Jex Malone (38 page)

I can see from the look on his face that Dad is calculating a far higher number.

“Both Lillian and Ricki would have been arrested for making a false police report and the illegal use of town funds for what was basically a wild goose chase. They could have even done jail time if they got a tough judge who wanted to set an example,” Dad says.

“And then … ” Patty pauses and tears start to well up in her eyes. “Lillian got sick and it happened so fast. One day she was fine, and then before I could say goodbye and thank you, she was gone. Margaret was just devastated because she never got to say goodbye either. At that point, I had no idea what to do, but I knew I couldn't leave Margaret all alone. Lillian was her best friend too—she was everyone's best friend. And then just a couple of years ago, Margaret died too and I've just tried to make a new life for myself here.

“I guess after a while everyone had new lives and we decided to keep it that way. Ricki still wanted proof that I was okay and happy. So, from time to time, I would send Mr. Foster anonymous drawings of where I was in California and what I was doing. I couldn't send them to Ricki and I never signed my name,” she says, glancing at Ricki, who was nodding.

Then in a sure voice, Nat speaks up, holding a Post-It note she has in a death grip. “From your notebook,” Nat says. “I highlighted it and then wrote what you wrote: ‘Someday, I want to go to Hollywood, see stars, and live like a princess—or at least next door to one.'

“So, you lived near Hollywood, went to the Griffith Park Observatory to chill out and stargaze, and at least worked outside of a castle, next door to a princess,” Nat says, a big grin bursting across her face before she says in awe, “This is better than any episode of
CSI!
”

Ricki is the one who interrupts Nat.

“I never meant to cause anyone any trouble, but I really felt if I'd left Patty with her dad that night, she would have been dead soon,” Ricki blurts out. “He was out of control. And I had no legal right to keep her with me. This was the only thing I could think to do. I know it caused a lot of trouble, but what was I supposed to do?”

She turns to Cooper and says, “I feel worst about telling you a pack of lies. But I kept thinking you were so little and you could barely remember Patty. I guess in my head I kind of justified it. She wasn't your sister for long, so it wasn't like something was missing. But I can see how wrong I was to keep you two apart. I hope you can forgive me.”

“It's okay, Ma, I understand, sort of,” says Cooper, nodding at her.

That's all he can manage to mumble and I give him an encouraging little smile.

“But if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have some time now to get to know Patty. She
is
my sister,” Cooper says with a quiet defiance that makes my heart melt.

Everyone around the table seems to take a deep, exhausted breath.

“So now what?” asks a teary-eyed Patty. “Do I have to go to jail? Does Ricki go to jail if she doesn't have half a million dollars?”

“Dad,” I jump in, and the loudness of my voice even stuns me. “You have to do something to make sure no one goes to jail. You just have to figure out this mess, or we can hold a fundraiser. Or Deva donates her allowance. Something.”

“Even my allowance isn't going to cover this,” Deva says. “Unless, of course, I get a raise, which would be a solid financial idea.”

Her parents don't look convinced.

“With Lillian and Margaret both gone, I'm not sure I can make a case against either Mr. Foster or Ricki,” Dad says. “A lot of time has passed. It has been thirteen years. There are statutes of limitations when the law just allows you to let things pass quietly.

“Let me make a few phone calls,” he repeats and walks out of the room, punching numbers into his cell.

Meanwhile, I'm busting a gut to really talk to Patty, but all I can think of saying is a few words of assurance that I truly believe in my heart.

“Patty, hi. I'm Jex. You shouldn't worry. My dad really is the greatest detective around and he will take care of everything,” I tell her.

“Hi Jex,” Patty says in a quiet voice, and then she gives me the most beautiful little smile like the one in the picture in her living room at home. That's when I notice that she's staring hard at me, which immediately causes my cheeks to burn. “Great red hair,” she says.

“It's very chic hair,” Deva interrupts. “I gave her a total makeover and very modern cut when we weren't busy looking for you.”

Deva's manners kick in a second later. “By the way, I'm Deva, and we talked our way past your dork brother into your old house, searched through your drawers and found your diary, which is back at our hotel. Nice to meet you.”

Patty looks at Cooper, who whispers to her, “I'll tell you later, but if it weren't for these girls we never would have found you.” Patty's eyes become wider and she smiles at the rest of the Drew-Ids.

“That's Cissy and Nat,” I continue, and they give Patty a little wave each because frankly they probably don't know what else to do or say.

“But why did you even bother to look for me?” Patty asks me.

It was the ten-million-dollar question, but I quickly remember the Drew-Ids rules.
There is no such thing as the Drew-Ids. Just in case anyone asks. In other words, don't sleuth and tell.

“Oh, it's a long, long, long story,” I hedge.

“But a very good question,” Cooper states, staring hard at me.

“So you were really bored and it was Nevada in the summertime?” Patty asks with a little laugh.

“Uh, something like that,” I reply, but that's not enough. I decide it's time to come clean with her because she deserves nothing less.

“We looked for you because you remind us of …
us
,” I say.

“Now, we will go to jail, not only for witholding information, but for aiding and abetting a criminal!”

—Trixie Belden

Dad is still gone and it seems like we're waiting ten eternities for answers, which makes me pace. As the Wacky Wonder the Walrus clock in the corner ticks loudly, Nat, Cissy, and Deva glance nervously at one another. Cooper and Patty sit in the corner whispering to each other, eagerly catching up on each other's lives.

Suddenly, the door bangs open and everyone jumps out of their skin. Never breaking his stride, Dad makes a beeline for the Matthews family.

“I've talked to the chief and to the district attorney,” he announces.

“I've told them the whole story. And quite frankly,” he says, glancing at us girls, “this is sort of a big mess.

“You girls aren't detectives,” he says to me and then lasers in on my associates, Cissy, Deva, and Nat.

We're not detectives. We're Drew-Ids. But no one knows that …

Dad continues, “You violated about every rule of an investigation over the last couple of months. None of the evidence is going to stand up in court, that's for sure. But I've got a duty to put this down on paper and put it in front of the DA. It's his decision to make.”

The girls look at each other. I can't help but think,
This could be bad if anyone really knows everything we've been doing all summer. I wonder what the exact definition of “everything” is these days.

“But,” Dad goes on, “the district attorney told me if the adults who are still alive in this case will give him sworn statements indicating it was Lillian who orchestrated Patty's disappearance, no one else is going to face charges. He has no intention of throwing an elderly man like Mr. Foster, who just went along with his late wife, in jail.

“And as for Ricki,” Dad continues, “I probably could bring you up on charges of lying to the police, but the statute of limitations is up. Too much time has passed. Anyway, I understand why you did what you did. You made a bad choice, but to be honest with you I've seen these things before, and there was a good chance Patty would have been hurt badly if she had been left alone with her father.

“I assured the DA no one had bad intentions here,” Dad continues. “It was simply a matter of saving Patty from her dad, and some not-so-great choices were made.”

Pivoting in his worn buckskin boots, Dad turns to Patty and says, “The sad thing is Ricki was right all along. It would have been hard to get you out of that house safely. I don't know where we could have put you, and your dad would have had the legal right to fight it in court. He could have gotten you back, and by then he would have been really angry and even more dangerous. This really was a no-win situation.

“So, I'm going to put this all down in a report and the DA's going to sign off on it. We'll close out the case file, but I tell you if some reporter goes sleuthing they're going to see what really happened and it might not be pretty.

“Still, we've got to do this by the books,” he says and then mock glares at me. “I'm just going to take my chances that there's no one quite so nosy that they will be reading old case files.”

I catch dear old Dad trying to stifle a smile. He doesn't want to show it, but he seems darn proud of his little chip-off-the-old-block sleuther offspring.

Obviously, detecting is an inherited gene.

A few minutes later and it's time to leave the park. Dad hangs back while Cooper walks us girls outside to the waiting car that Deva's parents have arranged. From the corner of my eye, I see a familiar image that causes me to almost choke on my gum.

It's journalist Katt Kaetan and a camera crew who race up to me like they're at the finish line of a marathon. My dad walks outside at that moment and quickens his step, but he's not fast enough.

“Jessie, honey! I followed your trail, although you were very tough to find,” Katt says. “Are you really looking for Patty Matthews? Did you have any luck? I want to put you on camera with your permission, of course. What does it feel like to try to solve a decades-old crime? Futile, isn't it, but it's still a great story. A girl abandoned by her own father now looking for a girl abandoned forever. Let me get my cameraman.”

She doesn't even realize that Patty is standing only inches away from her. Cooper grabs her hand and they duck back inside before Katt pounces.

Dad doesn't get a chance to answer her need for permission to put me on camera, which is an obvious “no way, crazy woman.” I see he's about to come down hard on Katt.

Not as hard as me.

“No comment! Ever!” I say, putting my hand up to the camera crew.

Katt looks like I've shot her.

“But, we're friends, Jex, honey … Jessica! Jessie!” Katt cries. “Just a short interview! Something!”

I do exactly what I've seen my favorite celebrities do a zillion times to TMZ. I turn my back on her and walk away. Forget about “talk to the hand.” It's a case of “talk to my booty, baby.”

“Now, let me escort you out of here,” I hear Dad tell her with a satisfied smile. “Move it, Katt!”

A few minutes later, there's another head that pops outside the door and it's a familiar one with the most gorgeous green eyes.

“So, I'm gonna hang out with Patty and Ricki in California for a few weeks before school begins,” Cooper says, suddenly standing in a sea of females. “We want to get to know each other again and Margaret left Patty her house. I need to spend some time with my sister, so we're going to hang there.”

“In those clothes!” Deva retorts with all her bravado, but she is really swallowing a lump in her throat. Deep down, I know she thinks Cooper is a pretty cool guy. It took a lot of guts to hop in an old heap of a car and journey across the desert in a huge storm to look for a sister you barely knew who had been pronounced dead by most of the world.

Deva looks at Cissy, Nat, and me in a way that says it all. At that moment, I knew I would do the same for any of them.

“See you in school, Coop,” Cissy says.

Quickly, the girls pop into the limo to give me time to say goodbye to Cooper because it suddenly dawns on all of them that I won't be seeing him around school in a few weeks. I will be going home to my real life in New Jersey in just a few days.

“So, you have to go to the hotel and pick up your stuff,” I say to Cooper while looking down at my flip-flops.

Now that the girls have obviously and purposely disappeared, we're standing next to each other, talking quietly near the limo. “I guess we can leave a room key with the front desk,” I stammer.

“Jex,” Cooper interrupts. “I just want to say what you did was pretty amazing here. And I think … ”

“You think what?” I blurt. And then I want to die because I can never keep my mouth shut because I'm this insane, never-can-shut-up person here with a boy I could really like just a little bit, right?

“I think that you're not a mess—definitely not a mess. And there's one more thing,” Cooper begins.