Shocking Pink (6 page)

“Me, too.” Raven let out a long breath. “I was too afraid to peek around the doorway.” She laughed, the sound high and excited. “What a rush.” She laughed again and crossed to the breakfast counter. “Come see. He left these.”

Andie followed her friend. She stared down at what looked like two folded pieces of black fabric.

“What are they?” Andie asked.

“Scarves.”

Raven moved to pick one up; Andie caught her hand. “Don’t touch it.”

“Why not? I’ll put them back the way I found them.” She shook off Andie’s hand and picked one up. It was long and narrow and semisheer. “It’s so soft. Feel it.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Andie did. The fabric slithered through her fingers, as soft as butterfly wings. “My mom has a scarf that feels like this. It’s silk.”

“Silk,” Raven repeated. “Why did he bring these here? What are they for?” She met Andie’s eyes. “Who is he, Andie? What’s he doing here?”

Andie searched her friend’s gaze. “I don’t know. But I don’t think we need to find out.”

Julie came up behind them, white as a sheet. “I don’t feel so good. I want to go.”

Andie nodded, then nudged Raven who had turned her attention back to the scarf. She seemed almost mesmerized by it and her own questions. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“They’re for a woman, that’s for sure. But who? Why did he bring them here? And why two of them?”

Julie moaned and bent slightly at the waist. Andie put an arm around her. “Come on, Raven,” she said again. “Julie’s sick.”

As if only just realizing Andie had spoken, Raven looked blankly at her. “What?”

“Julie’s sick. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Raven nodded, refolded the scarf, then the three of them left the way they had come in. As they did, Andie glanced back at the dark house. She was never coming back here, she promised herself. Never.

F
or the next few days, all Andie and her friends could talk about was the mystery man and their brush with danger. They were certain Mr. X, as they had begun to call him, was up to no good, but they could only speculate as to what kind. Which, for Andie and Julie, was enough. Neither girl had any desire to get that close to Mr. X or that house again.

Raven, on the other hand, wanted to find out exactly
what
Mr. X was doing. “Aren’t you guys even curious?” she asked her two friends. They sat in Andie’s front yard, drinking Cokes. Even in the shade, the midday air was stifling.

“Nope. Not that curious, anyway.” Andie brought her cold, damp can to her forehead. “I just want to forget it.”

“Me, too,” Julie added. “I’ve never been so scared in my whole life.”

“Listen to yourselves, guys. You say you want to forget it, but it’s all you can talk about. Besides,” Raven persisted, “how can we forget it? We were in that house. We know something’s wrong with that guy.”

“I don’t know that.” Andie flopped back onto the grass, cursing the heat. “Neither do you.
We
were the ones who were wrong. We didn’t belong in there.”

“He didn’t either.” Raven leaned toward Andie. “That house is
supposed
to be empty.” She turned to Julie. “Be honest, you thought something about him was wrong. Didn’t you?”

“Well…he was pretty creepy.” Julie rubbed her arms. “And Rave’s right, Andie. He wasn’t supposed to be in there.”

“You guys are nuts.” Andie sat back up, looking at the two in disbelief. “
We
weren’t supposed to be in there. We broke in, for Pete’s sake. Get real.”

“You get real.” Raven drew her knees to her chest. “This is
our
neighborhood. It’s Julie’s street. What if he’s some sort of freak? A murderer or a…a
child molester?
”

“A murderer? A child molester?” Andie rolled her eyes. “The guy drank a beer in a house we
think
is supposed to be empty. Come on, Rave, you’re taking this too far.”

“I don’t think so. Read the newspaper any day of the week. Those freaks are everywhere.” Raven lowered her voice. “You don’t want that kind of person in our neighborhood, do you? Around Julie’s little brothers? Around yours?”

“No, but—”

“Geez, Andie—” Raven made a sound of disgust “—you used to be the one who looked out for everybody. Remember? You used to care about right and wrong. You used to do something about it.”

“I still care. But I’m not sure this guy’s doing anything wrong. I mean, of course we were scared. We should have been, look what we were doing. Maybe he’s perfectly innocent. He probably has every right to be in that house.”

“Be honest, Andie. You don’t believe that.” Raven faced her. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t think the way he came in and sat in the dark drinking a beer was weird? Tell me you don’t think there’s something strange about a partially filled house that’s
supposed
to be empty?”

“And don’t forget those icky black scarves,” Julie piped in, making a face. “That was so creepy.”

Andie closed her eyes and recalled the quiet way the man had moved around the kitchen, the measured sound of his breathing, how he had made her feel, and she shuddered, gooseflesh racing up her arms. She rubbed them, feeling chilled despite the heat of the day. “Okay, okay. He was creepy. The whole thing was weird. So what?”

Raven turned to Julie. “Tell her what you found out.”

Julie leaned conspiratorially toward them, lowering her voice to a dramatic whisper. “I asked my mom about the house again, you know, just to be sure. I asked if it had been sold or rented or anything, and she said she didn’t think so. She said she had even mentioned that house to Mrs. Butcher, the real estate agent.” Julie dragged in a deep breath. “Mrs. Butcher told her all four houses were still owned by the builder.”

Andie shuddered again, her chill going clear to her bones. “So, what do we do?” she asked, looking from one friend to the other. “Go to our folks?”

Raven pursed her lips. “And what do we tell them? That when we broke into the house we discovered someone living there?”

“My dad would kick my butt for even looking in a window.” Julie shook her head. “If he ever found out what I did…”

She let the thought trail off, but all three knew that the Good Reverend Cooper was capable of any number of horrible punishments, including splitting the three of them up. For good.

“We could say we heard music,” Andie offered, rolling her Coke can between her palms, staring at the grass. “We could say we thought we saw someone go into the—”

“Andie!” Julie grabbed her arm. “Look, it’s your dad.”

He was turning into the driveway. The way he had countless times before.
He was coming home.
“I knew it,” she whispered, turning to her friends. “I knew he couldn’t do it. He’s coming back, you guys.”

Raven and Julie exchanged glances. Raven cleared her throat. “Andie, don’t get your hopes up.”

“Why else would he be here? In the middle of the day?” He opened the car door, and she jumped to her feet and ran toward him. “Hey, Dad!”

He turned and looked at her, his face white with rage. Andie stopped in her tracks, her pleasure evaporating. “Dad? What’s wrong?”

“Where’s your mother?” He slammed the car door. “Is she inside?”

“I think so. I—”

“You stay here, Andie. This is between me and your mother.”

Andie watched him head for the house, then scurried after him, despite his order that she not. He reached the front door and opened it without knocking. “Marge,” he called, stepping inside. Then louder, “Marge!”

She appeared at the kitchen doorway, her expression lifting at the sight of him. “Dan? What a surpri—”

“Save it,” he snapped. “What the hell are you trying to pull?”

Her face fell. “Pull? I don’t know what you—”

“Don’t hand me that bullshit. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Andie made a small sound of surprise, stopping only steps behind him. She could count on one hand the times she had heard her father swear. She looked at her mother, confused. If he had come to ask their forgiveness, why was he swearing? If he wanted to come home, why was he so mad?

He fisted his fingers and took a step toward his wife. “Leeza could have been killed, Marge. Killed. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? What kind of person are you?”

This was about Leeza, Andie realized, crushed. He had come here about
her.
Not because he loved and missed his family. Not because he wanted to come home. She inched backward, wishing she had done as her father had asked and stayed outside.

“A snake in her car?” he continued. “Couldn’t you have come up with something a little less obvious? Something that didn’t point directly at you?”

“A snake?” Her mother brought a hand to her throat. Andie saw that it trembled. “You’re not suggesting that I…that I had anything to do with that?”

“Are you saying you didn’t?” His voice dripped sarcasm. “Are you saying you didn’t slip a garter snake into her car, knowing what might happen while she was in traffic? Hoping the worst might happen?”

“Dad!” Andie burst out, shocked. “Mom wouldn’t do that! How could you even say that?”

He swung toward her, paling slightly. “I thought I told you to wait outside.”

Andie tipped up her chin, furious at him, a smart reply springing to her lips. Before she could utter it, her mother jumped in. “This is Andie’s home. Unlike you,
she
has a right to be here.”

He looked from one to the other, as if just realizing how his accusation made him look to his daughter. “She could have been killed,” he said again, voice shaking. “She’s in the hospital, for God’s sake. She’s—”

“Seems to me,” Raven said from behind them, “those are the chances you take when you decide to screw somebody else’s husband.”

Andie gasped and swung around. Raven stood in the doorway, eyes narrowed, mouth set. Julie stood a few paces behind her, her face bright with embarrassed color.

Dan Bennett turned, too, trembling with rage. “How dare you, young lady.
You
have no business here.
You
are not a member of this family.”

“Family?” Marge repeated, stepping forward. “You’re the one who’s no longer a member of this family. I’d like you to leave.” She crossed to the door and swung it open. “And don’t you ever enter this house without an invitation again.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something further, then closed it, turned on his heel and stalked past Raven and Julie. Moments later, he backed out of the driveway, tires squealing as he did.

For a full minute no one said anything, then, as if realizing everything that had occurred, Marge cleared her throat. “I’m sorry you girls had to see that.” She shifted her gaze to Raven, then hesitated, as if unsure what to say to her.

Raven beat her to it. “I’m sorry I said that, Mrs. B. It just makes me so mad, what he did to you.”

The woman’s expression softened. “Thank you for caring, Raven. But I can…and should, fight my own battles. All right?”

Raven nodded, and Julie reached out and touched Marge’s hand. “We think you’re the greatest, Mrs. B.”

“That’s right,” Raven added. “He’s the one who should be apologizing. We love you.”

Her friends’ words seemed to calm her mother. Once again Julie and Raven had come through for her and her family. And once again she wondered what she would do if she ever lost them.

“Thank you, girls,” Marge murmured, smiling, though not, Andie saw, without effort. “You’re all very sweet. And I…I—” She turned to Andie. “Go on now. I know there are things you girls are wanting to do, and hanging out with an old lady isn’t one of them.”

Andie’s chest tightened. “You’re not old, Mom.”

“Older than you three,” she said firmly. “You go. I have work to do around here, and you’re keeping me from it.” She gave Andie’s shoulders a quick squeeze. “I’m fine,” she whispered. “Really. Go on now. We’ll talk later.”

Andie nodded, turned and led her friends outside. They took their places under the maple tree, not speaking for long moments.

After a time, Julie leaned over and caught Andie’s hand. “I’m sorry, Andie.”

“Yeah,” Raven murmured. “Me, too.”

“Thanks.” She blinked against tears. “You guys are the best.”

Raven leaned back against the grass and smiled up at the blue sky. “At least the little slut learned a lesson.”

Andie turned and looked at Raven. “What?”

“The little slut. Leeza. She had it coming.”

She had it coming.
Andie caught her breath, remembering. The three of them sitting on her bed and talking about ways they could get even with Leeza. Discussing the things they could do to her to make her pay. Discussing the kind of car Leeza drove and where she parked it.

But that had been just…talk. Just the three of them joking around.

Hadn’t it been?

A sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Andie looked from Raven to Julie. Julie was staring at Raven, her expression horrified.

Maybe not.

“Raven,” Andie whispered, “you didn’t…I know we talked about making Leeza pay, but that was just…we were just kidding around. Right?”

Raven met Andie’s eyes. “Were we? Just kidding around? Don’t you hate her guts?”

“I do. But…but she could have died.”

To that, Andie was greeted by complete silence. Then Raven shook her head. “You said you wished she was dead, Andie. So, why do you care? What if she had died? If you ask me, the little bitch got what she deserved.”

For a moment, Andie couldn’t speak. She hated Leeza for taking her father away. She did. But…saying she wanted her dead wasn’t the same as
meaning
it.

Surely Raven understood that.

“Gosh, Andie, don’t look at me like that.” Raven laughed and sat up. “
I
didn’t do it, for heaven’s sake. I’m only saying that I don’t care that it happened and neither should you. Look what she’s done to your family. To your mom.”

“That’s right,” Julie piped in, looking relieved. “Rave wouldn’t do something like that. But I don’t feel bad for that little witch, either.”

Andie brought a hand to her chest. “For a moment there, I thought you…” She let the words trail off. Something about Raven’s expression, something bright in her eyes, made her uneasy. She cleared her throat. “But…how do you think the snake got in her car?”

Raven shrugged. “You said she leaves the top down all the time. I bet that stupid little snake dropped out of the trees she parks under and curled up under her seat for a nap.”

“I bet you’re right.” Julie giggled. “The same thing happened to Mrs. Beasely, from church. Only it was bird poop. It landed right on her head. She got nearly hysterical.”

Raven hadn’t done it. Of course she hadn’t.
Andie laughed weakly. “What would I do without you guys?”

“Go crazy.”

“Become a total spaz.”

The three laughed. “So what do we do now?” Andie asked.

“I say we get back to our little mystery.” Raven lowered her voice to an excited whisper. “We watch the house. We figure out what he’s up to. That shouldn’t be hard. The house is surrounded by trees. My dad’s got binoculars—”

“So does mine,” Julie offered.

“Good. Then, when we find out what he’s up to, we bust his ass. We go to our folks, they go to the police and we’re heroes.”

Andie drew her eyebrows together. “And what if he’s not up to anything?”

“Then we chalk up the whole thing to overactive imaginations.”

“It is kind of exciting,” Julie murmured. “I feel like Nancy Drew.”

Andie had to admit her curiosity was piqued. What if this guy was up to no good? What if he did mean someone harm? She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if that was true and she had sat back and done nothing.