Suspicion (4 page)

There‘s a woman with long curly red hair lying on the bed and reading a book.

―So what is this?‖ I ask. ―Some kind of ichat or something?‖

―Sort of,‖ Brody says, nodding. ―I can always see her.

But she can only see me if I let her.‖

―So you‘re spying on her? Where is she?‖

―I can‘t tell you that,‖ Brody says. ―But if you talk to her, she‘ll help you.‖

He hands me the iPad. I look at him incredulously. ―If I talk to her, she‘ll
help
me?”

―Yes.‖ He nods. ―She‘s very powerful.‖

I look at the screen doubtful y. The woman is sitting up now, one knee pulled to her

chest. In one hand, she holds her book. With the other, she‘s picking her toenails.

―If you want to talk to her, just push this button.‖ He shows me. ―And if you want her to be able to see you, push this button.‖

―But what do I say to her?‖

―Tel her the situation. Explain what‘s going on with Raine. She knows about this stuff, Natalia. She‘s like you.‖

I look back at the screen. The woman has abandoned her book and is now biting her

toenails.

As in, she‘s putting her foot in her mouth. And biting.

―You know what?‖ I say, handing the fake iPad back to Brody. ―I think I‘m going to be

okay.‖

―You think you‘re going to be okay?‖

―Yes.‖ I nod. ―I mean, I have my butterfly necklace.

And I beat Raine once before, so….‖

The sound of the front door opening and closing echoes through the house, and a girl‘s voice comes tinkling up the stairs. ―Hel o? Anyone home?‖

―Shit,‖ Brody says. ―My sister.‖ He shoves the iPad into my purse. ―You can‘t tell her about this.‖

―Obviously,‖ I say, rolling my eyes. What does he think I am, some kind of idiot?

Besides, what would I say? ‗Brody gave me a fake iPad and there‘s a crazy woman biting her toenails on it?‘

―Better yet,‖ Brody says, ―You should hide in the closet.‖

―Hide in the closet? What is this, an episode of One Tree Hill ?‖

But I‘m already up and making my way toward it. I push through Brody‘s shirts and

stand there, trying not to move.

―I‘m in my room,‖ I hear Brody cal to his sister.

I run my hand over the smooth metal of the safe. I wonder what else is in there. I wonder if I can get Cam to show me how to pick locks without actual y telling him why I need to know.

Footsteps are thundering up the stairs, and then I hear Brody‘s sister say, ―Hey!

How was your game?‖

―Good. We won.‖

―Cool. I‘m going to get in the shower, but Mom wants us all to be around later for dad‘s birthday. Don‘t forget.‖

I wonder again what her role in this whole thing is. Is she a peacekeeper like Brody? And if she so, why have they been claiming she‘s in rehab when she‘s obviously not? And why rehab? Couldn‘t they just have said she was visiting a relative in Kansas or something? Rehab sounds so scandalous.

The bedroom door opens and shuts, and a few seconds later, the closet gets thrown open and Brody pull s me out.

―Thanks,‖ I say sarcastically y.

―Shh!‖

―Thanks,‖ I whisper.

―Okay,‖ he says. ―We have to go.‖

―We have to go?‖

―Yeah, we have to get out of here before my sister sees you.‖

―Wow, way to be hospitable.‖

He‘s pushing me out of the room now and down the stairs.

―You can call me later,‖ he says, as we drive to my house. ―And let me know how it

goes.‖

―How what goes?‖

―Talking with Samara.‖

―The crazy woman on the fake iPad is called Samara?‖

―What‘s wrong with Samara?‖

―Nothing,‖ I say. ―I was just hoping for something a little more normal. Mary.

Jane. Bertha, even.‖

He‘s pulling into my driveway now.

―Bye, Natalia,‖ he says.

―Wait!‖ I say. ―What if … I mean, is there… am I allowed to tell her anything I want?‖

―Yes,‖ he says. ―She‘s not a threat to anyone anymore.‖

I want to ask him why, where she is, if she ever was a threat. But something tell s me it‘s better if I don‘t know.

***

When I get home, there‘s a big commotion going on.

Pots and pans are clinking around,

the fridge is opening and shutting, cupboards are slamming, and bags are crinkling.

My mom‘s in the midst of it all , standing at the island in the middle of our kitchen, surrounded by shopping bags that are overflowing with food.

―What‘s all this?‖ I ask, peering into one of the bags.

A veggie tray, two boxes of crackers, and an assortment of sliced cheeses.

―Dinner,‖ my mom says. She‘s heaving a ham into the fridge now, trying to find a spot

for it in the middle of all our takeout containers.

―For tonight?‖

―Yes.‖ My mom turns back to the counter, wiping a strand of hair out of her eyes.

―I was planning on doing a ham.‖

―Sounds delicious,‖ I say. Yum. I love ham. And having a nice home cooked meal with

my mom sounds perfect. Very comforting, especial y after the morning I‘ve had.

―I didn‘t know if Cam and his mom were vegetarians, so I hope that‘s okay,‖ my mom

says.

―Cam and his mom?‖ I ask. Uh oh. I kind of thought she‘d forgotten about that.

She must hear the worry in my voice, because she says, ―Yeah. They‘re not, are they?

Vegetarians?‖

―Um, no, I don‘t think so,‖ I say. ―At least, Cam isn‘t.‖

―Thank God.‖ She pull s a small jar of glaze out of one of the plastic bags.

―Doesn‘t this look delicious? The guy at the store said it‘s the best they have. Organic and all -natural.‖

She‘s studying the label.

―Mom,‖ I say careful y. ―Um, I didn‘t exactly…I mean, there‘s a chance that…‖

―What?‖ she asks suspiciously. Her eyes narrow.

Shit, shit, shit. The last thing I want her to do is get all worked up, thinking that I‘m hiding something from her.

―They‘re not coming?‖

―No,‖ I say. ―They‘re coming, I just… ah, I never told Cam a definite time.‖

―How‘s seven?‖ she asks.

―I‘ll give him a cal .‖

***

Okay, so the last thing I want to do is cal Cam. In the last twenty-four hours, we‘ve had two fights. And it might be sexist and kind of anti-feminist or whatever, but I feel like he should be the one calling me. Whatever. Maybe it‘ll be good for him to come over.

It‘ll diffuse some of the tension between us. We‘ll join forces against our moms, united against a common enemy and all that.

I pull my cell phone out and scroll through until I get to Cam‘s name and then push the cal button before I can change my mind.

It rings. And rings. And rings. I‘m just thinking that I‘m going to get his voicemail, and wondering if that means he‘s just not near his phone, or just avoiding me, and what kind of message I should leave if I decide he
is
avoiding me, when he final y picks up.

―Hel o?‖

―Hey.‖

―Hey.‖ He doesn‘t sound too friendly. In fact, he sounds just the opposite.

Obviously he‘s still upset about our fight. Fights. Shit.

―I‘m real y sorry we fought,‖ I say. He doesn‘t say anything. Okay, then. ―So, listen, I thought maybe you and your mom could still come over tonight.‖

―I told you,‖ he says, his tone curt. ―My mom‘s crazy.

And she‘s not into that kind of thing.‖

―Well , my mom‘s crazy, too,‖ I say. ―And she
is
into that kind of thing.‖

He sighs. ―Cam, she‘s downstairs unpacking a ham.

And she even bought some kind of very expensive glaze to go with it.‖

―I don‘t know…‖

―And,‖ I say, ―I kind of maybe told her you guys were coming.‖ I sit down on my bed

and cross my fingers, hoping he‘ll come.

He sighs again. ―It real y means that much to you?‖

For a second, I think about lying, about telling him it‘s not that big of a deal, that they can just come some other time. I mean, I do have
some
pride. But then I decide to just go for the truth. ―Yes,‖ I say, ―It real y means that much to me.‖

―Okay,‖ he says, ―Then we‘ll be there.‖

―Is seven okay?‖

―Seven‘s fine.‖

―Great. And Cam?‖

―Yes?‖

―I real y am sorry we fought.‖

I wait for him to say he‘s sorry too, but he hangs up the phone without saying anything.

For a second, my throat squeezes, and I wonder if he knows I was with Brody.

But that‘s impossible. There‘s no way he could have found that out.

I hate lying to Cam. I‘ll tell him, I decide. Tonight, when he gets here. As long as I don‘t tell him everything Brody and I talked about, it should be okay.

I look over at my bag, then pull out the special iPad. I stare at it, running my fingers over the buttons. I can‘t see myself ever using it. How could it real y help me?

Although. Brody did say that I could see Samara without her seeing me.

I push the power button. Samara and her little room fill the screen. She‘s sitting at the table now, with the book she was reading before, only this time, she‘s not reading.

This time, she‘s pulling out the pages of the book, one by one, and lining them up on the floor.

Weird.

I have a real y hard time believing that this woman could help me. I mean, she‘s

obviously got a screw loose. She might even be insane.

I have to tell Cam, I decide. I have to tell him everything. I just… I can‘t deal with this on my own.

And I don‘t want to lie to him. It feels horrible. I decide to switch the iPad off, and put it away. Maybe when Cam gets here, we can figure out what to do together.

But before I can, Samara sets the pages of her book down on the table and walks over to the corner of the room. She looks right at me. Well , not
right
at me.

There must be some kind of camera in the corner of the room or something that she‘s

staring into.

―Hel o, Natalia,‖ she says. She smiles and then licks her lips. ―I‘ve been waiting for you.‖

Don’t miss The Witches of Santa Anna #10,
coming April 2011….

Table of Contents

Chapter Three