On Monday after lunch, Lisa picked Jennie up saying she had a surprise. The surprise turned out to be a pool party at the Beaumonts’. This time Doug Reed, Jerry, and a dozen other kids had been invited. What Jennie didn’t know until she walked in was that the kids were throwing a party for her.
“Jerry and I wanted to do something to celebrate being alive. And to thank you. If it hadn’t been for you I’d be dead and Jerry would be in jail.” Allison got choked up and misty-eyed, hugging her like a long-lost friend.
“This really isn’t necessary,” Jennie murmured.
Allison had no sooner released her when Jerry hung his arm across her shoulders. “I know you don’t like bein’ fussed over, Jen,” he drawled, “but humor us. Allison’s counselor thought it was a good idea. I think she called it ‘closure.’” Jerry lived in the country and looked it. From his black Stetson to his silver belt buckle and western boots. He even drove a truck.
Jennie slipped an arm around his waist and hugged him back. “All right, just don’t make too big a deal out of it, okay?”
The group cheered Jennie as she joined them—so much for not making a big deal. They talked about her hero status for the next half hour, then broke up to eat a dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs. Jennie decorated her plain burger with tomatoes, lettuce, onion, relish, mayo, and catsup, helped herself to some potato salad and Jell-O, then looked around for a place to sit. Doug appeared at her side. “You didn’t tell me you were the town hero,” he said in a tone Jennie might have thought sarcastic if it hadn’t been for the smile on his face.
“It’s no big deal. They shouldn’t be making such a fuss. Besides, what was I supposed to do? Shake your hand and say, ‘Hi there, McGrady’s the name, fighting crime is my game’?” She grimaced at the image.
Doug laughed. His eyes didn’t. “Imagine that. A regular Nancy Drew living right across the street. I guess I’ll have to watch my step.”
Jennie looked him full in the eye and in a voice that half teased and half challenged said, “I guess you will.” Doug broke eye contact first and glanced over his shoulder. Jennie followed his gaze. She spotted B.J. at the far end of the pool watching them. “Look, Jennie, I know Allison and B.J. told you about me. But I’ve turned things around. I don’t want no trouble, okay?”
The fact that he found her the least bit threatening intrigued Jennie. She didn’t know how to answer. Instead of reassuring him that she didn’t plan on making trouble for him, she lowered her voice and gave her best tough cop impersonation. “I’ll make a deal with you, kid. Keep your nose clean and I won’t have to take you in.”
Going back to her true voice, she added, “In the meantime I think I’d better go straighten out B.J. Judging from the look on her face, she thinks you and I have a thing going. I wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea.”
Doug muttered something Jennie didn’t understand, then headed for the food table.
“What’s wrong, B.J.?” Jennie asked, setting her plastic plate on the glass table top. “You look upset.”
B.J. shifted her gaze from Doug to Jennie. “You don’t like Doug, do you?”
“What?” B.J.’s remark caught her off guard.
“You heard me. You can be so critical and … judgmental.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never said I didn’t like Doug. I hardly know him. Did he tell you that?”
B.J. nodded. “At first I thought it was because he was interested in you. He kept asking all these questions. I was all ready to be jealous. But when I saw you talking to him just now, I figured it out. You two don’t like each other.”
“B.J., that’s not true. I’m not sure I trust him, but I don’t dislike him.” She started to take a bite out of her hamburger.
“Jennie?” Allison interrupted, holding out her cell phone. “It’s Rocky.”
Jennie sighed, looked longingly at the burger she had yet to taste, and set it down.
B.J. gave her an appraising look. “You and he got something going?”
Jennie grinned as she scrambled to her feet. “He’s a friend, B.J. Don’t go getting any ideas.”
“So why’s he calling you here?”
“I asked him to check on something for me. To be honest I didn’t think he’d do it. Mom must have told him where to find me.”
Jennie took the phone into the kitchen for privacy. “Hi. Did you change your mind?” she asked.
Instead of answering her question he asked one of his own. “How well do you know this Douglas Reed, Jennie?”
“Not very. He and his mom moved in a few of days ago. I met him yesterday. Why?”
“I don’t know what tipped you off, but you were right. The kid’s got a rap sheet as long as your arm. Drugs, auto theft, armed robbery, you name it. Spent the last year in a correctional facility. According to his probation officer he’s been clean since his release, but guys like that don’t stay clean very long.”
Jennie let out a low whistle. She knew he’d been in trouble, but not that much.
“I don’t know what started this little investigation of yours,” Rocky added, “but I want you to stay away from him. He’s bad news.”
Stunned, Jennie thanked Rocky for the information and hung up. Bad news. No kidding. Now all she had to do was figure out what to do about it. Should she tell B.J. what she’d learned or wait and see if Doug really had changed?
“What’s wrong?” B.J. asked. She, Allison, Lisa, and Jerry had apparently followed Jennie inside. “You said you’d asked Rocky to check something out. It was Doug, wasn’t it? You asked him to check out my boyfriend.”
“B.J., I …” It would break B.J.’s heart to know what she’d discovered, but better that than becoming involved too deeply with a criminal. Jennie repeated what Rocky had said.
B.J. did not take it well. With fists clenched, she stepped toward Jennie. “I should deck you. I can’t believe you’d stoop so low. I thought you were my friend.”
“B.J. don’t,” Allison and Lisa shouted at the same time. Jennie took a step back and collided with a chair. She fell backward, barely escaping B.J.’s right hook.
Before B.J. could attack again, Doug grabbed her from behind. Jennie hadn’t seen him come in, but from the look on his face, he’d heard everything. “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me, B.J. Stay out of it.” Doug set B.J. aside, then glared down at Jennie. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t have to. The hatred in his eyes spoke volumes. He turned abruptly, stalked out the front door, and slammed it behind him. A few seconds later the tires of his car squealed down the drive.
Jennie scrambled to her feet. “B.J., I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I didn’t mean for you to be hurt. But Rocky said—”
“I don’t care what Rocky said!” B.J. yelled. “I’m not upset about Doug’s past. I knew all about that. He told me. It’s you. What gives you the right to interfere in people’s lives?”
“Stop it!” Allison shouted.
Lisa hurried to Jennie’s side and grasped her arm. “We’d better go.”
Jennie honestly didn’t know what to do or say. Allison, B.J., and Jerry were all looking at her as if she’d grown a set of horns. I’m not the bad guy here, she wanted to say, but didn’t. Apparently they all thought differently.
“I don’t get it,” Jennie said, sliding into the passenger seat of Lisa’s Taurus. She buckled her seat belt. “Why are they so upset with me?”
Lisa ground the key in the ignition. When the car roared to life she slipped it into gear and gunned it. “Why do you think?”
Oh, great, Lisa was mad at her too. Jennie frowned, thinking back on the situation. “Are you saying I should have played dumb and let B.J. go on dating a known felon?”
“I know you’re into solving crimes, Jennie, but you went too far this time. Doug hasn’t done anything wrong since we’ve known him. Doug and B.J. are going together. He’s a friend of Jerry’s. Do you honestly think Jerry would let B.J. meet someone he didn’t trust?”
Jennie braced herself as Lisa slammed on her brakes at a red light. “We don’t know that he hasn’t committed a crime since he’s been out. I saw him sneaking into his house the first night we were home. Maybe Jerry doesn’t know everything Doug was into.”
“Was. That’s the operative word here, Jen. As in the past. Doug is trying to start over. Sneaking into his own house doesn’t make him a criminal. You and I have done that. He and his mom moved so he could have a fresh start in a new neighborhood and school. You pretty much ruined it for him.”
“We all knew he’d been in trouble. Since his past wasn’t a secret, how could I ruin it? Seems to me he messed up his own life by getting into trouble in the first place.”
Lisa opened her mouth, then closed it again while she maneuvered the car into a left-hand-turn lane. She waited until she’d executed the turn before speaking again. “Jerry told Allison and me that the cops patrolling Doug’s neighborhood—one especially—had been giving him a really bad time. Harassed him constantly. Doug and his mom moved so he could get away from the guy. He still has a record, of course, but the police here don’t know him—at least they didn’t until now.”
Jennie leaned her head against the seat. “The police don’t hassle people without a reason.” Even as she jumped to the officer’s defense Jennie’s own inner voice condemned her. You brought in the police, McGrady. They’ll be watching every move he makes, just waiting for him to make a mistake.
Lisa dropped Jennie off at home and left without even saying goodbye. It hurt having Lisa angry with her. But her hunches about Doug had been right on. He was not the kind of guy B.J. should be associating with.
On the other hand, maybe B.J. had been right in calling her critical and judgmental. She did have high standards. Did she expect too much of people? Okay, maybe she had gone too far in calling Rocky. If Doug had changed, and really was trying to start over, Jennie owed him an apology. The only way to know for sure would be to talk to him.
Doug’s car, a dark green, older model Cutlass, was parked in his driveway. Jennie made an abrupt turn in front of her porch, crossed the street, and hurried up the sidewalk to Doug’s house. Everything was out in the open now. They could be honest with each other. If he really wanted to make amends, Jennie would do whatever she could to help him.
She rang the doorbell three times before anyone answered. The woman she’d seen the day before appeared in the same blue bathrobe, the same tangle of brown, uncombed hair. Too late, Jennie remembered what Mom had said about Doug’s mother being a nurse and working nights. “Oh, Mrs. Reed, I forgot. I’m sorry if I woke you. I was looking for Doug.”
Mrs. Reed shook her head as though she had no idea what Jennie was talking about. She ran a hand through her hair and stifled a yawn. “’Scuse me,” she mumbled. “I work nights this month.” Then rubbing her eyes, she added, “Doug must not be home.” Then in an annoyed tone muttered, “If you find him, tell him he’d better get home and do his chores.”
Mrs. Reed closed the door before Jennie could respond. Jennie glanced up and down the street, thinking Doug might be roller-blading. When she didn’t see him, she headed back home. Strange. His car was there. Could he be avoiding her?
Jennie couldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to talk to her. Vowing to try again later, she crossed the street and paused to talk to Nick and Hannah, who were riding bikes on the sidewalk in front of the Stuarts’ house—not an easy task with a St. Bernard puppy bouncing around in front of them.
She was just climbing up the steps to the porch when an overwhelming sense of uneasiness ripped into her with the intensity of a lightning bolt. She’d felt it before. Each time it precipitated something terrible.
Jennie glanced back at Doug’s house. The blinds in the second-story window moved. At least she thought they had. Would Doug be angry enough to hurt her? Maybe he was up there right now, watching her, taking aim, getting ready to shoot.
Jennie hurried inside and closed the door, shutting out the deadly thought.