off the freeway to stop for gas. Once the tank was filling, he told Faith to stay put and ran inside. He found a cheap box of chocolates with four pieces in it, then grabbed two sodas, a bag of chips, and three packs of gum.
Soon they were on the road again, Faith happily munching and going on and on about how there were four chocolate samples, not just one, and how good they were. Eventually she fell asleep and Nick turned down the volume on the Disney songs.
They reached San Luis Obispo a little after ten o’clock and rolled into their aunt’s driveway five minutes later.
When he shut off the engine, Faith woke up and rubbed her eyes. “Aunt Kathy’s house?”
“Surprise!” Nick said.
Faith squealed and climbed out of the car.
While he had the chance, he called Sammy, an old friend of his who now lived in Monterey.
“Hey, man,” Sammy said. “Long time. What you up to?”
“I’m in town and wondered if I could stop by for a few days.”
“You kidding me? Get your sorry carcass over here right now.”
“I’m in SLO tonight dropping off Faith. I’ll come by mañana.”
“Sounds great, man. Party with you then.”
Nick ended the call, grabbed Faith’s and his bags from the trunk, and walked toward the house, hoping he wasn’t making a huge mistake.
****
Nick had made a huge mistake.
He’d thought his story about letting Faith spend some time with Aunt Kathy while he went to a college interview in San Jose would be perfect. But as soon as Faith was in bed that night, Aunt Kathy lost it.
“I don’t understand what’s going on here. Why wouldn’t your mother call first? I have to work tomorrow. Now I’m going to have to call in sick.”
“I thought you worked from home,” Nick said.
“I do. But I’m on the phone a lot, and when Faith is here, she expects to have my undivided attention.”
“I’m sorry,” Nick said. “I just thought it would be nice for Faith to see you.”
“It will be. It is. I just wish you would have called first. What school is your interview at?”
“San Jose State.” Why? Why of all the schools had he said that school, his aunt’s alma mater?
Aunt Kathy squealed. “Oh, Nick! I’m so happy for you! Be sure and put my name down as a reference. I still know most of the professors there. Who is interviewing you?”
“Spencer Garmond,” Nick said, off the top of his head.
She frowned. “I’ve never heard of him. He must be new.”
And on it went. She kept him up for an hour, telling him how great San Jose State was and how he would love going there.
Nick wanted to escape, but he didn’t know how, so he sat through it as politely as possible. He was in over his head with Kimatra and her drug lord friends, and now he was in over his head with his aunt, too.
Nick had already ignored two phone calls from Kimatra and three from his parents. He felt bad about ignoring Kimatra, but until Faith was safe, he couldn’t deal with all that.
That she had a kid.
He texted his parents and told them he and Faith were fine, that he’d taken her to dinner and a movie, which he said was just about to start. It was only a matter of time before that lie would time out and he’d have to tell them where they were.
Only he didn’t want to. They’d come and take Faith home where the bad guys could find her. And if he told the whole truth, about Kimatra, well… they already hated her. Blamed her for corrupting him, as if he hadn’t been screwed up before she’d come along. But if they found out she was working for criminals, they�
��d never accept her. Dad might turn her in. And if she got arrested, Nick would lose her.
Why should he care about that? Kimatra had lied to him, all this time. But that was just an excuse. He understood now. All the strange things that had never made sense finally did. She hadn’t chosen geography over him, she’d chosen her kid. And Nick didn’t doubt that her mystery boss was using the kid to make her break the law. Just like they’d do with Faith if Nick tried to get out. This needed to end, only Nick didn’t have any ideas about how to make that happen.
****
Sammy Vanderson had grown up in Pilot Point with Nick and Jeb and Paco. Kip and Spencer used to hang with them too, back in middle school. A few years ago Sammy’s dad got busted for drug dealing to the stars. There’d been a long trial, and when he had been sentenced to fifteen years in prison, Sammy had gone to live with his mom in Monterey.
That’s where Nick spent the next day, hanging out with Sammy and trying to decide what to do next.
He couldn’t think of anything.
By three that afternoon, Sammy had invited ten friends to meet Nick. Those friends had invited girls, and now the pool was filled with shrieking teenagers.
Nick tried to have fun, tried not to think about what a mess he’d made of his life, that his parents were probably sick worrying about Faith. That Kimatra probably thought he hated her. He tried swimming, but that was too solitary, even in a pool with two dozen people. All he did was worry, and worrying wouldn’t change anything. He swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out. He snatched his towel off the patio railing and dried his face. He needed to call home. Tell his parents the truth—that much, at least, he could do.
“Yo, Nick!” Sammy yelled from the end of the deck, waving Nick’s phone in the air. “Someone wants to talk to you!”
A chill ran over Nick. He pulled the towel around his shoulders. “You answered my phone?”
“Some girl did,” Sammy said, handing Nick the phone. “It’s Faith. I thought it might be important.”
Nick took the phone and walked into the house where it was quiet. “Faith? You there?”
“Nicky, help. A bad man is here. He’s scaring me.”
No! Fire shot through Nick’s gut. “Faith, where are you?”
“The bad man made Aunt Kathy sleep. Make her wake up, Nicky. The bad man said you can do it.”
The room seemed to spin. “I will, Faith. Is he there?”
Something clicked. Nick heard Faith say, “I don’t like you. You bad man.”
“Is this Nicolas Muren?” a man asked.
“Leave them alone,” Nick said. “They didn’t do anything to anyone.”
“Did you really think you could hide her from us? Kid, we see everything. We own you.”
That ticked him off. “Nobody owns me.”
“Listen up. You go home to LA, and I call 911 in time to save your aunt Kathy from her overdose.”
Nick swore. “I’ll leave right now. I’m in Monterey, though. It’ll take me two and a half hours to get to Aunt Kathy’s place.”
“What did I just say? You go home to LA. If you don’t, I won’t be able to call 911 to save your aunt. You want her death on your hands?”
“No! Please don’t let her die.”
“I’m taking the girl back to LA. She stays with me until you do what I say.”
“Which is to go home?”
“And you go to work tomorrow and keep on filling your vending machines.”
Nick gritted his teeth. “That’s against the law. I can’t do that anymore.”
Faith screamed then, a ragged, horrifying sound that ended with her sobbing.
Nick tasted bile. “Okay! I’m leaving right now.”
“And you’ll keep filling the vending machines.”
“Yes. What are you going to do with Faith?”
“Don’t you worry. I’ll take good care of her.”
Nick didn’t believe that for a second, but he didn’t dare say anything else to anger the man. “I’m on my way.”
REPORT NUMBER: 18
REPORT TITLE: Everyone But Me Thinks I Have a Girlfriend
SUBMITTED BY: Agent-in-Training Spencer Garmond
LOCATION: Stopplecamp Residence, 231 N. Rose Street, Pilot Point, California, USA
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, August 1, 7:12 p.m.
The night before we left for Alaska, I drove over to the Stopplecamp house to drop off my gear for the trip. I dragged my duffel bag across the street just as Grace and her mom were driving away in their Subaru.
Grace waved out the window with her right arm. She’d gotten it out of the sling just a couple days ago, and it made me happy to see her looking healthy again. I waved back, then carted my stuff up the Stopplecamp’s driveway. I climbed the front porch steps just as Mr. S came out with Drew Lusco in tow.
“Hey, Spencer,” Mr. S said. “I’ve got to talk to Drew’s mom a minute, then I’ll be right back. Wait for me? There’s something we need to go over.”
“Sure,” I said, suddenly anxious. I had turned in my report on the Sayles to Prière a few days ago. Had Mr. S gotten a copy? Was he mad that I’d put the extra camera on the vending machine? Followed Nick? I hadn’t discovered all that much more. Only that Nick picked up the cases of candy bars from a warehouse down by the train station.
I lugged my stuff inside and dropped it at the edge of the mountain-o-gear that had taken over the living room floor.
I glanced around the room. Gabe and Lukas were sitting on the couch, looking uncomfortable. Isabel was playing the piano, singing a song about jerks who dump their girlfriends. Samantha and El McWilly were standing before the framed family pics on the wall, laughing, oblivious to the tension in the room.
“Spencer, hey!” Gabe stood up and walked toward me.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
He groaned. “Awkward. It’s always going awkward these days.”
Mary and Arianna exited the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
“You just missed your girlfriend,” Mary said as she passed by.
I whirled around. “Excuse me?” But Mary ducked into the kitchen without an answer.
“Grace and her mom just left,” Gabe said, as if that explained Mary’s comment.
“Yeah, I saw them driving away.” I leaned on the counter window that looked into the kitchen. Mary walked up to the fridge and opened it, looked inside. “Grace is not my girlfriend,” I said. “We’re just friends.”
Mary shut the fridge, apple in hand, and snickered.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Grace’s mom came over here to talk to my dad about her concerns,” Gabe said, putting the word “concerns” in air-quotes.
“Concerns about what?” I asked.
“About her daughter going on a week-long trip with her boyfriend.” More air quotes around “boyfriend.”
My face burned. “Grace’s mom thinks we’re going out?”
“Give it up, Spencer,” Lukas said from the couch. “We all know.”
Oh, but they didn’t.
I wanted to tell them it was all an act, that Grace had gotten a red card to track me, so she was only pretending to like me to get close. But that would blow her assignment.
The front door opened and Mr. S came inside. “Spencer? Let’s take a walk.”
Oh boy, oh boy. He sure made that sound inviting. I shot Gabe a “help me” glance and followed Mr. S out the door. Though to be honest, I was kind of excited to hear what he and Prière had thought of my report. Had they questioned Nick? Would he still be going to Alaska?
Mr. S walked around to his backyard and motioned for me to sit in one of two lawn chairs overlooking a small garden. “Have a seat.”
I sat.
He took off his Coke-bottle glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I’ve never been comfortable having couples within my Mission League program.”
Couples?
He put his glasses back on, and his eyes looked huge. “You remember
the contract you signed, I hope?”
So, the talk was not about my report but about what Grace’s mom had talked to him about. While I loved the implication that Grace and I were going out, I couldn’t let Mr. S lecture me for no reason. “Mr. S, Grace is not my girlfriend.”
“Her mother seems to think otherwise.”
“Well, her mom is wrong. Look, I saw Grace’s red card when I was at her place. I’m sure you know that Prière assigned her to track me. She’s not hanging out with me for any other reason, trust me. And I’m only driving her dad to AA to make sure he goes because, well, he needs to get help. But there’s nothing going on between me and Grace.”
Unfortunately.
“I see.” Mr. S frowned, like he wanted to say something more but couldn’t decide how to go about it. “While I admire your persistence in helping her father get the help he needs, I’m afraid your actions might have changed the way Grace feels about you.”
“You think she actually likes me?”
“I got that impression from her mother. If you sense her behaving differently toward you, I would urge you to have a talk with her. Gently let her know that you would prefer to remain friends.”
I’d somehow given Mr. S the impression that I didn’t like Grace.
I saw no reason to correct him.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, thoughts racing. If Grace liked me, why didn’t she say something?
“I know such conversations are difficult,” he said, “but these are the kinds of things that separate the men from the boys. Telling her the truth is the right thing to do.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you, Spencer. It’s going to be a great trip.” Mr. S stood up, patted me on the shoulder, then went back inside.
I walked back to my car, totally confused.
****
As we gathered in the lobby of LAX near the Alaska Airlines counter, I was surprised to see Kimbal show up with a suitcase.
“You’re coming with ?” I asked.
He nodded. “There are no agents stationed in the compound.”
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