Pretty Sly (17 page)

He frowned. “Of course not. I had a little money left over. Why would I steal it?”

“You seemed pretty excited to be stealing stuff before.” My tone was sarcastic and accusing.

“Well, I didn’t. I wouldn’t risk something like that unless we had to.” He looked out onto the road, and then back to me. “Jesus, Willa, what’s wrong with you? All of a sudden you seem really pissed.”

“Nothing,” I grumbled.

“Obviously there
is
something wrong. You’ve been really weird for days now. Hot and cold. At first I didn’t say anything because I thought you were worried about your mom. But now I’m starting to think it’s just because you hate me or something. It’s like you can barely stand to look at me, even.”

Aidan was acting like someone who cared, but I knew better. The text messages were proof. He was just good at pretending. This was all a game to him. A way to get back at his dad and entertain himself. He was using me to get his kicks, tagging along on my drama.

Then I thought of my mom. Joanne wasn’t even her real name. Was there anyone in my life who didn’t lie to me? Was there anyone I could actually trust? Tre,
maybe. But he was so far away. I made a mental note to call him the next time I had a chance. In Tahoe, hopefully.

Aidan was waiting for a response.

I looked down to the floor of the car at my own feet. How could I look at Aidan? If I looked at him I would get sucked back into those killer green eyes.

For now, yes, I was depending on him to drive me, but only until we got to Tahoe and I could find my mom. And then I was no longer going to have room for Aidan—or his lies—in my life.

“Forget it,” I said, not wanting to have this confrontation. What was the point? There were too many things I couldn’t say out loud. “Okay? You win. Just drop it.”

“You’re no fun anymore, you know that?” he said.

“Yeah, well, you’re no . . .” I trailed off as he merged onto the highway.

“No what?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

What I had been about to say was that he was no
good
anymore. But even I had the sense to know that that would have been a little harsh.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

THIRTEEN

I’M NOT PARTICULARLY
proud to report that we spent the night in another squat. We’d gotten stuck, at around one
A.M
., in the middle of nowhere. Well, not exactly nowhere, but close to a town called You Bet, which we both bet was probably not worth stopping in. Aidan was too tired to drive and we were down to our last few dollars.

So we broke into a pool house. By “pool house,” I mean a house for an indoor pool. The place was on a Mediterranean-style estate that had to be over a hundred acres, and it was so far from the main residence that it almost didn’t matter whether the owners were home or not. (For the record, they didn’t seem to be.) Inside, the air was humid and smelled like chlorine, but there were padded lounge chairs, which were cozy enough, and the suspended stillness and the sequins of light reflecting off the water were soothing.

Still, I hadn’t gotten much sleep. I was too worked up about Aidan. I watched him doze soundly on the chair next to me as I cycled through waves of anger, disappointment, and loneliness—then just plain jealousy that he’d managed to set off for dreamland while I was still stranded on the shoreline of bitterness. I kept telling myself I would feel better in the light of day, but when the light of day came I was exhausted and dreading another long car ride.

By six
A.M
., I shook him awake. We snuck out and were back on the road again, closing in on Tahoe.

“So was that the last of your money yesterday?” I asked Aidan, unwrapping the final cupcake. Not exactly the breakfast of champions—or even semiphysically active outlaws—but what are you going to do?

“Pretty much,” he said. “I have about twenty bucks left. And we’ll need to get gas at some point.”

“Well, we can’t keep stealing,” I said. “It’s only going to attract attention.”

“I know that,” he said quietly. Ever since our discussion the day before he’d been treating me differently, less like a road buddy and more like I was an insect he’d picked up by the wings and trapped in a jar. I pretended not to notice, even though his distant tone chilled me.

Well, that was fine. We were simply carpooling now, until we could finish off our journey. Strictly business.

“I’m thinking we can call Tre when we get to Tahoe. Maybe he can wire us some cash. We need to get a
different phone to use, too.” Now that Corbin had sent us the location to meet him, which was in a Denny’s parking lot, we no longer needed to use Aidan’s Droid.

“You’re the boss.” He handed me the contents of his wallet.

“Thanks,” I said.

I should have been looking tough just then, or at least basking in the glow of my leadership skills. I
was
the boss, wasn’t I? This was my mission. So why did it feel sort of terrible?

I was bone-tired and heartsick, that’s why. And being the boss of Aidan was no remedy for that.

Aidan found us a Kmart about twelve miles outside Tahoe. I put the fancy sunglasses on before I went inside, aware that I was probably going to be caught on camera. In the electronics aisle, I zeroed in on a prepaid cell phone for fourteen ninety-eight and bought it at the front counter with our last twenty-dollar bill.

“Tre better be home,” I muttered to myself. Otherwise I was going to have to Sly Fox us some cash.

I felt the stare of the clerk behind the counter, a skinny dude with a baseball cap and the standard-issue red vest with the name Chris embroidered on the front. It was hard not to stare back. For a moment, I wondered if he recognized me. Probably he just thought it was weird that I was wearing sunglasses inside, I told myself.

But his eyes lingered just a little too long as he handed me back the change. “Have a good day,” he
said, smiling. “Be safe out there.”

I said nothing, but my hands were shaking as I went to stand behind the store near some Dumpsters and dialed Tre’s number.
Be safe out there?
I couldn’t prove it, of course, but I was pretty sure the guy knew who I was.

Pick up. Pick up.

His voice was a familiar comfort, pouring through the receiver like maple syrup. “Willa! What’s up?”

“We’re still on the road,” I said. I leaned into the wall and cupped a hand around my mouth as I talked. “In Tahoe. We haven’t found my mom yet but we think we know where she is.”

“You’ve got to get to her fast,” he warned, his tone sharpening. “I’ve been following on TV and the cops are on the trail.”

“I know,” I said. “We’re trying to lay low.”

“Seriously, Willa. I’ve been worried about you—you guys. I should have never let you go on this trip. It’s craziness.”

There was a pause and I pictured Tre in his house, sitting on his living-room couch. For a moment, I ached to be back in Paradise Valley, too, where everything was safe and clean and comfortable. Where I didn’t have to think five steps ahead. Where I could just hang out with him and watch cartoons like a normal person. “Well, I have a little favor to ask. We’re short on cash. I was wondering if you could find some to wire us. Maybe a couple
hundred? I’ll pay you back—I swear.”

“I can do that,” he said. “No problem. But where should I wire it from and where should I wire it
to
?”

“Go to the Finer Things Pawnshop, in Scottsdale,” I said, remembering the place I’d gone to when I started hocking stolen goods in order to buy Sierra and Alicia and Mary new clothes. “The woman there is blind and she won’t give you much trouble. And you can send it to the Kmart on Emerald Bay Road.”

“Emerald Bay Road. Got it,” he said. “I’ll send it to A. Murphy.”

“Perfect.” I exhaled relief. “You’re the best.”

He laughed a little. “Yeah, what else is new. So . . . how are you otherwise? You sound upset.”

Where to begin? “We’re just not getting along that well, I guess.” As soon as the words were out, I felt my throat closing up with a sob.

“Is he messing with you?”

“Kind of,” I said, trying to gulp down my tears. I was afraid if I started to cry I would completely fall apart, and I couldn’t afford to do that right now. “It’s complicated.”

“If he’s messing with you, I’ll come straighten him out.”

“No, no.” I smiled at his protectiveness. “It’s okay. I can handle it.”

“You don’t have to do this alone. I’m here for you,” he said quietly. “Always. You know that, right, Willa?”

“Thanks, Tre.” I looked down at my shoes. I could hear the soft rattle of his breath through the phone. I couldn’t bring him into this. That would be asking too much. “We just have to find her.”

“I know. And you will. But listen, if you get stuck for any reason—if something happens, and you need backup, you can call Rain Gladstone. I’m gonna text you her number. She’s Cherise’s cousin. She lives right there in Tahoe and she knows all about you guys.”

At the mention of Cherise, I felt a twinge of regret. Before I could ask more about Rain, or how Tre knew about her, or how she knew about us, Aidan drove around to the back of the store. Through the windshield I could see him waving me into the car. “I’ve gotta go. Thanks a million, Tre.”

“No problem,” he said. “The money should be there within the hour. I’ll text you when it goes through. And promise you’ll watch yourself, Willa.”

“I will,” I said. But given all that had already happened, and how desperate I was to find my mom, I was no longer really able to make that promise with much conviction.

I wiped my face and tried to compose myself before I got back into the Land Rover.

“How can you just stand out there like that?” he asked me.

“No one was back there. And I wanted some privacy.”

“So you could talk about me?” he challenged.

“No,” I said, my face hot with the fib. “I had other things to talk about. Anyway, the wire should be here in an hour. And Tre is going to send us Cherise’s cousin’s number. He said we can call her if we need a place to go. I guess we should just hang out for a while. Then we can go meet Corbin.”

He nodded, staring straight ahead. “You’re the boss.”

“Stop saying that,” I said. His new attitude was really starting to bug me.

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it? It’s your mom who’s on the lam. I’m just a chauffeur.”

“Don’t play martyr now,” I said, my tone sharp. “You’re in this as much as I am. It doesn’t matter to the cops whose mom it is. If you want to back out, be my guest. Or if you want to help, then be helpful.”

“I didn’t say I was backing out, did I?” He traced his finger on the window, making a line through the condensation.

We sat in tense silence for a while.

When he spoke again, his face had changed. “But I was thinking . . . maybe we should be trying to play it safe. We could just go to Cherise’s cousin’s house and hide out there for a while.”

“And do what?”

“Wait, until we can gather more information. We could do some more research online. Forget about this Corbin thing. It’s too risky.”

I shook my head vehemently. I was tired of sitting
around and looking for the answer on a computer when we could find it with our eyes. “No way. We’re so close. We’re
here.
I know he can help us.”

He sighed. “Did anyone ever tell you you were a tad stubborn?”

I smiled despite myself. “Yes. Many people have told me that. I just refused to listen.”

“I should have seen that one coming.” He rolled his eyes. “But just for funsies, tell me again how we’re going to outsmart an FBI agent?”

“I’m working on it,” I said. “Any input is welcome.”

He shook his head slowly.

“What?” I said, indignant. “These things don’t just come all at once. It’s a process.”

“Let’s hope your process speeds up. We only have a few hours here, okay?”

After a while, the phone buzzed with the text from Tre, and Aidan went in to pick up the money. I sat in the car, waiting, while people came in and out of the store. I watched as the kid from behind the counter stepped out for a smoke break, skateboard under his arm. He lit up, and an idea flashed in front of my eyes, bright and perfect as a pearl.

“Got it,” Aidan said when he came back to the car holding the envelope. He handed it to me and I tucked it into my bag.

“I’ve got it, too,” I said. “A plan.”

• • •

The Denny’s was in a strip mall on a busy intersection of two four-lane roads.

“Why’d he choose this place?” Aidan asked, steering us into the parking lot. “It’s so public.”

“That’s his thing,” I said, remembering Corbin’s meetings with my mom at the Target back in Arizona. “Listen, just wait behind the bank over there, and when you hear Chris yell, come get me. Chris, you know what you’re looking for, right?”

I turned around to face him and he nodded from his place in the backseat. “Totally. Silver Nissan.”

“Are you sure we can’t give you some money for this?” I asked.

“No way,” he said, grinning. “It’s just so cool to meet you guys after seeing you all over the internet. I feel like I’m making history, you know?”

“History or infamy—take your pick,” Aidan said. His tone was dry, but I knew him well enough by now to know that he was excited about our plan.

“We really appreciate it. Please just be careful,” I said. I looked at the clock. “He should be here in five minutes.”

Chris gathered up his skateboard. “If he’s on time.”

“Oh, he’ll be on time,” I said. “He’s uptight like that.”

“Fan out and take up your stations,” Aidan said, dropping us off before he went to wait behind the bank in the middle of the parking lot.

I was dressed up in Chris’s vest, my hair tucked inside
his baseball hat. The clothes were baggy enough that I could, from a distance, look like a boy. I went to wait by the shopping-cart trolley and tried to make myself busy.