Under Cover (19 page)

Another pause. “Yeah, when you look at it
that way.”

“How else can you look at it? I wonder what
he did to deserve that. You said he snitched? On who? About what?”
I kept trudging. It wasn’t easy. Through an open space I could see
the river, but not River Edge Park.

“That’s what I heard. Or he was going to, I
don’t know. What’s with the questions?”

I ignored that. “He must have pissed somebody
off.”

“Yeah, Lee Penny.”

“Who?”

“Lee. Penny. Liam, his name is. We call him
Lee.”

I stopped and looked around at him. “He’s the
one who did it?”

“I told you that, didn’t I?” He gave me a
nudge to keep walking.

“I have trouble with names,” I said.

“Yeah, me, too.”

“What’s he like? Does he have a temper?” I
had seen Liam’s temper, but Freddie mustn’t know that. Anyway, his
temper didn’t seem like the murderous kind.

But you never know.

We came out onto the parking lot. I rambled
on, trying to get more information. “So, if Austen doesn’t have
parents... What was it, a car accident?”

“No, it wasn’t anything like that.” He leaned
against one of the boulders and now he seemed eager to talk. “See,
his mom is this real looker.”

“Austen’s mom?” It was hard to believe.

“Yeah, Austen’s mom. She got this modeling
job, working for a photographer. He said he could get her in the
movies.” Freddie laughed.

“And she fell for it,” I guessed. I would
have sat on the boulder, but it didn’t look comfortable.

“That’s what they tell me. All she got was
Austen.” He laughed again, harder.

I looked around, making sure there were no
eavesdroppers. If Freddie kept this up, he could laugh himself
right over the hillside.

“She found out this photographer already had
a family,” Freddie went on, “but that didn’t stop her. She left
Austen with her folks and went to Hollywood by herself.”

“That was brave,” I said.

“Yeah, I guess. But not very bright.
Everybody who goes to Hollywood is a knockout, except you need more
than that. She couldn’t act, or anything, but she wouldn’t give up.
Signed on with some outfit where you get to be in crowd
scenes.”

“Like an extra,” I said. “Does she get a lot
of work?”

“How would I know? I’m not in touch with
her.”

“Does Austen ever see her?”

“Not much, I don’t think. She stays out west.
There’s nothing for her here.”

I almost felt sorry for Austen. “At least he
has his grandparents.”

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t think he gets along
with them too good.”

“How come?”

Again Freddie shrugged, brushing off the
question. I was glad Austen had those grandparents and sorry there
was friction. Possibly because of him being a psychopath. I hoped
he didn’t torture animals. A lot of psychopaths do that. Maddie
said some people think they get that way because nobody loves them.
Maybe that was what happened.

“Want to walk some more?” Freddie asked.

“They’re coming.”

They were, strolling across the grass,
holding hands. If this was all an act on Maddie’s part, I didn’t
see how she could keep it up. Maybe she’d heard his life story and
felt bad for him. Worse than I felt. I could relate to the missing
parent, but not to all the other stuff.

Especially the part about the coat hanger.
And Mrs. Kinsser left without her son.

Chapter
Eighteen

Maddie and Austen came toward us deep in
conversation. They really were into each other. To distract her, I
asked, “How was it?”

A stupid, trivial question, but I really
wanted to get her focus off him.

Maddie’s answer was equally trivial. “Very
nice. You should take a look at it sometime.”

She glowed. I was sure the glow had nothing
to do with art and antiques.

“What were you guys doing?” she asked.

Freddie said, “Nothing.”

I said, “We walked a little. It’s very
steep.”

Maddie peered over the edge of the parking
lot. “I’ll bet it is.”

“Only if you go that way,” Austen said.
“There’s other ways.” He took the car keys out of his pocket. “Come
on, folks, all aboard. I have to get this thing back before my
grandpa misses it.”

That was a revelation. I’d assumed he took
the car with permission.

Then I remembered what Freddie said about Aus
and his grandparents not getting along. What a messed-up family.
And I thought I had problems.

Aus was careful going down the mountain road.
I hoped his brakes would hold. My own foot pressed hard on the
floor, as if that would do any good.

Finally we were down. I could breathe again.
Austen got on the highway that led to Southbridge.

“You can leave us at our school,” Maddie told
him. “My car’s there.”

“Yeah, I saw it.”

Maddie closed her window to keep her hair
from blowing. Now I could hear them better.

“That’s right,” she said. “That must be where
you found C-c—my buddy back there, waiting for me.”

At least she remembered my name wasn’t Cree,
even if she forgot what it was. I wished she would also remember
that there’s no room for spontaneity when you’re undercover. You
have to be on the alert every minute.

I hoped Austen hadn’t noticed her fumbling.
Freddie did. He peered into my face. “Funny, you don’t look like an
Indian.”

My breath caught. “I’m only part. On my
mother’s side. My dad must have been more dominant.”

I was halfway facing Freddie when something
out the back window caught my eye.

“Do you know there’s a police car out there?
It looks as if it’s following us.”

Freddie turned to see it. “Hey, Aus! Cop
car!”

Aus didn’t waste a second. He pushed on the
gas pedal. The cop speeded up and put on his siren.

A cop chase. This, I thought, is where people
get killed. Other cars on the road scooted out of our way.

Maddie looked back, maybe hoping it was Rick.
Or more likely, hoping it wasn’t.

Of course it wasn’t. It was coming from
Hudson Hills, not Southbridge.

I could see Austen’s jaw tighten as he raced
as fast as he could. His was an old car and the cop gained on
us.

“What happened?” I cried. “We didn’t do
anything.”

“You and I didn’t,” Freddie assured me.

Maybe they were going to arrest Austen for
the murder.

Maddie kept straining to see. “It’s state
police.”

“Shit.” Austen spun the wheel. His tires
shrieked. He sailed across two lanes of highway and dived onto a
side road.

Almost at once he realized that was a bad
move. He made another quick turn, and another, and aimed back
toward the highway.

Maybe not so bad. It almost looked as if we
might make it.

“How do you get to your place?” he
demanded.

“I wouldn’t—” Maddie began. Austen jammed on
his brakes. He couldn’t reach the highway. It was blocked by
another state car. He couldn’t back either because the first one
was coming up behind us.

“We’re screwed,” said Freddie.

Austen was the one screwed. He let out a few
cuss words. I still thought it had to do with the murder, but how
did that involve the state police?

Maddie looked back at me. Her eyes were
enormous. Did she worry about Austen? Or worry about how we would
get home? If it had to do with speeding, I figured they’d give Aus
a ticket and send us on our way. Apparently she knew better.

Aus had his window closed. The trooper came
around and gestured for him to open it. Aus complied.

“Let’s see your registration and driver’s
license,” said the trooper.

Aus opened his wallet and handed over the
license. Then he dug around in the glove compartment and produced a
black vinyl folder. When I took driver’s ed last year they warned
us not to keep our registration in the car. If somebody steals your
car, why give them the registration, too?

“Yeah, I know,” he said as he passed it
through the window. He sounded resigned, though his voice was as
velvet as ever.

“You know this car was reported stolen?”
asked the trooper.

“I figured as much when you came after me.”
Aus had regained his charm. He never lost his composure. “I didn’t
think of it as stealing.” He managed a smile. “It’s my
grandfather’s car. He lets me use it whenever I want.”

“He reported it stolen,” said the cop.

Austen made a face. “Must have waked up
cranky this morning.”

How could he stay so calm? I would be shaking
all over.

I supposed it went with being a
psychopath.

“Next time,” the cop advised, “you’d better
clear it with him first.” He looked around at the rest of us. “I’m
going to have to ask you all to get out.”

That took Aus by surprise. He said,
“Huh?”

Maddie gasped, “And then what?”

“That’s up to you,” said the trooper. “This
car was reported stolen. We’re taking it in.”

“But—but—” Maddie’s hand trembled as she
unfastened her seatbelt. “My friend and I live all the way in
Southbridge.” At least she didn’t call me Cree.

“You’ll have to get someone to pick you up.”
The trooper wasn’t giving an inch. “Or try flagging down the bus.
It should be along in a while.”

Maddie got her seatbelt undone and climbed
out of the car. “Couldn’t we just—I mean, get
some
where?”

“Not in this car. It was stolen.” Even as he
spoke, a tow truck came rattling down the highway from Hudson
Hills. The officer looked inside ours to be sure the key was still
there.

Austen watched him. “Why can’t you just drive
it back?”

The trooper glanced at him and didn’t answer.
I could see he meant business, so I rescued my book bag. Maddie did
the same, along with her purse.

“This is
stupid,
” she sputtered.

Austen put his arm around her. “If it was
your car, would you want it stolen? Let’s get out of here.”

“Where?
” she snapped.

“Hey, come on. It’s not the end of the world.
”

It had been the end of Johnny Kinsser’s
world. I supposed Austen couldn’t tell the difference.

“Uh uh.” The officer put a hand on Austen’s
shoulder.

“Hey, come on,” Aus protested. “It’s only my
grandfather.”

His voice wasn’t quite so velvet. It was the
only time I saw him lose his cool. But he didn’t try to fight it
and the trooper didn’t relent.

Aus nodded the rest of us toward the highway
and said to Freddie, “Get Sam.”

Freddie knew what to do. We positioned
ourselves by the roadside, which consisted of a ditch and a lot of
weeds. We were in the one spot on that busy road where there were
no businesses, no houses, no nothing.

Maddie took out her cell phone. Freddie made
her put it away and got out his own. The tow truck backed into
where we had been stopped. I heard chains clanking. I didn’t want
to watch.

“It does seem stupid,” I said to Maddie,
“when they could just drive it.”

“They have their rules.” She sounded tired,
or bored, or both. Freddie walked away a few feet, turned his back,
and soon was talking on the phone.

“I wonder what will happen to him,” I
said.

“Who?” asked Maddie.

“Who do you think? Is he under arrest?”

“How would I know?”

I tried not to worry about him. If he was in
trouble with the law, it was exactly what he’d done to Liam, who
was innocent.

I fully believed Aus had taken the car
without permission. But was that the same as actual theft? I
supposed, technically, it was. Still, his own grandfather. It
seemed kind of harsh to get the police involved.

Freddie closed his phone and came back. “Good
news, ladies. Sam is on the way. He’ll have to look for us. I
couldn’t tell him where we are ’cause I don’t know.”

“I don’t see how he could miss us,” Maddie
said.

“Sam has wheels?” I asked.

“Not personally, but he can get them,”
Freddie said.

I hoped he wasn’t going to steal a car. He
wouldn’t dare, after this. I wondered how much Freddie had told
him.

“Anyway,” I said, “it was a nice afternoon.
Thanks to both of you.”

“Yes, it was,” Maddie agreed. “Up to a
point.”

I said, “I hope this isn’t going to screw up
his graduation. Or getting into a seminary. He said he wanted to be
a priest. Don’t you have to go to a seminary for that?”

Freddie said, “Yeah, I guess,” and turned
away with a faint smile.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

He sobered. “What’s what?”

“The smile.”

“Oh, that’s just me. You know I’m a happy
guy.”

He tapped Maddie on the arm. “Where do you
live? Sam’ll take you home.”

“If he could just take me to the school, my
car is there. It’s all I want.” She sounded pissed. I couldn’t
blame her, but why take it out on Freddie?

Then I thought of Austen. All he’d wanted was
to give us a good time. How could he have known his grandpa was
going to get bitchy?

If he couldn’t get along with them, maybe it
was their fault. Maybe they were both a couple of grouches. What
chance did a kid have, abandoned by his mom and left to be raised
by strict, demanding, evil-tempered toads?

Freddie paced back and forth, kicking
pebbles. After a while he asked me, “You got a phone?”

“I’m getting one,” I said. “Any minute, as
soon as they do a credit check.”

“How long does that take?”

“Too long. It should be just about
finished.”

“When you get it, gimme your number.”

“I can give it to you now.” I fished around
in my book bag for the paper they’d given me. Found it and rattled
off the number. In exchange, he gave me his. I hadn’t thought to
ask, not realizing he had a phone until just now. As an undercover
agent, I sucked.