CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Perk didn’t have to roam the halls looking for Jeremy, because the kid hadn’t made it to school today, according to the FBI agent who’d been watching the Nelsin house. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t use Jeremy’s name as a way to open up lines of conversation with Perk’s new “friends”.
“Hey. Thorpe,” Perk jogged toward and called out to one of the wanna-be bullies he’d been hanging with.
“Yeah, Dude?” Thorpe headed over to where Perk stood near the auto-shop door.
“You seen Nelsin today?” he asked, bogusly.
“Nope. He wasn’t in class.”
Right. But had Jeremy thought to avoid Perk, or was the bastard just worn out from his late-night activities?
With the kid not in school, Perk would have to seek him out to have that chat about what Perk had purportedly done with Kaelyn. But if Jeremy didn’t answer his door, later, that would suck. Today was Friday, and not only would Perk and the team have to stew for two days if Jeremy shut him out, but Perk would be stuck having to come back to school on Monday to confront the asshole, which he’d hoped beyond hope to avoid if he could get answers out of Nelsin today.
Thorpe trotted into shop-class next to Perk. “Did you find out anything more about him and Kaelyn? That’s why you were asking us questions, wasn’t it? You wanted to find her.”
“I figured it might go a long way toward getting me some cred at my new school, yeah,” Perk fabricated. “But I also like to solve shit. When I found out that girl was missing…it made her seem kinda mysterious, you know?”
“So?” Thorpe questioned. “What’dya find?
“Nelsin was a dead end. I talked to him yesterday.” Perk lied. “He has no clue where she is.”
The Feds had warned Perk that while at school, he was not to validate any of the rumors or leak any information so as not to spook Nelsin. They were counting on the boy becoming complacent again as things settled down; hoping he’d pick up again on the money-grabs, like before things had shut down with the kidnapping.
“I figured,” Thorpe scoffed. “He’s just a nerd with a big mouth, trying to make himself look important when he really has nothing to do with any of the shit going down. He almost had me fooled, though. Especially with that game of his.” Thorpe huffed. “It’s good, but I’ve never liked the asshole. He thinks he’s so much better than us.”
“Well, he’s not. And you don’t have to think about it anymore. He’s not dangerous.”
In the big scheme of things, Jeremy was worse than dangerous. He’d been using his skills to not only steal large sums of money, but to—with no remorse—kidnap the Jefferson girl; planning on killing her without blinking. Whereas Thorpe, Higgins, and their buddies were simple bullies, flexing their muscles amongst the easy-pickings of those less popular on the school’s campus.
“You’re right. And luckily, he’s not our problem, anyway,” Thorpe agreed.
Perk began fishing farther afield for whoever might be helping Nelsin. “Does he even have any real friends in this school?”
Thorpe shrugged. “I don’t pay too much attention. There aren’t too many people he actually hangs out with when he’s not pushing his game… Wait. He’s weirdly tight with one of the teachers here. Sometimes I see him and Mr. Shultz, talking in the parking lot before school.” He snickered. “I even saw him getting a ride home with Shultz one day.”
“Eh. That’s probably nothing,” Perk diverted, “Maybe they’ll go to prom together.”
Thorpe threw back his head and laughed like it was the funniest thing, ever.
That was enough for Perk.
Sweet. This could very well be something . Perk would have to make a call to Baskins so the team could do a deep dive on the guy.
But first…auto shop.
Perk nearly groaned. Today they were going to learn to change oil; something he’d been doing for years, not only on cars, but on a stable of army vehicles that were so complex they would probably make this teacher’s head spin. Not that Perk would let on that he was more than proficient. Nope. He’d pretend to be just as ignorant as the next guy.
Auto shop was Perk’s last class of the day, so it would be well after noon when he finished up. Which meant he wouldn’t be waking Baskins up with his call.
Too bad , Perk snickered. He’d had to endure fatigue all day. The least he could do was deprive the agent of some beauty sleep.
An hour later, with oil under his fingernails, Perk loaded his backpack with books from his locker, made his way to the parking lot, then leaned casually against his car to dial FBI headquarters.
“How may I direct your call?” the operator asked, always incognito at this contact number.
At the last second, Perk changed his mind about talking to Baskins.
“Agent Vessers, please.”
“And who may I say is calling?”
“Henry Perkins,” he told her, looking around to make sure no one heard him using his real name.
“One moment.” The operator answered, then came back a heartbeat later. “Connecting.”
“Perk,” Sloane greeted breathlessly.
He didn’t know whether her air-challenged answer was because she’d been running around, or that she was excited to hear from him. Perk hoped for the latter.
“Hey, Sloane. I just finished school for the day,” he teased.
As expected, she snickered. “Stop reminding me that you’re the new man on campus,” she teased. “Any updated info regarding Jeremy?”
“Maybe.” Perk sobered. “As you know, he wasn’t in school today. I’m hoping it was because his ass was worn out from his late-night activities, not that he was avoiding me. But I plan on heading over to his house right now to find out which it was. I did, however, get a little more intel on the guy. Apparently, he hangs with a male teacher named Shultz.”
“Great. I’ll have our team run him.”
He heard a door close on Sloane’s end, then she came back. “This, uh, doesn’t change our plans for tomorrow, does it?” she asked.
Perk grinned.
“Not even close,” he assured her. “I’m just going to make sure Jeremy hasn’t disappeared.”
“Good. Because I’m…looking forward to seeing you.”
“Me, too,” Perk admitted, then poked the bear. “Especially after that epic kiss we shared.”
“Shit, Perk. You had to go there?”
Perk found himself beaming from ear to ear. “Yup. Because I plan on repeating that lip-lock when I see you again.”
“Well…” Sloane hesitated for only a minute.
Perk’s gut dropped. He wondered if he was going to get shut down.
She sucked in a breath and continued. “I’ve been thinking about that, and I plan on doing a lot more than kiss next time around.”
Fuck. Instant boner.
Right here in the school parking lot.
Perk quickly untucked his shirt and let the excess material fall in front of his jeans, but…
Perk groaned. Two girls were headed his way.
“Yoohoo, Dude!” one of them called out.
“Listen, Sloane,” Perk warned. “I’ve got to go. I’ve, uh, got incoming.”
“I’ll wait,” Sloane answered cheekily, clearly curious at hearing the female voice that hadn’t even pretended to be quiet.
“Dude,” the blonde’s voice rang out again as she walked toward him with a smug smile on her face. “What-cha doin’?”
Perk mentally rolled his eyes. The girl had been not-so-subtly flirting with him during his entire World History class. He’d responded, also not-so-subtly, that he was flattered, but that he already had a steady girlfriend from his old school.
She hadn’t given up.
It looked like she was now gearing up for round two.
“Hi Catrina,” Perk sighed. “If you don’t mind, I’m talking to my girlfriend.”
Before she got any closer, Perk mumbled to Sloane. “Catrina Ayers. World History.”
Sloane, on the other end, snickered loudly, then he heard her keyboard clacking vociferously. What the hell was she doing? Well, damn . She must be running a quick background check.
Perk wondered what she would find.
The blonde didn’t look discouraged that Perk had said his girlfriend was on the line. Instead, she sidled up until she was nearly hip to hip with Perk, also leaning back against his car while batting her baby-blues up at him.
“Tell her she’s got competition.” Catrina nudged his rib cage with shoulder.
Perk shook his head. “Uh, I don’t think—"
“Let me talk to that little bitch,” Sloane cut in, a growl in her words. Clearly, she’d heard Catrina’s declaration.
“I don’t think that’s wise, Sloane,” Perk warned, grimacing.
“Oh, it’s wise alright. Because if I have to come down there to discourage that man-stealer, it’ll be a lot worse than me reading her the riot act over the phone.”
“Fine,” Perk sighed, then addressed Catrina. “My girlfriend Sloane wants to talk to you.”
Catrina arrogantly held out her hand and wiggled her fingers at his device. He could tell she was used to getting what she wanted, and wondered how this was going to go.
His money was on Sloane.
“It’s your funeral,” he told the girl, and proffered his phone.
“Yeah?” Catrina answered cockily.
Time ticked by, but Catrina didn’t have much to say after that one, initial snobbish greeting.
Perk watched the girl’s face go from bright and confident to draining of color, and becoming…pinched.
Catrina’s wing-girl, who’d been snapping her gum pompously before, suddenly looked confused; her brows draw together in question.
“Uh, huh. Yes. I understand,” Catrina eventually whispered into the phone.
She’d already moved several inches away from Perk, her expression spooked. “No. No. I’m good. I promise.”
She handed the device back to Perk, not meeting his eyes, then took her girlfriend’s arm and swiftly towed her away without a backward glance.
Perk chuckle-snorted once the pair were out of sight. “What the hell did you say to her?” he asked Sloane amusedly.
“Nothing that can be repeated,” Sloane responded smugly. “But suffice to say, the little tramp won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“Uh, thank you?” Perk clucked. “I think.”
“What do you mean, you think?” she bit out in response.
Perk could tell Sloane had her back up at his casually spoken words, but before he could come up with the right ones to reassure her that he was really okay with her intervention, she snapped at him again.
“You didn’t want me to warn her off?”
“No. No. I did,” Perk clarified before her short fuse burned long enough to detonate any bombs. “But remember, I’m trying to blend in and make friends here, so I’m attempting to play nice with everyone. Whatever you said, it won’t backfire on me, will it?”
“Nope,” Sloane answered assuredly. “This was all about little miss Catrina, and she won’t be repeating any of it. I promise.”
“Okay.” Perk trusted Sloane. She wouldn’t compromise an op simply because of jealousy. “So back to our day tomorrow,” he segued.
“Nice diversion, Perk, but I’ll take it. You already gave me the address. So, what time do you want to meet?”
“I thought I might change things up a bit,” Perk stated.
“As in…?” Her voice immediately chilled.
Leave it to Sloane to be suddenly suspicious.
He’d nip that in the bud.
“I want the whole day together,” he clarified.
He could almost see her shoulders lower as he continued.
“And I don’t want you having to waste any of it by picking up breakfast. So, may I suggest we meet at the little Mom and Pop diner that’s just a couple miles from my parents’ cottage? We can ogle each other over food, then let the tension build until we can’t stand it anymore.”
“Uh, Perk? I’m not sure where you’re coming from,” Sloane demurred. “But if I let any more tension build, I’m going to snap into little pieces.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” he chortled. “So how about breakfast with no ogling?”
Now a snort came from Sloane.
“Impossible.”