"Jamie, stop," said Justin, pushing her away. "We need to talk." Jamie reluctantly leaned away from Justin and settled back into her seat.
They were in Justin's car on Tuesday, during Jamie's lunchbreak. They were parked at the playground and had been making out for the past twenty minutes. Inside the car, without the air conditioning and with the windows rolled up, it had to be at least one hundred and thirty degrees.
Jamie's tank top had been pulled down by Justin's slow hand and her bra was clearly exposed. Justin had taken off his tshirt and was wearing a white wifebeater. His sweat sheened body made the tight fabric cling to his well muscled torso like a second skin.
Even though he had pushed her away because of the heat and their need to talk, his fingers fiddled with her belt buckle, finally managing to unhook it. Jamie did nothing to stop his fingers, which continued to play with her belt.
"We. . ." he began, but was interrupted by an insistent tapping on the window.
Justin opened the door and a man leaned in. He was dressed in a jogging suit and his middle aged beer belly hung out.
"Got the time partner?" asked the man.
Justin mentally fumed. Was the man blind? Couldn't he see what was going on?
"Twelve ten," said Justin, checking his watch.
"Thanks partner," said the man. He stuck his fat head further into the car. "Hey! Aren't you Justin Timberlake?"
"No," said Justin flatly. "I get mistaken for him all the time."
Out of the corner of his eye he could see a red faced Jamie frantically trying to fix her clothing.
"Sure you are! My little girl just loves you! You sure are great!" said the man.
"Thank you," Justin replied civilly.
"Can I have your autograph for my Bonni Fae?"
"Sure," Justin quickly scrawled his name on a napkin and handed it to the man.
"Hey! Looks kinda cozy in there! Mind if I join ya?" said the man, noticing Jamie.
"No! Now get the hell out of here!" said Justin angrily. The man's jovial face turned surly.
"Sorry to take up your precious time," he spat, and jogged off.
"Do people often recognize you?" asked Jamie, once the man was gone.
"Only when I'm trying to hide," replied Justin, raking a hand through his curly hair. He turned to her and gave her a prize-winning smile. "Where were we?"
"You were playing with my belt," Jamie laughed.
"Oh yeah," Justin said, his hands returning to her belt.
What kept him from investigating further was Jamie's small yelp of surprise.
"You lied to that guy! It's twelve thirty! We have to talk before I go back to school!" She quickly zipped her pants and Justin groaned. He was so close.
That afternoon they had a meeting by the curly slide, except for September and Lance. Only Jamie knew where they were.
"Jamie, who do you think the Caretaker is?" he asked.
"I really don't know. In the letter it said that it wasn't one of us and for some reason I believe that."
"Well, let's go through everybody. We'll start with JC," he said.
JC had received his task that morning. The Caretaker wasn't wasting any time.
Translated it read;
JC~Get nipples pierced
JC had refused and everyone was holding their breath.
"JC is smart. And he has a kinky sense of humor. He could have done this. He usually doesn't wear a seatbelt but he was wearing one when he hit that tree. Before the game I saw him and Lulu going through the ice chest. He's also been opposed to the fact that one of us might be the Caretaker."
"Sounds guilty. What would be his motive?"
"Doesn't have one. Let's talk about September. We used to be such good friends but now all she wants to do is hang out with Lance."
"Yeah. When this first started I would have put her at the bottom of the list. But now I'm not so sure. She didn't mind repainting Ponce de Leon. She constructed the set that collapsed on me. I was the one who told her and Lance to leave but she might have put that idea in my head when she said that she felt obligated to visit. She's always been the odd one out. Never had a boyfriend and stuff. She has motives."
"But you guys are best friends!"
"I'd like to think that but. . .we've been fighting a lot lately. This is horrible. Thinking about your friends this way."
"We have to do it," Justin reminded her.
"What about Lance?"
"I do suspect him. It's nothing that he's done. Just the way he is. Thoughtful, quiet, polite," Justin shuddered.
"And that makes him suspicious?" Justin shrugged his shoulders.
"He was around the ice chest before the game. He was the one who stocked it."
"He always takes care of our drinks," Jamie reminded him.
"He insisted on sampling the lemonade before I drank it. He warned me to leave it alone. He warned that it might be one of us. Let's move on to Mariette."
"She's my oldest friend and rival. She enjoyed what the Caretaker told her to do. She went above and beyond the call of duty. We haven't really been talking much. She's been spending a lot of time with JC. She's been sick."
"Just before he hit the tree Mariette refused to get into the car. Did you trust her before this whole thing started?"
"Ninety percent."
"What does that mean?"
"I wouldn't trust her with my life."
"Was she at the game?"
"Yeah. She was wondering around a lot."
"On the field?"
Jamie shrugged. "Probably."
"What does Mariette think of me?"
Jamie smiled.
"She kinda has a thing for you. She loves JC and all but you are so perfect to her. JC has flaws because they live together and she sees a side of him that no one else sees. . ."
"I hope that I never see that side of JC," said Justin shuddering.
"She thinks that you are perfect because she doesn't live with you. But once you asked me out, she shut up about it."
"Well that gives her a motive."
"Yeah, she might resent us."
"Interesting. Which one of us should do Lulu?" asked Justin.
"Have you already done Lulu?" asked Jamie, tickling him.
"That's a secret! Hey!" he yelled when she began poking him in the ribs. "I don't kiss and tell."
"But I need to know for the sake of the investigation!" she protested.
Even though she was laughing, Justin could tell that the thought of him and Lulu bothered her.
"Don't worry. There's nothing to tell. I wouldn't do that to Joey, even if they were on and off."
Jamie appeared satisfied with his answer.
"I think that, despite the fact that you were driving, it was mainly her fault. Maybe she did it so that in case the truth came out this was set up. It would make us do something to implicate us further." Jamie sat pensively for a moment.
"What is it?" asked Justin, noticing how she suddenly became quiet.
"Something that Lulu said to me once. It kind of makes me think of the Caretaker. I can't remember! It's there but it won't come out."
"It'll come out eventually."
"Yeah. As the guillotine blade is falling on my neck. Let's move on. Did you check Chris and Tripetta's window?"
"JC did. Sort of. He went by their street with binoculars. He said it didn't look like the window had been replaced. There were no putty stains on the glass. But he did learn that Tripetta wears black thong underwear." Jamie made a face and he laughed. Justin checked his watch.
"I better get you back to school," he said. "We aren't very good detectives."
"They all sound guilty. Did you ever read that book Murder on the Orient Express? What if it's all of them?"
"Then we'd better leave the country." Justin didn't really consider the possibility. But the question did pose another idea.
I am not one of you.
That wouldn't be a lie if the Caretaker were, say, two of them.
Sammy sat across from Joey. She was determined to make their plan work after he had hurt them so badly. It was the least that they could do.
Joey thought that Sammy looked amazing. She had on black jeans and a red tank top. Her fiery red hair was pulled up into a ponytail, leaving her pale neck and shoulders exposed.
They had a lunch date. Joey had made it the previous night after he received a call from Sasha.
*FLASHBACK*
*Ring! Ring!*
Joey grabbed the phone before it rang again.
"Hello?"
"Hey!" said a sexy voice.
"Hey babe," Joey said, in an equally sexy voice.
"Don't babe me!" Sasha continued. She looked at her sister who had her hand clapped over her mouth, trying not to laugh. "You asked my sister out!"
Joey felt momentarily guilty. He didn't know what to say. He just wasn't a one woman man.
"I. . .I. . ." he stuttered.
Sasha giggled.
"Oh! I'm not mad silly! I was just playing. I don't mind sharing."
Joey breathed a sigh of relief.
"But Sammy doesn't know that you're seeing me too. So keep it low OK?"
"Yeah," said Joey thankfully. "I'll call back. I have to ask your sister something anyway."
Sasha laughed again.
"Goodnight Joey."
They each hung up their respective phones.
"Pleasant nightmares," Sasha whispered to the phone.
*END FLASHBACK*
Over lunch Joey and Sammy made small talk. Sammy had a soft quiet voice. Joey found it oddly soothing.
"How bout we get out of here?" asked Joey, leaning across the table.
"Sure," agreed Sammy.
Joey threw some bills onto the table and they left. Joey hadn't kissed Sammy yet and he wondered if he did, if he would scare her.
Joey pulled into her apartment complex's parking garage. He was debating with himself whether or not he was going to make a move when Sammy turned to him and practically jumped into his lap.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips down to hers. She kissed him deep and hard. When they finally parted they were both out of breath.
"Wow," said Joey.
"Yeah," said Sammy, resting her forehead against his.
She leaned in and kissed him again. Their second kiss lasted even longer than their first.
"I had a great time," said Sammy shyly.
"Me too," replied Joey. "I'll call you."
"You better. Bye," she said, getting out of the car and jogging into the apartment.
"Wow," Joey said to himself. "You can never tell with the shy ones." He smiled as he drove away.
After school everyone met at the curly slide. Justin's venture to the paper had proved futile. They wouldn't give out any information unless the ads were harassing anyone personally. Justin couldn't tell them the truth. That would be just as bad as telling the police.
"Chances are a different person took the ads each time. They get thousands of those ads a day, probably," JC said, leaning back into Mariette's arms.
"But how many are in code?" Justin persisted.
"Half the ads are totally incomprehensible to me!" JC said.
"Aren't you even a little scared?" asked Jamie.
JC gave her a cynical smile.
"I'm sleeping with my nightlight on."
"Why couldn't you just have gotten your nipples pierced?" Tripetta bitched. JC eyed her.
"I like that skirt. It goes well with the black thong underwear," JC said snidely.
"I'm not wearing any underwear," Tripetta shot back.
"Where's September?" asked Lulu.
"She's in hiding," said Jamie.
"Yeah. Down. . .wherever she went," Mariette nodded. Jamie looked at her sharply.
"How did you know she went down?"
"I didn't!" Mariette snapped. "I just said down. I could have said up!"
"Naples isn't exactly south," JC said. "More southwest." Jamie's eyes grew wide.
"How did you know that she was in Naples?"
"Wasn't I supposed to know?" JC looked startled. "Mariette said. . ."
"Mariette?"
"I was talking to September's mother. Big deal," she shrugged.
"Did anybody else know where September and Lance are?" Nobody answered.
"Justin give me your cell phone!" Jamie said frantically. Justin handed her the phone and she quickly dialed the number and waited.
Everyone watched as Jamie's face went from worry to dread. She shook her head.
"They left," she said.
A car screeched to a halt near the playground. Lance jumped out of the car and ran over to them.
"Please tell me that September is here!" he shouted.
"Her grandmother said that you left this morning!" Jamie said. Lance shook his head.
"I left! September is gone! I woke up and she wasn't there!"
"Maybe she. . ." Tripetta began. Lance shook his head sadly.
"No! She's gone!"
