Vanished (11 page)

“I only wanted to find Rosa and the others,” Jeri said. “I don’t care about being a celebrity.” She paused. “Or ratings. Or being a TV news anchor.”

He looked embarrassed, but only for a moment. “I think we would have made a great team though. Correction. We
did
make a great team.”

Jeri bristled a bit. “Well, I told you things I found out, but I don’t recall you telling me what
you
were up to.”

He laughed. “Point taken. So let me do it now. What would you like to know?”

“When I called you late Thursday night, where were you, and how far did you drive to get here?”

“In Rock River, about two hours away. Yes, I lied about that.”

“Why?”

“Because I was working on an investigation that involved your school, and I couldn’t tell you.”

“What investigation?”

“I’d been doing a feature on the costs of boarding schools in the state, to see which schools give you the most for your money. When studying the public records, I noticed that Landmark’s equestrian program’s costs were about twice as high as the other schools. We all know why now.” He pulled a notebook from his pocket and showed her pages of numbers. “After Houston was caught today, I asked the headmistress for her records to double-check what I found. I warned her that I’d be going public with it soon.”

Ah, the phone call she’d intercepted in the Head’s office … So that’s why he was sneaking around on campus. He must have come from the Equestrian Center when she saw him. Even with all his facts and figures, though, Jeri didn’t think he’d done all that much. Left to Jake alone, the kidnappers would have been long gone with the fundraiser money by now. He must have bragged a ton for the Head to think he’d contributed a lot.

They were interrupted by the noisy commotion of Heather and her parents arriving. Mr. Langley briefly searched the room, spotted Jeri, and headed in her direction, with Heather and her mother in tow. What a mother-daughter contrast, Jeri thought. Heather’s hair looked like some rodent had chewed on it. Her mother, on the other hand, had blonde braids wound into a crown on top of her head. As they got close, she saw strands of silver threaded through it that looked like tinsel. Jeri longed to hide. She was in no mood for Mr. Langley to yell at her again.

“Miss McKane! I’m glad I found you!” His voice boomed across the room. Heather turned red and stared at the floor. “I want to thank you in some tangible way for helping to find Heather when your own police force failed.”

Jeri blinked twice and had no reply.

He pulled an envelope from his coat pocket and then raised his voice even more. “I am, of course, keeping your scholarship money coming. No fear of that.” He rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet.
“And…
I am flying your mother down here for Parents’ Weekend at the end of the month. These are her plane tickets. I will overnight them to her immediately.”

Jeri couldn’t believe it! “Thank you!” She knew Mr. Langley was just showing off in front of the whole school, but she didn’t care. Her mom was going to come after all! “I’m really grateful for this. I know Mom will be too.”

Heather’s dad beamed again at everyone in the room, as if waiting for his photo to be snapped. Then he left, his family trailing behind him. Jeri watched them go and caught Rosa rolling her eyes. She agreed one hundred percent. No wonder Heather wanted to get away from him.

Later that night, after the emergency generators had warmed the dorms, the girls gathered in Jeri and Rosa’s room to put together a special edition of their newspaper. It covered the kidnapping from Rosa’s viewpoint. Jeri wrote about her investigation. Nikki covered what would happen now to the Equestrian Center. Abby interviewed

the headmistress for a word of encouragement for the school.

It had been a terrifying two days. Jeri thanked God that everyone was safe.

When Rosa and Abby went downstairs to the kitchen to make them all some popcorn, Jeri began proofing the special edition.

“Hey, before the others come back,” Nikki said, “I just wanted to say something.”

Jeri turned to her. “Sure. What’s up?”

Nikki scraped her boot back and forth on the carpet and turned her cowboy hat around and around by the brim. Finally she said, “I’m sorry for being a jerk yesterday.” She stared at the floor. “I know after you risked your life today that you weren’t trying to be a hot-shot reporter. You just wanted to find Rosa.”

“Thanks. No hard feelings.” Jeri thought a moment. “I think, though, that I would enjoy investigating and putting clues together. This was too personal though, with Rosa and the others in danger. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

“Maybe you
should
keep poking your nose into things,” Nikki said. “You were awesome.”

“She’s right on,” Rosa said, coming into the room with two tubs of popcorn.

“Totally,” Abby agreed, carrying a tray with four glasses of soda. “What if we kept our little personal newspaper going by ourselves, even after the media project is over?”

Jeri grinned. “That’s what I was hoping all along!” She turned to Rosa. “And you–”

“Don’t say it!” Rosa held up her hand. “I have to get my part done on time from now on.”

Laughing, Jeri threw her arm around Rosa’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’ve got your back. We’re all in this together.”

Boarding School Mysteries

Betrayed (Book Two)
Burned (Book Three)
Poisoned (Book Four)

The Sophie Series

Sophie’s World (Book One)
Sophie’s Secret (Book Two)
Sophie Under Pressure (Book Three)
Sophie Steps Up (Book Four)
Sophie’s First Dance (Book Five)
Sophie’s Stormy Summer (Book Six)
Sophie’s Friendship Fiasco (Book Seven)
Sophie and the New Girl (Book Eight)
Sophie Flakes Out (Book Nine)
Sophie Loves Jimmy (Book Ten)
Sophie’s Drama (Book Eleven)
Sophie Gets Real (Book Twelve)

The Lucy Series

Lucy Doesn’t Wear Pink (Book One)
Lucy Out of Bounds (Book Two)
Lucy’s “Perfect” Summer (Book Three)
Lucy Finds Her Way (Book Four)

Other books by Kristi Holl

What’s A Girl to Do?
Shine on, Girl!: Devotions to Keep You Sparkling
Girlz Rock: Devotions for You
Chick Chat: More Devotions for Girls
No Boys Allowed: Devotions for Girls

Check out www.faithgirlz.com

ZONDERKIDZ

Vanished
Copyright © 2008, 2011 by Kristi Holl
Formerly titled
Fading Tracks

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EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-310-39963-6

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Requests for information should be addressed to:
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Holl, Kristi.

[Fading tracks]

Vanished / by Kristi Holl.

   p. cm. – (Faithgirlz) (Boarding school mysteries ; bk. 1)

Originally published in 2008 under the title, Fading tracks.

ISBN 978-0-310-72092-8 (softcover)

[1. Missing persons–Fiction. 2. Kidnapping–Fiction. 3. Reporters and reporting–Fiction. 4. Schools–Fiction. 5. Christian life–Fiction. 6. Virginia – Fiction. 7. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.

PZ7.H7079Van   2011

[Fic]–dc22                           2010037923

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version®, NIV®.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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