CHAPTER 33

MAGGIE HOPED HER SMILE looked genuine. A smile can open doors, right? Well hopefully it would open Hudson enough to find out if he was involved in that fight.

Hudson was still grinning when he sat next to Pancake, directly across from her. He whipped out his sandwich, bowed his head for a few moments, and took a mammoth bite.

Maggie studied Hudson’s face, trying not to look obvious. If he’d been jumped by seven guys, wouldn’t there be some kind of bruising? An eye half-swollen shut?

“What?” Hudson wiped his chin. “Have I got food on my face or something?”

Busted. Her face got warm instantly. “No . . . I . . . uh . . .”

“It was the gargantuan bite you took,” Pancake said. “Kinda scary.”

“Oh.” Hudson eyed the gaping hole in his sandwich. “Sorry.”

Maggie waved him off. She had to get him talking. Get him to lower his guard a bit. “So, were you named after the river, or the car?”

Hudson smiled. “Not many realize Hudson was a car brand.”

“So you’re named after a car?”

He opened a plastic bag loaded with cookies. “I didn’t say that.”

“So it’s the river.”

Hudson shook his head. “I didn’t say that either. Actually I’m named after a famous missionary to China —Hudson Taylor.”

Named after a missionary? Who does that? Maybe his parents were beyond the everyday Christian sort and were some kind of wacko religious fanatics. Weren’t those kinds of people in the news all the time? Maybe Hudson would do crazy things too. Like bring a gun to school.

“You think it’s weird,” Hudson said.

Okay. So he was good at reading faces. “No, not at all. My parents almost named me Billie Graham Baldocchi.”

Pancake busted out laughing. Hudson smiled too. Good. He could take a little ribbing. Time to probe a little more while his guard was down.

“So tell me more about you, Hudson.”

He angled a cookie into his mouth. “Like what?”

“Where did you come from?”

He held up both hands. “Well, gee, Maggie, better ask your parents about that.”

She kicked him under the table. “You were a homeschooler. How’d you end up at a public school?”

Hudson swallowed. “We moved here from Burlington, a little town north of Boston. My dad worked for Northrop Grumman.”

“The defense contractor?”

“They do a lot of other things, but yeah. Got transferred to one of the Rolling Meadows locations.”

“That’s cool,” Pancake said. “Does he design weapons?”

Hudson shook his head. “Cybersecurity was his thing. But there was a massive downsizing, and he got squeezed out not long after we moved. Now he’s working a couple of small jobs to make ends meet. My mom had to get a job too. Which, to answer your question” —he looked directly at Maggie —“is why I’m here.”

Okay, so he came from a family that was heavily invested in the military —and was given a raw deal by the government. Religious fanatics too. That fit with a potentially scary profile. “Do you resent having to go to public school?”

Hudson looked like he was thinking about that for a moment. “No. Not really.”

Not exactly the answer she expected, but he seemed genuine enough. Maybe he was just good at masking his feelings. “So your dad . . . is he into guns and stuff?”

Hudson angled his head like he was trying to figure her out.

It was a ridiculous question to ask someone you hardly knew. Stupid.

“Just because he worked for a military contractor doesn’t mean he’s into guns.”

Maggie cringed inside. But he didn’t really answer her question, did he?

They ate in a totally awkward silence. Maggie stared at her shoes. Wanted them to take her away. Wanted to find out who Robin Hood was and forget all about Hudson.

“I saw that bogus site last night,” Hudson said, just loud enough for her to hear. “For the very first time.”

Maggie tensed. Glanced at Pancake.

He held up one hand. “I showed him.”

Gee, thanks, Pancake.

Hudson leaned closer. “Before then I didn’t know those idiots were teasing you about the high-tops. Honest.”

He looked like he was telling the truth.

“I meant what I said yesterday. I like the shoes. Really. They’re classic.”

She nodded. “They’re really special to me.” And maybe someday she’d tell him why. Maybe.

“What else do you want to know?” Hudson smiled. Like he was trying to smooth things over. “I have a younger sister. I don’t play video games much —but not because I don’t like them. I love chocolate milk —but only the good stuff.” He shrugged. “What else?”

Maggie shook her head. “You’ve told me plenty.” She wished she could drop the whole thing. But how cowardly would that be? This was about protecting everyone in the school. “Can I ask your opinion on something?”

He tore open a bag of chips. “Shoot.”

“This big fight we heard about. Any idea who was involved?”

Hudson paused like he was really thinking that one over. “I’m still kind of new here. You’d probably have a better idea than I would.”

That sounded like a diversionary tactic. “Seven against one. Pretty scary for that one, don’t you think?”

Hudson seemed really interested in his bag of chips. “I’ll bet.”

And I’ll bet you know more than you’re saying. But he obviously wasn’t going to give her a thing, and she didn’t want to step over the line and give herself away. Time to switch things up. “How about you, Pancake? Best guess. Who were the seven?”

Pancake flattened his hand on his chest. “How would I know?” His eyes darted to Zach Wolfe’s table for a millisecond.

Thank you, Pancake. She leaned forward. Kept her voice down. “So you think it was Wolfe and his pack?”

“What?” Pancake’s eyes looked wild. “I didn’t say that.”

“She’s guessing,” Hudson said.

“Am I?” Maggie kept her eyes on Pancake. “Who did the pack jump?”

Pancake pushed his glasses up. “What do I know?”

More than you’re saying. Maggie smiled. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

He glanced at Hudson. “Why is she asking me?”

Hudson’s face was stone. “Great question.” He looked directly at her.

She just smiled back. “Pancake is a bit more willing to talk than you are, Hudson.”

Pancake shook his head. “But I didn’t say a thing about Wolfe.” He looked at Hudson like he was trying to convince him.

She was getting somewhere. “Your eyes did.”

“What?”

Maggie shrugged. “The eyes are the windows to your soul —or is it your mind? I forget. Anyway I’m pretty sure they’ll tell me who Wolfe and his pack jumped too.”

Pancake gave Hudson a desperate look.

“Thanks, Pancake.” He’d just confirmed her suspicions, hadn’t he?

“Actually we should be thanking you,” Hudson said. “For the mind-reading show. Very entertaining.” He rubbed one palm like something was stuck on it. “I gotta wash up before the bell.” He stood and crumpled his lunch bag.

“I’ll join you.” Pancake shouldered his backpack. He looked way too eager.

If Maggie was going to be sure, she needed to do it now. Before Pancake got away and had a chance to pull himself together.

“Hold on,” Maggie said. “You want to know who Pancake named?”

Hudson stopped. “With his eyes?” He shook his head. “I gotta go.”

“How’s this? The guy who got jumped . . .” she paused to glance at Pancake and then back at Hudson.

Still the stone face. “Is?”

Maggie watched Hudson’s eyes. “You.”