Unlovable (41 page)

“
You’re gliding along at 60
miles an hour, you probably should slow down.”

“
Don’t worry, I know a cop.”
All too soon, we were pulling back into Booker’s garage. I guess I
should have slowed down.

“
He let you drive it? Must
be love,” Booker quipped. As I climbed out, Seth and Sam were
already wiping the car down. Sam wiped off the fingerprints from
where I touched the front fender earlier, and Seth began wiping the
road dust from the rear wheel wells.

“
How long will this take?” I
asked Booker.

“
It shouldn’t be too long,
Magpie. They have this little ritual down to a science.”

Magpie? Hmm, my new nickname, I could
live with it, anything was better than Jailbait, besides, it was
the name my grandfather used to call me.

I watched as Seth lovingly
caressed the car with a yellow towel. “Do you always have a goofy
smile on your face when you stare at him?”
Booker reached over and messed up my hair.

“
Bad kitty,” I said, trying
to fix the mess.
“Are you always this
annoying whenever you talk to people, or am I just the lucky one?”
I taunted back, arching an eyebrow.

Seth appeared at my side before he
could answer. “If you’re done trying to steal my girl, I’d like to
take her to the hospital to see her mother.”

“
I told you, my friend, I’m
not into jailbait. Maybe if she were 10 years older,’ he said,
adding, “You’ll have to let me go, Magpie.”

I purred and rubbed behind his ears
one last time before we left.

“
What do you think about the
car? Isn’t it something?”

“
It has no
match.”

“
I wanted the roadster, but
the waiting list at the time was eight months so I bought the Lexus
instead.”

“
Seth, this is a really nice
car too,” I pointed out.

“
It’s a great car, don’t get
me wrong, I just wished I’d waited. Some things are worth the
wait,” he said, kissing my hand.

My mom was in bad shape. Her skin had
yellowed dramatically, and they were pumping copious amounts of
drugs into her thin body to try and build up her strength for the
liver transplant. She looked frail, and we weren’t allowed to stay
very long.

“
Are you okay?” Seth asked
when we got back to his place.

“
I guess.” He handed me a
hankie. I dried my face and tucked it into my pocket. The way my
tears were flowing lately, there was little doubt I would need it
again soon. “Would you like to read the letters she wrote to
me?”

“
I’d love to.”

I busied myself preparing dinner while
he sat at the bar and read the letters. He blinked back tears more
than once as he went through them. Coming up next to me, he wrapped
his arms around my shoulders from behind. I pressed my head back
against him.

“
I know she never said she
loved me out loud, but at least she wrote it down. Although I do
wish…”

“
I wish you could’ve heard
her say the words too.”

“
I’m going to tell our
children I love them all the time. I don’t want them ever to doubt
it.”

“
Our children? Does that
mean you plan to spend the rest of your life with me?”

“
Of course.” As if I wanted
to survive without him.

"I love you, Mags." He pressed a kiss
to my head and held me tight as our dinner grew cold.

30

“
How do you think you did on
the test?” Seth asked, taking the books out of my arms as we walked
toward my biology class.

“
I don’t know, I wish it all
made more sense. It feels like I’m just writing down numbers and
formulas without understanding why.”

“
Don’t worry, sometime soon
a little bell will go off in your head, and you’ll see the big
picture.”

“
You’ve been promising me
that for a while, if it were true it would’ve happened by now.
Besides, you’ve never shown me how all this intense math applies to
my everyday life, it’s totally useless.”

“
I could use it right this
minute to figure out the slope of your very kissable neck if you’d
like.”

“
I’d much rather you kiss
the slope of my very kissable neck.”

“
It’s a date. Today after
school, you, me, and the slope.” I watched him walk away as the
last bell rang, not caring that I was late for class. It was a nice
view indeed.

Out of nowhere, a hand slapped down
roughly over my mouth, and suddenly I was being dragged down the
hall. The sickening laugh in my ear made it all too clear who it
was. Zack shoved me into a nearby janitor’s closet and shut the
door behind us. The overwhelming smell of ammonia and dust
permeated the small space, gagging me.

“
What are you doing? Let me
out of here.” Despite my fearless tone, my body was
trembling.

“
You’re not so brave without
your cop boyfriend here to protect you.”

“
What are you talking
about?” I lied, and I did it poorly.

“
Save your breath, Maggot, I
know all about him. I’ve made a couple of new friends of my own
since being kicked off the ball team.” His voice frothed with hate,
all targeted at me. “Just so you know, your boyfriend is only after
one thing from you, and it’s not what I wanted either,” he said
with an evil grin. “He’s bucking for some big promotion and busting
up this drug ring is just the feather in his cap he needs to get
it. You’re being used Maggot. He’s also on the take. How else do
you suppose he can drive that expensive car of his on a cop’s
salary?”

“
You’re w–.”

“
But Alan and Bill have some
plans of their own for your beloved.” He ran a slimy finger over my
cheek. I jerked my head away. “They also promised me I could have
first dibs on you after it’s over if I helped.”

“
Who are Alan and Bill?” I
asked, swallowing down the bile in my throat.

“
The Dreser brothers,
stupid! Don’t tell me Seth didn’t tell you about them. Bill said
your precious lover doubled-crossed their brother Jeffery, and then
shot him in the back! You really know how to pick’em,” he said,
seizing my jacket and jerking me next to him. He was going to kiss
me. I did what any normal girl shut up in a closet with a nut job
would do; I screamed at the top of my lungs. The door flew open and
there stood Mrs. Gianchi.

“
May I ask what is going on
in here?” she said, glowering directly at Zack.

“
Lover’s spat, no big deal.
I’m trying to break up with her, and she is coming
unglued.”

“
I find that difficult to
believe given the history here, Mr. Finkle. Is he telling the
truth, Miss Brown?”

“
No, he and some of his
friends are planning on kill Seth Prescott.”

“
Is that right, Mr. Finkle,”
she said. “Go to Mrs. Volkel's office, immediately!” He bolted out
of the closet and ran down the hall. Mrs. Gianchi took out her
cell phone.

“
Seth, we have a problem.”
She quickly told him where we were, and he appeared within
moments.

“
Maggie!” He grabbed my arm.
I looked wide-eyed at Mrs. Gianchi.

“
H-how did you know
about…?”

“
I’m helping MET with their
assignment here at the high school,” she said. My mouth dropped.
“Never mind about that, explain to us what happened with Zack.” I
quickly told them what Zack had said, although a small part of my
mind was trying to figure out who else at school might be
MET.

“
If he’s hooked up with the
dealers, this isn’t good,” Mrs. Gianchi said, rubbing her forehead.
“You had better take her to your place. I’ll give Booker a call to
let him know.” Seth nodded. “Be careful, something tells me Zack
didn't go to Emily Volkel's office. He’s probably out there
somewhere, watching and waiting.”

“
Thanks, Holly.”

Seth hustled me inside and set the
alarm as soon as we got home. I hung up our coats as he began
pacing around the living room. More than once, he stopped and
turned toward me as if he wanted to say something, before changing
his mind and resuming his pacing.

I knew what troubled him, and it
wasn’t just Zack’s newly acquired knowledge about him either.
Forcing him to sit on the couch, I cuddled up next to him. He
looked apprehensive as I stretched up to kiss him. I could feel the
tension easing from his body as he twisted his arms around my
waist. “I love you, and yes, I know Zack’s lying about
you.”

He sighed. “Thank you.”

“
Holly? So, Mrs. Gianchi’s
working for you too. All those times in cooking class we were
mysteriously teamed up together for an assignment weren’t just
coincidences, were they?”

“
I called in a lot of favors
to win you, I wasn’t taking any chances.” He grinned. “Holly does
drug and rehab counseling in the evenings, and she volunteered to
help out with this case. Her husband’s a retired MET
agent.”

“
No wonder
we won the cooking contest back in January with
Maggie’s Kiss
. The
contest was rigged!”

“
Rigged? Are you implying
I’m not a master chief?” He began tickling me, and we ended up on
the floor with me in a hysterical laughing fit. The doorbell rang,
and before we could get up to answer it, in walked
Booker.

“
Glad to see you two are
taking this so well,” he said frowning. “Would you like me to
leave?”

“
Yes,” we both answered as
Seth pulled me to my feet.

“
We can’t find the little
weasel.” Booker dropped heavily into the oversized green chair.
“I’ve looked everywhere. His parents said he’s out of town for the
entire week attending a baseball tournament, apparently they didn’t
know he’s been kicked off the team.

“
Seth, he’s a fool if he
thinks those dealers will show him any allegiance. They’ll kill him
as soon as he does whatever it is they need him to do.” There was a
foreboding look on his face.

“
I have some bad news of my
own. I’ve been subpoenaed to testify tomorrow in the Biden trial. I
have a six A.M. flight to Albany.” This was the first I heard of
Seth’s plan. Certainly, he wasn’t planning on going alone and
leaving me here.

“
And no, you are not going.
The safest place for you is here.” He braced himself for my
reaction. I was definitely in love with a very smart guy, because a
reaction was exactly what he was going to get.

“
I’m not staying here, so
you can forget it.” I pinned my arms tight across my chest. “Who’s
Biden anyway?”

“
He was running a drug and
prostitution ring in the Albany area. I was the arresting
agent.”

He sank down next to me. “Maggie, this
is MET business. You can’t come. I’m sorry, you know I’d take you
if I could.”

“
Sam would like to see you
again, Maggie, you’re welcome to stay with us.”

“
Thanks, Booker,” I said,
less than enthusiastically, “but I’ll stay here.”

“
I don’t like the idea of
you being here alone. I’d prefer you stay at Booker’s.”

“
I thought your security
system was top of the line.”

“
It is.”

“
And didn’t you say no one
could get through without the entire MET showing up on your
doorstep?”

“
Yes.”

“
I’ll be fine,” I said,
defiantly.

“
Okay,” he said, too
easily.

“
So how many of your
buddies are you going to assign to watch the house?” I may not
understand Calculus, but I certainly wasn’t stupid.

He let out a heavy breath. “One, maybe
two,” he admitted.

“
I guess Booker’s security
system is not as good as you both claim,” I said
casually.

Booker laughed. “She got you there,
kid. Fort Knox has less security than this place. She’ll be fine,”
he said, again too easily, which meant Booker would be volunteering
to watch over me.

Seth ignored us both, changing the
subject. “If we ask Booker nicely, he may take us to the shooting
range tomorrow and you can practice shooting a gun.”

I cringed. “Why in the world would I
ever want to do that?”

“
It sure beats being
killed,” Booker said. Seth glared at him.

“
No guns,” I said
firmly.

“
This is purely for
self-defense. What if I’m incapacitated in some way, and you need
to protect me?” Unfair! It was a dirty trick. I’d do anything to
protect him, and he knew it.

“
Okay, but I bet I’m a lousy
shot.”

The next morning Booker
picked us up at 9:00 A.M. and drove us to the range. Seth taught me
how the gun functioned. I’d forgotten how heavy the thing was and
after he placed it in my hands, they dipped several inches. “Wait
until you shoot it,” he said, “it has a fairly good kick.”
Whatever that meant
. Too
embarrassed to admit I was completely gun illiterate, I just
nodded. Booker laughed. Nerd!