Under Cover (20 page)

Minutes later, a car came barreling down the
highway. Cars had been passing us all along but at this one,
Freddie waved.

It came to a stop, with Sam at the wheel. He
looked us over, his face as unreadable as always. Freddie pushed up
the front seat to let Maddie and me in the back, then he got in
front with Sam.

“If you would just take us to the high
school,” Maddie said for the billionth time, “I can pick up my
car.”

Sam turned around. “What about Peggy?”

I spoke quickly before there could be any
goof-up with my name. “Maddie will get me home. She always
does.”

Next question. “Where’s the high school?”

Maddie guided him, first to Southbridge and
then to the school. Her little red Chevy looked lonely in the
nearly empty parking lot. I thanked Freddie again and was glad he
didn’t try to make any moves on me. We both thanked Sam for
rescuing us.

“Give Austen our best,” I added. “I hope this
thing blows over real fast.”

We waved them off and got into Maddie’s
car.

“You do realize,” she said, “that Austen got
himself into that mess.”

“I can sort of understand, if he thought it
was okay to take the car. If he’s used it before,” I said.

“Maybe those other times were just like this
and Grandpa got fed up with him taking it.”

“Maddie, I thought you were this big defender
of Austen.”

She backed out of her parking spot and turned
the car around. “When did I defend Austen?”

“Every time I said anything about the murder,
you said it was Liam’s word against his and maybe Liam was the
guilty one. And maybe he was and still is. How do I know?”

She coasted down the school road, paused, and
merged onto Grand Street. “So now you’re doing a switcheroo?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I said. “I
just think Austen should be given a chance.”

What was I saying? I’d
heard
him, when
I was in that little office room.

Maddie shook her head. “I don’t believe this.
You wouldn’t accept it when
I
thought Austen deserved a
chance. Liam was this saint and he could do no wrong.”

“I never said he was a saint. It’s just
that—”

Austen had behaved like such a nice person.
And that velvet voice. It wasn’t the one I’d heard threatening
Liam.

I said it aloud. “He seems like such a nice
person.”

“Cree, he’s a psychopath. You know perfectly
well that’s what psychopaths do. They make themselves seem like
‘such nice people.’” She took her hands off the steering wheel to
make air quotes with her fingers. I wished she’d keep them on the
wheel.

I dug myself in deeper. “Maybe he really is a
nice person. Maybe it’s Liam who isn’t.”

“Your own brother!”

“I don’t even know my own brother. I never
knew he existed. I don’t know anything about anything. All I found
out from Freddie was that Austen’s grandparents raised him because
his mother ran off to Hollywood and he never had a father. Two
selfish parents. What can anybody expect? And Freddie said he
doesn’t get along all that well with his grandparents.”

“Obviously not, if he stole their car.” She
turned onto Maple Avenue. We were almost at my house, and fighting
again.

“What changed your mind?” I asked.

“About what?”

“About Austen.”

“What changed
yours?
”

She pulled into my driveway. Grandma came out
and stood on the doorstep, glowering.

“You wouldn’t steal her car, would you?”
Maddie said.

“No, I get along with her. But look at her
now. I didn’t even take the car and she’s already got an attitude,
just because she didn’t know where I was. I hope Austen’s grandpa
doesn’t press charges.” I grabbed my book bag and climbed out.

Maddie hadn’t finished. “It might teach
Austen a lesson if he does.”

Maybe that was what he needed, a firm hand. A
firm and
loving
hand. He should have had it all his life.
Especially the loving part.

Maddie started backing out of the driveway,
then stopped. She leaned toward the passenger window, which was
open.

“But he’s gone beyond that,” she said.
“Murder is a lot more serious than auto theft.”

She closed the window and went on backing
before I could answer.

Chapter
Nineteen

I had to tell Grandma something. She was
impressed that I’d been to Katmandu. I kept silent about the
aftermath.

“How was it?” she asked.

What had Maddie said? “Very nice. And very
high up. You can’t even see much of Hudson Hills. There are trees
in the way, and after that’s the river.”

“We’ll go there sometime. I already ate.
There’s corn beef hash and an egg and salad.”

I heated up everything except the salad, and
thought about Austen while I ate. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for
him and, wondered how it all went with the police. There was only
one way to find out. It made me glad I’d gotten Freddie’s phone
number.

To my amazement, he answered. I figured he’d
be off somewhere doing whatever Freddies do in the evening.

“He-e-e-y!” he said when he heard my voice.
“When am I going to see you?”

“You just did. I sort of remember we spent
the afternoon together. How’s it going with Austen?”

“What do you mean?”

“Last time I saw him, he seemed to be in
trouble.”

“Oh. He’s out. On his own recog, or
something.”

“So he’s not free and clear,” I guessed. “I
didn’t know they let minors out on their own recognizance.” The
truth was, I didn’t know anything about it at all.

“He’s eighteen,” Freddie told me.

“So that means he’s not a minor?”

“Still not old enough to drink, like that
would stop him.” Freddie chuckled. “You chicks coming back any time
soon?”

“Who knows? I play it by ear. I could take
the bus.”

“Or I could.”

“You wouldn’t want to do that,” I told him.
“I live way too far from where the bus goes.”

“I could get a car.” I heard a swagger in his
voice.

“Don’t do that.” I didn’t like the way Austen
had gotten a car. “I’ll just take the bus on—Friday?” Then I’d be
back for Ben’s graduation. “Where can I meet you?”

He thought about it for a while. “Pizza? You
know where that is. We could have a Coke if you’re not hungry. Or
we could have pizza.”

“Either way.”

I didn’t ask Maddie if she wanted to go. She
had turned away from Austen. Unless she wanted to hook up with Sam,
but nobody suggested that.

The phone store said my Nokia was ready, so I
stopped on Friday and picked it up. They told me it needed charging
before I could use it. I wished we could have done it all sooner,
but that’s life. For me, anyway.

All the way to Hudson Hills I tried to figure
out a strategy for talking about the murder without making Freddie
suspicious. That was my ultimate purpose and I wasn’t about to lose
track of it.

Loomis Street. That was where Johnny lived,
according to the newspaper. Was there any way I could work Loomis
Street into the conversation? Maybe I could say my parents looked
at a house there and I wanted to see it. But that wouldn’t get me
the information I needed.

As soon as the bus reached HH’s main drag, I
stopped my thoughts and watched carefully. You would think I’d have
been used to this by now and well acquainted with Hudson Hills.

I started getting nervous. How did people
ever go undercover without panicking? As I understood it, some
people actually enjoy the danger. It thrills them. Not me. What if
I couldn’t pull it off? What if they found me out?

There was the school. The pizza shop was just
beyond it on the same side of the street. I got off the bus and
tried to act as if I knew what I was doing.

Freddie was already waiting for me. He sat at
a table and waved his fingertips when I pulled open the door.

“Where are your buddies?” I asked.

“What do we need them for? Where’s
yours?”

“You mean Maddie? Sometimes we go our
separate ways,” I said. “I know she does a lot of work at home,
typing for her father. He’s a lawyer.”

“She gets paid for it?”

“Of course. I wish she’d send some of it my
way. I could use the income.”

“Why don’t you get a job of your own?” He
sounded pleasantly curious, not at all judgmental.

“I’ve been trying. There’s nothing.”

“There’s gotta be something.”

“I even tried Burger King. And—and an ice
cream parlor where Maddie’s brother works. How’s Austen doing?
Isn’t he about to graduate?”

“Maybe. Why do you care?” Freddie said.

“Because—he’s somebody I know. And I was
there when it all happened. What do you mean, maybe?”

“Aren’t I somebody you know?” He seemed
hurt.

“Of course. I want to know about you, too,
but I started with him because—because—I can sort of relate. I have
a missing parent, too.”

“Which one? I thought you talked about your
folks buying a house. As in folks plural.”

I really should get my story straight.

“That was my stepfather. My real father’s in
California. I wonder if he knows Austen’s mother. What name does
she go by?”

“California’s a big place, Peggy.”

“Yeah, I know.” I looked down at the red
vinyl tabletop. It terrified me to realize I had almost fallen out
of my alias. A person really has to keep their wits doing this
undercover stuff.

“You want to eat?” he asked. I felt as if he
was watching me closely. Maybe not. He looked up at the door in
back of me. I heard it open.

Aus and Sam. I didn’t bother turning
around.

It wasn’t Aus and Sam. It was only one
person, a female. I noticed the legs first as she passed by. And
then the brown flaring shorts.

I turned away as far as I could. I examined
the salt and pepper shakers and the bigger one that held red pepper
flakes. If only she would leave and not take a table.

I dared one peek and saw her at the wall
cooler that held bottled drinks. I saw her choose one and go to the
counter to pay for it.

Didn’t they have drinks at Frosty Dan? This
might have been her day off. Maybe she lived in Hudson Hills. Ben
wouldn’t tell me where she came from, if he even knew.

She was coming back. Facing my way. I stayed
turned away, with my hand on the side of my face.

She stopped. Right by our table. She peered
at me.

She, who had barely said two words to me,
suddenly decided to get friendly.

“Hello, there. You’re Ben’s friend. Cree,
um—Penny, is it?”

I took the hand away from my face and looked
straight at her. “I think you must have me confused with someone
else.”

She didn’t leave. She stayed there and
studied me even more closely. “No, I’m sure I remember you. Cree
Penny. You told me that once.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I never saw you
before.”

Inside I was dying, and prayed it didn’t
show. I looked at Freddie, shrugged, and tried to smile. As if I
were being accosted by some nutcase.

Freddie’s eyes were huge and very intense.
They looked capable of drilling a hole in me.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” I asked
him.

His mouth opened. All it said was “Uh—”

“I’m trying to find a job,” I told him, to
make conversation, “so I can get a car. Maybe I’ll have to wait
till we move here.”

Sandy Boyd gave up on me and left the store.
She had no idea what she had just done.

Freddie asked, “What was that all about?”

“Whoever she is,” I said, “she’d better get
her eyes examined.”

“I don’t see how anybody could think you’re
somebody else. Not with that hair.”

He meant my waist-length red-brown hair. I
brought a lock of it around where I could see it. “Must be somebody
else in the world with hair like mine. Who’d have thought?”

“Cree
Penny?
Maddie calls you Cree
sometimes.”

“Because I’m part Cree Indian. I never heard
of anyone else named Cree. I thought I was unique.”

“Nobody’s unique. Are you any relation to
Liam Penny?”

“Who?” I couldn’t go on much longer. I just
knew I’d have a heart attack.

“I think you know who it is.”

Freddie had changed. He’d lost that
mischievous twinkle. His look now was hard. I felt like crying for
the Freddie I used to know. What good would it do?

Any minute I would break out in a sweat. Do
people really do that? I was glad the pizzeria had its air
conditioner on.

Suddenly the twinkle came back. He leaned
forward with half a smile. “Feel like eating anything?”

“Not unless you do.” I was still trying to
figure how to get out of this.

“I’m just going to go and—you know, like wash
my hands, as you ladies say.”

“Take your time.” Thank God the old Freddie
had returned. But I still worried.

He went up to the counter, exchanged a few
words, and then continued down a hallway where I supposed the
restrooms were.

I could still see him. He didn’t actually go
into any room. He had something pressed to his ear.

His cell phone.

I didn’t wait to see what he was doing. I got
up fast and made for the door.

He beat me to it, getting in front of me.
“Where’re you going? I just ordered pizza.”

Somehow I didn’t think he had ordered
pizza.

“I—forgot,” I said. “My grandmother’s having
some people over and I told her I’d help.”

A stupid excuse but it was all I could think
of. I almost forgot I was Peggy Mellin.

“Where’s your friend with the car?” he
asked.

“I, um, took the bus.” I looked at my watch.
It was forty-five minutes until the next bus.

He had hold of my arm. “Don’t worry about it.
Aus’ll take you.”

I didn’t want Aus. Not after that phone call
and Sandy Boyd’s unwitting betrayal. Wait till I told Ben…