Night Sky (19 page)

Garrett was way too much of a himbo to be a criminal mastermind, even if he'd wanted to be. “It does. But it still doesn't explain why I smelled the nasty smell when I was talking to him today.”

Calvin almost pulled into the public beach, but I motioned for him to keep driving straight.

“It's down this way,” I said, remembering the route that Garrett had taken.

We drove past the long beach reeds before arriving at the end of the sandy path. The mansion loomed several hundred feet to our right. The late-afternoon sunlight reflected across its garish windows. Garrett's midlife-crisis convertible was parked in the semicircular driveway.

Calvin whistled. “Man, really?” he mumbled as he stared at the massive house. “I think we get it already. You've got money. You've got a lot of money. Shee-it.”

I nodded my agreement. “It's obnoxious.”

Calvin pulled to the side of the road and put his car into Park. We were far enough away so that if Garrett stepped out of his house or even looked out the windows, he wouldn't be able to see us lurking there. Calvin lowered my window. “Smell anything? And do lean out of the car if your answer is
ralph
.”

But I shook my head. Unfortunately, we were also far enough away so that I couldn't detect the stench as I had earlier. “Nope,” I said, popping the
P
.

“Do you think we should get closer?” Calvin said, sounding like that was the last thing he wanted to do.

“I don't know,” I replied. I unclicked my seat belt so that I could have more room to bring my feet up beneath me on the passenger seat. “I mean, what if Garrett really is dangerous?”

Calvin tapped his fingers on his steering wheel and stared at the mansion. “Maybe we should wait and talk to Dana about this.”

I exhaled my frustration. “So, now what? We do nothing until she feels like showing up again?”

“We could go into Harrisburg,” Calvin suggested. “See if she and Milo are looking for Edmund—Whoa, wait. Sky. Look.”

I lifted my head to see that someone had exited the house.

It wasn't Garrett. It was a man, probably in his late forties or early fifties. He had the same dark hair as Garrett, and he wore dark sunglasses and a black suit, and held a cell phone to his ear. With swift movements, he beeped open the BMW convertible before hopping into the car and pulling out of the driveway.

Calvin and I both realized it at the same time—he was heading straight toward us. We both ducked down in our seats as he went sailing past.

“Isn't that the car that Garrett drives?” Cal asked.

I nodded.

“So, that was probably his pops, right?”

“I'm assuming,” I replied. “What about it?”

“Well,” Cal said, his voice rising with excitement, “what if you really did smell what you smelled, but it wasn't Garrett who smelled?”

I looked at Calvin. “You mean…?”

“What if Garrett isn't the dangerous one?” Calvin asked, his eyes wide. “What if the person we have to worry about, the person who helped kidnap and kill Sasha, is Garrett's dad?”

It was no use. Calvin wanted to talk to Dana before we did any more
investigating
.

I couldn't help but be pissed as Cal dropped me off around the corner from my house.

“Call me if Momzilla announces her plans to marry Jenkins,” he said, leaning over as I opened the passenger door and got out of his car. “I wanna be ring bearer.”

“Oh my God,” I said. “Don't even
think
about that.”

“And don't do anything stupid,” he added, urgency lining his playful tone. He didn't want me to try
investigating
without him, either.

“All right, Mom,” I said sarcastically.

“Ouch!” Calvin said, and grabbed at his chest as if I'd just stabbed him.

I waved a dismissive hand at him as I closed the car door.

“Love you too,” Cal called out the open window before he dazzled me with a smile and took off.

Meanwhile, Mom was home, which was another kind of bummer.

When I stepped into the house, she was already calling my name. “Sky? Is that you?”

“No, it's the neighborhood serial killer,” I replied sullenly.

“Oh, good! You're back!” she called from the kitchen.

Oh, joy.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. If she was still tracking me (why would she
not
?), Mom knew exactly where I had been. Not that it was a problem. I hadn't made any trips to Harrisburg that afternoon, so it's not like she had anything to gripe about.

“I'm cooking spaghetti and meatballs,” Mom trilled. “It'll be ready in about twenty minutes.”

I stepped into the kitchen. “Not hungry,” I informed her.

Mom was leaning over a big pot on the stove. Her hair was swept up off her face, and diamond studs glinted on her ears as she stirred the pasta. I found myself wondering if she was wearing her good jewelry for Jenkins.

“But it's your favorite!” Mom protested.

Part of me wanted to challenge her and ask when she was going to tell me she was dating Jenkins. But a bigger part of me was hoping she'd just never bring it up. Ever.

My phone buzzed in my hand with a new text message from Calvin.
FYI: Brooding sidekick was waiting at my door…wants to go for a car ride. You down?

I paused and then texted him back, glancing up at Mom.
You mean, WITH your mom?

There was a pause, then Cal texted back:
YES
. He included a photo of himself that Mom would interpret as a silly face, but I knew was a silent
sorry
.

In the photo, over Cal's shoulder, I saw a familiar flash of dimples as Milo photobombed. And suddenly that “brooding sidekick” made sense. “Mom, I can't have dinner right now. I need to work on a homework assignment with Cal—it's due tomorrow. Sorry.”

Mom looked disappointed and maybe even a little relieved as she nodded. “All right, sweetie. What time will you be home?”

I rolled my eyes and texted Calvin that I'd be over in ten minutes. After I looked up from my phone, I answered her. “I don't know. Couple hours. Ten thirty at the latest?”

Mom pursed her lips before forcing a smile. “Just please be careful. And bring your phone.”

I nodded, making sure she witnessed the irritation written all over my face before I ran upstairs to change.

—

It took me a few minutes to figure out what to wear. I finally chose a black tank top and light denim jeans, with black sparkly sandals and a thin black headband. My earrings were little diamond hearts that my mom had bought me for my fifteenth birthday.

I raced out of the house, yelling
bye
and slamming the door before Mom had a chance to respond.

As I walked down our street, the breeze flirted with me. Strands of my curls drifted pleasantly against my neck. Another beautiful day was coming to an end on Coconut Key. I wondered why I was lucky enough to enjoy it…and why Sasha hadn't been as fortunate.

Mr. McMahon stood outside with a green garden hose, watering an already perfect emerald expanse of lawn. He waved to me as I walked by, his khaki pants worn high enough around his waist to graze his nipples. Old people.

I waved back and kept walking.

Further down was Sasha's house. The driveway was empty and the lawn was already overgrown.

I kept my head down the rest of the way as I walked silently to Calvin's house.

When I got there, Calvin's mom, Stephanie, was outside in jean cutoffs and a bathing-suit top, inspecting her tomato plant which had yet to produce any tomatoes.

When she saw me walking up the driveway, Stephanie came right over and hugged me. “Girl, where have you
been
?”

“It's been a rough couple of weeks,” I said.

Stephanie nodded, her arm slung over my shoulders. “I know, baby. How are you holding up?”

I shrugged, afraid that if I opened my mouth I would cry again. I was on a roll today.

“I've been sending out prayers and more prayers that there's been some kind of terrible mistake, ” she continued. “I'm pretty much stalking God, and he's starting to get all weirded out, but it's all I can do. I know you loved that little girl.”

I nodded as we walked inside. Being around Stephanie was refreshing. She was more like an awesome friend than a mom type.

Calvin's house smelled like sugar and gingerbread. I inhaled appreciatively. Despite the hours of effort that my mom devoted, attempting to be Suzy Homemaker, Cal's house was more like a home than mine had ever been. And it was all so refreshingly effortless. When I was over here, I felt like I could move around without fear of breaking something.

“Sky!” Calvin called from the family room.

“Hey!” I called back.

“Water? Juice? Milk?” Stephanie asked as she let go of my shoulder.

“I'm fine, but thanks,” I replied.

Stephanie pressed two fingers to her lips before planting the same fingers on my forehead. “Be safe when y'all go out with your ridiculously handsome new friend,” she added.

“Will do,” I said, but I think I blushed, because Stephanie laughed a little and said, “Hmm,” as she went into the kitchen.

I headed down the hallway to the family room. Calvin was reclined in his wheelchair, fingers gripping the controller for his newest video game. He pressed buttons furiously as he stared at the TV screen. “You made it,” he said without looking away from whatever battle he was fighting.

Milo was on the couch near Cal. He was leaning forward, elbows resting atop his knees as he observed Cal's video-game drama. When I stepped into the room, Milo sat up straight and looked at me, and Stephanie's words echoed in my head: “ridiculously handsome new friend.” Milo
was
ridiculously handsome. But he was also Dana's boyfriend. “Skylar,” he said.

“Hey, Milo.” I was suddenly uncomfortably aware of the effort I'd made in changing out of my school clothes. Would I have bothered to change if I was just going to see Cal?

Calvin kept playing his game. “Okay, so apparently we're going to go pick Dana up at a super-confidential undisclosed location,” he explained as he pressed a button on his controller. “Anyway, I'm going to let Milo explain a little more, 'cause I'm not following exactly why we're about to go play cat-and-mouse.”

Milo's eyes were solemn as he gazed at me. “Dana told me about your dreams and psychic visions,” he said, and somehow the statement was so profoundly personal that I blushed. “She thinks they're significant. And I do too. We want to try to locate the places that you've seen.” He paused. “But first, Dana wants you to…find her.”

“Find her?” I asked.

Calvin nodded, eyes on the screen. “Like the weirdest game of hide-and-seek ever.”

The edge of Milo's mouth curved up into a half smile. “It's an exercise in something called
homing
. Dana is really excited about your ability. She wants you to explore it a bit. See exactly what you can and can't do.”

“But I honestly don't know where she is!” I protested.

“I think you'll find that you do,” Milo said as he gazed up at me with his pretty eyes.

I laughed as I forced myself to look away. “We'll see,” I said. “But I have a feeling this is going to be a wild-goose chase.”

“I second that,” Calvin said.

Milo didn't seem fazed by my lack of confidence. “We should get going sooner rather than later. Although I'm glad that we're heading out as it gets dark, because the highway that you'd mentioned in your dream… You saw Sasha there at nighttime, correct?”

“Yeah.”

Milo took a piece of gum out of his pocket and popped it into his mouth. “I think it's going to be easier for you to identify the location if all of the surrounding details are as similar to your dream as possible.”

“Can you make it rain?” I joked. “Because it was raining in my dream.”

“Ask Dana.
She
probably can,” Calvin said, his tone deadpan as he finally shut off his video game. He looked up at me. “Did you remember to forget your cell phone at home?”

Milo raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“Actually, I remembered to bring it. But I'm going to deliberately forget it right here in your family room before we leave.” As I said the words, I took my cell out of my pocket and placed it on the table.

Milo looked perplexed, so I told him about Mom's little GPS- tracking project as we left the house.

I heard Stephanie vaguely call, “Love y'all,” before Cal closed and locked the front door.

I assumed that Milo would ride shotgun, since he was the new guy and all. But when we got to Cal's car, Milo opened the front passenger door and motioned for me to get in.

“A gentleman,” Cal noted.

Normally, the little gesture would have resulted in an eye roll from me. But coming from Milo, there was something genuinely unpretentious and old school about it. I smiled at him for a second, until he smiled back. Those dimples creased on either side of his face, and I looked away fast as he closed my door for me. Dana's boyfriend.
Dana's
boyfriend.

“All right, Ms. Omniscient,” Cal said as he waited for his wheelchair ramp to completely lock him into the driver's seat. “Right or left out of the driveway?”

“Left,” I said automatically, and then covered my mouth with my hand.

“Left it is,” Milo replied, leaning forward into the front seat, his hands draped over the backs of both headrests.

He was close enough that I could smell that vanilla aroma again, and I kept my breathing shallow, which only resulted in my heartbeat speeding up. Pretty soon my face was heating up again, and I coughed and swallowed.

“You all right?” Cal said, glancing at me as he took the left turn out of the driveway and down our street, back the way I had come.

“Fine,” I said casually. We passed Sasha's, and my attention was temporarily diverted as I stared at the empty house.

“Girl, you better duck,” Cal said, and I looked up just in time to see my mother standing out on our driveway. Her arms were crossed.

“Crap!” I said, and hunkered down quickly. “What is she doing?”

Calvin shook his head and zipped by. “It looks like she's waiting for somebody. She didn't see us, though. At least I don't think she did.”

“Dammit,” I said. “Why would I make us drive this way? I
knew
I shouldn't push my luck.”

“Like I said, I think you're in the clear. Anyway, don't worry about it for right now. You won't have to deal with her 'til you get back.”

“You're fairly frightened of your mother,” Milo said. His observation was made into a question by the quizzical tone of his voice.

I didn't turn around to look at him. “
Frightened
is a pretty strong word,” I replied. “It's not like she going to, you know, throw me in a closet and beat me with a belt or anything.”

“I am immeasurably relieved to hear that,” Milo said.

Calvin burst out laughing. “Man, you crack me up!”

But when I finally did look back at Milo, I realized that he wasn't being sarcastic. He really was
immeasurably
relieved
, and I found myself wondering if maybe his mother
had
locked him in closets or beaten him with belts. But how exactly do you ask someone about something awful like that?

“A'ight,” Cal said as he pulled up to a stop sign. “We're at a four-way here. Where should I be turning?
Should
I be turning?”

“Go straight,” I blurted again.

Cal checked his rearview mirror, and Milo nodded at him.

The sun was beginning to set, and Coconut Key lingered in that ethereal dusk state. The light was almost unbearably bright as you headed west, but people heading east had already turned their headlights on, because the shadows were getting darker in that direction. We were driving south, which meant that the insistent glare whacked us from the right side.

I squinted and held my hand up to my window, watching as kids in a nearby yard ran through a sprinkler. Their little squeals penetrated the car, and Calvin smiled a little as we drove past.

My own heart filled with sadness as I thought about Sasha. She would never again enjoy a carefree moment like that.

“Take a left,” I said, the sadness drowned out by an urgent pull on my brain—almost like a mental magnet.

“Left turn,” Milo verified.

Calvin pulled out onto the main drag, and we picked up speed, traveling across town. He kept glancing at me, but the pull was telling me to keep heading straight, until it—and I—said, “Slow down. Take a right, up here.”

This time Calvin didn't look back at Milo. He just turned down a smaller side street.

And then something really weird happened.