Chapter 25
To Do:
- Update Code Purple protocol
- Nail that skeezy fiancé-stealing twat to the wall
“Thank you for coming tonight.I know I’ve never called a real Code Purple before, so great job on the quick and organized response. Although next time, Nicole, try to remember the freeze-dried meals and guide to edible plants in the Northeast that I stashed in your cupboard. I called you here tonight for two reasons.” Claire paced back and forth in front of the whiteboard, opening and closing her collapsible pointer. “I have to tell you both something. Try not to freak out.”
Mindy and Nicole sat at the conference table. Nicole was in her PJs, and Mindy’s hair and clothing were so disheveled it looked as though she had just climbed out of a wind tunnel. Rosie had flopped dramatically into her bed in the corner of the warehouse. Mindy was taking notes on her tablet, and Nicole was trying and failing to stifle her yawns.
“First, the slightly less terrible thing. Wendy won tonight.”
Nicole stopped yawning and looked scandalized. Mindy slammed the table with two fists before standing and putting her coat on.
“Are you freaking kidding me? Where is this bitch? Let’s go, right now. I’m going to drive my car through her house.”
“It’s okay, Min. Sit.”
“It’s not okay. You own that award. They literally made that award category because of you. What was her proposal? Let me guess, that generic-ass restaurant one from the blog.” Mindy still had one arm in her coat.
Claire paced back and forth. “Bingo. That proposal didn’t even need a planner. I don’t know how she won. But I know she didn’t do it honestly. This insane, disease-riddled koala bear has taken too much from me. At some point, you have to stop waiting for the universe to dole out your karma. Today, I’m going to be the karma. I’m going to find out how she did this. And then I’m going to use that information to get her to drop the lawsuit. Who’s down for a stakeout?”
Nicole put her hand up.
“Did you have a question or are you committing to the stakeout?” Claire asked.
“Both. Will there be snacks?”
“Obviously. Next question,” she said, pointing the rod at Mindy, who also had her hand up.
“When do we start?”
“Tomorrow night. Saturday is Jason’s poker night, so if she’s going to do anything nefarious, it’ll be while he’s gone. Now what do we need for a proper stakeout?”
Claire put down her pointer and picked up a pink whiteboard marker. She wrote “snacks” on the board.
“My camera,” Nicole said. “To capture any evidence.”
Claire wrote it down.
“I’ve been meaning to re-think my stakeout wardrobe. Last time I went with a leather miniskirt, and that really wasn’t conducive to sneaking around the park at night,” Nicole said thoughtfully.
Sneak-appropriate outfit went on the board below “camera.”
“How about a box of live snakes to fling at Wendy?” Mindy suggested.
“I’m trying to avoid more lawsuits, remember?” Claire capped the marker and set it on the tray. It was time to stop avoiding the bigger problem. “We can worry about the list a little later. There’s something else I need to tell you about. Slightly more terrible.”
“Okay, what’s the more terrible thing?” Mindy took off her coat and slung it over the back of her chair. A white handprint was imprinted on the back of her skirt.
Claire took a deep breath. “So, you both know my biological father has made an unwelcome re-appearance.”
Nicole and Mindy grumbled.
“What you don’t know is that he didn’t show up to make sure I was ok after my stabbing and near-death incident. No. He showed up to pressure me into helping the FBI coerce information out of Barney so they can get closure for the families of the victims. Oh, and he thinks Barney was part of a big, murderous cult that hates women.”
Nicole gasped. “He wants you to what?”
Claire rehashed the story of the suspected cult, the body locations, and Barney’s insistence on speaking only to her.
Nicole’s mouth had dropped open. “When do you go see him?”
Claire pushed back from the table and rose, beginning to pace again. “Soon, but I feel like I need to do some research before confronting him. Maybe I can get him to slip up a little or piss him off enough to give me something. Have any of you ever seen this symbol?”
Claire pulled her sleeve and bra strap to the side and revealed the figure carved into her chest.
“What is it?” Nicole asked, standing up and coming closer to get a better look. “Oh, it looks kind of like a hieroglyphic. I’ve never seen it before.”
“This symbol was found on over a hundred bodies recovered all over the country. I’m the first live person with the mark. They think it’s the cult’s symbol.”
Nicole’s eyes watered. “I can’t believe he branded you. Stabbing is bad enough, but this is worse, somehow,” she said, staring at it. She dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve.
Mindy walked over to Claire. Her nose was centimeters from Claire’s skin. “What the hell is it? It looks like a three-legged stick figure.”
“I don’t know. And neither do they. I’ve Googled everything I can think of.”
“You should go talk to Professor Burke,” Nicole chimed in.
“Who?”
“The archaeology professor from Venor. Remember we almost took her historical symbology class because it sounded cool?”
“I forgot about her. I’ll email her and see if I can drop in on her office hours this week. She should be doing a summer term. Nicole, is that your yearbook?”
Nicole slid it across the highly polished table.
“Let’s see, Barney would have been two years above us… Ugh, here he is.” Claire shuddered as she looked into the soulless eyes of the man she had known as Bernard Twigg before he legally changed his name to Barney Windsor. He had been probably fifty pounds heavier in college, and a shaggy mop of hair nearly covered one eye.
Mindy peeked over her shoulder. “Activities: business club, whittling—boy, he’s not kidding—Future Entrepreneurs of America, and something called ESA. What the heck is that?”
Claire shrugged. “Extreme Sociopathic Assholes?”
Nicole tilted her head to the side like a confused puppy. “Wasn’t there a frat called ESA?”
Mindy nodded. “A super lame one next to the football house. I think they kicked you out if your GPA dropped lower than a 3.8. They only had like one party a year.”
Claire rolled her eyes. “It makes sense that Barney would have been in the lamest frat.”
As Mindy typed on her tablet, Nicole came over to Claire and put her arm around her. “How are you, really?”
“A little pissed, if I’m being honest,” Claire said, making circles on the table with her pen cap.
“I’m sorry. Have you heard from Luke?”
Claire shook her head. “Not since I spoke to him after the ice cream and pizza incident. He’s trying. The documentary was beautiful. I get what he’s trying to do, I really do. It’s not just a career thing for him like I thought. He really wants to tell their stories. But I’ve got enough going on. I’m not ready to dig into the most traumatizing event of my entire life in therapy, let alone on camera.”
“And he will respect that. Or I will murder him,” Nicole said while stroking Claire’s hair.
Mindy snapped her tablet case shut. “Okay, I emailed Professor Burke to see if she can do a meeting. I’m sure she’ll be happy to help. As for the stakeout, I will bring chocolate chip cookies and juice boxes.”
“Do the cookies have anything to do with the giant flour handprint on your ass?” Claire raised an eyebrow.
Mindy spun several times, staring at her rear. “No comment.”
Nicole laughed. “Cheesy puffs. And baby carrots. The orange essentials.”
“Good. I’ll get the wine and soft pretzels for debriefing at my place after the mission.”
They reached out to stack hands.
“Karma on three,” Mindy said. “One, two?—”
“Karma!” they called in unison.