21 Dares: A Florida Suspense Mystery (12 page)

Abbie sent a text to the Surprise Guest, stating “Mission
Accepted and Completed.”Almost immediately in response, the cell phones beeped
and the group simultaneously looked at their phones. Abbie said, “Oh, I can’t
do this.”

Susan shrugged, waving her phone as the red squiggly
lines returned, racing across its screen. “My phone died again. You’re gonna
have to read the dare,” Susan said,
then
added.
“Using that god-awful accent, please.”

Abbie cleared her throat. She looked around at the
quiet library,
then
read the text message, out loud.

Chapter 15

A
bbie lowered her phone and headed for the library exit. “I can’t do that.
I
won’t
do that.”

McKenzie ran to Abbie, catching her before she was
out the door. “You have to,” she said.

“I don’t have the nerve.”

McKenzie scrunched her face a second, as if thinking
about something.

Susan put an arm around Abbie. “Aw, lay off her McKenzie.
This one could get her arrested.”

“But it’s the rules,” McKenzie insisted.

Rocky raised a hand as he spoke. “You’re right. It’s
the rules,” he said. “So what if you do something to get the librarian out of
the room?”

 
McKenzie
smiled,
then
looked at Abbie. “I know exactly what to
do. And while we’re gone, you get everyone in here to sing you
Happy Birthday
. And, remember, no
cheating.”

Abbie nodded as McKenzie marched to the front reference
desk and started a discussion with the librarian. Abbie had no idea what McKenzie
was saying, but there seemed to be a lot of arm waving and pointing, from both
women. Then, surprisingly, the librarian got out from behind the desk.
McKenzie raised the hem of her Qipa as she and the librarian headed up
the carpeted staircase. Abbie turned back to Rocky.

“I’m still
not
going to climb up on a desk and get everyone’s attention in
here.” She yanked the tiara off her head and held it with both hands as if it
was some kind of shield between her and everyone in the library. Rocky put a
hand on her shoulder.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” he said. “With the
librarian out of the room, we can do this dare.”

“No, I just can’t. I just don’t have the nerve.” She
gripped the tiara tighter, her knuckles turning white.

“I know,” he said, smiling and taking the tiara. He
handed it to Susan. Susan took it and patted Abbie on the back.

“You can do this, kid,” she said.

Abbie nodded as Rocky led her to the center of the
main reading room between two mahogany tables. He whispered as they walked. “And
with the party police out of the room, I can do this one dare for you. Help you
out, you know?”

Abbie wasn’t sure if he was referring to his fiancée
or to the librarian, but either way, she knew she needed the help. She noticed
him look over at Susan.

Susan shrugged, holding the cheap tiara. Another
fake diamond plopped onto the carpet. “It’s her party,” Susan said. “Who am I
to care if she gets a little help with the dares?”

Rocky nodded and walked to one of the mahogany
tables in the center of the room. He removed his glasses and slipped them into
his shirt pocket, then pulled a chair away from the table. He held out a hand
toward Abbie. She took it. Together, they stepped onto the chair then up onto
the large table. Abbie stood, shaking beside a green banker’s lamp, holding out
both arms for balance. Rocky whistled.

“May I have your undivided attention, please,” he
called out. Students looked up from their books and away from their computers.
Rocky cleared his throat. “This is my fiancée’s oldest friend, Abbie Reed. They
go way back and today
is
Abbie’s twenty first
birthday.”

Everyone sitting in the library clapped, and Abbie
blushed. She looked over her shoulder to see if either McKenzie or the librarian
were returning. When she saw neither, she turned back around.

“So I was wondering,” Rocky said. “I was wondering
if I could get you all to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her.”

There was chatter and more clapping, and Rocky
started the first verse, singing, “Happy Birthday to you…” The rest of the
library crowd joined him. The mood seemed suddenly buoyant and Abbie felt a
warm glow flow through her. She couldn’t believe she was standing up there, in
the center of attention, while the whole library sang.

As the strangers in the library came to “
Happy Birthday dear whats-her-name
,” Abbie
heard an unhappy voice above her. Looking up, she saw the Librarian’s head peer
over the edge of the balcony. McKenzie’s head popped out beside her, and she
waved down to Abbie. The librarian shook her fist, demanding them to get down. However,
her voice was drowned-out by the students finishing the chorus of “Happy
Birthday.” When they completed the song, Abbie could finally hear McKenzie
yelling, “No fair, Rocky. She has to do the dare all by herself!”

The librarian’s head disappeared over the balcony. Rocky
and Abbie hopped off the table. The two followed Susan, Mr. Sherman and the
twins toward the exit.

“I want your names,” the librarian yelled as she
rounded the staircase. McKenzie shook her head, passing the old card catalog
and ran after her friends out the library. The librarian chased them,
screaming. “I want all your names. I’m calling campus security.”

The group ran through the exit doors, passing the
large columns onto the stone steps down to the sidewalk. Night had fallen and they
rushed around the block behind the science building before they stopped. The
cover of darkness would conceal them, hopefully. Mr. Sherman seemed out of
breath and the twins were rubbing their sore heels.

“I’m sure Josh will be getting a call from the
library real soon,” Abbie said, as she sent the mission completed text to the
surprise guest.

“He’s kinda cute.” Susan twirled the tiara on her
index finger as she spoke. “Maybe we should wait for him.”

McKenzie ran a hand down her red satin dress and
smoothed the fabric, then adjusted the pink ribbon in her hair. When she was
done, she scowled at Rocky and pointed a finger. “You aren’t supposed to help.
Those are the rules.”

“Relax.” He pulled his glasses from his shirt pocket
and placed them back on his face. “It’s all just for fun anyway.”

Their phones went off again, and the girls
looked down at the screens.

“We’ve got the sixth dare,” Susan said,
holding the tiara with both hands, her cell phone in her purse.

“Read it,” McKenzie said to Abbie.

Abbie looked down at her screen. It
glowed
green in the dark.

She looked up from her phone. “I’ve got to
take twenty-one pics with total strangers?”

 
“The Sail Pavilion?”
Susan grabbed her phone and shook it.
It lit up then faded. “That’s kinda far, isn’t it?”

“It’s no problem.” McKenzie fixed the ribbon
in her hair then motioned to the group. “We’ll drive to downtown, park and head
across the Tampa Riverwalk. We can get the pics with people by the river.”

“I thought all the dares were taking place on
campus.” Rocky looked at McKenzie. A devilish grin raised the corners of her
red lips.

“I added a few surprises,” she said.

 
Mr.
Sherman threw up his hands. “I’m out. It’s past my bedtime.”

“The Sail
Pavilion?”
Abbie asked. “Is that where my surprise
guest is? Clinton Reed is waiting there for me, isn’t he?”

McKenzie shrugged, not giving up any answers.

Mr. Sherman approached Abbie and gave her a
hug. “Happy Birthday, Abbie,” he said in her ear. “An old man like me isn’t
really up to going downtown at this time of night and strolling along the
Riverwalk. That’s a young man’s game.”

Abbie returned the hug. “Thank you for
joining in with us though.”

She waved to
him as he left, and Rocky yelled, “Don’t forget what I told you. Vitamin
Ritamin is the best business to get in and your skills are what’ll make it
happen!”

Mr. Sherman
continued walking, without turning around.

“Remember, it’s
not just the money, but the fulfillment of a dream, passion and the lifestyle you
deserve,” Rocky yelled.

The old man
raised a hand, waving him away as he disappeared through the dark parking lot,
headed back to the apartment building.

“Okay,” Rocky
yelled back. “I’ll call you.”

McKenzie laughed. “Let him go,” she said,
then
turned to Abbie. “The Surprise Guest is not your father
and, even if it was, he wouldn’t be waiting for you at The Sail. That place is
just one stop in the journey.”

“It’s a journey? Is that a clue?” Abbie’s
face lit up. A new and unexpected energy surged through her. “The journey is
the things that shape you. Oh, my God.
The journey.
It
Sarah Michelle Gellar, isn’t it? Buffy is my surprise guest?”

“Sarah Michelle Gellar?” McKenzie’s mouth
fell open.
 
“How did you get that out of
the journey?”

“It was Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third’s
speech to the high school graduates. He told Buffy and the other students that
at the end of the journey, you’re not the same. Then he turned into a giant
snake and tried to eat everyone.” Abbie paused and looked at McKenzie. “It is,
isn’t it? Oh my God, I’m going to meet Buffy Summers.”

Susan folded her arms, seeming to enjoy the
turn of events. “You’re supposed to say that in a British accent.”

Abbie laughed. “
Saucy! I'm gon'a meet Sarah Michelle Gellar. Buffy da Vampire Slayer is waitin'
fer me as me birthday soooprise.”

Looking a little frazzled, McKenzie put her hands on
Abbie’s shoulders. “Now I didn’t say that, exactly. All I said was it’s a
surprise guest.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to start asking
people to take a picture with me, if I’m going to meet Buffy, er, I mean my
surprise guest
.” Abbie headed back
toward the stadium and walked up to a couple strolling hand in hand through the
parking lot.

“
Pardon
ne-
moi
,” Abbie said, now mixing in some French with her
abhorrent British accent.
 
“
W
ould yew mind terribly if
me friend an' allk a picture ov us together?
It's me
birthday, yew see, an' me friends are darin' me ter do dis
?”

The couple posed with her as McKenzie took
the photo.

“Thars number one,” Abbie said.
“Guess’n we gaut twenny mo’ to gawer.”

“We have to walk all the way down the
Riverwalk?” Lindsey sighed and looked down at her feet.
“In my
Christian Louboutins?”

Lindsay looked down at her sister’s feet. “Oh
please. You got those Louboutins on sale.”

“They’re still Christian Louboutins.” Lindsey
lifted her foot to show off the shoe.

Lindsay rolled her eyes. “They’re cheap
Christian Louboutins.”

“
Blimey!
Who cow-eeers?
”
Abbie yelled at them. “We’re
gon'a meet
Buffy da Vampire Slayer. Nuff said, yeah?
”

Abbie left the campus parking lot and headed
across the street to their apartment complex. Rocky followed, taking his keys
from his pocket. He unlocked his green Camaro.
The color of money
, Abbie thought.

“We’ll have to take two cars.” Rocky opened
the driver’s side and unlocked the passenger door.

“Saucey! Two cowers.
Let’s
gawer.”
Abbie slipped into the Camero’s backseat as McKenzie leaned into
the front passenger side and shuddered.

“You don’t know that it’s Sarah Michelle
Gellar who’s waiting for you, so stop saying that.” McKenzie plopped down in
the seat and slammed the door shut. “And I’m getting really tired of the
British accent. Whose idea was that anyway?”

From the back seat, Abbie watched Susan carry
the stupid plastic tiara into her little blue Honda. The twins piled in behind
her.
They had wine earlier
, she
thought.
All three of them.
Abbie climbed over
McKenzie and opened the car door. She got back out of the Camaro. She made her
way to Susan’s little Honda and knocked on the driver’s side window.