Spies and Prejudice (11 page)

By the time Tuesday night comes around, I’m a basket case. When I get to Sconehenge, Drew is already there, at a table near the back of the restaurant underneath one of the giant fake rock structures. I start toward him, but stop when I see Tanner two tables over, leaning over a basket of sweet potato fries between him and Ryan. I change my path across the restaurant to avoid walking by him.

I slide into the seat next to Drew, trying not to look at Tanner. The waitress sets a Diet Coke in front of me without asking me what I want. I stir the drink with my straw absently.

Drew pats me lightly on the knee. “This will be good. You need to know, right?”

I nod my head. He’s right. I need to know.

A woman with bright red hair walks up to our table and holds out her hand. “I’m Heather.”

I don’t know what I expected, but this woman is not it. Her hair frizzes out in every direction at once. She’s too thin and too pale, which only accentuates the dark circles beneath her hollow eyes. Her clothes are small enough to be children’s clothes, yet they hang on her tiny frame.

She sits down across from Drew and offers a closed-mouth smile. When she looks at me her eyes turn pitying. “You must be the daughter.”

The daughter of the dead woman. “That’s me.”

The waitress comes back and Heather orders a burger and fries. When the waitress leaves Heather focuses her tired eyes on me. “Aren’t you having anything?”

I shake my head. I have nothing to say to this person. It takes all my effort to keep from getting up and walking out of the room. I’m not ready for this.

Drew squeezes my knee, holding me in place. “Thanks for talking to us. As I said on the phone, we just want to know what you remember about the accident.”

Heather shakes her head. “Oh, it wasn’t an accident.”

I stand up too fast, sending a fork clattering to the floor.

“Berry.” Drew puts a hand on my arm.

I pull my arm away and walk as fast as I can out of the restaurant. I thought I wanted the truth. I thought I needed to hear it.

The truth is I need the lies more.

I hear footsteps behind me, but I don’t look back. I keep going until I’m across the parking lot. I rest my hands on the hood of my car and concentrate on slowing down my breathing. In. Out. In. Out. In.

“You okay?” The low thrum of Tanner’s voice swirls around in my chest with the night air.

I turn around to face him. “Stop following me.”

“You were upset. Did Drew do something?”

“Don’t make this about Drew.”

Tanner puts his hands in his pockets. “Sorry. I don’t mean—are you okay?”

“No.” My whole body trembles. It starts as a tremor, but gathers steam quickly. I hug myself to make it stop, but my body shakes of its own volition.

Tanner steps forward and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

His arms come around me and I do nothing to stop it. I bury my face in his shoulder, shaking. He smells like cinnamon and fabric softener and for some reason this makes him seem more human.

He lowers his head so his mouth brushes my hair. “Better?”

I don’t want to answer. I just want to stay here and pretend that none of this is happening. Eventually, I stop shaking, but I don’t move away. For now, I’m safe. It’s classic Stockholm Syndrome, finding comfort in the arms of the person who torments me.

“Can I ask you something?” Tanner’s mouth is next to my ear. His breath sends a hot blast down my neck.

I nod into his shirt.

“Why do you hate me so much?”

I want to say that it’s because he’s arrogant and has done nothing but insult me and my friends. I want to say something that will make him leave me alone for good. Instead I say, “I don’t hate you.” It might even be true.

His lips move against my hair. “I don’t hate you either.”

Tanner’s arms fall and I’m standing on my own. I’m not shaking anymore, but I miss the warmth of him. I miss the smell of cinnamon and Tanner.

“Who was that woman?”

“She saw my mother die.” It sounds even worse when I say it out loud.

“What?” Tanner’s face gives nothing away. I can’t tell if he’s shocked or just curious.

“It’s kind of sick, right? Interviewing the woman who watched your mom die? I thought I could do it, but as it turns out, I guess I can’t.”

“Why was Drew there?”

I shrug. “He’s helping me.”

“Helping you?”

“Do you even know how to talk to people without sounding like you’re cross-examining them? This is really none of your business.”

“So you keep saying.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have to keep saying it if you’d leave me alone.”

Tanner steps closer. There’s still a few inches between us, but his body heat hovers in the air between us. It’s somehow more potent than when he was holding me. “Is that what you want?”

He waits for an answer that never comes. I can’t bring myself to say the words that will send him away any more than I can utter the words that might bring him closer. I clutch the side of my car.

We stay like that as the seconds stretch into a minute. Tanner lifts his hand, reaching for me, then drops it to his side. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Okay,” I say, but Tanner has already turned his back on me. He walks into the restaurant without a glance in my direction.

It’s a half an hour before the red-haired woman walks out of the restaurant and climbs into a beat-up Corolla. Drew follows a few minutes later.

He sees me leaning against my car and jogs up. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I hope you don’t mind that I went ahead and talked to her. I figured you’d want to know what she said.”

I do want to know what she said. I am sick. “Thanks. I wasn’t ready.”

Drew watches me. “We don’t have to do this now.”

“I want to get it over with. Tell me.”

“I’m not sure how.”

“Tell me.”

Drew takes a breath and then it all comes out in a rush. “She lied. She never saw anything.”

I’m dizzy. “That’s impossible. She said it wasn’t an accident. She talked to the police.”

“Someone paid her to talk to the police, Berry. She wasn’t even on the bridge that day.”

“How do you know she’s not lying now?” Another dead end. That’s all it is. The woman who saw everything isn’t talking.

“I don’t. But I believed her. It fits with the note you found. Someone wanted the police to think your mom killed herself.”

My knees are wobbly. I lean against the car for support. As much as I thought I wanted to believe that someone killed my mother, the thought makes me want to puke. “Who? Who paid her?”

“Some guy she met in a bar in Chula Vista. She doesn’t remember
much about him now. He paid her ten thousand dollars to say she saw the car go over the edge and call the police.”

I slip down the side of the car until my butt hits the pavement.

“Do you know what this means?” Drew kneels down beside me.

I wrap my hands around my knees. I know exactly what this means. Someone wanted the police to think my mother killed herself. Someone covered their tracks. “We have to keep looking.”

A
t school on Friday, Drew promises to meet me at the dance by ten. I was already planning to go with Mary Chris and Jason, so it’s not like I’ll be alone or anything. Still, as fake dates go, this one pretty much bites.

Dad kisses me on the cheek on his way out the door with his suitcase. “Don’t stay out all night.”

“I could say the same thing to you. But that would be weird.”

“Call if you need anything.”

“I won’t.” I don’t know whether I’ll need anything or not. But I won’t call. I’m not about to interrupt Dad’s romantic getaway. I’d rather pretend it’s not happening.

Dad stops in the doorway. “You’re sure you’ll be okay?”

I could make him stay. I could tell him I need him here and put an end to this weekend with Shauna Waterson. It’s tempting, but something stops me. “I’ll be fine, Dad.” As long as Mr. Moss doesn’t catch me going through his office.

Dad smiles and hugs me before heading out the door.

I grab the dark cherry dress and drive over to Mary Chris’s house to get ready.

Jason greets me at the door. He’s wearing a pair of black pants that taper at the ankles and a red satin shirt that looks vintage.

“What, no tux?”

“Not that you can see.”

“Invisible tux? Wow. So elite no one even knows it exists.”

Jason laughs. “Wrong. It’s a tuxSpeedo.”

“Please tell me you are not planning to parade around in a tiny bathing suit with a bow tie.”

“Buzzkill.” Jason leads me upstairs. “Mary Chris is freaking out about her updo, even though it looks fabulous. Tell her she looks amazing. She thinks Ryan’s going to change his mind about her. Like that would happen.”

“Ryan’s coming?”

“She didn’t tell you?” Jason’s smile is evil. “Then I’m guessing she didn’t tell you about Tanner either?”

“What about Tanner?” I’m going to kill Mary Chris if she’s done what I think she’s done.

“Mary Chris might’ve invited him to come with us.”

This is what I get for allowing myself to be so distracted. Left to their own devices, my friends are a dangerous pair.

We make our way up to Mare’s bedroom. Her hair is swept up in a pile of loose curls that make me think of a cross between Scarlett O’Hara and Mae West. Still, Mare pulls it off. She’s bent over a cell phone on her desk, wielding a tiny screwdriver.

“Tell me the truth, Berry. Do I look like a poodle?”

“You look gorgeous.” Mare always looks gorgeous.

“Really?” Mare picks through a pile of motherboards and wires on her desk, pulling out a small white box with wires sticking out in every direction.

“Really.”

“I told you.” Jason winks at me from across the room.

I slip into the bathroom to put on the dress that Jason picked out for me last weekend. I leave my hair down, letting the blonde waves fall past my shoulders.

Mary Chris lets out a squeal when I walk back into the room. “Where is my friend and what have you done with her?”

Jason waggles his eyebrows at me. “Tanner is going to be drooling all over himself.”

“That’s his problem. I already have a date.”

Jason and Mary Chris look at each other and back at me.

“What? Drew is meeting me at the dance later.”

“Later?” Jason narrows his eyes.

“He had some family thing he couldn’t get out of.” It sounds even lamer when I say it out loud.

“Family thing?” Jason rolls his eyes.

“Forget I said anything. Wait. Tanner doesn’t think he’s going to the dance with me?”

Mary Chris and Jason both stare at the ground.

“You guys! That’s completely unfair. I’m already going with Drew.” There’s a buzz in my stomach that I can’t begin to control.

Mary Chris hands me the cell phone she’d been working on. “It’s not a date. We’re going as a group.”

“Fine.” There’s no point arguing. I turn over the cell phone in my hand. It’s heavier than it should be. “Wait. Is this what I think it is?”

Mare grins. “Just hold the face over the document and hit pound, nine, nine to activate the scanner. It will read the entire document and save it to the drive in less than a tenth of a second. It will save it as a PDF, but can be easily converted to a searchable TIFF file. Pretty good, right?”

I flip it over in my hand. It’s more than good. It’s amazing. “You’re a freaking genius, you know that?”

“That’s why you pay me the big bucks. What’s it for anyway?” Mare tries to sound casual, but she’s fishing.

Jason stares at me, daring me to tell her the truth.

At the moment, it’s so I can spy on your dad
.

I can’t bring myself to say it. “Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.”

“Plausible deniability?” At least Mare doesn’t seem angry that I’m keeping something from her. Somehow that makes it worse.

“It’s for your own protection.” What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her. At least that’s what I tell myself. I tuck the cell phone into the small gold purse Shauna bought to go with my dress.

Jason won’t make eye contact. It’s easy for him to say I should tell her. He’s not the one who’s about to break into Mare’s father’s office and go through his desk.

We head downstairs and let Mare’s mom take our pictures in the living room while her dad sips a tall coffee and watches from a distance. He smiles and acts like a doting father, but every now and then I think I catch a flash of what looks like a warning in his eyes. I’m
sure it’s just my guilty conscience letting my imagination run wild. He can’t know I’m looking for the letter.

The doorbell rings and Mrs. Moss grins. “That must be your ride.” She opens the front door to a short man in a poor-fitting suit. “At least you’ll arrive in style.”

“You got us a limo?” Mary Chris starts jumping up and down. It doesn’t matter how perfect her life is, Mare is always genuinely surprised when things go her way. “This is so awesome!”

“You’ve got the limo until midnight.” Mr. Moss looks pointedly at the driver.

Mare’s smile fades. “Wait. This is a trap, isn’t it? To make sure I’m home by curfew.”

Mr. Moss laughs. “I’m not above a little subterfuge.” Is he looking at me? I swear Mr. Moss looks directly at me.

“It’s great.” I grab Mary Chris by the wrist and rope her into a hug. “Thanks.”

Since the front door is open, Tanner and Ryan walk into the house like they’ve been coming here all their lives. At least I think Ryan walks in. I only see Tanner.

He’s dressed in a dark suit and a crisp white shirt with a light blue tie that matches his eyes perfectly. The cut of his jacket emphasizes his broad shoulders and tapers down to a fitted waist. But it’s not the way he looks that takes my breath away. It’s the way he looks at me.

He stares across the room, past Mary Chris, past her parents, past Jason. His eyes burn into mine.

Jason elbows me in the side.

I elbow him back. “Stop.” But I’m smiling. I can’t stop smiling.

Tanner crosses the room and stands directly in front of me. “Wow.”

“You should see the shoes.” I lift the skirt up and stretch out my foot to reveal the gold strappy heels that match the gold threads perfectly. Pinched toes or not, they look pretty cute.