Killer (23 page)

NOTHING LIKE AN ULTIMATUM TO KICK OFF THE WEEKEND

There it was. The big Victorian house at the corner of the cul-de-sac, the one with the rose trellises along the fence and the wraparound teak deck in the back. Yellow
Do Not Cross
police tape was supposed to be around the half-dug hole in the backyard…only there was no tape anywhere. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t a
hole
anywhere. The yard was a wide, flat expanse of freshly mown grass, untouched by backhoes or bulldozers.

Hanna looked down. She was on her old mountain bike, the one she hadn’t touched since she got a driver’s license. And her hands looked swollen. Her jeans strained across her butt. Her thighs bulged. A strand of poop-brown hair fell over her eyes. She ran her tongue over her teeth and felt rough, metal braces. When she gazed into Ali’s backyard, she saw Spencer crouched behind the raspberry bushes that bordered Ali’s house and hers. Spencer’s hair was shorter and a little lighter, the way it looked in sixth grade. There was skinny, baby-faced Emily behind the tomato vines, her eyes darting nervously back and forth. Aria, with big pink streaks in her hair and wearing a freaky German tunic, ducked next to a big oak.

Hanna shuddered. She knew why they were here—they wanted to steal Ali’s flag. This was the Saturday after Time Capsule had begun.

The four girls marched to one another, annoyed. Then they heard a
thud
, and the back door opened. Hanna and the others crouched behind the trees while Jason stormed across the yard. The patio door slammed again. Ali stood on the porch, her hands on her hips, her blond hair spilling down her shoulders, her lips pink and shiny. “You can come out,” she called.

Sighing, Ali marched across the yard, her wedge heels sinking into the wet grass. When she approached Hanna and the others, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a shiny piece of blue cloth. It looked exactly like the piece of the Time Capsule flag Hanna had found at Steam a few days ago.

But hadn’t Ali lost her flag? Hanna looked at the others, confused, but her old friends didn’t seem to notice that anything was amiss.

“So this is how I’ve decorated it,” Ali explained, pointing at the different drawings on the flag. “Here’s the Chanel logo. And this is the manga frog, and here’s the field hockey girl. And don’t you love this Louis Vuitton pattern?”

“The flag looks like a purse,” Spencer oohed.

Hanna regarded them uneasily. Something felt scrambled. This wasn’t happening like it was supposed to. And then, Ali snapped her fingers, and Hanna’s old friends froze. Aria’s hand hung motionless, almost touching Ali’s flag. A few strands of Emily’s hair were suspended in air, caught by a breeze. Spencer had an odd expression on her face, something between a fake smile and a grimace.

Hanna wiggled her fingers. She was the only one not frozen. She stared at Ali, her heart pounding hard.

Ali smiled sweetly. “You’re looking much better, Hanna. Completely recovered, huh?”

Hanna gazed down at her too-tight jeans and ran her hands through her limp hair.
Recovered
wasn’t the word she’d have chosen. Her
recovery
from loser to diva wouldn’t happen for another few years.

Ali shook her head, noting Hanna’s confusion. “From the accident, silly. Don’t you remember me from the hospital?”

“H-hospital?”

Ali brought her face close to Hanna’s. “They say people should always talk to coma patients. They can hear. Did you hear me?”

Hanna felt dizzy. Suddenly, she was back in her hospital room at Rosewood Memorial, where the EMTs had taken her after her car accident. There was a round, bright fluorescent light above her head. She could hear the
hiss
of the various machines that monitored her vital signs and fed her intravenously. In the hazy space between coma and consciousness, Hanna thought she saw someone looming over her bed. Someone who looked startlingly like Ali. “
It’s okay
,” the girl lilted, her voice exactly the same as Ali’s. “
I’m okay
.”

Hanna glowered at Ali. “That was a dream.”

Ali raised a flirtatious eyebrow as if to say,
was it?
Hanna glanced at her old friends. They were still immobile. She wished they’d unfreeze—she felt way too alone with Ali, as if they were the only two people left in the whole world.

Ali waved her Time Capsule flag in Hanna’s face. “See this? You need to find it, Hanna.”

Hanna shook her head. “Ali, your piece is lost forever. Remember?”

“Uh-uh,” Ali protested. “It’s still here. And if you find it, I’ll tell you all about it.”

Hanna widened her eyes. “All about…
what
?”

Ali put a finger to her lips. “The two of them.” She cackled eerily.

“Two of them…what?”

“They know everything.”

Hanna blinked. “Huh? Who?”

Ali rolled her eyes. “Hanna, you are so slow.” She stared right at her. “
Sometimes, I don’t notice I’m singing
. Remember that?”

“What do you mean?” Hanna asked, desperate. “Singing…what?”

“Come on, Hanna.” Ali looked bored. She tipped her head to the sky, thinking for a moment. “Okay, how about…go fish?”

“Go…fish?” Hanna repeated. “The card game?”

Ali grunted, frustrated. “No. Go
fish
.” She waved her arms, trying to make Hanna get it. “Go fish!”

“What are you talking about?” Hanna cried desperately.

“GO FISH!” Ali screamed. “Go fish! Go fish!” She repeated it over and over, like it was the only thing she could say. When she grazed Hanna’s cheek with her fingers, Hanna’s skin felt sticky and wet. Hanna touched her face, alarmed. When she pulled her hands away, they were covered in blood.

Hanna shot up, her eyes popping open. She was in her bedroom. Pale morning light streamed through the windows. It was Saturday morning—but a Saturday morning in eleventh grade, not sixth. Dot was standing on Hanna’s pillow, licking Hanna’s face. She touched her cheek. There wasn’t blood there, just doggie drool.

You need to find it, Hanna. If you find it, I’ll tell you all about it.

Hanna groaned, rubbed her eyes, and reached for her Time Capsule flag, which was smoothed out on her nightstand. It was a stupid dream, end of story.

She heard voices in the hallway, first her father’s joking tone, then Kate’s shrill laugh. Hanna grabbed a handful of sheets and squeezed. That was
it
. Kate might have stolen Hanna’s father, but she wasn’t stealing Mike too.

Abruptly, the urgent images from her dream faded away. Hanna bolted out of bed and pulled on her snug-fitting cashmere sweaterdress. In English class yesterday, she’d overheard Noel Kahn tell Mason Byers that the lacrosse team was meeting for a weekend workout at Philly Sports Club. She had a feeling wherever Noel went, Mike would go too. She hadn’t yet gotten back to Mike about bringing Kate to the Radley party because she hadn’t known what to say. Now she did.

There was one girl Mike should be exclusive with—Hanna. It was time to kick Kate out of the picture for good.

Philly Sports was in the section of the King James Mall that contained the
non
-luxe stores, ghetto places like Old Navy and Charlotte Russe and—
shudder
—JCPenney. Hanna hadn’t set foot in here for years—acrylic-blend fabrics, mass-market T-shirts, and designer collections by has-been celebutantes gave her hives.

She parked the Prius and forcefully hit the lock button three times, taking stock of the rusted Honda next to her. As she walked through the parking lot, her iPhone blinked, indicating she had a text. She reached for it, her stomach churning. Surely A couldn’t have found her, right?

The text was just from Emily.
U around? I got another note. We need to talk.

Hanna slid the phone back in her pocket, biting her lip hard. She knew she should call Emily back—
and
tell her about how strangely Wilden had behaved when he drove Hanna home from running yesterday—but she was busy right now. Still, the dream she’d had this morning drifted back to her. What was her brain trying to tell her? Did Ali know where her flag had gone? Could it be true that there was something on Ali’s flag that hinted at what had happened to her? And then Ali said,
Sometimes, I don’t notice I’m singing
, expecting Hanna to know what she meant. Was that something Ali used to say, or was it something someone used to say to Ali? Hanna couldn’t remember either way. She’d even culled through the minor characters in Ali’s life, like the exchange student from Holland who’d given Ali a pair of wooden shoes as a token of his affection, the greasy-haired Jet Ski operator in the Poconos who always told Ali he’d “warmed up the seat just for her,” or Mr. Salt, the school’s only male librarian, who always told Ali he would bring in his first-edition
Harry Potters
especially for her if she ever wanted to read them—
gag
. Hanna couldn’t remember anyone saying anything creepy about singing. The phrase was somehow familiar, but it was probably just a stupid line from one of Kate’s show tunes, or some dorky slogan on a Rosewood Day Masterworks Choir bumper sticker.

The techno music inside the gym assaulted Hanna’s ears before she opened the front door. A girl in a perky pink bra top and black yoga pants beamed from behind the gym’s front desk. “Welcome to Philly Sports!” she chirped. “Can you sign in, please?” She held up a contraption that looked like a price scanner to check Hanna’s membership.

“I’m a guest,” Hanna answered.

“Oh!” The girl had wide, unblinking eyes, a round face, and a dopey expression. She reminded Hanna of the Tickle Me Elmo doll that belonged to her six-year-old twin neighbors. “Can you fill out the guest form, then?” the receptionist tweeted. “And it costs ten dollars to work out for the day.”

“No, thanks!” Hanna sang, breezing right past. As if she’d ever,
ever
pay to use this dump. The front-desk girl let out a small, indignant squeak, but Hanna didn’t turn. Her high heels clicked as she passed the shop that sold spandex shorts, neoprene iPod holders, and sports bras, and the large shelves where the towels were kept. Hanna sniffed haughtily. This shithole didn’t even have a smoothie bar? People probably peed in the locker room showers, too.

Bass from the piped-in music throbbed in Hanna’s ears. Across the room, a stick-thin girl with veiny arms whirled frantically on an elliptical machine. A guy with wet, curly hair mopped sweat off a treadmill. Hanna heard the clanging of barbells in the distance. Sure enough, the entire Rosewood Day lacrosse team was in the corner by the free weights. Noel was doing arm curls in front of a mirror, admiring himself. James Freed was making faces while balancing on a BOSU ball. And Mike Montgomery was lying down on the bench press, wrapping his hands around the bar, getting ready to lift.

Jackpot
.

Hanna waited until Mike had brought the bar to his chest, then walked right up and shooed away Mason Byers, Mike’s spotter. “I can take over from here.” Then she leaned over Mike and smiled.

Mike’s eyes bugged out. “Hanna!”

“Hello,” Hanna said coolly.

Mike started to lift the bar back up to return it to the stand, but Hanna stopped him. “Not so fast,” she said. “I have something to discuss with you first.”

A few beads of sweat dotted Mike’s forehead, and his arms shook. “What?”

Hanna tossed her hair over her shoulder. “So. If you want to go out with me, you can’t go out with anyone else. Including Kate.”

Mike let out a grunt. His biceps started to wobble. He looked at her pleadingly. “Please. I’m going to drop this on my chest.” His face began to turn red.

Hanna made a
tsk
sound. “I thought you were stronger than that.”

“Please,”
Mike begged.

“Promise me first,” Hanna urged. She leaned over a little farther, offering him more of a view down her dress.

Mike’s eyes slid to the right. The tendons in his neck popped out. “Kate asked me to go to the Radley party before I knew you wanted to be exclusive and whatever. I can’t
uninvite
her.”

“Yes, you can,” Hanna growled. “It’s easy.”

“I have an idea,” Mike gasped. “Let me put this down, and I’ll tell you.”

Hanna stepped aside and let him return the bar. He let out a huge sigh, sat up, and stretched. Hanna was surprised to see how defined his arms were. She’d been right the other day when she’d guessed that Mike would look way better post-shower than Officer Wilden.

She laid down a towel on an empty leg-press bench next to him and sat down. “Okay. Spill it.”

Mike grabbed a towel that was sitting on the floor next to the bench press and mopped off his face. “I can be bought, if you’re interested. If you do something for me, I’ll uninvite Kate.”

“What do you want?”

“Your flag.”

“No way.” She shook her head.

“Okay, then take me to prom,” Mike said.

Hanna’s mouth hung open, temporarily stunned. “The prom’s four months away.”

“Hey, a guy needs to lock down his date early.” Mike shrugged. “It’ll give me time to find the
perfect
pair of shoes.” He fluttered his eyelashes girlishly.

Hanna ran her hands over the back of her neck, trying to tune out the other lax players, who were catcalling her from the weight circuit. If Mike wanted Hanna to take him to her prom, that meant that he liked Hanna best, right? And that meant she had won. A smile spread across her lips.
Take that, bitch
. She couldn’t wait to see Kate’s face when she told her.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll take you to my prom.”

“Nice,” Mike said. He glanced at his wet T-shirt. “I’d feel you up right now to celebrate, but I don’t want to get you all sweaty.”

“
Gracias
,” Hanna simpered, rolling her eyes. She sauntered out of the weight room, making exaggerated movements with her hips. “I’ll pick you up tonight at eight,” she called over her shoulder. “Alone.”

Tickle Me Elmo girl was waiting for Hanna by the snack bar. A bald man with tattooed biceps and a handlebar mustache loomed behind her. “Miss, if you want to use this gym, you’re going to have to pay a guest fee,” the girl said haltingly. Her cheeks matched the bright red sweatband on her forehead. “And if you don’t want to do that, then–”