THE BAD GUY might have been cute, but he was pretty much a jerk. He refused to tell the cops where Lav was unless they let him go. And I’d spent enough time living with a cop—aka Officer Mom—to know that wasn’t going to happen.
“Don’t worry, kids,” the female officer told us as her partner wrestled the handcuffed guy toward the street. “We’ll get him to talk.”
I traded a worried look with Caitlyn. Our visions had gotten us this far, but now what?
Just then a second pair of officers arrived. “What’s going on? You need backup?” one of them asked.
“It’s under control.” The female officer nodded toward the perp. “Maybe you can help these kids get back where they belong.” She glanced at Liam. “Apparently they wandered off from their school group at the River Walk.”
Oh, great. Nerd-boy might have helped collar the kidnapper, but did he have to rat us out at the same time?
But whatever. I wasn’t looking forward to the long walk back anyway.
“Actually, could you take the three of us to our cousin’s house?” Caitlyn spoke up. She gestured toward Steve. “He lives in King William. And our mom is probably there, too—she’s a chaperone.”
The cop looked surprised. “I don’t know. I’ll need to talk to an adult before I leave you kids anywhere.”
“Wait, we’re not going back without you,” Abby spoke up.
“Yeah. Safety in numbers, right?” Buzz shrugged. “Principal Zale can’t kill all of us at once.”
I gritted my teeth. Caitlyn and I really needed to talk to Mom about this whole key ring thing. And we wouldn’t be able to do that with half the sixth grade hanging around.
“It’s okay, just go back to the group,” I told my friends. “We’ll be there soon.”
“No way.” Brayden was back on his feet by now, only a little scuffed up. “We should all stay together.”
“It’s okay,” Caitlyn told me. “We can all go. It’s fine.”
I wasn’t so sure. But what choice did we have?
Steve pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll call my mom.”
It took a couple more police cars, but we all ended up getting shuttled down to Steve’s house. His family lived in a cute yellow Craftsman cottage on a quiet street. I actually felt a little choked up when I saw it. How many times had I eaten dinner in the oak-floored dining room there over the past few years? How many holidays and Sunday afternoons had I spent in the cozy front room with my family? I couldn’t even count.
All of that flew out of my mind as soon as I got a load of Mom’s face. Category ten hurricane.
Aunt Cheryl emerged from the house right behind Mom. Steve must have explained the whole deal to her on the phone, because she invited everyone in for sweet tea and cookies. The cops said no thanks, since they were on duty. But soon everyone else was sitting around in the front room chattering about what had just happened.
Mom, Cait, and Steve helped Aunt Cheryl pass out glasses of tea, while I fetched some Band-Aids and helped Brayden patch up a couple of scrapes on his arms and legs. What can I say? I’m all about helping people. Especially cute people with amazing brown eyes . . .
As Mom handed Liam the last glass, she cleared her throat. “I’ve already called Principal Zale and let him know where you are,” she said. “Ms. Church is on her way down here to help me get you all back to the buses.”
Brent groaned. “Are we in trouble?”
“What do you think?” Mom retorted.
Yikes. She sounded pretty riled up. Caitlyn and I called that her scarymama voice.
Aunt Cheryl cleared her throat. “Cassie, Caitlyn, Deidre, come on with me now,” she said. “Let’s see if we can dig up some more cookies for your friends, all right?”
She waggled her eyebrows at us meaningfully. I hopped to my feet.
Steve must have caught his mother’s look, too. “I’ll help,” he said, following the rest of us into the kitchen.
“No need, son,” Aunt Cheryl said. “You stay back and entertain our guests.”
“It’s okay.” Cait glanced over her shoulder at the front room, then lowered her voice. “He knows.”
Aunt Cheryl looked surprised. “Oh?”
“Yeah,” Steve told her. “The twins told me all about—you know.”
“Let’s get out of earshot,” Mom said, heading for the back hall.
Soon we were all shut into the spare bedroom. Steve and I collapsed into the two chairs in there. Aunt Cheryl and Caitlyn perched on the edge of the bed, while Mom paced around like a caged tiger. Only scarier. I didn’t even want to think about how long Cait and I were going to be grounded for this whole stunt . . .
“All right, what’s this about Lavender?” Mom demanded. “What happened to her?”
“We’re not sure,” Caitlyn said. “Cassie and I were off talking to Steve, and when we got back, the others said she went off with some guy.”
“Oh, Lordy.” Aunt Cheryl shook her head. “The boy craziness starts earlier and earlier all the time. It won’t be long until you have two full-fledged teenagers on your hands, Deidre.”
Mom didn’t look amused. “Don’t think we’re not going to discuss y’all sneaking away from the River Walk,” she told us grimly. “But that can wait. Why would someone take Lavender Adams? Did she know this young man?”
“No.” Caitlyn glanced at me. “Um, we think it might have something to do with that key ring.”
“What?” she and Aunt Cheryl said at the same time. Mom looked startled.
“I told them about it,” Steve told his mother. “And that’s not all. I think that guy followed me from here when I went to meet the twins.”
“The same one who took Lavender?” Now Mom looked puzzled. “That seems odd.”
“Not really,” I said. “Steve told us the man who delivered the key ring was worried he might be intercepted. Like someone wanted to grab it before it got to you.”
Cait nodded. “So our kidnapper must be the interceptor, right?”
“Maybe.” Aunt Cheryl looked thoughtful. “But why take your friend?”
“We think he was trying to find out where Mom is,” I said. “Or something like that, anyway. Maybe he even thought he could trade Lav for information about the key ring.”
“Sounds a little farfetched.” Aunt Cheryl glanced at Mom. “But I suppose stranger things have happened, hmm?”
Mom sighed. “Good point. Girls, we need to find Lavender. Have you, er, seen anything that might help?”
“Yes!” Caitlyn answered immediately. “That’s why we went to El Mercado . . .”
As she described her vision, I shot a look toward Steve and Aunt Cheryl. It still felt a little strange to be talking about the Sight in front of them.
But when my sister finished, I was ready to take my turn. “I had a couple of visions about Lav, too,” I said.
“Wait!” Cait said before I could continue. “I didn’t tell them about the other one. I saw Lavender kissing Biff on the bus, remember?” She smiled. “Hey, that must mean we’re going to find her, right? Otherwise she wouldn’t be on the bus to be doing any kissing—I’m pretty sure that happens on the way home, since it’s dark outside in the vision.”
Mom was already shaking her head. “Things don’t always work that way, though, do they?” she said. “You two saw me losing my job, too—and that never happened.”
“Because we changed the future,” I finished with a sigh.
Steve looked impressed. “Y’all can change the future?”
Caitlyn looked crestfallen. “Sometimes. But usually it’s to stop something bad from happening—like Mom losing her job, or Lavender’s dog getting hit by a car, or Emily getting hurt doing something stupid . . .”
“But the point is, the future isn’t set until it happens,” Mom said. “No matter what you girls see, it can always play out differently.” She shrugged. “At least that’s how John explained it to me once,” she added softly.
I traded a quick look with Caitlyn. Even now, Mom hardly ever mentioned our father’s name.
“Whoa.” Steve put his hands to his head in the universal symbol for having his mind blown. I knew how he felt.
“The point is, the kissing vision probably isn’t related,” I said. “But I had one that might be. I saw Lav and Cait in a shop or something.”
“What happened in your vision?” Steve leaned forward, looking fascinated. Now that he was in on the secret, he barely seemed weirded out by it anymore.
I shrugged. “Lav looked annoyed. And then she threw a fashion magazine at Cait.” I glanced around at the others, who looked underwhelmed. “But that was it.”
“Are you sure it has to do with the kidnapping?” Mom asked.
“I guess not.” I bit my lip, trying to recall more about the vision. “Only wait—I’m pretty sure Lav was wearing the same outfit she is today. And she doesn’t repeat her outfits too often, you know? What if it was showing me where she’s being held prisoner?”
Caitlyn looked dubious. “I suppose it’s possible,” she said. “But why am I there, too?”
“It could be showing the moment you—I mean we—find her,” Aunt Cheryl said. “Although I’m not sure why your friend would react by throwing a magazine.”
“That’s because you don’t know Lavender.”
Mom was pacing again. “This could be important. What else can you tell me about the location you saw, Cassie?”
“Not much.” I closed my eyes, still trying to remember more. “I think there were some weird posters on the wall, maybe?”
Mom stopped pacing and pulled out her phone. “Who are you calling?” Aunt Cheryl asked.
“Verity.” Mom tapped the phone, and we could all hear ringing as the speaker phone came on. “The woman’s annoying, but she might be able to—”
“Deidre?” Grandmother Lockwood’s crisp British voice came over the speaker. “What is it?”
“Hello, Verity,” Mom said. “We have a bit of a problem . . .”
She explained what had happened, with Cait and Steve and me adding a few words here and there. Granny Lockwood didn’t say much until we’d all finished.
“Cassandra, you need to remember more details,” she said firmly. “The best way to do that is with a focusing object. Do you have the talisman?”
I touched the necklace, which was tucked under my shirt. “I’m already wearing it.”
“Hmm.” She paused for a moment. “You said you’re at your aunt’s home? Is there anything there that might provide extra energy to help you relive your vision?”
I knew what she meant immediately. She’d been working with us to harness our powers. One of the exercises involved using multiple focusing objects to strengthen what we saw. For instance, she’d brought along a worn old wool scarf that had belonged to our father. We’d used several other family heirlooms, too. Granny L had explained that anything a Lockwood happened to be touching while having a vision would retain some of that energy. We’d been able to use that kind of energy to repeat a vision, or to make new visions stronger—and even to have visions about people we weren’t even touching, like some of the ones about our father.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I mean, Aunt Cheryl is Mom’s sister. She wouldn’t have anything here that belonged to our dad, if that’s what you mean.”
Aunt Cheryl gasped loudly. “Wait,” she blurted out. “Actually, there is something like that here.”
“What?” Granny Lockwood said sharply. “Who’s speaking?”
“It’s Cheryl—my sister,” Mom replied. She gulped and reached into her pocket. “And she’s right. I do have something of John’s here . . .” She pulled out something small that glinted under the overhead light.
“Is that—” Caitlyn began.
“The key ring!” I jumped up and hurried over to see. “This was our dad’s?”
Mom nodded and sighed. “I gave it to him on our first date,” she said. “It was sort of a joke. I had no idea he’d kept it all these years. Not until Cheryl called the other day.”
“But you’re sure it’s the same key ring, right?” Aunt Cheryl said.
“I’m sure.” Mom clenched her hand into a fist, hiding the key ring from view again.
“Can we hold it?” Caitlyn asked hesitantly.
“Yes, hand it over, Deidre.” I’d almost forgotten that our grandmother was still on speaker phone until her voice rang out again. “If the people who took John have the girls’ friend, you need to find her before they do something desperate.”
Mom nodded, handing me the key ring. I glanced at it, turning it over in my palm. One side showed the British flag, as Steve had mentioned. On the back, there were words scratched in the metal:
♥
U from UK to CA. JTL
“JTL,” I said. “John Thompson Lockwood.”
Caitlyn was peering over my shoulder. “Our dad inscribed this?”
Mom shrugged, confused. “That inscription is new,” she said. “It wasn’t there when I gave it to him.”
“It looks like it was done recently.” Steve was looking over my other shoulder by now. “See? The rest of the thing is kind of grimy, but that part’s shiny.”
Caitlyn and I stared at each other. “So maybe—” she began.
“What’s going on?” Grandmother Lockwood’s voice broke in again. “Did you give Cassandra the item, Deidre?”
“Yes.” Mom sounded annoyed. “Now what?”
“Now she must focus. Cassandra, concentrate on whatever you recall of that vision.”
“Okay.” I closed my eyes, feeling self-conscious with everyone watching me. But I did my best to do as Granny L said. I thought about Lav, and the magazine. For a long moment nothing happened.
“What do you see?” Steve asked.
I shook my head and opened my eyes. “Nothing,” I said, shifting the key ring to my other hand. “I just—”
I gasped, cutting myself off as a vision hit me like a ton of bricks. Aunt Cheryl’s spare bedroom faded away, and instead I found myself looking at a much larger room—a kitchen. It was super fancy, with marble countertops and stuff.
The only person in the room was a man in a suit. For a second I couldn’t figure out why he looked sort of familiar.
Then I remembered. He was the older man in a vision that Caitlyn and I had had during one of our training sessions with Granny Lockwood. Our father had been in that vision, too. This other guy had handed him something—maybe that key ring? I wasn’t sure . . .
“Cass?” someone said. I think it was Aunt Cheryl. In any case, it broke me from the vision. I staggered over and collapsed on the edge of the bed, gulping air and feeling weird, as I always did after a vision.
“Did it work?” Caitlyn hurried over and sat down beside me. “Did you see Lav and me again?”
“N-no,” I stammered. “I saw a totally different scene.”
“What was it, Cassandra?” Granny L demanded. “Was John there?”
“No.” I frowned. “It was the other guy—the one we saw with him in that other vision.”
Cait caught on right away. “The older man in the nice suit?”
“The boring suit, yeah.” I dropped the key ring on the bedspread, then wiped my sweaty palm on my leggings. “Only our dad wasn’t there this time. The old guy was in some enormous kitchen, getting ready to take out the trash or something.”
“Huh?” Aunt Cheryl blinked at me. “You had a vision of someone taking out the trash?”
“I guess.” I shrugged. “First he loaded some flat tin cans into a garbage bag.”
“Flat?” Caitlyn echoed. “You mean smushed, like some people do with soda cans?”
“No, flat shaped.” I indicated the size of the cans with my hands. “Like the kind that fishy-type stuff comes in—anchovies or whatever. I guess they were stinky, too, because he made a ‘yuck’ face as he did it. After that, he swept some big, bright blue feathers into the bag, too.”
“That’s it?” Steve looked less than impressed.
“Interesting,” Granny L said. “But we’re wasting time. Cassandra, try again. This time, focus harder.”
I frowned at the phone. “I was focusing,” I said. “It just didn’t work. It’s not like you even know exactly how this stuff works—you admitted it yourself.”
“Cassie,” Mom said warningly.
Caitlyn grabbed the key ring from where I’d dropped it. “Here, I’ll try to help,” she said, reaching for my hand. “Maybe with both of us concentrating . . .”
I didn’t hear the rest of what she said. Because the second she touched my hand, another vision practically bowled me over.
No, not another vision—the same one, the one with Lavender and Caitlyn. And this time I could see every detail of the shop clearly.
After a second Caitlyn fell back, losing her grip on me. “Whoa!” she exclaimed. “I think I just saw it—the vision.”
“Yeah, me too.” I stared at her. “It was the same as before, only way more vivid. You and Lav were in some shop—”
“Not a shop,” Caitlyn corrected. “I think it was a hair salon. I saw blow-dryers and stuff in the background.”
I nodded, realizing she was right. “Yeah. And there were weird posters on the wall, just like I thought.”
“What kind of posters?” Mom asked. “Tell us exactly what you saw, girls. Maybe if we give a description of the place to the local police, they’ll know where it is.”
“There were four or five of them,” Cait said. “They showed ladies with big, fancy hairdos.”
“Uh-huh,” I said. “Only their hair was dyed these wild colors—a different shade in each poster. Like, one was bright magenta, another was lime green—”
Aunt Cheryl sat bolt upright. “Hang on—I’ve seen those posters. I know that place!”
“You do?” Mom demanded.
Aunt Cheryl nodded. “It’s a hair salon up near the Farmer’s Market,” she said. “A fairly tacky one, honestly. I went there once because I had a coupon.” She touched her hair, which she wore in a chin-length bob. “They almost ruined my mane.”
Mom was already heading for the door. “Let’s go.”