“Why is it so crowded?” Cal asks. I blink, pulling my thoughts back to the present, and realize he’s right. The sidewalk has gotten progressively more congested, to the point that we suddenly find ourselves stuck behind a knot of people.
Ivy cranes her neck. “Is that a news camera?” she asks.
I’m the only one tall enough to see over the crowd. As I take in the scene in front of us, I catch sight of the reporter we saw on TV this morning at Garrett’s. He looks like he’s doing some kind of person-on-the-street interview, microphone extended toward a guy in a Patriots baseball cap. “It’s what’s-his-name—Dave something?” I say. “That reporter you know.”
“Dale Hawkins?” Ivy freezes, eyes wide. “Oh no. We need to leave.”
As soon as she says the words, a bunch of things happen one after the other. The people in front of us move away, the interview concludes, and Dale Hawkins’s gaze shifts from the guy in the Patriots hat, to the camera, and then to the crowd. Where it lands directly on Ivy.
Recognition dawns on his face, and Ivy doesn’t hesitate another second. She spins on her heel and takes off in the opposite direction, ponytail flying.
“Hey!” Dale Hawkins calls. Cal starts running after Ivy, looking over his shoulder the whole way, and I try to melt into the background. Dale strides forward a few steps, the camera guy in tow, but people are milling around too much for him to get very far before Ivy and Cal disappear around a corner. I duck behind a streetlight that does nothing to hide me, probably looking even more ridiculous than Cal did this morning, as Dale gazes after them.
“I know that girl,” he tells his camera guy. Oh hell.
He doesn’t spare a glance for me, though. Within minutes he’s interviewing an old woman, and another small crowd of pedestrians gather around him. “In my day, this kind of thing didn’t happen,” the woman says loudly.
The urge to go home hits me again, harder than ever. What did Ivy say I had this morning? A sore throat? Sure, that’ll work. I pull out my phone to find Carmen’s last text, so I can tell her I’ve been home sick all day. Carmen is one of those social connector types who knows everyone; within half an hour, my story will be set. Ivy and Cal will understand. Maybe they can figure out how to disappear from this mess, too.
Besides, it’s not like the three of us are some kind of team. Not anymore. We don’t owe one another anything.
Then a message from Ivy flashes across my screen. We’re back at the doughnut place.
Before I can figure out how to explain that I’m cutting my losses and going home, she adds, I’m going to show Cal what we found at the café. I grimace, because there’s no way that’ll go well, as Ivy adds, I need to move things along in case Dale Hawkins recognized me.
I briefly debate telling her that he definitely did. But that’ll freak her out, and for what? The guy already turned his attention someplace else. Instead, I type, I gotta bail. Then I delete it, because that’s too abrupt even for me.
I need to leave…No. Not much better.
Look, I’m sorry, but…
With a sigh, I give up and stuff my phone back into my pocket. The least I can do is tell them in person.
* * *
—
I get to Crave Doughnuts just as Ivy’s about to go all-in.
She and Cal are sitting side by side in a booth, a weird quirk of theirs that I’ve never understood. Why sit next to somebody when there’s only two of you? I drop down across from them and she’s saying, “So, Cal,” her voice barely above a whisper, even though the place is deserted except for the cashier who served us before. “I should preface this by saying that I realize this was a sneaky thing to do and also, technically, illegal. But I think we should look through it with an open mind in case there’s any information that could help us understand this mess.”
“Huh?” Cal’s face is a total blank, and I don’t blame him. I know what Ivy’s talking about, and I still found that confusing.
She reaches into her bag and pulls out a small black notebook with the words Day Planner embossed in gold on the front. “We took this from Ms. Jamison’s bag in the café,” she says. “And I think we should see what’s in here.”
“You did what?” Cal blinks as she opens the planner. “Hold up. Is that…did you…are you guys the ones who took her bag at the café?”
“Temporarily,” Ivy says, giving him a wary look. He seems more shell-shocked than angry, which is an improvement over the train.