S.O.S. Perk (S.O.S. #6)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“I’m so glad we’re finished with the case,” Sloane sighed, sidling up to Perk’s naked body as they finally, finally got to sleep in his bed, in his real house. She loved everything about the place, especially the fact that they could be alone.

Perk blew a long breath from between his lips. “Me, too.”

After they’d left the hospital, with Perk having received ten stiches and a slathering of antibiotic cream on his “graze”, he’d had to assure Sloane, over and over, that his injury really wasn’t anything terrible. But she’d been worried, dammit. His wound had bled profusely , and was still weeping this morning. But, she snickered silently, that might have to do with all their stellar acrobatics on his mattress last night.

The fun, however, was over for now. They had to motivate for the day.

“I don’t suppose you’d be interested in joining me in the shower,” Perk winked as he turned on his side to face her.

“For washing only,” she told him, running a hand over his strong, muscled hip. “We don’t have time for anything else. Baskins has requested my early presence at the office, and you have to go back to school one more time.”

Perk pouted. “I don’t see why. Can’t I just take a sick day?”

“A sick day for what should be your last appearance? I don’t think so,” Sloane scoffed, swinging her legs out of bed. “You have a locker to clean out, kids you need to say goodbye to, and some paperwork you’ll need to sign so the administration won’t be on the hook for another student disappearance.” After Kaelyn, the school seemed to be taking their security much more seriously.

“Which means I’ll be seeing your friend, Melissa,” Perk stated, getting out of bed to stretch before he followed her naked body across the room.

Sloane had noticed that Perk’s cock had sprung to attention earlier, and now it was bobbing in her direction.

“You will be.” Sloane turned to him and smiled, beckoning to Perk with one finger; unable to ignore his heat-seeking missile as she backed into the bathroom.

“Can I tell her who I really am?” Perk asked, his feet moving forward as he tracked her path.

Sloane reached into the shower and turned on the water to warm it up, then picked up her toothbrush to squirt toothpaste on it. After thinking for a few seconds while she scooted the device around inside her mouth, she caught his eye in the mirror and gave him an evil, foamy grin.

“Melissa? Nope. I have a better idea.”

****

The shower hadn’t been as quick as it should have been, but by skipping breakfast, they’d both been able to get on the road in a timely fashion.

Perk was pulling up to the school, now, and for the first time since this assignment started, he wasn’t filled with dread as he got out of his car and walked in through the front doors. This would be his last few hours in these dreary hallways, and he was going to make the best of it.

He entered the front office. “Hi. I don’t know if you got my paperwork yet or not, but I’m transferring out after today because my parents have been relocated again.” He rolled his eyes like this was par for the course for him, but also a pain in his ass.

“You’ll need to see Ms. Phillipoff about finalizing that,” the nice lady whose name he’d forgotten, said with a smile. She was unable to keep her eyes off the bandage on his head while they conversed. “But first, I’d like you to take this with you to each of your classes today.” She turned to retrieve a piece of paper from a cubby, handing it to him. “This just alerts your teachers that you’ll be leaving. Often, they like to do an exit interview…that is if everything is okay with you.” She couldn’t help herself. She finally pointed at his boo-boo.

“Oh. This? Just a slip on the ice yesterday as I was getting out of my car. I whacked myself good on the doorframe and had to get ten stitches,” he fibbed, not about the stitches, but about how it happened.

“Oh, my. I hope you’re okay. No concussion?” she asked. Clearly, she was a mother who’d seen it all.

“No. I’m clear. Just a little dizziness every now and then,” he assured her.

“Well, if you have any difficulties, don’t hesitate to bring yourself to the nurse’s office.”

“I will,” Perk answered, taking the piece of paper from her. “Thanks.”

“And I’ll let Ms. Phillipoff know that you’ll be in to see her after your last class.”

“Great.” He gave her a smile and walked out into the stream of students who were heading to their first classes.

The day crawled by, but only because Perk was full of anticipation for what would happen later.

As ordered, he’d spoken with each of his teachers, said goodbye to a few of the students with whom he’d actually become friendly—all of whom wanted to hear about his head injury—and cleaned the meager things he had out of his locker.

By the time the final bell rang, he was more than ready to move on.

Perk trotted into the front office again.

“Ms. Phillipoff is waiting for you,” the woman behind the desk said chipperly. “Go right in.”

“Thanks.” Perk tried to keep the grin off his face. This was going to be fun.

When he walked through the door into Melissa’s private space, Perk was greeted with a wry smile gracing the woman’s face.

“Well, it seems like you’ve spent very little time with us, Mr. Perdudan. This is highly unusual. I’m sorry you couldn’t have enjoyed our school a little bit longer.”

Perk shrugged. “It’s what my life is like. I go from place to place, meet a few people, get to know my environment, then boom. I’m on to the next thing.” Yup . That described his job pretty well.

“That can’t be easy.” Melissa gave solace, indicating that he should sit down. “Would you consider speaking to our school psychologist about it before you go?”

“No need,” Perk assured her, taking a seat. “I have access to one if I need it.” He wouldn’t tell her that SOS always had someone on call they could spill to when things got to be too much for an operative to process.

He noted that Melissa had been staring at his head, just like everyone else he’d run into today. He pointed at his cranium with a raise of his brows.

“Yup. What happened there?” Melissa asked concernedly.

Perk gave her the same excuse he’d given everyone else, and she accepted it, but with a caveat.

“You know, you are still bleeding,” she told him.

Perk reached a hand up and felt that his bandage was, indeed, soggy. A bummer, but this would play right into what he needed to do next.

“Oh.” He feigned concern. “They told me at the hospital that if I started bleeding again, I should come back in.” Perk stood, and pretended to have shaky legs. He grabbed the back of the chair and abruptly sat back down. “Whoa. I feel a little light-headed.”

Melissa gave him an authoritative stare. “Stay put,” she ordered. “How will you get to the hospital?” she asked.

“I, uh, have my car,” he told her.

She shook her head. “No way. I’m not letting you drive like this. Is there anyone you can call?”

“Uh, my parents are both working, but I suppose I could ask my girlfriend?” he suggested.

“And she is where?” Melissa was no-nonsense.

“Maybe in the parking lot? She probably hasn’t left yet.”

“Call her,” Melissa said pointedly. “And if you can’t get her, I’ll find someone here to drive you.”

“Okay.” Perk fumbled with his phone as if he were feeling a little incapacitated, then hit Sloane’s number.

She picked up on the first ring. “Hi babe,” he said. “I’m, uh, feeling a little off. Ms. Phillipoff doesn’t think I’m okay to drive. Can you come to her office and get me?”

Sloane giggled on the other end of the line. “Does she suspect anything?”

“Not that I’m aware,” he responded with a straight face.

“Cool. I’ve already flashed my credentials to the cop at the door, so I’ll be right in.”

“See you in a sec,” Perk crooned, then hung up to fill Melissa in. “She’s coming.”

“Good. Now while we wait, I’ll process the paperwork you’ll need to bring with you to your next school.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Sloane’s voice came from the open doorway.

“Slo!” Melissa grinned. “What are you doing here?”

“Picking up my friend.” Sloane smirked as she came in and closed the door behind her.

“Huh?” Melissa looked seriously confused.

Sloane made her way to where Perk sat, and without hesitation, he tugged her down onto his lap where they kissed briefly.

That was enough to make Melissa’s eyebrows rise up almost to her hairline, and have her leaping to her feet.

“Wha… What do you think you’re doing Sloane? This is a…student. A teenager. An underaged young man,” she yelped out.

Sloane turned to her bestie and smiled. “Actually, Mel, this is my boyfriend.”

“Like hell it is.” The woman looked panicked, and Perk knew it was time to put her misconceptions to rest. Sloane was clearly on the same page.

“You tell her,” Sloane suggested.

“Gladly,” he responded before turning to Mel. “Actually, I am her boyfriend,” Perk told the woman, standing up to place Sloane on her own two feet, albeit glued to his side with his arm around her shoulders. “My name isn’t really Thomas Perdudan.”

Melissa blinked. Twice.

Perk continued. “It’s Henry Perkins, but everybody calls me Perk. I’ve been posing as a student here to get close to those involved with the money-grabbing scheme that’s been going on. I actually am employed by a firm called SOS. But on this case, I’ve been working hand in hand with the FBI. Sloane in particular.” He gave her a squeeze as she beamed up at him.

Melissa took a second of spluttering to find her voice. “This?” she squeaked at Sloane. “This is Perk? Your Perk?”

“Uh, huh. Cute, isn’t he?” Sloane teased.

“You bitch,” Melissa cried, a smile slowly growing on her face. “You total, bad-assed bitch. I’m so…so mad at you right now.” She spoiled that assertion by laughing. “I can’t believe… Wait.” She eyeballed Perk. “How old are you, exactly, Thom—, uh, Perk?”

Sloane rolled her eyes. “I told you, Mel. He’s twenty-eight.”

Melissa dropped back into her chair and blew out a gust of air. “Damn. This is going to take some getting used to.” She squinched her eyes up at Perk. “One minute you’re a student in the forbidden zone, and the next I find out you’re an actual adult, doing the nasty with my best friend.” She shook her head. “My mind is blown.”

Sloane placated her. “I promise you’ll feel much better about all of this once we’ve gone out to dinner—you, me, and Perk—and had a few drinks.”

Now it was Sloane’s turn to squeal. “I’ve been dying to tell you about this for weeks. Do you know how hard it’s been to keep it all inside?”

Melissa clearly saw the humor in the situation. “Oh, yeah. I can tell it probably killed you, you’re such a loose cannon.”

Perk looked askance between the two women.

“She’s kidding,” Sloane assured him. “She’s always on me, that I’m like a vault. She’s just trying to get back at me for keeping you a secret. But Mel,” she turned to her buddy. “You understand, right? There was a lot riding on Perk staying in his roll.”

“ Was ?” Melissa caught that one word. “Does that mean everything has been solved, Sherlock?” she addressed Perk.

Perk nodded and counted down on his fingers. “Kaelyn is safe. The perps are in custody. And I’m no longer needed here.”

“There’s more.” Sloane elbowed Perk. “I actually got the approval from Baskins to give Mel a little more intel. I told him that she can keep her mouth shut, so I’m authorized to name a few names.”

“Not if it makes you uncomfortable,” Melissa allowed magnanimously.

“It doesn’t,” Sloane assured her.

“Good.” Melissa fake wiped the sweat from her brow. “I was trying to take the high-road, here, but it was kicking my ass. Spill, girl. I want it all.”

Sloane grinned, and so did Perk. He was really liking her friend.

Sloane began. “So, Perk came in undercover and quickly found out through the student-grapevine, that Jeremy Nelsin had something to do with the disappearance of Kaelyn. Kaelyn had found out he might be involved with the missing money problem going around, and was just about to spill to the authorities.”

“And did he? Have something to do with it?” Melissa asked.

“Yes. He was the one stealing funds from fellow students and their parents.”

“Jeremy?” Melissa sat back, incredulous. “ Nerd , Jeremy?” she repeated.

“The one and only. Come to find out it was his mother who put him up to all that stuff. Together, they developed a game that when downloaded onto people’s phones, sent its evil little tendrils out to spy on their victims’ financial information; bank account numbers, Venmo passwords, etc. And when Kaelyn found out, Jeremy’s mother had him ‘disappear’ the girl.”

“I’m calling his involvement conspiracy to murder,” Perk put in a little sourly. “When the kid thought I was taking the girl away to kill her, he never even blinked. But the charges against him are for your head honchos to decide,” Perk gave over. Still, he wouldn’t be happy if they let Jeremy off with a slap on the wrist.

“Yeah. Jeremy is hoping for a plea deal,” Sloane confirmed. “He’s saying he never really meant to hurt Kaelyn. He was planning to stash her somewhere that wasn’t his basement once his mother told him to get rid of her. At least until Perk showed up, and took that burden off his shoulders.”

Perk snorted. Jeremy wasn’t innocent of anything. He deserved to serve time.

“Wait. Let me get this straight,” Melissa gasped. “Kaelyn was in Jeremy’s basement the whole time she was missing?”

“Yup. Until Perk took her away and got her and her parents into a safe house. But Mel. There’s more.”

Melissa held her hand over her heart. “I don’t know if I can take more. Students who aren’t students. Nerds doing evil things.” She blinked up at Sloane. “But go ahead.”

“We’ve taken Mr. Shultz into custody, as well,” Sloane told her.

“Mr. Shultz?” Now Melissa shook her head from side to side. “Geeky, mild-mannered Mr. Shultz?”

“Yeah. And you wanna know why?” Sloane asked, before switching her attention to Perk. “Even you haven’t heard this part,” she told him. “It came up in our questioning session today.”

Perk was all ears. “Tell us.”

“Well, it seems that once Mr. Nelsin let his disapproval of Mrs. Nelsin’s scheme be known, the woman soured on him. Hence, she needed a strong arm to help her get rid of what was standing in her way of success.”

“Mr. Nelsin,” Perk confirmed.

“Right. And what better way than to also bring someone onboard who not only has mad computer skills, but is so socially inept that he’d do whatever she tasked him with?”

Melissa nodded now, rapt.

“She already knew Mr. Shultz from his few years of teaching Jeremy, so she simply donned her Sunday best, so to speak, and seduced the man.” Sloane addressed Melissa again. “You’re right that Schultz is a geek. And apparently the attention he got from this high-powered, rich-bitch siren was something he couldn’t pass up. Before you know it, he was happily doing her bidding, which included getting rid of Mr. Nelsin for her. He got Nelsin agreeing to meet in a remote spot down in Plymouth where he said he was staying, to give him ‘homework’ for Jeremy. Then Shultz shot him, point blank while handing it over. Jennifer Nelsin took possession of the gun thereafter, but we have all the ballistics reports, so we know it was the murder weapon.”

“Wow.” Melissa shook her head. “Who knew? Such intrigue, and right here in our little high school.” She frowned. “Did I understand you correctly, though? Mr. Shultz actually…shot Mr. Nelsin?”

“Uh, huh. Shot him, and ditched him in a pond in Plymouth.”

“Okay. I’m done.” Melissa slapped her hands on her desk and stood up. “Right now I need that drink.”