Lurker

“Right now, everything is weird, and I’m lookin’ out for my girls. Don’t want you gettin’ in too deep with Mr. I-don’t-think-so. If he doesn’t want to meet, then he’s got glitches. Best to find out early so you aren’t all English Patient with him.”

“She’s right,” Drew said. “You should make sure.”

“Oh, now listen to her,” Laurel said, her voice high and amused. “She’s going on her first date in like two years, and she’s all knowledgeable.”

“God, Laurel, I’m just agreeing with you. Check your meds.”

“Yeah,” Mandy said. “You’re right. Next time we chat, I’ll ask.”

“Good,” Laurel said, springing to her feet. “Let’s go work lats.”

After the workout, with no time for the juice bar that afternoon, the three girls gathered in the parking lot. Laurel continued to make jokes at Drew’s expense, and Mandy found herself tiring of the banter. All she wanted to do was go home, log on, and have a quiet night chatting with Kyle. (If he’s even online tonight.) But Drew’s anxiety over her impending date and Laurel’s overpossessive father worked together to cancel Mandy’s plan.

“You have to help me get ready,” Drew said. “What if I go out and meet Jacob and I’ve got like a huge stain on the butt of my dress or something?”

“Help her out,” Laurel said. “I’d do it, but if I’m not home in twenty minutes, Dad is going to blow a vein.”

“All right,” Mandy said. Her lackluster response brought a frown from Drew.

This is a huge deal to her, Mandy thought, feeling bad. If Kyle is online, he’ll still be there when I get home.

Mandy put on a big smile and arched her eyebrows. “Quit moping,” she told Drew. “This is the biggest night of your life, and we’ve got to make you fabulous. Frown lines are not fabulous, so knock it off.”

Seeing that Mandy was finally taking her date with Jacob seriously, Drew smiled wide and switched into hyperdrive. “I’ve got to shower again, do my hair, and you have to pick an outfit for me because, God, I hate everything I have.”

Drew had already set off across the parking lot, speaking more to herself than to either Laurel or Mandy. Her hands danced around her head as she emphasized all of the things she needed to do before meeting Jacob.

“Once you get our girl set up, why don’t you come chill at my place?” Laurel asked. “We can watch some screen, eat some pizza.”

“You’re not going to let me say no, are you?” Mandy asked.

“Oh, so now it’s like some huge favor to hang out with the glamorous L?”

“It’s not that. I wanted to chat with Kyle tonight, you know?”

“I have a computer,” Laurel reminded. “In fact, I have the computer. Makes yours look like a dusty old adding machine. Besides, I might have a few words of my own for that man of yours.”

After a shower, Mandy helped get Drew’s hair to lie right, and then slapped at her hands every time Drew reached up to fiddle with it. She gave makeup tips, having Drew ease up on the eye shadow but insisting she give her lashes another pass with the mascara brush. Then, they rummaged through Drew’s closet for the right clothes. Drew wanted to wear a nasty green dress that made her look like a cheap hooker. Instead, Mandy put together an outfit with a black blouse and snug khaki slacks that made her look amazing.

“And wear a low heel. You don’t know if you’re going to be doing a lot of walking or not.”

“You’re the best.”

“Was there a particular reason you were trying to cultivate the ho look?”

Drew turned away from the mirror, feigning shock. She laughed and slapped at Mandy’s shoulder. “I wasn’t going to look like a whore. I just want him to like the way I look.”

“He already likes the way you look. That’s why he asked you out.”

“I’m just so nervous.”

Mandy shook her head and stepped forward to give her friend a hug. Mandy knew that Drew felt things more intensely than she or Laurel did. It was usually annoying, but this evening, she felt like a big sister sending her kid sister out for the first time.

“I’m such a dork,” Drew said into Mandy’s shoulder. “I’m a stupid dork and Jacob is going to hate me.”

“He’s not going to hate you, Drew. Not unless he’s a total looz.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Mandy said.

Drew returned to the mirror to look at herself, pulling at the hem of her blouse and smoothing the fabric of her slacks with long strokes along the thighs.

Mandy’s cell phone buzzed, and she looked away, pulling the unit from her jacket. Another text message. Like the message she received at Nicki’s vigil, no username appeared with the note, and though the message might have been harmless enough, it unnerved her to see it without attribution.

CUL8R

Of course, the message came from Laurel. Mandy wasn’t expecting to see anyone else that night. Still, she looked at the screen, and it made her uncomfortable. She rationalized, telling herself it was likely a glitch in her cell phone service. Maybe her screen was broken or some signal had whacked the display. None of these explanations removed the electric tingle of fear from her skin.

“Who is it?” Drew asked, reaching a palm toward her perfectly fixed hair.

“Don’t touch the ’do,” Mandy warned, closing her phone. “It was just Laurel,” she said, feeling almost certain that it wasn’t.

“Probably something nasty about me.”

“No,” Mandy said. “It didn’t have anything to do with you.”

Mandy had hoped that Jacob would give her a lift to Laurel’s before sweeping Drew off on their date. Though early in the evening, it was already dark, and she didn’t want to walk alone. Drew’s father wasn’t home, and her brothers had already gone out for the evening, so she had her digits crossed for Jacob. But when he arrived, she saw it wasn’t going to happen. Jacob had borrowed his dad’s convertible, a sweet little black BMW roadster. No back seat. Only room for two. She supposed Drew could sit on her lap, but that was a less-than-glamorous way to kick off a first date.

The three of them chatted briefly, and again, feeling like an older sister, Mandy hugged Drew and sent her off. Her friend grinned nervously in the passenger seat when Jacob gunned the engine and sped away.

Alone on the walk in front of Drew’s house, Mandy hugged herself and looked around the neighborhood. Lights burned behind all of the windows. People wandered through living rooms and dining rooms. For most, it was suppertime. Not late at all.

CUL8R

Mandy stepped off the walk, crossed the street, and headed to Laurel’s. A sense of being watched lay over her like a shawl, but she knew it was just lingering paranoia. The Witchman was long gone, probably in Mexico by now, or lying low in some shack three states over. Still, Mandy walked a little faster, checking every yard and sidewalk. She didn’t really think about the direction she was going.

It wasn’t until she approached the library property that Mandy even remembered it was on her way. But the moment she saw the trees rise up, separating Drew’s housing development from the one where she and Laurel lived, Mandy’s pulse began to race.

That’s where the Witchman took Nicki. Those trees were the last nice things Nicki ever saw.

She was totally butchered.

Mandy crossed the road to put distance between herself and the library. Though the far side of the street was lined with shrubs and another stand of trees, she didn’t care. She was more worried about being too close to the place where Nicki died.

Walking quickly, head down, ears peeled for any sounds, she pulled her cell phone from her jacket. She’d call Laurel. A familiar voice would help. That way, Mandy wouldn’t feel so alone.

She dialed, put the phone to her ear, and looked up to see that she was alone on the walk. Across the street, she saw the library. The sight of it chilled her. A cone of light from the floods under its eaves spilled over the edge of the parking lot into the tall brown weeds at the side of the building. This was the same view she’d seen on the news.