Touch of Death (6 page)

“Okay. Thanks, Mel.”

“No problem. Now, hurry up. You only have a half hour before Matt picks you up.”

What? When did that happen? “Thanks, again. Love you. Bye,” I rambled into the phone before tossing it on the bed. I scrambled through the closet and found the black top. Then, I raced to the dresser and searched for the jeans. They were hidden in the back with the tags still on. I never would have bought them if Melodie hadn’t made me. They hugged a little tighter than I was used to. But Mel was the fashion expert, not to mention the dating expert, so I slipped them on. Well, I tugged them on.

Shoes. Crap, I’d forgotten to ask what shoes I should wear. I went back to my closet and searched for something to match. I was flinging shoes all over my room. So much for cleaning up. I reached for another pair when my hand touched something furry. I screamed when I got a good look at it. A rat. A big dead rat. I screamed again, pulling my hand away. As I did, I pricked my right index finger on a pin in the shirt I was holding. A single drop of blood dripped onto the rat. Mom raced into my room wearing her bathrobe and a towel on her head. She must have come straight from the shower.

“What?” Her eyes fell on the rat, inches in front of me. “Jodi!” She pointed, and I looked down as the rat rolled onto its feet and ran under my bed.

I jumped on top of my bed, shrieking. Mom screamed and joined me. We huddled together.

“What do we do?” I gripped her tightly.

“Okay, okay… We need to calm down and think.”

“Right.” I nodded. Think about the dead rat that got up and ran under my bed. Nope. Thinking wasn’t working.

“Um, where’s your tennis racket?” Mom asked.

“I’m not going to hit that thing with my tennis racket. Besides, it’s under my bed.”

“All right. New plan.” Mom looked around the room. “The trash can. We’ll trap it under the trash can.”

“But how do we get it to come out from under the bed?”

Mom shook her head. “Don’t suppose you have any cheese hidden in your nightstand?”

I gave her a look that said, “Be serious.”

“Okay.” She picked up the hanger I’d thrown on the bed when I’d gotten dressed. “I’ll go on one side of the bed and start banging the hanger on the floor. You go on the other side of the bed with the trash can. When the rat runs out, you drop the trash can on him and trap him under it.”

It was a plan straight out of a blooper reel of one of those funny home video shows, but since I didn’t have any better ideas, I couldn’t object. I scooted to the foot of the bed and reached for the trash can. “It’s too far away.”

“Here, use the hanger.” Mom handed me the hanger, and I reached it out, hooking it on the can and dragging it to me. The rat squeaked under the bed. I screamed, and the hanger raked across the Band-Aid from the night before when I’d cut my finger on the window. The Band-Aid fell off, and I saw my finger was bleeding again. I dropped the hanger as blood dripped on my off-white carpet. Just great.

“Got any more hangers?” I already knew the answer.

“Time for a new plan?”

“No. I think I can reach the hanger without getting off the bed. Can you hold on to me so I don’t fall on the floor?”

Mom bent down and grabbed my calves. “Got you.” It was times like this that I was glad my mom was so young. She didn’t think twice about doing crazy stuff. Of course, when it came to me dating, she was very overprotective. But if I’d had a baby at sixteen, I probably would’ve been a little overprotective of my teenage daughter, too. That reminded me that I still hadn’t come up with a good lie about where Matt and I were going. Mom would never let me go to a club, especially one like Serpentarius that was for twenty-one and up.

“You having second thoughts?” Mom asked.

Apparently I’d been hanging half off the bed, contemplating my dating situation and completely forgetting about the rat for too long. “Working up the courage.”

“Let me know when you’ve found enough. I want to make sure I have a good grip on you. No rat is going to chew on my daughter.”

“Thanks for that image.” I shuddered. “Okay, here I go.” I held my breath—not for any real reason, it just seemed like the thing to do—and reached my arm out, snatching the hanger. “Pull me up!”

Mom tugged on my legs. The rat gave another squeak, but this time I held on to the hanger. “Good job,” Mom said, sounding as out of breath as I felt.

“I got blood on the carpet.” I held my finger up.

She waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take blood on the carpet over a rat under the bed any day. Let’s trap that disgusting thing and get it out of here.”

“Right.” I still had the box of Band-Aids on my nightstand from last night, so I put a new one on and got a good hold on the hanger. “Take two.” I positioned myself on the end of the bed again. I hooked the trash can and pulled it close enough that I could grab it. “Got it!” I lifted it onto the bed.

Mom took a deep breath. “Now, the hard part.”

Like that had been easy? “Are you sure you don’t want to trap the rat while I bang the hanger on the ground?”

“I’m going to have to hang off the bed and spook the thing. All you have to do is drop the trash can on it. Do you really want to trade jobs?”

I had visions of the rat attacking the hanger. “Never mind. I’m good.”

I got on one side of the bed, and Mom moved to the other. “Ready?” she asked.

“What if it runs out the bottom of the bed?”

“Let’s hope all that noise you made down there with the hanger and trash can was enough to scare it away from there.”

I nodded. We were putting a lot on hope. “Here it goes.” Mom leaned over the side of the bed. I waited for her to start banging the hanger. As soon as she started, the rat squeaked. I held the trash can between my hands, ready to slam it down on top of the vile rodent. But Mom screamed. “It’s coming this way!”

I scrambled over to her side, pulling her up and out of reach of the rat’s sharp little teeth and claws. Its head poked out from under the bed, and then it disappeared again.

“Okay, so now we know the rat is going to attack the hanger.” Mom breathed heavily.

“I say let’s move to the foot of the bed. That way we can lie down on the bed and only hang over as much as we need to. We’ll be more steady than trying to lie across the bed since we don’t totally fit.”

Mom sighed. I could tell she didn’t want to try this again, but what else were we supposed to do? We couldn’t get out of the room, and I didn’t want to sleep with a rat underneath my bed either. “Okay, let’s get this over with before I completely lose my nerve.” She pointed the hanger at me. “But once this is over, you are cleaning this room. If it wasn’t so dirty, you wouldn’t have attracted a rat in the first place.”

I didn’t think the rat was attracted to the mess in my room. Not even after Green Eyes had rummaged through it. I had this disturbing feeling that Green Eyes had left the rat for me. A little token of his hatred.

“I promise I’ll clean my room,” I said. “But not tonight. Matt will be here soon to pick me up for…” What had I decided on? “For the movie.”

“Well, I hope he gets here soon enough to help us dispose of the rat.” It wasn’t exactly welcoming Matt into our home or being happy I was dating a nice guy, but it was something.

I scooted down to the edge of the bed and extended my legs for balance. Mom did the same beside me. She lowered the hanger and banged it on the box spring. There were a few squeaks and squeals—squeaks from the rat and squeals from Mom and me. The rat ran right at the hanger. Mom lifted the hanger, and I slammed the trash can down.

“We did it!” I cheered.

Mom squealed again, but this time it was with excitement. She threw her arm around me.

“Easy.” I pressed down on the trash can. “He’s really going nuts under there.” I felt him ramming into the sides of the can, looking for a way out.

Mom hopped off the bed. “Hold on. I’m going to get something to weigh it down so you can let go.” She went for my heavy book bag next to the desk and placed it on top of the trash can, balancing it before letting go.

“Okay, that should be good.” She took a small step back, holding her hands out in case the rat moved the trash can and toppled the books. Nothing happened. The rat didn’t even squeak in protest.

I sighed and swung my legs off the bed. My relief lasted a whole ten seconds before the doorbell rang. “Matt’s here!”

“Well, bring him up here. He can help us get rid of this thing.”

I looked around at the state of my room.

Mom saw my hesitation. “Too bad, young lady. Maybe this will teach you to keep this place clean.”

I sighed and headed downstairs. I opened the door, and a huge smile crossed my face. Matt was standing there, looking absolutely gorgeous in a dressy casual sort of way—I was really going to have to hug Melodie for picking out my outfit—and he was holding a single pink carnation. He held it out to me, and I saw that it was fake. I must have looked confused because he laughed and tucked it in my hair.

“My sister told me to bring it. She said girls love flowers, but since I didn’t have time to stop at the florist, and it’s February so the garden’s bare, I had to settle for silk. At least Amber said it was silk.”

“I love it.”

“You look amazing.” He stepped toward me. “Uh, is your mother home?”

“Actually, yes. And we need a little favor.” I brought him upstairs without explaining.

Mom was guarding the trash can. “Hi, Matt. You’re right on time. We have a little unwanted visitor.”

Matt looked at me. I knew he was thinking of Green Eyes. If only he knew.

Mom pointed to the trash can. “We’ve got a rat trapped under there.”

“Oh.” Matt sounded relieved. He walked over to the trash can and removed the books. Mom and I huddled together while Matt slowly lifted the can. “No problem. This guy looks like he’s been dead for a while.”

I stepped closer. That couldn’t be possible. He had been running all over before we caught him. Matt took the bag from the trash can and scooped the rat into it. He was right. It was definitely dead. I stared at the bloodstain on the carpet, thinking about how odd it was to see the drop of my blood where the rat had died.

Chapter 6

I was still shaken up over the whole rat incident. Mom didn’t give the thing another glance, so she didn’t see how bloody and decayed it looked. There was no rational explanation for how it could’ve been running around under my bed minutes before, but I didn’t say a word. Mom was freaked out enough, and nothing was going to keep me from going on this date. I was determined to have my perfect night out with Matt. No way was I letting a dead rat, or even Green Eyes, ruin this for me.

“So, is your room always that messy?” Matt asked as we drove to the club.

“Let’s just say it’s been a crazy week.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

“I kind of like that you’re not a neat freak. Amber’s room is spotless. She’s always on my case to pick up my things.” He turned and smiled at me. “Did I tell you that you look amazing?”

“I think you might have mentioned it.” My heart beat faster, but for a much better reason this time.

We pulled up to Serpentarius and found a parking spot around back. There was a line to get in, but Matt took my hand and led me straight to the door. He shook hands with the bouncer. “Jodi, this is my cousin, Jared.”

“Hi,” I said, standing up straighter so I looked older. Well, at least taller.

“Have fun,” Jared said.

Matt slipped him a twenty, and we walked inside.

“You have to tip your own cousin?” I asked, practically having to yell over the band.

“Jared’s got to give his boss some reason for letting us in.”

The club was dark and loud, but Matt seemed to know where he was going. He led me to the bar and ordered us two bottles of water. He handed me one, leaning in close so we didn’t have to shout. “I know not to push my luck. That’s why Jared’s boss looks the other way when I’m here.”

“So, you come here often?” I asked, taking a sip of water.

“That didn’t quite come out right. Can I try that again?”

“Oh no, you don’t get off that easily.” I gave him a playful smile. “How many girls have you brought here? And don’t try to tell me I’m the first.”

He put his free hand to his chin and tapped it like he was thinking. I smacked his arm, making him spill some of his water.

“What? It’s not easy keeping track of all those girls.”

“Very funny.”

He stepped closer to me. “Seriously, I’ve brought two girls here.”

Two. I wondered who they were.

“Amber and you.” He leaned closer to me. Our faces were just inches apart. He smelled incredible.

“I guess your sister doesn’t really count, huh?” The water rippled in the bottle as my hand shook. My nerves were getting the better of me.

“No, she doesn’t. But you do.” He leaned down.

This was it. My eyes fluttered shut, but not before I saw him. Green Eyes. Right next to me. He yanked my elbow, pulling me away from Matt and into a crowd of people.

“Let go of me!” I yelled, though it lost all effect with the music blaring.

It took Matt a second to realize what happened. He stepped toward us, having to push past people trying to get to the bar. Green Eyes let go of me and disappeared into the crowd.