High-Caliber Concealer (26 page)

“Stop misquoting me,” snapped Nikki to
Jackson. “Our situations are not at all the same.”

“Ding,” quoted Jackson, with a glint in his
eye. “You always did like to be the bell.”

“It isn’t the same thing!” said Nikki, not
sure who she was more mad at.

“Yes, it is,” said Jackson. “You think I
cheated? I had to, just to stay in the game. It’s hard work keeping
up with you and you were always the one who called the shots. Turns
out, he’s just a better fighter than I was. Don’t you think you owe
him the honesty you wanted from me?”

Nikki thought about punching him. She
thought about punching Z’ev. She thought about dropkicking all of
them out the door.

“You, shut-up,” said Z’ev, pointing at
Jackson. “You don’t get to be on my side.”

“I am leaving,” Nikki announced. “I have had
all the vacation fun I can handle for one night.”

She stomped out of the boathouse and
straight into Merv the Sheriff.

“Well, if it isn’t little Nicole Lanier,”
said the Sheriff, overly stressing the French accents in her name.
“What kind of trouble are you up to now?”

“Sheriff,” began Nikki, when the boathouse
door burst open and Jane and Jenny both ran out.

“Hiya, Sheriff,” said Jenny. “Nikki, let’s
head up to the car, shall we?”

Nikki stared at her friends, puzzled.
Jackson, Donny, Ellen and Z’ev came out more slowly.

“Hi, Sheriff,” said Donny. “Is there a
problem?”

“Well, Donald,” said the Sheriff. “That
depends. Are there any more of you in there?”

“No,” said Donny, shaking his head. “Just
us. We’re on our way up to the house.”

“You don’t mind if I take a look do
you?”

“Suit yourself,” said Donny with a
shrug.

“What happened to you two?” asked the
sheriff, pointing at Jackson and Z’ev before opening the door to
the boathouse and glancing around.

“We tripped,” said Z’ev.

“Jackson, I’ve not known you to be the
clumsy type,” said the sheriff. He turned and looked at the group
and smiled. Once again, the smile seemed delayed, as if the sheriff
deployed it because it was the socially acceptable time to do
so.

“These things happen,” said Jackson.

“Hmm. Well, we’ve had some complaints about
people trespassing out in Cooter’s field. You all wouldn’t know
anything about that, would you?”

“We’ve been in the boathouse,” said Jackson.
“What would we know?”

“This is nonsense. I’m going to the car,”
announced Nikki, still annoyed. She turned around and began the
long walk up to the car. Jenny and Jane kept pace.

“Well, that was a close one,” said Jane.

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought for sure you were going to punch
the sheriff.”

“Why would I punch the sheriff?”

“Well, you know,” Jane looked at Jenny, who
shrugged. “Mispronouncing your name is kind of one of your pet
peeves. And you were already annoyed.”

“The sheriff is an ass hat,” said Nikki.
“And I am annoyed. But unlike some people,” she turned slightly as
Z’ev caught up, “I don’t have to punch everyone who annoys me.”

“That sheriff is an ass hat,” said Z’ev.
“Donny just tried to get a meeting with him to talk about some sort
of drug smuggling thing and the sheriff totally blew him off.
Donny’s a decorated narcotics officer and that sheriff treated us
all like delinquent kids. And that’s putting it kindly. I think
you’re right. There’s some really racist bastards around here.”

“If it helps, he doesn’t seem to like me
much either. I try not to worry about it. In fifty years everyone
will be sort of beige,” said Nikki.

“I don’t have fifty years,” said Z’ev. “I’m
brown today.”

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?
Jane and Jenny won’t let me punch the sheriff.” Jenny and Jane were
trying to distance themselves by walking further ahead.

“I want you to acknowledge that it’s a
problem,” said Z’ev his voice rising.

Nikki turned around, sharply, prepared to
make a very pithy point, and saw the sheriff coming up the path
after them. “I don’t really think that now is the time for this,”
she said and turned on her heel, walking more quickly toward the
car.

“It never is,” muttered Z’ev, but followed
along.

They returned to the house in awkward
silence punctuated in intermittent spasms of Jenny and Ellen trying
to make small talk. It was nearly ten o’clock when she parked the
SUV.

“My grandma’s usually in bed by ten,” said
Nikki, looking at the living room windows that still glowed with
light.

“Maybe she and your mom are staying up
chatting,” said Jane, which made Nikki laugh.

But Peg was alone in the living room,
wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe and reading a romance novel.

“Oh, good, you’re back,” she said looking
up. “What happened to you? You all look disheveled.”

“We played tag,” said Nikki.

“And the other team won?”

“Um… I think it was a bit of a draw.”

“All right then. There’s some cookies in the
kitchen for everyone. Um, Nikki, I was hoping we could talk.”

“You can talk to Nikki tomorrow, Mom,” said
Nell, coming down the stairs. “I’m sure everyone’s tired.” Nell and
Peg exchanged angry stares.

Nikki thought about interrupting and simply
saying that she knew about Jorge just to bring the whole farce to
an end, but she discovered that she really was tired.

“Mom’s right, Grandma. We can talk tomorrow.
I want to go to bed.”

“All right, dear,” said Peg, looking annoyed
and also somewhat relieved. “Goodnight, everyone.”

Peg went upstairs, followed by Nell, who
appeared to be shepherding her along. Nikki tried to fathom why her
mom was so uptight about Jorge, but understanding her mother had
never been a particularly worthwhile endeavor, so she gave up.

With Z’ev still asleep, Nikki tiptoed down
the hall to the first guest room, where Jane and Jenny were sharing
a king-size bed. Although sharing was a rather generous term to
describe the way Jenny was starfished across the bed.

Jane cracked an eyelid as Nikki entered and
unfurled from the tight little ball she had been forced into. She
nodded to Nikki’s head jerk in the direction of the kitchen and
reached for her robe and computer.

“This Ylina situation is getting worse,”
said Nikki when they were downstairs. “I don’t think we can afford
to sit on it any longer.”

“Well, we’ve been kind of busy,” protested
Jane.

“Yeah, busy with our vacation. Meanwhile,
she’s actually in trouble. I ran into her last night at Cooter’s
junkyard.”

“Nikki! Did you cheat?”

“Of course, I cheated. We were never going
to win because you know how well Ellen sneaks up on people. So I
had to at least catch Jackson and he’s too damn fast.”

“He is surprisingly quick,” agreed Jane.

“He’s training for
American Ninja Warrior
.”

“Ah. How is his salmon ladder?”

“No clue, but his vertical jump is
impressive.”

“That’s good, but grip strength is key on
that show.”

“Can we focus on Ylina?” Nikki poured
herself a glass of juice and Jane a cup of coffee from the pot her
grandma had started. Jane began to root through the fridge looking
for milk and creamer.

“OK, but do you think we’re focusing on
Ylina as a way to avoid your personal problems with Z’ev?”

“Of course we are,” snapped Nikki. “That
doesn’t mean she’s not actually in trouble.”

“OK, but I want you to be aware that
avoidance is not a healthy behavior.”

“Jane, telling people about their unhealthy
behaviors is not a healthy behavior.”

“Jenny says that too. Fortunately, you all
love me.” Jane was focused on her coffee and didn’t see Nikki’s
affectionate smile.

“That is true. And we couldn’t get along
without you. You’re an extremely valuable asset and if you ever
fell into the wrong hands I’d have to kill you.”

“What? Wait a minute! Why couldn’t you just
kill the wrong hands? Why me?”

Nikki grinned. “That’s just how it’s done.
Ask Z’ev. Can’t let intelligence like yours get utilized by the
enemy.”

“You make this stuff up,” said Jane,
accusingly.

“Generally, yes. Anyway, can you help me
find Ylina? I think she’s staying somewhere in town within walking
distance to the grocery store.”

“Give me a second.”

Jane began rapidly tapping on her computer
and making thoughtful little clucking noises at her coffee.

Ellen stumbled into the kitchen, looked
accusingly at the pair of them, and went directly to the coffee
maker.

“What are we doing?” she demanded after a
half cup.

“Jane’s locating Ylina for me,” said Nikki.
“Then I’m going to see her and drag her back here if I have to. I
ran into her at the junkyard and she was talking some smack about
how she was going to cash in her insurance policy. I don’t know
what that means, but it can’t be good. I’m going to bring her here
and sit on her until I can get Donny over to talk to her. I think
he must be onto something if he was trying to get a meeting with
the sheriff. Maybe he can convince her to turn on Milt, Pedro and
the rest.”

“It’s as good a plan as any,” said Ellen
with a shrug. “And it has the advantage of not doing anything
overly clandestine.”

“Right!” said Nikki. “I happened to bump
into her at a bar, I saw that she was in trouble, so of course, I
called on my friend, the cop. It’s neat, it’s tidy, it’s mostly
true.”

“It doesn’t bring up the breaking and
entering or the bar fight,” said Ellen, raising her mug.

“Extraneous details,” said Nikki. “Why bring
them up? It doesn’t matter.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it all worked out,”
said Ellen.

“Mmm,” said Jane.

“I did have it worked out,” said Nikki.
“Right up until Jane went ‘mmm.’”

“What?” Jane looked up, confused.

“You said, ‘mmm.’ That’s not a good
sign.”

“Isn’t it?”

“You say mmm when your little computer
friend tells you something you don’t like.”

“Do I? Oh. Sorry?”

“We don’t mind that you say it,” said Nikki.
“It just generally means bad news.”

“It’s not bad news,” said Jane. “Not really.
But it’s not great news. Ylina has been working for Crazy Cooter’s
Junkyard as a secretary for three years. You know, I thought you
were all being mean. I was going to suggest that maybe we could not
use the crazy word just because he’s maybe a little outside the
norm or maybe had some mental health issues, but it turns out that
is actually the name on his business license.”

“Yeah, it’s Crazy Cooter’s Junkyard,” said
Nikki. “I don’t know why you always assume that we’re being racist,
sexist, and anti-crazy people. He had ads on the radio when I was a
kid. Trade your scrap metal for craaaaaazy good prices at
Craaaaaazy Cooter’s, home of Car-Henge.”

“Car-Henge?”

“It was a Stonehenge made of Mini-Coopers.
You know, because they’re British. I think he had to take it down
though. A couple of them fell over, and replacement Coopers were
hard to get.”

Ellen and Jane exchanged glances. “That’s
weird,” said Ellen at last.

“Well, he’s crazy,” said Nikki. “I mean,
it’s on the business license. He has a reputation to maintain.”

“Still weird,” said Ellen. “Anyway, I guess
Ylina working out at the junkyard could explain why she was
there.”

“Sort of,” said Nikki. “What else did you
turn up, Jane?”

“She’s been living at a place on Elm Street,
but she stopped paying rent there three months ago. Which in and of
itself doesn’t mean much, but she’s got a decent amount of money in
the bank. That means she probably moved out and wherever she moved
to she’s paying in cash. She’s got a four hundred dollar withdrawal
on the first of the month for the last three months.”

“Four hundred dollars!” exclaimed Ellen. “I
wish I could find somewhere to live for that. In LA you have to pay
four hundred to live under the freeway.”

“Well, even here that’s not going to get you
somewhere very nice,” said Nikki. “Why the move?”

“I don’t know, but lots of other bills cease
at about that same time. The cable got cancelled and hasn’t been
renewed. No utilities bill. No Netflix. She never had a car
payment, so it’s hard to tell if that’s changed. But her gas
expenditure hasn’t increased—or at least her stops at the Pettit
Gas Station have remained the same.”

“What about other cash withdrawals?” asked
Ellen.

“Yes, her cash withdrawals have gone up.
There’s what’s presumably rent on the first and then a couple
hundred a week. By the end of the month she’s pulled out most of
her paycheck.”

“She’s been planning to run for awhile
then,” said Nikki.

“I’d say so,” said Ellen. “And she thinks
whoever is going to be looking for her would have the ability to
hack her bank account and trace her. She’s stockpiling cash.”

“The question is, where is she staying now?”
Nikki frowned. “Friends, relatives?”

“A motel,” said Jane. “That’s my best guess.
There’s one within walking distance to the grocery store. The
website is in Spanish, so you’ll have to look at it for me. But I
think it’s four hundred a month. It’s trying to attract temporary
workers. It’s got a construction crew special. I think. My Spanish
still isn’t that good.”

“Can you hack them? See if Ylina is
registered?”

“Working on it,” said Jane, nodding.

Nikki washed a few dishes from the night
before while Ellen read the paper. It was wait on Jane time and it
didn’t pay to rush the her. Jane made angry noises and tapped the
computer screen more violently. Nikki and Ellen exchanged looks,
but said nothing. Ellen got up and poured herself some cereal.
Nikki made tea.