Serial Hottie (24 page)

On the bright side, this time she was just asking me to spy on Seth, which is something I do all the time anyway. Maybe that’s the reason I couldn’t say no, and it actually had nothing to do with starting to like my sister. Hopefully.

“Just for a little while,” I said. “If he doesn’t do anything strange, we’re going home.”

“Fine, deal. The best place to see him is from the payphone on the corner that I called you from, but you can’t go out there like that.”

Angela bought a trucker hat from the minimart and handed me her hoodie. “Hu-uh,” I protested. “It’s ninety-five degrees out there and this is your stupid idea. You’re wearing the hoodie. I get the hat.”

Angela smiled sweetly, but didn’t give up the hat. “You know I would, Ellie, but—”

“No you wouldn’t.”

“Of course I would,” Angela demanded, pretending to be offended. “But you have to wear the hoodie. Seth is obsessed with you. He would recognize your hair from a mile away.”

Crap!
She had a point. I put the sweatshirt on and grumbled, “If I die of heat stroke, it’s all your fault.”

“If you die of heat stroke, can I have your Jeep?”

“No.”

There was a concrete bench next to the payphone, so Angela and I bought a pack of Twizzlers and a couple of super gulps and went to pretend we were waiting for a bus.

Angela was right—I could see Seth a lot better from my new position on the corner. He looked much more comfortable than me inside the air-conditioned restaurant. He looked pensive. He looked good.

“He almost kissed me the other night,” I said randomly. “I was completely freaked at the time, but then I was kind of disappointed when he didn’t, you know?”

Angela turned very slowly to look at me with raised eyebrows. I couldn’t blame her for being surprised. It wasn’t that my confession had come out of nowhere, it was that it came at all. Never ever in a big fat ever had I offered up information about my life to her willingly.

My face turned beet red. I felt more awkward than I’d ever been, but everything with Seth and Dave was driving me crazy, and I needed someone to talk to about it. Obviously I wasn’t going to call up the J’s and be all, “So there’s this guy…” Angela was all I had.

“It’s just that…”

Angela waited patiently for me to continue. I was grateful she didn’t interrupt—this opening up thing was harder than I’d anticipated.

“Seth was the first guy who ever…”

I stopped, unable to get any more words out.

“I know you’re disappointed about Seth,” Angela told me. “But it’s really for the best.”

“It’s more than just that, though.”

I was studying my feet, completely unable to look at my sister, until she said my name in a kinder voice than I thought she was capable of. When I looked up, she smiled encouragingly, seeming to understand exactly how hard this was for me. It helped.

“Guys don’t like me,” I said. “Not the way Seth does. Take Dave. The other night he said he liked the idea of having a girlfriend who was like me, but then he kissed me and there was just…nothing. Or the J’s. I’ve known them forever and I’ll bet that thought has never even occurred to any of them. I’m
always
just one of the guys. I guess I never realized how much that bothers me until now.”

“I don’t think it ever has bothered you before,” Angela said. Again, shocking me with her sincerity. “The fact that it does now is what’s making you change. Ellie, Seth is just the beginning. Trust me, now that you’re not so oblivious anymore, there are going to be plenty of other guys. Ones who aren’t crazy. You remember my friend Marcus who came over on Wednesday? He remembered you from the beach party and actually asked if you were going to be there when he came over.”

Someone in Angela’s crowd was asking about me?
It was enough to make my jaw fall slack and Angela finally laughed. “Why do you think I forced you to hang out with me all week?” Angela nudged me with her shoulder. “You may be a late bloomer, but you’re still a Westley. Trust me, you don’t need Seth.”

I looked again across the street and remembered how I felt on Saturday night. A sigh escaped before I could stop it. “Still. I bet he’s a really good kisser.”

Angela watched Seth, too, and nodded vigorously. “Oh, for sure! How else do you think he gets his victims to go with him? He’s so hot, I’d follow him into a dark alley if I thought I had a chance at making out with him.”

I laughed, then tugged at the neck of the hoodie I was wearing. “Speaking of being so hot, I think we’re going to have to call it quits on the spying thing. He’s not doing anything, and I really am going to die of heat stroke.”

Angela sighed, knowing I was right. She started to get up, but then froze. “Unless…”

I turned to see what she was looking at just as a tinted black sedan pulled to a stop in front of the sushi place. A guy in a dark suit stepped stiffly out of the car. He wasn’t your standard cop, but he was definitely something.

“He looks like a secret agent,” Angela said.

“I’m sure it’s coincidence. He’s probably just grabbing some take out.”

“Yeah,” Angela agreed. “But lets just watch for a minute. If Seth’s a killer, won’t he get nervous around cops?”

“Good point.”

I sat back down and watched in complete wonder as the cop entered the restaurant and sat down at Seth’s table. The two talked for a second, and then the cop slid a folder full of papers across the table to Seth.

“What the?”

Angela and I glanced at each other. “Do you think that was illegal?” Angela asked as the cop drove off. The entire moment had taken all of three minutes.

“Oh, yeah. Cops don’t just give out information to people.” I couldn’t believe it.

“I’ll bet that’s the case files for the Saturday Night murders. I’ll bet they’re in it together. How else could he be leaving no evidence behind?”

I had no idea what to think. I honestly didn’t think Seth was a killer, but what the freak? I didn’t know what was in that file or why he wanted it. Or even how he could possibly know dirty cops. But I did know one thing. Wherever he was going next, I would definitely be following him.

‘Next’ happened to be the park in Garden City where Crystal Chambers’ body was found last Saturday. “No freaking way,” I whispered as we watched Seth head straight for the farthest corner of the park. The girl was found on Sunday morning, and it was now Friday, so the yellow tape was long gone, but I’m sure it had to be the crime scene he was standing in.

“Ew,” Angela said when Seth sat down beneath a tree. She was whispering, too, even though we were clear across the park from Seth and he couldn’t have heard us in a million years. “Do you think he’s sitting in the exact spot where…?”

“There has to be a rational explanation.” I mean, there just
had
to be.

“Yeah, it’s called he’s a psycho who kills girls and then goes back later to soak up their death karma.”

“Death karma?” I repeated dryly.

“Whatever.” Angela shuddered. “I’m done. This isn’t fun anymore. Let’s get out of here before he sees us and decides to come after us in our sleep.”

I agreed with Angela that it was time to leave. No way did I want to have to explain to Seth what we were doing following him around the city. But not because I was afraid he was going to slice me up first opportunity he got. At least I didn’t think he would.

Angela prattled on all the way home about how Seth was the killer. She made me swear over and over again that I wouldn’t go anywhere near him, but the day’s events hadn’t convinced me that he was a murderer. I already knew he had a crime fixation—he has all those novels in his room, and the way he talked at the car dealership that day meant he obviously did a lot of research on the subject. But that didn’t mean he ever hurt anyone.

For all I knew, Seth had a sixth sense and worked with the cops to solve crimes like the chick on that one TV show. Or maybe he was a ghost whisperer. Hey, weirder things have happened—I did just have a heart-to-heart with my big sister.

“Maybe we should call the cops,” Angela said as we pulled into our driveway.

“What?”

“Or at least tell mom and dad.”

“Tell them what?
That Seth is a serial killer?
Dad would just laugh at you and mom would probably ground you from scary movies or something.”

“But we could tell them about how crazy he is.”

“Sure, just tell dad that the boy across the street is stalking his daughter? If he knew half of the things Seth’s done, he’d move us across the country to get away from him. You want to spend your senior year in Kansas or somewhere?”

I was right and Angela knew it, though she clearly didn’t like it. “Alright, fine,” she relented. “But just promise me you’ll stay away from him, Ellie. Promise.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Sure, whatever.” Not.

I’m going to hell for the lies I tell.

I decided to stay outside for a while and go for a good skate. I’d been so busy with Angela this week that I’d barely had any time to myself. Plus, after wearing that hoodie I was already plenty sweaty. What better time to get in a workout?

I’d just finished lacing up my first skate when a shadow fell over me. “You’re late, Westley. The game was Monday.” I glanced up and Dave smiled down at me as friendly as ever. “And Wednesday,” he added.

I shrugged and continued to tie my other skate. I don’t know what he wanted me to say. He knew exactly why I’d avoided the park this week.

He was obviously here to try and smooth things over between us. I just hoped he’d do the guy thing and not actually, you know,
say
it. I understand girls are supposed to be all about expressing their feelings, but I’m totally down with avoidance.

When my skates were on I let Dave help me to my feet and managed a very cool, “What’s up?”

“Were you going somewhere in particular? You owe me a game of one-on-one.”

He’d said the magic words. Any tension left between the two of us was gone. I grinned. “I take it you’re in the mood for a good butt-whooping?”

I dragged my nets out to the street and proceeded to put my money where my mouth was. An hour later I was sufficiently humiliating Dave when Seth finally got home. “Goal!” I shouted as I sailed the ball through Dave’s net. Again. “And I do believe that’s game, sucker!”

“Dude, I was distracted by that car.”

“And what’s your excuse for the other nine goals?” I asked as we dragged our nets to the curb in order to let the car pass. I didn’t realize the car was Seth’s until it slid to a stop in front of his house.

Dave skated up beside me and gave a low whistle. “A BMW?” he asked curiously.

I sighed, and with a sad shake of my head answered, “I know. It’s embarrassing.”

I suddenly realized that this was the perfect opportunity to talk to Seth. I’d wanted to all week, and now I was hoping I might be able to piece together some kind of explanation about what he’d been doing today.

Right now was my chance. It was daylight and we were in public, and Dave was there to keep things from getting out of hand. Because, yeah, I guess there was still a slight possibility that Seth was a psycho killer—just a really sweet one. Plus, Angela was inside. There’s no way she could get out here to stop me in time.

With that, I became determined. Seth had briefly met my eyes when he’d pulled up, but after seeing Dave at my side he was doing his best to pretend we weren’t there. He didn’t even look my way when he got out of his car, so I had to yell, “Hey, Seth!” to get his attention. And boy did it.

Seth practically stumbled over his feet, he stopped so short. Then, when I smiled and gave him a friendly wave, he couldn’t even say hi back. He just stared at me like I’d lost my mind. I couldn’t really blame him. It’s not like I’d ever initiated a conversation with him before. Usually I ran for the hills with my tail between my legs.

“Hi!” I said again as I skated over to him, towing Dave with me.

Seth had to drag his stare away from Dave to look at me. He watched me with suspicious eyes, the side of his mouth curving up into a hard smirk. I didn’t understand the joke.

Don’t let him intimidate you, Ellie. No fear.
I steeled myself and smiled even more sweetly. “I haven’t seen you all week.”

“Yes. I noticed you’ve been very busy this week,” he said, his expression completely neutral. He couldn’t help the way his eyes flashed to Dave again, though.

I figured it was as good a time as any to make introductions. “I know you guys saw each other at the party Saturday, but I didn’t think you’d been technically introduced.”

Dave held out his hand, and Seth surprised me by smiling at Dave as he shook it.

“Dave, this is Seth. He just moved here from California. Seth, this is my
friend
Dave.”

Both guys raised a brow at my emphasis on the word friend.

“Well, somebody has to stop all those rumors you started last weekend!” I snapped, so much more annoyed than I’d have liked to be.