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Beneath the blanket in the back of September's car, the air became stale but neither of them made a move. Nikki jumped when September's car door opened again. She turned her head to meet Steven's eyes, but his expression didn't change. It never did.
Someone hopped in the driver's seat, and turned the key to start the car. Had September come back? What about Shadow? She'd seen the dog jump out the window—how smart, she'd never known a dog could open windows like that—but he'd been gone when she peeked out. Soon after that, another car zoomed up and Nikki hid again, but not before she recognized Detective Combs.
He was Willie and Melinda's dad. Nikki and Willie went to the same school, but Melinda was popular, older and very glamorous with a track star boyfriend in high school. Nikki wished she could be more like Melinda, with long cheerleader legs, copper hair and a cute figure that looked so grownup. Not like Nikki's mousy straight hair, stick figure and dowdy Goodwill clothes.
But Kid Kewl's plan would change all that. Otherwise, Nikki never would have risked hiding in September's car, or convincing Steven to come, too. Steven was weird, but okay for a little kid. She worried what she'd got them into, and for the first time doubted Kid Kewl's plan.
Nikki thought for sure Detective Combs would discover them in September's car. She'd practiced what to say, but wasn't a good liar. For sure, she'd keep the Show And Tell site secret or she'd never be part of the cool kids. Besides, the awesome plan would help her family. And a bunch of other kids, too.
Thank goodness, she didn't have to make up a story. Detective Combs went inside and out again, quick as you please.
The SUV jerked into gear, and peeled out of the driveway. Nikki heard soft sobbing. She pulled aside the blanket, and sneaked a peek over the back seat.
The driver tossed red hair over her shoulder, and pounded the steering wheel, talking to herself. "I'm sorry, so sorry, Daddy, I'll find him. I'll make it up to you, promise I will."
Nikki popped all the way up. "Hey Melinda? You okay?"
The girl shrieked, eyes wide in the mirror, and nearly drove off the road.
Hanging on to the back of the seat, Nikki braced herself and pulled the blanket off Steven. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
The car stopped. Today, Melinda wasn’t glamorous at all, not with black smears under her eyes from runny mascara. "What the hell are you doing back there?" She rubbed her nose on one sleeve. Gross.
Steven sang an answer in the same tune from the Secret Garden part he'd performed:
Mister Scary, quite contrary,
Now it's your turn to know
Shivery yells, and shotgun shells,
For pretty pills all in a row.
Melinda's eyes grew large. "What does that mean?"
Nikki flexed her shoulders and her backpack shifted. "He's weird. Steven won't talk, he sings. No offense," she turned to Steven. "You got a nice voice and all."
"I don't have time for baby riddles. I've got to find my brother." Melinda turned around in the seat, hands shaking on the steering wheel. "I let my brother get lost, my boyfriend stood me up, and now my dad thinks I'm a slut." Her chin trembled.
She didn't sound like the cocky, popular Melinda Combs anymore. Nikki squirmed up and over the rear barrier into the back seat, talking as she came. "That's not true. Your dad is a hero, and heroes don't think stuff like that. Not about their kids. You aren't, are you? A slut, I mean?" Nikki stared at the older girl. Her clothes weren't slutty at all.
"It's not being a slut when you're in love." Melinda spoke with conviction, and then in a smaller voice. "Besides, we never did anything. Larry got scared and didn't meet me. Maybe he doesn't really love me." Her eyes welled. "And now Willie chased off after his stupid dog, so I had to call Dad's girlfriend to find them, and—"
Steven tap-tap-tapped on the hatchback window, and hummed the music over and over.
Melinda said nothing, but reached down and released the lock. The two girls waited as Steven carefully hopped out of the back, folded up the blankets, smoothed them back into the stack, shut the hatch and walked to the front passenger door. He slipped inside, fastened his seatbelt and shut the door, and silently held out his hand to Nikki. She sloughed off her backpack to dig out his tablet. The backpack held supplies Kid Kewl said they might need for their adventure.
"September Day is your dad's girlfriend?" Nikki leaned forward, the dog bars a barrier between the two front seats. "She's nice. Knows all about animals."
"Well, she can have that dumb old dog of ours; he's liable to get Willie hurt or even killed. And then Dad will never forgive me."
Dogs are scary, not ordinary,
When forced to fight, you know.
To be the cure, save a wag or purr—
When you tell and show.
Melinda stared at Steven, but he focused on his tablet as he finished singing. "What is he talking about?"
Nikki grimaced. "There's a very bad man, he's hurt a lot of kids. He hurt Steven, and hurt Steven's mom, and who knows how many other kids. Steven is autistic. That means—"
The boy ducked his head, but kept on working on his tablet.
"I know what autistic means." Melinda huffed. "Wait. Isn't he September's nephew? The kid she had to find last Thanksgiving during that blizzard?"
Nikki nodded. "The bad man who got away? He's back. Now he's hurting pets, too. Stealing pets."
"Stealing pets? Did he take our dog?" Melinda scowled. "You can't possibly know that."
Nikki turned to Steven, but he was no help. Kid Kewl's online forum was secret, so she couldn’t explain. And as a cop's kid, Melinda might let something slip and get the forum shut down, what Kid Kewl called the hive brain where everyone pooled his or her special talents for important projects. She wasn't sure why they invited her into the group, when all the other kids knew about complicated things like math and computers and weather.
Melinda was closer to a grownup than to the kids in the forum and grownups were funny and always suspicious. "Never mind how we know. There's a bunch of us working together to catch this bad man, get the medicine all the kids need and take back the money he stole from their parents."
Melinda flipped her hair. "What, you're going to catch that Doctor guy when even my dad can't find him?" She sniffed. "My dad caught his mother."
Mister Gerry, no more scary,
Now it's your turn to go—”
"Shut up, already." Melinda cut him off. "That's creeping me out." She turned to Nikki. "I’ve got to find my brother. You two can come or get out, but I'm not in the mood to play babysitter."
Nikki smiled. "But you're part of the plan. That's why Kid Ke...I mean, that's why we decided to hide in September's car."
"You two are seriously creepers. I can't go home, my Uncle Rick will have fits because I took off in September's car. Hell, she may be back already with Willie." She hesitated, clearly debating what to do.
...time to tell and show.
Nikki explained. "When we left the theater, we sneaked into September's car because we knew she'd go to your house, to search for your brother. We know why Kinsler got stole. Why all the pets got took."
"How do you know my dog's name? I never said." Melinda sneaked a peek at Steven's tablet, and he covered it with a hand. "What's going on? How do you know stuff?"
"The dog thief works for the Doctor. We know where he took Kinsler." Nikki leaned forward, needing to convince the older girl to stay with them, to be the driver. That was key to Kid Kewl's plan. "You want to make it up to your dad? Drive us to the dog place. That's where you'll find Willie, too."
