Killer Ambition - [12]

“When did you last see Brian?”

“The last time I saw him was when he met us at Starbucks after school on Wednesday.”

“And there was nothing unusual about Hayley when you left her on Friday morning?”

“Yeah. I mean, no. She didn’t tell me…I mean, I didn’t know of anything wrong.”

Uh-uh. That last answer was a big clam. Something unusual had gone down, and whatever it was had her plenty worried. But short of holding her upside down and shaking her by her heels, we had no way of making her tell us. She wasn’t worried enough to spill the beans. Not yet, anyway.

6

I quizzed Mackenzie a little while longer about Hayley’s habits and haunts, got the names of the girls in their crowd, but learned nothing else of any great moment. Then we got the principal to pull his records on Hayley, Mackenzie, and the rest of the crowd. There probably wasn’t much of use to us there, but you never know. And I have yet to regret collecting too much information.

“Let’s reconnoiter,” Bailey said.

“What?”

“Let’s go sit in the car, blast the AC, and figure out what’s next.”

My sticky blouse and wet hair made that sound like a capital idea. “Reconnoitering it is,” I said.

Bailey cranked up the AC and I lifted my hair and held my head near the vent to catch the cool air. Mackenzie’s demeanor had set off alarm bells in my head. From what I could see, Hayley’s disappearance was no shock to her. But if I was right about that, and Hayley’s disappearance was planned, then something must’ve happened that wasn’t part of the plan. Or at least she was afraid that it had. “Maybe it’s time to let the captain call the press. After all, it’s been more than twelve hours since Russell delivered the ransom money. Don’t you think the kidnapper should’ve released her by now?”

Bailey rubbed her temples. It was a big decision. If we didn’t go public with the story, we might miss out on a citizen sighting that could save her life, but if we did, it might just spook the kidnapper into killing Hayley.

“Let’s take the middle step: report her missing without saying anything about a kidnapping,” Bailey said. “Mackenzie already knows that much anyway, so it’s probably long since been Facebooked and tweeted all over their school.”

“Yeah, that way, our kidnapper might believe Russell hasn’t told anyone, and he’ll feel safe enough to release her. I agree, let’s do it.”

Given the circumstances, it seemed the best alternative. “You let the parents know,” Bailey said as she pulled out her cell phone. I got through to both Russell and Raynie within seconds and both quickly gave their approval. “Whatever it takes,” Raynie said. “I guess so, yeah,” Russell said. When I finished, Bailey was still on the phone, so I leafed through the school records.

When Bailey ended the call, I suggested we try contacting Brian. She hit the number and put the phone to her ear. I could hear it go to voice mail. “Hi, you’ve reached Brian, leave me a message, I’ll getcha back. Beep.”

Bailey left a message telling him to call.

“So maybe they did run off together?” I asked.

Bailey frowned. “It’d be nice, wouldn’t it? I mean, not nice, necessarily-”

“No, but shaking down your own father is a lot nicer than being kidnapped, assaulted, and maybe killed.” Everything’s relative.

Bailey picked up her cell again. “I’m calling in boyfriend Brian’s info, see what we can get on him.”

While she did that, I considered my impression of Hayley. I shared it when Bailey ended her call. “I know it’s a little soon, but I get the feeling that Hayley’s a decent sort.”

Bailey gave me a sidelong glance. “Why? Because she deigned to be nice to Scholarship Girl?”

“And Mackenzie has a job-something none of those kids seems to have…or need.”

“Makes her an unusual choice for a bestie in that crowd-”

“Especially for a major leaguer like Hayley Antonovich,” I said. Bailey nodded. “No, I got to admit, Hayley’s definitely not the spoiled rich kid I expected.”

At least not so far. My ruminations on Hayley were interrupted by the thumping bass of a car stereo that was getting louder and louder. It hit full blast as the car pulled in a few spaces away. The vehicle was a brand-new red Mercedes black-top convertible, and the driver, a boy with Justin Bieber hair who couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old, was rocking out and talking on his iPhone. The song ended and he cut the engine and got out, still talking. “Yo, dude, check it out, you can come with me.” He hit the remote to lock the car and continued as he walked away. “The folks got a house in Virgin Gorda, man. Infinity pool, seven bedrooms, bring the sex box.”

“Gag,” Bailey said.

“Xbox. It’s a video gaming thing.”

Bailey watched him saunter to class. “I know. And I meant gag.”

At that moment the principal came out and headed toward the faculty parking lot. I noticed that lot was filled with Hondas, Toyotas, and Fords. Not a Mercedes or BMW to be found. “Want to hit up a few other friends while we’re here?” I asked.

“Sure. Maybe get some more information on our buddy Brian.”

I got out of the car and called out to the principal. “Mr. Vogel!”