When (13 page)

Stubby then shoved the card into the envelope using his sleeve to cover his hands. Then he used his phone to look up her address. It took a few clicks to get the Wylys’ new address in
Jupiter, but we were confident our card would find its way to her. Stubs then stood to head next door to mail it and said, “You coming?”

But I was only halfway through my caramel latte, and it was so nice and warm in the Starbucks. “I think I’ll stay here and study for a while.”

Stubs nodded, looking troubled. I knew he was wishing we had a better plan. With a wave he said, “I’ll text ya later,” and then he was gone.

I sighed, fighting the feeling that I’d let him down, and poked at my drink with the plastic stirrer, when all of a sudden I heard a voice I’d recognize anywhere, and I felt a jolt
of adrenaline stiffen my spine. Slouching down in my seat, I leaned out slightly and saw Aiden standing at the counter joking with two buddies while they waited for the barista to take their
orders.

Immediately, I looked around for an escape route, but the only exit was the entrance at the front of the Starbucks. I knew I didn’t look my best: I hadn’t made a big effort that
morning. My hair was pulled back, I wasn’t wearing any makeup besides a little mascara, and my hoodie was drab and dark. But I was trapped at the back of the store; all Aiden had to do was
turn his head to the right and he’d see me.

Thinking quickly, I bent over and retrieved my backpack from the floor. I dug through it and pulled out the biggest textbook I had—chemistry—and opened it up on the table to
partially conceal my face behind it. Listening intently, I heard Aiden’s somewhat husky voice rise and fall as he discussed a chemistry test he’d had that day. He and the two other guys
were comparing answers. I smiled when I realized that he and I were basically studying the exact same section of the periodic table.

Then I heard a much more feminine voice say, “Hey, Aiden!”

I stiffened. Gripping the sides of the book tightly, I snuck a peek. A girl with long blond hair stood to the side of the three boys. Twirling a few strands between her fingers she said,
“Can I add a caramel macchiato to your order?”

There were a lot of customers waiting behind the guys, and it was obvious the girl was cutting the line. The way she was staring at Aiden made me wonder if they were more than friends.

Aiden looked back at the line, offering an apologetic look to the person behind them before replying, “Sure, Kendra. What size?”

“A tall. I’m watching my weight,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm and swish her hips.

I stopped breathing. My insides felt gripped by a vise. The girl was pretty. Very pretty. Her hair was hanging loose in long blond waves, she wore lots of makeup, and her clothes looked soft,
stylish, and oh-so-touchable.

I stared at Aiden intently. He added her drink to their order, and then he paid for everything—including hers. I didn’t quite know what to make of that. Was he just being
generous?

Kendra kept on flirting with Aiden while they waited, and he smiled and nodded as she talked. It was impossible to tell if he was into her or only being polite.

But then, I couldn’t think of a reason why a guy
wouldn’t
be into someone as pretty as her.

The barista called Aiden’s name, and he and one of his buddies gathered the drinks. Aiden handed Kendra’s tall macchiato over to her, and in exchange she handed him a cardboard drink
sleeve. I was confused—Aiden already had a sleeve attached to his cup—then I noticed a hint of black scrawl on the one she wielded, and realized she’d given him her phone
number.

After touching his arm one last time, she was gone. I wanted to die. I felt so queasy and dizzy that I wanted a hole to open up in the middle of the floor and swallow me. But shortly after
Kendra left, Aiden tossed the sleeve aside and motioned to his buddies to go.

They were out the door a moment later. I sat up, counted to ten, and left my chair to hurry over to the counter to retrieve the sleeve before someone either used it or tossed it in the trash.
Sure enough, Kendra’s name and phone number were written in curly script across the middle.

I shut my eyes and held the small bit of cardboard to my chest, so relieved he’d tossed it and any interest in her aside. “Did you need something?” I heard, and my eyes flew
open. The barista was leaning over the counter looking at me. She was close enough so that her deathdate read clearly: 3-30-2070. “No,” I said quickly, feeling my mouth lift into a
jubilant smile. “Thanks, though. I was just leaving.”

The next couple of days passed in a bit of a blur. Stubby and I didn’t talk again about warning Payton, but that didn’t mean we were both happy about how we’d
left it. I’d stayed up almost the whole night before trying to come up with a better idea than the birthday card, but nothing came from all that thinking. By Tuesday morning, I decided to let
it alone and hope we’d done enough.

As of Wednesday, there were no updates in the Tevon Tibbolt case, and there was no story about a car accident involving Payton Wyly or about her sudden death. I called Stubs the minute the news
was over. “I think we did it!” I said the second he answered. “Nothing on the news about Payton.”

“I know! I saw it too, and I think you’re right! We saved her!” But then he seemed to sober as he added, “We should go to the next Jupiter football game, you know, to
make sure she’s okay. I’ll look online and see who they’re playing, but it’s probably going to be one of Grand Haven’s teams, and since they played us last week,
it’ll be a home game for them. I’ll ask Mom if I can have the van for the night.”

“Awesome. I’m in,” I said. I was tingly with relief. I couldn’t believe we’d actually changed Payton’s numbers—I wanted to go to the game to see it for
myself. And of course there’d be the added bonus of seeing Aiden again.

Donny called me later on that night to let me know he hadn’t heard anything more from the feds, which he thought might be good news, and sure enough, on Thursday when I rode up into my
driveway, the familiar black sedan wasn’t behind me, and it wasn’t parked on the street, either.

Even Ma seemed to be doing better. She was given a few shifts at the Drug Mart, and she’d gotten through them okay, but I was still a little worried about her drinking on the job. I knew
she was sneaking some liquor into her water bottle, and I was afraid her manager would find out.

Still, it was better than having her sit home and drink alone all day. Her job seemed to be giving her some confidence, and when I came in through the door on Thursday after hanging out at
Stubby’s for the afternoon, I found her in the kitchen cooking us dinner. “I’m making stir-fry!” she announced proudly.

“Awesome!” I said, feeling that bubble of hope rise in my chest. I had good news to share, too. “I got a hundred on my U.S. History exam.”

Ma’s face blossomed into a beautiful smile, and she reached out to wrap me in her arms and hug me fiercely. It was the safest I’d felt in a long, long time.

After letting go of me she said, “Let’s eat in the living room.”

We arranged two TV trays in front of the couch and, after loading up our plates, sat down together. Ma flipped on the TV for the news.

The weatherman came on and waved his hand at the area map to show us that a cold front was moving in over the weekend, bringing rain and hail with it. “We’ll have to turn the heat
on,” Ma said, her eyes glued to screen.

I ate my dinner happily while we sat together. I thought the stir-fry tasted even better than her spaghetti. I was so lost in thought about how good she was doing that I was hardly listening
when the anchorwoman said, “Jupiter police are still puzzled over a missing teen who hasn’t been seen since yesterday afternoon. Payton Wyly was last seen on Wednesday around three
P
.
M
. when her mother and father handed her the keys to a new car for her birthday.” My head snapped up and I dropped my fork. It clanged loudly
against the plate, and Ma startled.

“The young teen’s car was found only an hour after her parents contacted police, about ten
P
.
M
. last evening, parked at the side of
the road near Westcott and Terrace Lake,” the anchorwoman continued. “The driver’s side door was open, the engine was still running, and there was no sign of the missing girl. If
you’ve seen Payton or have any information on her whereabouts, police are asking that you contact a special tip-line they’ve set up, and that number is…”

I was breathing so hard that I was losing oxygen, and the room was starting to spin. I heard Ma calling my name, but my eyes were riveted to the screen, where a picture of Payton Wyly smiled out
at me. On her forehead was the same set of numbers I’d seen at the Jupiter game.

“Maddie!” Ma yelled, and I realized she was tugging on my arm. “What is it?”

I shook my head to clear it, and did my best to focus on Ma, but I was way too upset to hide it.

“Do you know that girl?” Ma asked, pointing to the TV. And then she turned back to me and her eyes went wide. “Do you know what’s happened to her?” I knew she meant
to say,
Do you know if she’s dead?

I shook my head again. Donny’s warning came back to me, and I realized that Stubby and I had just involved ourselves in what might be another murder. If the FBI found that birthday card
with its cryptic message…

“Maddie,” Ma said again, cupping my chin with her hand and looking me in the eye. “Tell me. What’s gotten you so upset about that girl?”

I had to move Ma’s attention off Payton until I could talk to Stubby and figure out what to do. “It’s not the girl,” I told her. “It’s…I forgot to bring
home my algebra book, and I’ve got a big math assignment due tomorrow. Would it be cool if I went over to Stubby’s to borrow his?”

Ma blinked and let go of my chin. I didn’t think she believed me, but after a long pause, she didn’t push for a confession. “Finish a little more of your dinner first,”
she said with a frown. “And remember tomorrow is garbage day, so put out the bin before you head over to Stubby’s.”

A few minutes later I was pedaling hard toward Stubby’s house when I rounded the corner to his street and almost immediately had to slam on the brakes. There was a familiar black sedan
parked in front of his home.

“Damn it!” I whispered. Had Wallace and Faraday found our birthday card at Payton’s? Had they already traced it back to Stubby? We’d been careful to handle the card and
the envelope using only our sleeves, but what if Stubby had somehow touched it and left a fingerprint?

I squinted down the street. Faraday and Wallace were still in the car. What they were waiting for I didn’t know, but I didn’t want them to look in the rearview mirror and see me, so
I hustled up the driveway next to me and hid in the shadows. Taking a huge risk, I pulled out my cell and called Stubby.

“Hey,” he said jovially. “I was about to text you. My mom said I can have the car for the game tomorrow night.”

I sucked in a breath. He didn’t know. “Stubs…” I said, but my voice cracked.

“Mads?” Stubby said, alarmed. “Are you okay? What happened?”

I swallowed hard. “It’s Payton.”

I heard Stubby suck in a breath. “Was she…was she in an accident?”

I closed my eyes. “No, buddy. It’s way worse. She’s missing.”

Stubby sucked in another breath. “How do you know?”

“It was on the news tonight. They found her car late last night, but no sign of her.” I hesitated, unsure how to break it to him, but he’d hear about it soon enough.
“They showed a picture of her on the news. Her deathdate didn’t change, Stubs. Payton died yesterday.”

My best friend was silent for so long that I thought my phone had cut out, but then I heard him sniffle. “Oh, honey, I’m so, so sorry,” I told him. I wanted nothing more than
to go straight to his house to give him a hug. I needed one as much as I suspected he did.

“You’re sure?” he asked after a moment, his voice thick with sorrow.

“Yeah. I’m sure.” My gaze drifted back to the sedan parked in front of his home. “Listen,” I said. “I have something else to tell you—”

“Where are you?” he asked suddenly. I thought he might’ve heard the wind blowing through the phone.

“I’m down the street from your house.”

“Are you coming over?”

I didn’t know what to say. The feds would see me, but then I realized that wasn’t so abnormal. They already knew that Stubby and I were friends. I was about to tell him yes when the
sedan’s brake lights went off, and Faraday and Wallace started to get out.

“Stubby!” I hissed.

“What? What?”

“Listen to me! The feds are in front of your house! They’re on their way to your door!”

“Oh, man!” Stubby cried, and I thought he might be on the verge of panic. “Maddie, what do we do?”

“I don’t know!” I whispered. “Listen, they probably found the card. Maybe…”

At that moment I heard Stubby’s doorbell ring through the phone. Wallace and Faraday were standing on the doorstep. In the background I heard Mrs. Schroder call to Stubby to see who was at
the door, and I cringed. “I gotta go,” he said meekly.

“I’ll call my uncle!” I promised. “Don’t say anything to them until they tell you why they’re there!”

The line was silent and I called out to Stubs, but then I heard a beep and realized he’d already hung up.

Next, I dialed Donny, ready to confess to him what we’d done, but I got his voice mail. “Why don’t you
ever
answer my call?!” I snapped when the voice mail kicked
in. I took a deep breath and left him an urgent message to call me back. Then I waited in the dark, watching Stubby’s house for a long time. At last the door opened and the agents came
out.

I stared at my phone display anxiously, and as their car was pulling away, Stubby called me. “I think it’ll be okay,” he said.

“What happened?”

“They didn’t ask about Payton. They just wanted me to go over your alibi again for the day Tevon disappeared. Was I sure we were together? What time did you leave my house?
What’d I get on the chem test? That kind of stuff.”