Under Cover (14 page)

“Permanently?”

“I guess so. He likes it there, dating
starlets.”

I did my best to change the subject.
“Speaking of killing, did you know that kid who was killed a few
weeks ago?”

“Sure I knew him. He was in my shop
class.”

“I understand he was sort of a nuisance and
that’s why they did it.”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

Uh-oh. I wasn’t doing too well. I would have
to forget everything and start clean.

“Oh, you know. Whoever did it,” I said.

“Lee Penny. He’s the one they’re lookin’
at.”

“Is that whose car it was? Why’d he do it?
Any ideas?”

“What do you care?”

“I don’t
care,
” I said. “It’s just so
fascinating. I’m thinking I might write it up for our school
paper.”

“Why would you want to do that? It’s not your
school.”

“No, but we’re right next door and it’s
people our age. Our readers will identify.”

“Is that why you came here? To check it
out?”

“No, I came to check out the school. Does it
bother you to talk about it?”

“I’m not bothered. Who says I’m bothered?” We
had almost reached the street. They had a big campus as well as a
big building.

“I thought—you seemed—kind of uneasy,” I
said. “It doesn’t surprise me. I mean, a thing like that.
Especially when it’s somebody you know.”

He grunted and turned onto the sidewalk.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Pizza. That okay?”

“Fine with me.”

The day had clouded over. I thought it felt
cooler. A sharp wind blew across the river.

“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.”