Privilege 4 - Sweet Deceit (17 page)

Ariana flinched and swallowed wrong, then started coughing uncontrollably. She covered her mouth with her hand and turned away, her heart racing.

"Are you all right?" Maria asked.

"I'm fine," Ariana croaked, coughing a few more times.

"Maybe we should talk to national about her," Maria suggested, sipping her espresso. A cool breeze tossed her wavy dark hair in front of her eyes, and she tucked it behind her ear. "I'm sure they have the resources to find Lily's family."

"We can't," Lexa said flatly. "They'll think we didn't properly vet our taps. Which, let's face it, we didn't. We just thought she was cool and liked her style and figured Headmaster Jansen wouldn't have let her into Privilege House if she wasn't worthy."

Lexa blushed slightly and cast an askance look at Ariana, as if she'd just said too much. Ariana's heart skipped a breath. Was Headmaster Jansen in Stone and Grave?

"And now we're screwed," Lexa continued. "She's already made it too far in the process. They'll think we've gotten sloppy, and I can't have that on my record."

Ariana eyed Lexa. Clearly this was something she was very concerned about--her image with national Stone and Grave. Apparently Lexa wasn't as effortlessly perfect as she'd been making herself out to be.

"Okay, then how about a private detective?" Maria asked, lifting her shoulders. "Maybe a professional would be able to figure out what we're missing."

Ariana's shoulder muscles curled. A PI? They wanted to hire a PI to look into Kaitlynn's past? A private investigator would follow her around. Take pictures. Maybe even run her image through some law-enforcement websites. A PI could easily find out that Kaitlynn wasn't who she said she was. That she was, in fact, a convicted murderer and fugitive. The former roommate of one Ariana Osgood.

"It's not a bad idea," Soomie put in, tugging a scone out of a wax paper bag. "That's what my dad does when he's hiring new execs. It's a routine part of the background check."

"A private investigator," Lexa mused, narrowing her eyes. "I like it. Why haven't we done this before?"

"Because we never needed to," Maria said. "Everyone else we've ever tapped has been from a prominent family. Like Ana," she said with a smile.

Ariana tried to smile back, but her organs were twisting together in new and seriously uncomfortable configurations. This couldn't happen. She simply could not let this happen.

"Maybe I'll look up a few investigators and set some meetings at my parents' house in town," Lexa said, sipping her latte.

"Why not just have them come here?" Soomie asked.

"And risk Lily seeing and asking questions? No way," Lexa said. "Besides, the administration might want to know what I was up to." She looked around at her friends. "Where would I find a reputable PI, do you think?"

"Not in the yellow pages," Maria said with a snort. She reached for her Coach bag and extracted her cell phone. "I'm sure my father has a guy in DC to recommend."

"Wait. Both of your dads use private investigators on a regular basis?" Lexa asked.

Soomie lifted one shoulder as she chewed. "We're talking about billion-dollar businesses, Lex," she said. "They don't mess around."

"Hi, Daddy," Maria said into her phone. "I just have a quick--

Y Y Daddy. I'm eating right now. No, Daddy. I'm not working out too hard. Well, how else do you expect me to get into a decent dance

es. es, company unless I--" She listened for a few seconds, then groaned. "No, Daddy, I am not going to Harvard! We've been through this." She rolled her eyes at the girls and shoved herself up from the blanket, placing her hand over the phone. "This could take a while."

Maria gestured with her free hand as she paced away from the picnic blanket, sparring with her dad. Ariana's heart pounded with fear as she tried to figure out some way to discourage Lexa from her new plan. If she hired a PI and he uncovered Kaitlynn's true identity, it would all be over for both of them.

"I don't know about this, you guys," she said, her voice raspy thanks to her coughing fit and a seriously dry throat.

"Why not?" Lexa asked. "We need to know more about the girl before we can initiate her. We don't just let anyone in, you know."

"I know, but--"

"And in case it's not clear, this is all on the DL," Lexa told her. "Don't breathe a word of this to Lillian. Technically we shouldn't even be talking about this in front of a tap, but I thought you were going to help us out with some info on her."

Ariana slowly reached up and clutched her forearm, squeezing as hard as she could. Leave it to Lexa to find a way to put her back in her place as quickly as possible.

"Okay," Maria said, snapping her phone closed as she returned to the group. "My dad's going to set the meeting for eight o'clock on Friday. The guy's name is Nathan Dove. I just texted his number to your phone," she told Lexa.

"Friday? But that's Halloween," Soomie pointed out. "What about the party?"

"My parents' house is ten minutes from yours," Lexa said. "I can pop out, meet this guy, and get back to the party before I'm even missed."

"Did you tell him what it's about?" Ariana asked Maria.

"Nah. My dad doesn't have time for minor details like why my friend might need to hire a detective," Maria joked, sitting again. "But he does have time for a rundown of my daily caloric intake and to badger me about my dream of being a dancer."

"He's just looking out for you," Soomie said, touching Maria's back.

Ariana's constricted lungs loosened slightly. At least the PI wouldn't know what Lexa wanted until they actually met. Which meant he wouldn't start looking into Kaitlynn until after his meeting with Lexa on Friday night. Ariana had until Friday to figure out a way to keep that meeting from happening.

She had until Friday to figure out how to stop Lexa Greene. ALWAYS A WAY

Ariana sat in a comfy, cozy high-backed chair at the Hill on Wednesday night, feeling neither comfy nor cozy as she stared outside. The floor-to- ceiling windows were being pelted by heavy raindrops, the noise like a pair of rushing trains coming at her from both directions. In her hands was a latte, cold and untouched. Her eyes stung from being open and staring for so long, and when she blinked, her eyelids stuck for a moment before opening again.

There was no answer. No matter how many times she went over it in her head, she simply could not find a way out. Earlier today she had tried to talk Lexa out of meeting with the PI, saying it was a waste of time and money--not to mention a waste of a good party. That if the other Stone and Gravers hadn't found out anything about Lillian yet, then maybe that meant there wasn't anything to find out. But Lexa was unmovable. She even seemed excited. Apparently she was looking forward to playing a little cloak and dagger.

Little did Lexa know, however, that the moment this guy started to look into Lillian Oswald's past, a chain of events would be set in motion that would inevitably lead to Ariana landing back in prison. She had to stop Lexa. At whatever cost.

But every time Ariana thought about what that meant, she started to squirm. Y Lexa was putting Ariana's entire future at risk, but Lexa didn't

es, know that. And technically, the girl hadn't done anything wrong. Y she'd been acting like a bitch lately, but she had a lot going on in her life, what

es, with her parents' issues and all the publicity and the stress of having a history-free tap in Stone and Grave--plus the suspicion that one of her best friends was dating her ex. When Ariana thought about it diplomatically, the girl actually had a lot of reasons to be on edge. Besides, being bitchy, in and of itself, didn't warrant the ultimate punishment. If acting like a jerk meant getting offed, then half the population of this school would have been dead a long time ago.

Ariana groaned under her breath and placed her cup down on the carved oak table next to her chair. What was she going to do? How was she going to do it? And when?

"Anything I can do to help?"

Ariana looked up to find Jasper hovering over her with a cup of coffee and a chocolate croissant. The shoulders of his coat glistened with raindrops and his hair was completely soaked. She hadn't seen him come in or go to the counter, but then, she had turned her chair toward the window specifically so she wouldn't have to deal with anyone. She leaned back and sighed.

"No, thanks. I'm fine," she replied.

Jasper placed his food down next to Ariana's cup and sat on a footstool closer to the window to face her. "If you don't mind my saying so, you don't look fine."

Ariana fiddled with her fingers. "It's just . . . I don't know what I'm doing."

Jasper laughed and Ariana glowered at him. "It's not funny," she said curtly.

"Sorry." Jasper ran his hand over his mouth and straightened his face. "The very idea of you not knowing exactly what you're doing seems so implausible it made me laugh."

Ariana stared at him as he unbuttoned his coat and shrugged it off, getting up to hang it on a coatrack in the corner. He came back and sat in the same spot, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I don't understand," she said.

Jasper rubbed his hands together. "Ana, you radiate this intense level of self-assuredness that basically intimidates everyone around you," he said, his eyes sparkling. "Were you really not aware?"

A flattered blush crept across Ariana's face. "Well, I haven't felt very self-assured lately."

"Could have fooled me." Jasper reached underneath the footstool and inched it closer to her legs so that their knees were almost touching. "Tell me what the problem is. Maybe we can put our two evil minds together and figure out a way to fix it."

Ariana laughed. Yeah, right. Like she could really tell him what was going on.

"I can't," she said. "It's . . . private."

A dark cloud passed through Jasper's eyes, but it was gone even faster than it appeared. "Well, then, I'll just give you a general bit of wisdom and you can do with it what you will."

He reached out and took both Ariana's hands in his. Her instinct was to pull away, but then she looked into his eyes. They were so blue, so intense, so determined, she found herself frozen. His skin was insanely warm, odd considering he'd just come in from the storm of the century.

"Any situation . . . and I mean any situation . . . can be twisted to your advantage," he said, his voice low. "Y are a creative, strong person, and

ou you will find a way to not only fix the situation, but to benefit from it. The key, Ana, is to not give up. The key is to keep looking at this problem, whatever it is, from every angle you can possibly think of, until the answer presents itself."

Ariana stared into those hypnotic blue eyes, and just like that, her heart warmed, and she felt her uncertainty begin to melt away.

"The answer will just present itself," she said slowly.

"It will," he replied with utter confidence. He squeezed her hands, then released them and stood, gathering his food and drink. "Don't give up, Ana. That's the key. Never give up."

Then he grabbed his coat, folded it over his arm, and walked away. Ariana turned in her chair to watch him go. Then she sat back in her chair and smiled.

He was right, of course. There was always a way. How could she have forgotten that? Look how far she'd come already. Breaking out of prison, traveling across the country twice, faking her death, attending her own memorial service, creating a whole new life for herself, landing in all the honors classes she wanted at one of the most prestigious schools in the world, winning the heart of the most sought-after guy on campus.

There was always, always a way. Now all she had to do was find it. THE PLAN

"Could someone hold my hair on so I can pin it?" Maria asked.

"Okay. That sounded weird," Kaitlynn said as she zipped up the skintight pants on her Catwoman costume.

"I've got it," Ariana offered, crossing Lexa and Maria's room to help Maria in front of the full-length mirror. Maria had chosen to dress up as Christine from Phantom of the Opera, and was adding tendrilled extensions to her hair to look more the part. She was wearing a big, frilly nightgown and a ton of heavy makeup.

"Wow, Ana. You look seriously freaky," Maria said with a grin, eyeing Ariana's reflection in the mirror.

"Thanks," Ariana replied. "I'm assuming that's a compliment."

"Oh, it is," Lexa said, sitting down on her bed to place her feet into her gold stiletto heels. "Where did you get that wig?"

Ariana glanced at Kaitlynn and smiled slightly as she touched the heavy gray and white wig that stood straight up from the top of her head. Her face was powdered white and she'd blackened the area around her eyes and bought a set of gross false teeth--though she wasn't wearing them yet. Her bride-of-Frankenstein dress was white and had gray gauzy layers. The bells of the wide sleeves fell almost to the ground.

She looked scary as hell. Palmer was going to love it.

"Lily and I got our costumes in town yesterday," Ariana said.

"What happened to dressing up together?" Lexa asked as she smoothed her blond Heidi Klum wig.

"I tried to get her to go superhero sexy with me, but she was all about the scare factor," Kaitlynn lied. Both of them had known exactly what costumes they were going to buy before they ever walked into the shop.

"Well, it works for you," Maria said, adding the last bobby pin to her hair. "That's it. Thanks, Ana." She turned around to face the room. "What do you guys think?"

"Totally Broadway worthy," Kaitlynn said.

"Well, I'm almost done," Lexa said. "I just need you guys to help me with the false lashes. I suck at those."

She grabbed a plastic box with two black caterpillar-like sets of lashes set against a piece of purple foam and headed for the bright lights of the bathroom. Kaitlynn and Maria moved to follow, but Ariana hung back, her heart skipping a beat as a perfect opportunity presented itself.

"I'll be right there," she said. "Just going to tweak the eye makeup."

Lexa shrugged and the three of them headed inside the bathroom. Checking over her shoulder, Ariana quickly grabbed Lexa's gold clutch and slipped her cell phone out of her bag. Her fingers trembling slightly, she scrolled through the contact list until she found private investigator Nathan Dove's number, then copied the number down on a Post-it. She had Lexa's cell back in her bag and the bag back on the desk where it had been before the girls returned from the bathroom.