Tiny Glitches: A Magical Contemporary Romance (32 page)

“I’ll give them a formula. Not
the
formula. Something close. Something they’ll think is real.” Her gaze unfocused, and she marched toward the house. An endless bullet train rocketed beside her, life-size and speeding on soundless rails. The train appeared ten feet behind Jenny and disappeared ten feet in front of her. Walking next to it gave me vertigo. “This should work. We’ll do the exchange in an hour.”

“Is that what they said in the note? What time did they specify?” Hudson asked.

“We have twelve hours before they send the first body part.”

I tripped and Hudson caught my arm.

“Where’s the exchange?” Hudson asked.

“I have to call and set it up.”

“Is your phone working?” My voice came out breathy and insubstantial, visions of the ninjas mutilating Sofie choking my windpipe.

Jenny pulled her cell from her pocket and frowned at it.

“And you say the elephantini isn’t cursed,” Hudson said.

Jenny looked from me to him. “The
elephantini
isn’t.”

“Is the clown gone?” Atlas yelled. He thrust his head through the open side gate to the backyard and looked both ways before easing onto the grass.

“You can’t mention what I told you to my cousins,” Jenny whispered. “I trust them, but not that far.” She pushed open the sliding glass door and walked into my mother’s house. Atlas hesitated in the doorway.

Hudson stopped me, waiting for Atlas to creep inside before speaking. “Do you believe her?”

I shook my head. It wasn’t a denial. I didn’t know what to think. “I know she’s our best hope for rescuing Sofie.”

Inside, Dempsey sat on a high barstool near the kitchen, elevating her to almost eye level. Edmond stood with his arms behind his back, looking like the front room’s very own bouncer. Atlas, in full clown-wear apparition, remained pressed against the inside of the sliding glass door, and his eyes darted to Dempsey and away with a speed that had to be dizzying.

Three days ago, I hadn’t known anyone in the room. Two days ago, I would have balked at the casual inclusion of another person in our secretive plans, but that had been when I’d cared about Jenny’s blackmail. Now, Dempsey was just another character in the growing circus of my life, and the only one clothed appropriately for the part. I would welcome a hundred more people, a thousand more, if it guaranteed Sofie’s safety.

“So, how’s this go down? You give the abductors some information and they give us the elephantini?” Dempsey asked.

“They give us my aunt,” I said.

“Right,” Jenny said.

“And the elephantini?”

“Of course.” Jenny waved Dempsey’s concerns aside. I doubted the ninjas would hand over Kyoko so easily, but I didn’t care. Kyoko was Jenny’s problem. I only cared about Sofie.

“When do we meet these elephantini snatchers?” Dempsey pounded a tiny fist into a tiny palm.

“I need to get clear of Eva and set up the exchange,” Jenny said.

“‘Get clear of Eva’?” Hudson echoed.

“I can’t do it with her nearby. Plus, I need to gather supplies. I’ll be back.” Jenny strode toward the front door, but Hudson stepped in front of her.

“I’m not going to let you disappear again.”

“Eva?” Jenny waited for me to explain, her expression impatient.

I didn’t like the idea of letting Jenny out of our sight, either. She hadn’t done a thing to earn my trust, and if she did disappear, finding Sofie would be impossible.

But if she didn’t leave, she wouldn’t be able to call the ninjas to set up my aunt’s rescue. I ran a shaking hand through my hair.

“You haven’t been very good at keeping us informed,” I said.

“Exactly.” Hudson widened his stance, as if preparing to tackle the scientist. Edmond stepped around the kitchen island, but Jenny shook her head, and he stopped several feet from Hudson.

“Fine.” Jenny thrummed her fingers on the back of the couch, then turned to Edmond. “Edmond and I will go to the nearest gas station to pick up new phones; then I’ll send him back here, and he can park at the end of the driveway.” She glanced at me for confirmation. I nodded. “I’ll call Edmond once the meeting is set up. Edmond, you’ll tell Eva where to go, and everyone gets to be a part of the exchange.”

“Why don’t we all go together?” Edmond asked.

“I’ve got to gather the information the ninjas demanded before we can make the exchange. It’ll be faster without everyone tagging along, especially Eva.”

“We’re supposed to trust you?” Hudson asked.

Jenny lifted her dark eyebrows at me. Her plan worked with my curse, but it didn’t mean she’d stick to it. The moment she stepped out of sight, she could disappear, taking my chance of saving Sofie with her.

“Make it somewhere close,” I said, choking on the words. “Please.”

She nodded. “Atlas, you’re with me.”

Hudson’s expression turned to stone and he lifted his hands like he was being held at gunpoint. Lightning bolts struck on either side of him, and one skittered through his body. Jenny stepped around him and strode out of sight, the bullet train ricocheting along its truncated track beside her. Edmond followed her, stopping to grab the gun from the silverware drawer. Atlas took two steps after them, then spun and ran to the back door. He jogged through the backyard, swinging wide when Dempsey made a face at him through the windows.

“Where’s the restroom?” Dempsey demanded. “I need to put on my war paint.”

I pointed the way.

“Why’d you let her go? What if she’s lying? What if she doesn’t call? What if Edmond doesn’t come back?” Hudson asked.

His questions mirrored my fears. I swallowed bile and held my stomach to quell my nausea. “I didn’t have a choice.”

Hudson scowled and opened his mouth, but before he could point out more flaws in my logic, scrabbling, scratching sounds emanated from the ceiling, followed by a long, low whine.

“Dali!”

I raced upstairs and followed the whimpers to the master bedroom closet. When I opened the door, Dali burst out, barking and whining. He sniffed my legs, then circled Hudson, sniffing and licking him, too.

“Why was he in there?” Hudson asked.

“I don’t know. I must have accidentally shut him in earlier.”

“Your friend isn’t going to be too happy about that.” Hudson pointed to the carpet shredded around the threshold. The door had its share of gouges, too.

“Aww, who’s a bad doggie?” I crouched to reassure Dali, managing a faint smile. “Did you slobber on Annabella’s clothes? Did you shed all over her closet?”

Dali wriggled in delight at my I-have-a-treat tone.

“Are you sure this Annabella is your friend?”

“She’s like family. She’ll understand.”

Dempsey waited in the foyer. She’d changed and washed off her clown makeup, replacing it with tasteful eye shadow and lipstick. If not for her memorable size, I wouldn’t have recognized her. Disguised under the green wig had been long, golden hair worthy of a shampoo ad. Skintight jeans and a stretchy bright blue top replaced the baggy food-stained costume, revealing a doll-like bombshell body. Had she been two feet taller, she could have been a model. She had the right face: not quite classically beautiful but still interesting.

Dali rushed her.

“Whoa!” Dempsey held up one hand like a traffic cop, and Dali slid to a stop. He sniffed and licked her fingers. His whole back end wriggled with his wagging tail, but he didn’t attempt to get closer to her when she lowered her hand.

“Do you have a phone?” I asked.

“Of course.”

“Where?”

“In my truck.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. It might still work.

“You want me to get it?”

“Not yet.”

I jogged to Ari’s car and grabbed Agent Coutu’s card from my bag. Edmond pulled up to the curb at the end of the driveway and waved, but he didn’t get out of the car. So far so good. I hurried back to the foyer. My best chance at going anywhere involved staying as far from the Tercel as possible.

“What now?” Dempsey asked.

I curled the business card into a loop in my hand. “Now we wait.” I sat on the threshold, eyes locked on Edmond. Dali flopped across my feet.

“I want Attila.”

“Who?” Hudson asked.

“Her gun.”

“You named a shotgun?”

“All the best weapons have names. Now hand it over.”

I released a long, slow breath, picturing my body sinking into the ground. Still and calm, like the earth beneath me. “You’ll get it back when we leave.”

Dempsey narrowed her eyes at me. “Now.”

I pinned her with the weight of my stare.

“Okay. Fine. Later.” Dempsey backed away. I focused on Edmond again, waiting for him to receive Jenny’s call.

One constricted breath at a time, I wound my curse back into a tight vault deep in my mind. With each inhale, I pulled the stillness from the earth into my body, sweeping my worry and fear ahead of it into the vault. With each exhale, I wedged the stillness across the vault’s opening, burying my destructive emotions.

Hudson sat beside me and wrapped an arm around me. He didn’t speak. He didn’t attempt to offer trite assurances about Sofie’s safe return. He didn’t voice the hundreds of recriminations resounding in my skull.

I should have gone immediately to the police.

I should never have caved to Jenny’s blackmail.

I should never have involved Sofie.

In the comfort of Hudson’s quiet presence, I isolated each accusation and suffocated it with the rest of my curse.

“I don’t know how you can just sit there. I’ve gotta move.” Dempsey paced in front of us. “What if they don’t show? What if they’ve hurt the elephantini? What if they’ve hurt your aunt? How do you know she’s still alive?”

My breathing hitched and the vault fractured.

“Dempsey,” Hudson said. “Go somewhere else.”

“You can’t tell me— Oh.” Dempsey awkwardly patted my knee. “I’m sure she’s fine. Your aunt wouldn’t be much leverage if she were dead.”

“Now, Dempsey,” Hudson growled.

“Fine. I’m going, I’m going.” She sashayed down the driveway to the Tercel in five-inch wedges. I tipped my head up to the sky, blinking when tears rolled down my cheeks. Hudson rubbed my back.

A longer hour in the history of all time has never existed. I spent it breathing. My aunt’s life hung on the whim of violent ninjas pursuing potentially the most lucrative scientific advancement of all time, and the most productive activity I could undertake was breathing.

I bundled up my self-hatred and buried it with all my other emotions.

When Edmond lifted his phone to his ear, every muscle in my body tensed.

“We’ve got a location!” Dempsey yelled. She dashed up the driveway. Behind her, the Tercel peeled from the curb in a haze of rubber and smoke. My heart seized. Half the point of him parking at the end of the driveway was for his car to be fresh for me to ride in. I bounded to my feet and sprinted down the driveway, Dali on my heels.

“Clover Park,” Dempsey shouted as she zipped past me in the other direction. I slowed. Edmond barreled through a sleepy intersection and disappeared. I spun around and ran back to the house, easily overtaking Dempsey.

“Get me Attila. It’s go time!” Dempsey vaulted onto her truck’s running board. I planted a hand on the driver’s door, preventing her from opening it.

“Call this number.” I thrust Coutu’s creased business card at Dempsey. “Tell them Eva Parker says Jennifer Winters is at Clover Park. That’s it. Don’t tell them anything else, okay?”

“Eva, are you sure?” Hudson asked.

“Positive. We’ve only got Jenny’s word about all this. If she’s lying to us, I’m not letting her get away with it. I’m not losing my one chance at saving Sofie.” If she lied about Clover Park, I’d tell the FBI everything.

“What about the elephantini?” Dempsey asked, jumping to the ground and planting her hands on her hips.

“We save my aunt, we save the elephantini.” I’d promise a lot more to get a message to Agent Coutu.

“You want Attila? Make the call,” Hudson said.

“Okay, okay.”

I backed away so Dempsey could open the truck door and retrieve her phone. I kept my distance during the brief call.

“I’m calling on behalf of Eva Parker. She says Jennifer Winters is at Clover Park.” Dempsey paused, then said, “Who am I?” She held the phone out to stare at the screen. “Who am I? I’ll tell you.” She tapped the screen, ending the call. “That was fun. Now hand over Attila.”

Hudson retrieved the shotgun. Dempsey broke it open and looked inside the barrels.

“Where are the cartridges?”

“I must have lost them.”

If it hadn’t been for my curse, I might have tried to ditch Dempsey. We didn’t need another person involved—not in Jenny’s elephantini abduction and not in Sofie’s rescue. We certainly didn’t need another witness. But I didn’t have the luxury of skipping out on her. Ari’s car wasn’t going to make it to Clover Park.