Hide and Seek (17 page)

Tuesday after practice, Emma pulled into the parking lot of La Encantada, the luxe shopping mall in the Tucson hills. She threw the car into park just as her phone buzzed in her lap.

ANY LUCK GOOGLING MR. MERCER?
Ethan asked.

NO, NOTHING. HIS NAME IS TOO COMMON
, Emma typed back.

HMM. I’LL TRY LOOKING, TOO
, Ethan said.

THX. YOU ARE THE BEST
, Emma responded.

Emma had been a wreck after her conversation with Mr. Mercer, but luckily he hadn’t come home from the hospital until almost midnight. In addition to googling him and Mrs.
Mercer, she’d checked the home study to see if there was anything there about their past. But aside from some old tax forms, she hadn’t seen any evidence of their life in California.

“Uh, hel
lo
?” Laurel’s face appeared in the window. She’d driven herself, but Emma had followed her into the parking lot. “What are you doing, zombie?”

Emma jumped, slid Sutton’s phone into her purse, and pulled the keys from the ignition. By the time she climbed out, Laurel was already walking impatiently toward the shops. “It’s past six,” Laurel called over her shoulder. “What do you want to bet Gabby and Lili found all the best dresses already?”

“They can’t wear every single amazing dress to the party,” Emma pointed out. The plan was to hit Anthropologie, BCBG, J. Crew, and a bunch of other boutiques in the shopping plaza.

Laurel stepped onto the escalator and gripped the handrail hard.

“So are you excited for the party?” Emma asked.

“Uh-huh,” Laurel said stiffly.

“Looking forward to really sticking it to the Devious Four?”

Laurel grunted and glanced away.

Emma sighed loudly. She had enough on her plate without Laurel’s mercurial moods. “Okay, Laurel. What did I do this time?”

Laurel swung around and rode the escalator up backward, resting her hands on the arm rails. “Fine,” she spat. “Dad said you were snooping in my room.
Again.
”

Emma blinked, barely remembering searching Laurel’s room. Now that Laurel wasn’t a suspect, it was like her mind had erased all of the Laurel-themed sleuthing.

Laurel set her mouth in a line. “Were you looking for love letters between Thayer and me? Well, I have a surprise for you, Sutton. Something that will make you very happy.” She brushed a honey-blond lock behind her shoulder. “Thayer’s not into me that way.” Her voice trembled a tiny bit.

“Oh, Laurel, I’m sorry,” Emma said softly, stepping off the escalators. She reached out for Laurel’s arm, but Laurel pulled away.

“He told me last night that he’s still into
you
,” Laurel said, her voice low, like it pained her to say the words. “I just don’t get it. If you guys are still into each other, why did you break up?”

Emma blinked. Two sets of shoppers passed before she could speak again. “I’m not into him, Laurel. I swear.”

Laurel rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. I heard about you two having a secret powwow the night of Dad’s party.”

A muscle in Emma’s jaw tensed. “Did Charlotte tell you?”

Laurel’s eyes widened. “So it
is
true?”

Emma sighed. The meaty smell of the steak house
down at the end of the esplanade was beginning to give her a headache. “It’s true, but it’s not what you think. We were just talking. There’s nothing between us anymore. I really, really like Ethan.” Emma placed her hand on Laurel’s arm. “Look, I’m sorry about Thayer. And I’m sorry about going into your room without asking,” she said. “I promise I won’t do it again. I was just looking for those red leather sandals you borrowed for Homecoming. I was thinking of wearing them to Dad’s party.”

Laurel glanced at her. “With that green dress you had on? Are you kidding?”

“I thought it would make a statement.” Emma grinned.

“Yeah, you would have looked like a Christmas tree,” Laurel said with a laugh, and just like that, the tension lifted.

As they started toward BCBG, where the girls were meeting first, Emma realized she needed to clear something up. She looked at Laurel. “So what was up with that disgusting tennis racket under your chair?”

Laurel blinked, looking like she didn’t know what Emma was talking about. Then, a light appeared in her eyes. “Oh my God. I totally forgot about that. I used it to kill a rattlesnake in the backyard last week. It was awful.”

“Ew!” Emma said, relieved to have Laurel off her suspect list for good.

Then Laurel sighed. “And actually, it was sort of awful of Dad to tell on you.”

Emma swallowed hard. It was dangerous to involve Laurel at all, but she knew Mr. Mercer better than anyone. Perhaps she’d noticed something. “Yeah. He’s been acting kind of strange recently, don’t you think?” she said.

“Maybe a little,” Laurel said with a frown. “But I think he just doesn’t like Thayer.”

Before Emma could press for more, Laurel’s phone blasted a Rihanna song, scaring some of the nearby shoppers. She fumbled for her phone inside her crocodile-embossed handbag, then pressed the speaker button. “Hey, Dad,” she singsonged.

“Hi, darling,” Mr. Mercer said. His voice echoed off the hard surfaces in the mall. The hair on Emma’s arms stood on end.

“Sutton and I are both here,” Laurel said. “What’s up?”

“Sutton’s there, too?” Suddenly, Mr. Mercer sounded guarded. “Oh.”

Emma curled her toes inside Sutton’s four-inch wedges.

“Uh, what time are you girls coming home tonight?” Mr. Mercer asked.

Laurel glanced at Emma and shrugged. “We’re shopping right now. I guess I’ll be home after that. I don’t know about Sutton, though.”

Emma’s throat felt like it was closing. “Actually I’m not
coming home,” she said, making a snap decision. “I’m sleeping at Charlotte’s. Please let Mom know.” Charlotte would definitely go for it, and the only way Emma was going to feel safe was if she was anywhere but Sutton’s house.

“Fine.” Mr. Mercer’s voice was stern. “Tell Mr. Chamberlain I said hello. And remember our conversation, all right, Sutton?”

Laurel shot Emma a questioning look, but Emma leaned over, plucked Laurel’s phone from her hands, and hit the
END
button before any more could be said. Then she composed her features, trying to act like this was just another one of Sutton Mercer’s bitchy little moods. Laurel just stared, slack-jawed.

“Whoa,” Laurel finally said. “What did you do this time to get on Dad’s bad side?”

You have no idea
, I thought.

“And what conversation was he talking about? Did he catch you with Thayer at the party, too?”

“No,” Emma said tightly as BCBG came into sight.

Luckily, the Twitter Twins were standing in front of the store display, picking on the mannequins. “Who would accessorize with those hideous belts?” Gabby was saying of the one on the right.

Lili wrinkled her nose at the other mannequin, which was holding an oversized quilted bag. “And why do they have to make the models so freakishly thin?”

“Ladies,” Laurel said.

The Twitter Twins spun around and gave Laurel and Emma big smiles. “Three more days ’til the secret dance!” Gabby trilled.

“Wait till Mads tells you what happened,” Lili said, chomping on her gum.

As if on cue, Madeline and Charlotte appeared at the escalators. The girls strode over, and everyone air-kissed.

Gabby nudged Madeline. “Come on. Tell them about your run-in with the Devious Four.”

Madeline rolled her eyes. “I wish you wouldn’t call them that. It gives them too much credit. Anyway, those stupid girls cornered me after school today and begged me to invite them to the party.” She tucked a strand of inky black hair behind her ear and crossed her arms over her chest.

“And?” Laurel looked excited. “You said no, right?”

“Of course I said no,” Madeline said. “But you should have seen them. They practically got on their knees and begged.”

“Good. That means they’ll definitely try to crash,” Charlotte said decisively. “And once Ethan gets that footage, they’ll be the stars of their very own little movie.”

“I can’t wait to see their faces,” Gabby said. “The footage was such a great idea, Sutton.”

Emma smiled. For once, she was proud of a Lying
Game idea. It wasn’t particularly mean, just fair. And she liked that it involved Ethan, too.

“No one messes with us. Right?” Lili said. She nudged Emma.

“Right,” Emma said, forcing a smile.

But we both knew that wasn’t true. Someone had done a lot worse than mess with us. Someone had killed me, and my friends had no idea.

The lunch bell rang on Wednesday, and Emma opened Sutton’s locker and stared at its contents. Since she’d taken over Sutton’s life, she’d made some rearrangements, taking down the little locker-sized mirror and replacing it with a picture of Johnny Depp, her longtime crush, and removing the snarky magnet that said
I’M THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD, AND YOU’RE MY BITCHES
and swapping it with a magnet of Stewie from
Family Guy
. It was one thing for Sutton to be a queen bee; she didn’t need to announce it to the whole school via her locker.

As Emma grabbed her coat, her phone buzzed in her purse. Her heart almost stopped when she pulled it out and
saw that it was Mr. Mercer. She let the call ring through, and a moment later she got a voicemail alert. With shaking fingers, she pressed
LISTEN
.

“Laurel said you’re not coming home again. I’ll cover for you for one more night,” Mr. Mercer barked into her ear. “But if you’re not back tomorrow…” His voice trailed off and the message ended with a click.

Emma gazed at the phone. She almost wished he had just said his threat outright so she could bring it to the police. But he was too smart for that. At least she didn’t have to deal with him tonight. She was staying at Madeline’s—Charlotte’s parents were hosting a dinner party that night for some of Mr. Chamberlain’s coworkers—but it looked like tomorrow, she’d have no choice but to go back to the Mercers’.

Exhaustion settled around her like a heavy cloak. If she could have curled up inside the locker, she would have. Luckily she was having lunch with Ethan. She needed some quality one-on-one time with the only person she could let her guard down with. He’d been such a rock these past few days especially—he’d called her every night before bed, and had even brought her flowers at Charlotte’s. Mrs. Chamberlain had proclaimed him a keeper.

Emma leaned against her locker for a second and shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she found herself staring at Thayer. She jumped, startled.

“Whoa!” Thayer said, holding up his hands. “Just me!”

Emma’s mouth wobbled into a smile. “H-hey,” she said, taking in Thayer’s hazel eyes and gleaming skin. She hadn’t seen him since Sutton’s father’s party, though he’d texted Sutton’s phone a few times. The moment they’d shared had felt a little too intimate for her, and she’d wanted to keep her distance.

Thayer moved a little closer, leaning his hip against the bank of lockers. “I just wanted to check in to see how you’re holding up about…everything,” he said softly.

“I’m…” Suddenly, Emma’s gaze locked on someone behind Thayer. Sutton’s ex, Garrett, had spied both of them, and was barreling toward them fast. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were narrowed into little slits.

Thayer turned, too, and gave Garrett a cautious wave. Garrett just stared at him. “I wouldn’t waste your time talking to Sutton, man. She’s over you. She has a new boyfriend now. Or haven’t you heard?”

“Garrett!” Emma exclaimed.

Thayer rolled his eyes, ignoring him. “Get lost, dude.”

Garrett let out an ugly snort. “Oh, I forgot,” he said sarcastically. “You don’t have much respect for relationships, do you?”

He stared at Thayer. Thayer stared back. For a long moment, neither boy blinked. “Back off,” Thayer said through his teeth.

“Or what? You’ll sleep with my girlfriend? Oh wait, you already have. Because you’re both sluts.”

Thayer’s face turned bright red. Then his fist met Garrett’s face, and Garrett was clutching his jaw. The very next second, Garrett was grabbing Thayer’s shoulders and shaking hard. Thayer tried to remain upright, but his knees buckled and he stumbled on his bad leg.

“Guys, stop!” Emma shrieked, yanking the back of Thayer’s T-shirt. “Please!”

Garrett took another swing at Thayer, but Thayer ducked and circled his arms around Garrett’s waist. Both boys let out guttural groans, and suddenly they were on the floor, rolling around.

“Stop!” Emma shrieked again.

I watched in horror…but also in awe. I wasn’t sure if two boys had ever fought over me before, and it was kind of flattering.

“Fight!” yelled a scrawny guy in a flannel shirt. Instantly, Hollier students materialized from out of nowhere, gawking at the boys on the ground. Members of the marching band streamed from the auditorium to watch, and kids swarmed from classrooms, forming an amoeba-like cluster around Garrett and Thayer. Half the crowd held up their cell phones to capture the action.

Now the boys were on their feet again. Thayer lunged at Garrett, but a soccer player Emma recognized intervened
and yanked Garrett out of the fray. “Stop it, man,” he growled into Garrett’s ear. “Fighting will get you kicked off the team.”

Garrett struggled against him, his eyes blazing and his chest heaving hard. “You’re an asshole,” he hissed at Thayer.

“So are you,” Thayer spat, standing in the middle of the circle. His nose was dripping blood.

The crowd began to break up as quickly as it had formed. Emma rushed to Thayer and touched his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“That guy is crazy,” Thayer rasped, catching his breath. He ran a hand over his jaw and winced.

“You shouldn’t have provoked him!” Emma cried.

Thayer rotated his shoulder gently, then met her gaze. “It’s one thing for him to say things about me. But I can’t stand him insulting you.”

A warm feeling swelled in Emma’s stomach, and she felt herself blush. It was kind of touching that Thayer was so chivalrous, standing up for her like that. Even sort of…
romantic.

I was touched, too. Especially because he was standing up for
me
, not my sister.

Someone cleared his throat behind her. Emma turned and saw Ethan nudging through the remnants of the crowd, looking worried and confused. Emma sank into
him, relieved Ethan couldn’t read her thoughts. “Hey,” she murmured.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “I heard there was a fight and you were in the middle of it.”

Emma shook her head, glancing from Ethan to Thayer, then back to Ethan again. It felt weird to talk about what the fight was about. “It’s over,” she said simply. “And I’m fine. Thayer was…protecting my honor.”

Ethan glanced at Thayer for a long moment, then he stuck out his hand. “Well, in that case, thanks, man.”

Thayer shook it. “Anytime.”

Then Ethan put his arm around Emma’s shoulders. “Want to get out of here? We could do lunch off campus or something.”

“Okay,” Emma said quietly. She glanced over her shoulder once more to say bye to Thayer and make sure he was okay. But he was gone.

Fifteen minutes later, Ethan pulled his rattling Honda Civic into a parking lot surrounded by ivy-covered trellises and beautiful rose gardens. A quaint restaurant called Le Garçon stood a few feet away in an old Victorian mansion that looked like an overgrown gingerbread house. It was incongruous to see such architecture in adobe-filled, Southwestern-style Tucson, which made it all the more exotic.

“After the week you’ve had, I thought you could use a little break,” Ethan said, leading her into the restaurant. It was cool inside, and smelled like fresh flowers. When Emma’s eyes adjusted to the light, she could see a few tables covered with white linens. Oak beams crisscrossed the ceiling, and tiny vases held light pink roses alongside white Christmas lights. The back doors were flung open to the enormous garden, and a harpist played soft, tinkling notes in the corner.

“Whoa,” Emma said, watching as the waiter passed with trays of rich-looking food. “This seems really fancy, Ethan. And expensive.” She glanced at him worriedly. “Do you want me to pay?”

“Of course not.” Ethan made a face. “I got this covered.”

Emma took his hand as a maître d’ led them to a table.

I was surprised and impressed by Ethan’s choice, too. It was exactly the kind of date I would’ve planned—secluded enough to be romantic, but populated with the right kind of crowd.

They sat down and spread their napkins across their laps. A waiter came by and poured each of them a glass of water, which Emma drank thirstily. Ethan watched her, his chin resting in his hands. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

“Stop.” Emma ducked her head.

“It’s true,” Ethan insisted. “But you also look tired. Have you been able to sleep at all?”

“Only a little,” Emma admitted quietly. She scanned the room. Aside from a couple of well-dressed women a few tables over, who gave Emma a quick glance and then looked away, the bustling restaurant didn’t seem to notice them. “I just want tomorrow to get here already so I can search Mr. Mercer’s office. I’m sick of biding my time. I want this over with.”

Ethan reached across the table and took her hands. “Of course. But let’s try not to think about it, okay? You need a break—you
deserve
a little while off the case.”

His voice was gentle but firm, and Emma forced herself to loosen her shoulders. “Okay,” she whispered.

At the next table over, a woman in a tight black dress and a man in a skinny tie studied the wine list. A few people were sitting at the bar, laughing pleasantly. The vibe was understated, but classy. Emma had a feeling her sister would have loved it here.

I smiled. She was right.

“Oh!” Ethan said with a broad grin. “I meant to tell you, I finally got into the traffic cam system! You were right, it was the Devious Four.”

“That’s amazing!” Emma exclaimed, leaning over the table to give him a quick kiss. “The girls will be so happy!”

“Yeah, I’ll just splice together the footage and email you guys the file,” Ethan said, his cheeks a little flushed.

“Perfect.”

A waiter set a basket of assorted rolls on the table. “Would the lovely young couple like to hear the specials?” he asked, jutting one hip forward and smoothing a hand over his carrot-colored hair. “The tuna tartare is out of this world. And don’t get me started on the braised lamb chops with mint sauce.” He made an orgasmic face.

Emma giggled. “That sounds delicious. I’ll have that,” she said.

“Great choice!” the waiter trilled. “And for you, sir?”

“I’ll have the shrimp cocktail,” Ethan said, breaking off a piece of rye bread and popping it into his mouth. “And, um, the steak. Medium rare.”

“Medium
rawr
!” the waiter faux-growled, curling his hand like a lion, then sauntered off.

For a moment, Emma kept her eyes on her lap, but when she saw Ethan’s mouth wobbling into a grin, she burst into laughter. They exchanged a glance, and both started giggling harder. “
Rawr!
” Ethan imitated.

“Great choice! Too bad he doesn’t work at the cafeteria at Hollier,” Emma joked. “Can you imagine? ‘Uh, I’ll have the French bread pizza.’ ‘
Great choice!
’” she said, moving her hips from side to side flamboyantly.

“Or at a prison lunch line.” Ethan hunched his
shoulders and spoke in a thuggish voice. “Yo, man, I’ll have the meat loaf slop and a side of yesterday’s green beans.”

“
Great choice!
” Emma crowed in refrain, snorting with giggles. “Or what if he were the telephone operator at a sketchy Chinese restaurant?”

Ethan held up his hand to his ear, imitating a telephone. “Uh, hi, I’ll have General Tso’s chicken?”

Emma winced. “
Great choice!
” She giggled.

They were laughing so hard now that everyone in the restaurant was staring at them. Emma knew they were being completely immature and inappropriate, but she didn’t care. It felt so good to laugh. It felt good, too, to share such a fun moment with Ethan. This was why she was with Ethan: They shared the same sense of humor. They understood each other. And they had so much fun together.

“I love seeing this side of you,” Ethan said when the giggles died down. “It reminds me that no matter how well you pull off Sutton, you’re uniquely yourself.”

Emma nodded. “We’re alike…and not alike. Kind of two sides of the same coin. Sometimes I think I’m losing myself to her.”

“You aren’t,” Ethan insisted. “You’ll always stay you.”

Emma stared at the glass bottles of alcohol behind the bar. “I can’t wait to become me again,” she said softly. “Mr. Mercer said that this situation is so much better than
what I had before. But I miss being me. I want my life back. My own choices.”

“I know,” Ethan said. “I can’t wait for you to be Emma, too.” Then he took her hands. “But you have to admit that becoming Sutton has had
some
benefits?” He squeezed her palms. “Like meeting me.”

“Like meeting you,” Emma said, returning his gaze. They leaned forward and kissed lightly.

I turned away, feeling like I was eavesdropping on something personal. Emma’s words rang in my ears. I wanted her to go back to being herself, I really did. But it raised another point that I didn’t think of very often. When Emma put my dad behind bars, what would happen to me? Was I tethered to her because I had unfinished business? Or was it some horrible karmic screw-you for all the terrible things I did while I was alive?

Emma had everything to gain by getting justice for me. She would move on to the next stage of her life as Emma Paxton. Would I move on, too? Or would I be left with nothing at all?