Hush Money (14 page)

“Sounds fun.” I sounded sarcastic, but I
think I meant it.

“Yeah, it wasn’t the greatest night ever.
What about you? Your dad seemed…I guess he was mad?”

“He was more freaked out than anything else.
He’s pretty over-protective, I guess, and that was the first party
I’d been to since Emily Gianni’s when I was five, so…”

“Hey, I think I went to that party. Scary-ass
clown, right?”

“Yeah, there was. I don’t remember much about
it. I didn’t remember you being there.”

“My mom worked with her mom. I think possibly
there was some kind of arranged marriage between me and Emily,
but—well, whatever.”

I didn’t say anything.

“She was the first kid I knew of who
got…taken. I remember my parents talking about it a lot—that was
before they got divorced. They talked about whether or not they
should try to explain it to me or just not mention it or what. My
dad said if they didn’t mention it then I’d just forget all about
her, and I guess he won out.”

“But you didn’t. Forget her.”

“I don’t really remember her so much as them
fighting about her. How about you?”

“She was my best friend.”

“Oh. Sorry. You know, I don’t actually set
out to say exactly the wrong thing every time I talk to you. It
just comes naturally.”

Ok, that actually made me crack a smile, and
I was glad I wasn’t facing him, so he didn’t see it.

“Can I ask you something?” I said suddenly.
“Why are you talking to me?” I hadn’t planned on it, but I couldn’t
seem to stop myself.

“Um…I don’t know if that’s, like, a question
I’m supposed to answer, or the kind of thing where I’m just
supposed to apologize and walk away.”

“I’m just asking. Because…I realize we don’t
run in the same circles or anything, but we’ve been in the same
schools, in the same classes for, like, ever, and you’ve hardly
said five words to me. And now it seems like all of a sudden you’re
talking to me every time I turn around.”
Oh my God, could I be
more abrasive? Maybe I could say it with Mace for a similar
effect.

“It just seems like that because you’re a
Joss.” He bumped my shoulder with his, congenially. “This is a
perfectly normal amount of talking. Trust me.”

Why should I?
I thought. I also
thought I was being a bitch, but seriously, this was the Twilight
Zone. Maybe he’d been body-snatched. Maybe…maybe Heather had given
up her much vaunted principles to tell him I’d liked him forever.
That was just the sort of thing Kat would think was just
oh-so-cute. But then Dylan thought oh great, freak girl likes me,
but hey, may be good for laugh. So then he started talking to me
and hinting that we’re friends and stuff just so he can lull me
into a false sense of security so he can—

What? Come on, Joss. Really. Dial down the
psycho. Does he really even think about you enough for that? Maybe
he’s just being nice.

I sighed and looked around, trying to get my
bearings.

And saw Marco, crouched in the corner of the
sandbox next to Jill, with roses blooming under her hands.

* * *

Dylan

Maybe we’re not up to the teasing phase
yet,
I thought, judging by the scowl on Joss’s profile. It
seemed like I was always finding the wrong thing to say to her. It
would’ve been fine with me to just sit there and not talk at
all.

Suddenly, I felt her go completely rigid next
to me. I leaned over to see what she was looking at.

Her little sister was in the sandbox, behind
a small rose bush. It took me an instant to realize that it had no
business being there, and that it was too perfect, too—unnatural.
It was like a
Eureka!
moment. This, together with what Joss
had said about Emily Gianni being her best friend, explained so
much about why she was the way she was. And probably her dad
too.

Joss’s sister was a Talent.

All that was clicking into place in my head
so fast that in that first moment I didn’t even grasp the whole
situation. But then Marco picked one of the roses, sniffed it,
offered it to Jill, and looked right at Joss.

Son of a bitch.

“Son of a bitch!” Joss’s hand cracked against
my face so hard I had to catch myself with my hand to keep from
falling over. “‘Trust me.’ Ugh! I am such an idiot! I should have
known Marco would try something like this, and I should have known
you’d be in it with him.”

By the time I got to my feet she was stomping
across the sand and holding out her hand to her sister, who got up
and went with her instantly. I tried to follow her, but Marco
intercepted me by grabbing onto my arm. I knew there was no point
in struggling if he didn’t want to let me go yet.

“Ooh, that musta hurt, huh?”

“What are you doing with Joss’s sister?”

“The kid was just showing me what she could
do. Pretty cool, huh?”

“There’s no way you can use something like
that, so just leave her alone, ok?”

“If you say so, buddy. Now go on,” he said,
giving me a shove. “Make up with your girlfriend.”

I sprinted over the hill, with my cheek still
stinging and the horrible sound of Joss’s angry, agonized voice
stuck in my head. They had stopped at the edge of the parking lot.
Jill was sitting on the ground with both legs wrapped around one of
the wooden posts of the low fence that kept the cars off the grass,
like she wasn’t going anywhere. Joss was sitting on one of the
cross pieces with her face in her hands. I had the terrifying idea
that she was crying and thought about going invisible. But that was
lame and wouldn’t help, so I approached with caution.

She was saying, “I just don’t understand how
you could do such a thing. How many times have we told you, and
told you—”

“But he’s your friend. He said so.”

“No! Marco is so not my friend. I—We don’t
have friends. Marshalls don’t make friends. And this is why, Jill.
This is what we’ve been trying to make you understand. Friends make
you do stupid things.”

“
He’s
your friend. I ‘member from the
store.”

Joss jerked her head up at that, and fixed me
with a bright-eyed glare—she wasn’t crying, but close. “No,” she
said, plenty loud enough for me to hear, “he’s not. Let’s go.”

“Hey, just hang on.” She was already on her
feet, reaching for Jill, and I felt the need to grab onto her. But
I didn’t. “Calm down, Joss. You’re making her cry.”

“She damn well should be crying! You, of all
people, understand exactly what she’s done.”

“What does that mean?”

“I wish you would stop playing dumb already.
I know all about Marco and his blackmail. I was there when he gave
his terms to Kat, remember? You were watching from across the lawn.
I was there when she found the copies of the picture of Krista in
her locker.”

“What pictures?”

“The ones of Krista using her Talent that he
used to turn her in when she wouldn’t pay. And you know that
because you were probably there that day to check up and make sure
that Kat had found them. I knew Jeff was in on it because Marco
made me watch Jeff harassing Trina, and I still can’t figure out if
that was to find out if she had a Talent or I did—which obviously
neither of us does, but he still managed to get Kat to reveal
herself.”

“Wait, Kat has a Talent?”

“I swear, if you don’t stop that, I’ll hit
you again.”

I was starting to get really concerned about
Joss. I was thinking about her dad, about the time he spent in the
hospital, about how close to the edge he seemed to be. And now Joss
was losing it. This was not the quiet, self-contained, never gets
involved or opens her mouth girl I had been going to school with
for years. And either she was suddenly spouting a lot of paranoid
crazy talk, or there was a lot of shit going down, the guys I was
calling my friends were shoveling it, and I had no clue it was
happening. I wasn’t really sure which was worse.

“I kept wanting to believe it was just
something the two of them were doing and you didn’t know about it.
Isn’t it funny how stupid I am? Isn’t it funny how I kept thinking
how weird it was that you were talking to me, but kept telling
myself to give you the benefit of the doubt because you’re such a
nice guy? Why would I do that?”

“Because I
am
a nice guy!”

“You’re a fucking extortionist.”

“Joss, that’s a bad word,” Jill piped up.

“Shut up,” she snapped back.

“Look, I don’t know where all this is coming
from, but I don’t see how…I mean, look, Marco’s a jerk. I
know
that. But you can’t tell me he’s been…”
Well, why
not? He’s using Joss’s secret to make you rob a
bank
, for
chrissake. He’s got to be threatening to reveal Rob’s secret, and
how did he find that out in the first place? Jeff’s jealous of
Talents; he always has been…

“What’s the matter, Dylan? Run out of charm?
Lies? That’s ok, I was pretty much done listening anyway.”

She yanked on Jill who let herself be led,
and they hurried off across the parking lot. I didn’t even try to
follow. I had some stuff to figure out.

Joss

Monday morning it rained. Mom had dropped me
off early because she had an appointment. I was hanging out in my
spot thinking about how I needed to find a new place, and worrying
that Marco would be coming up the stairs to hassle me any
minute.

But instead it was Kat.

“Go away.”

She just smiled in that infuriating way she
had of ignoring my wishes and sat down next to me. “What’s that
about?”

“It’s about go away, I want to be alone.”

“You’ve been alone. I kept calling you all
weekend but your parents wouldn’t let me talk to you.”

“Yeah, thanks, they really appreciated
that.”

“Well, they were being unreasonable.”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I
didn’t—don’t—want to talk to you?”

“Of course not. That would be insane. Anyway,
look, I brought your stuff.” She handed me a big bag with the
clothes I’d left at her house.

“Thanks.” I shrugged out of my second string
jacket and dug my favorite one out of the bag. Then I went for the
boots. I like what I like. “I didn’t get your stuff washed
yet.”

“That’s ok. I’m not hurting for clothes. So
my mom’s taking the day off work to stay home and wait for the
insurance adjuster.”

I cringed. “How’s that gonna go?”

“I don’t know, really. We’ll just have to
wait and see. We spent the rest of the weekend trying to clean up
what we could and eating all kinds of takeout. Damn, I can’t
believe what happened to my kitchen. Who do you think it was?”

She actually sounded like she thought the
whole thing was cool. I shook my head. She was like an older
version of Jill. I’d spent my weekend sick to my stomach and
sleepless over what I’d done, what Jill had done, who would find
out about it… And I don’t think I could have faked enthusiasm for
this conversation on a good day.

“Kat, would you please just leave me
alone?”

“What’s up with you?”

“What do you think is up with me?”

“I think you’re cranky ’cause you got
grounded. Which is totally bogus anyway. How was any of that your
fault? I mean, if Phil had just kept his mouth shut…I’m
this
close
to saying he deserved to get caught. And maybe we can
also blame whoever started throwing Tasers—although that was
totally cool, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t think. Kat,
anything
could have happened. What if those guys had been using real
bullets?”

“But they weren’t. Maddy touched one of them,
so she knew they weren’t.”

“What does that mean?”

“Didn’t you wonder how she knew stuff? Or why
she wears gloves all the time? Any time she touches someone, skin
to skin, BAM! She knows everything about them. Everything they
know, every thought they ever had.”

“Jesus,” I breathed, taking that in.
Note
to self: stay AWAY from Maddy.
“Wait! Just stop.” I put my
hands over my ears. “I don’t want to know this stuff.”

“You already know this stuff. You were there.
I’m just clarifying ’cause, you know, you’re one of us.”

“
What?!
”

“Part of our group, one of our friends, you
know.”

“No, I don’t. I mean, I’m not. I don’t want
to be in your group. I don’t want to be friends.”

“What’s up with that?”

“Just what I said. I don’t want to be
friends. With anyone. I just want to be left alone. Is that really
so much to ask?”

“Girl, what is wrong with you? I have done
everything I can think of to try to be nice to you, to bring you
out of that shell of yours, and all you do is give me static. Did
you have some kind of deeply scarring childhood trauma that makes
you such a bitch?”

“My best friend was one of the first kids in
Fairview who got taken to a State School. Because she burned a
house down. One we were trapped inside. NIAC came and took her
before we were even out of the hospital.”

Kat just sat there with her mouth open. I
could have gotten up and walked away at that point and she probably
would have let me. But for some reason, my mouth just kept
moving.

“We were five. It was summer. Emily lived
next door to me, and we had played together since birth,
practically. I always knew what she could do. But Trina was new and
had just become our new bestest pal. We were the three Musketeers
that summer, and we were going to let Trina in on the cool thing
Emily could do.” Actually, after Emily’s demonstration, I was
supposed to go next. But we never got that far, I had just about
edited that part out of my head over the years, so I left that
out.

“Trina? Jeff and Trina in the stairwell
Trina?”

“Yeah, but this has
nothing
to do with
that. So one day we left Emily’s yard, snuck through the yard
behind to the next street, and over to the house for sale two doors
down. This was a huge adventure in itself. We got into the house
and explored for a while, and then decided that the pink and purple
bedroom of the girl who used to live there would be the place to
show Trina the secret.”