Karina struck him as a thinker, like Weezy. He liked that. And she?d even been in his dream last night—
The dream—it fast-forwarded through his head. No way he could tell her he?d been dreaming about her— especially not in front of this crew. Be cool if he could somehow get hold of the videotape that circus guy had been recording in the dream. He could show Karina. Then again, it had been so weird it might scare her off.
He stiffened.
Videotape …
… show the videotape.
“Jack?” Karina said. “Something wrong?”
“Hmmm? No. Just had an idea.”
A very cool idea about something that waited—he hoped—at USED. He prayed Mr. Rosen
hadn?t sold it.
2
School seemed to drag for an eternity. As soon as Jack got home he grabbed the keys to USED and raced to the store.
As long as I?m here, he thought as he unlocked the front door, might as well open for business.
He shut the door and flipped the CLOSED sign to OPEN. Then he headed straight for the rear of the store.
Where was it? Where had he put it?
There—he recognized the gray carrying case. He pulled it out and unzipped it to reveal a video camera. Mr. Rosen had bought it off a guy last month. Expecting a quick turnover, he?d put it in the window, but no one had seemed interested. Eventually he?d had Jack move it back into the store to make room for something else in the scarce window space.
Lucky for me, Jack thought.
Because he had a use for it.
He thumbed through the manual, found the charger in a side pocket of the case, and plugged it into the wall. He planned to study the manual during the charging period, but the bell above the front door jangled.
A customer?
He walked forward and recognized Mark Mulliner. Jack assumed the woman carrying the baby behind him was his wife.
“Hey,” Mark said with an easy smile. “Got any screwdrivers? Dropped mine in the lake.”
Jack glanced out the window and saw a pickup with canoes piled in the bed. Mark rented them out at the lake during the summer.
“End of the season for the canoes?” he said as he pulled a plastic bucket full of old tools from under a shelf and set it on the counter.
Mark started sorting through the screwdrivers and pliers and such.
“Yeah. Temperature?s right but the rain?s a killer.”
Jack glanced at the dark-haired baby girl. He waved and she smiled, showing a couple of brand-new teeth.
“Say hello, Poppy,” said her mom.
“Here we go,” Mark said, holding up a long flat-head screwdriver. “This?ll do.”
He paid for it and they left just as Weird Walt came in.
“Hey, Jack. I thought Mister Rosen said he was gonna be in New York this week.”
He leaned on the counter, close enough so Jack could smell the applejack on his breath. The number of people who?d seen Walt completely sober was about the same as those who?d seen him without gloves.
Jack explained that he?d promised to open the store now and then while Mr. Rosen was away.
“That?s cool. Hey, whatta y? think about finding that bike?”
“What bike?”
“The little kid?s—Cody Bockman?s.”
Jack?s neck tensed. “They found it? Where?”
“Not too far into the Pines, on Old Man Foster?s land.”
He didn?t know if he wanted an answer to his next question.
“They find anything else?”
Walt shook his head. “Nah. But the sheriff?s organizing a big search party tomorrow morning.
Everybody fourteen and up who wants to join is supposed to gather at the lightning tree at oh-eight-hundred, rain or shine.”
“But shouldn?t we be worrying about the equinox?” Jack said, remembering the warning Walt had given him the other day.
Walt looked confused for a few seconds, then the light dawned. “Oh, yeah. But this?ll be a big group, and it?s during the day. The real equinox ain?t due till after sundown.”
“Okay, then,” Jack said. “Count me in. No, wait—I?ve got school.”
“Sheriff says any kid who joins the search is excused from school.”
Jack raised a fist. “I?m there.”
But that was tomorrow. He had something important he had to do to night.
3
“Subcontracting?” Jack, squatting as he weeded the foundation beds on the Lodge?s north flank, looked up to see Mr. Drexler, again all in white—didn?t he own any other color? Weezy squatted beside him, helping.
It had rained again last night, but that didn?t interfere with weeding. They each used a short spade to dig under the weeds and help pull them out by their roots. They?d shake off the excess soil, toss them into a plastic bag, smooth out the mulch, and move to the next.
“I?m a volunteer,” Weezy said with a pasted-on smile and a sticky-sweet tone. She was helping solely as an excuse to hang around the Lodge in case the tour materialized. Jack knew the effort it took her to make nice-nice with someone from the Order, but he?d warned her that mouthing off could queer everything.
“Really? Why would one volunteer for such hot, dirty, menial labor?” The smile
remained. “It?s what friends do.”
“I?d think a true friend would pay you at least minimum wage.”
“Oh my,” she said, cocking her head and sounding like Glinda the Good Witch of
the North, “friends don?t take money from friends.”
Jack didn?t know how long she could
keep up the facade, so he jumped to what mattered most.
“Are we getting our tour today?”
Mr. Drexler frowned. “Tour? What ever are you talking about?”
Jack looked at Weezy and saw her eyes narrowing.
“Yesterday you said you?d give us a tour of the Lodge.”
“I believe I said „might.? But I continue to have doubts about including Miss Connell. I don?t want to worry about her opening cabinets and drawers in search of her lost artifact.”
Jack gave her a be-cool look as he said, “Oh, that won?t be a problem. Right, Weez?”
He sent up a silent prayer that she?d be able to play along. If this tour meant anything to her, she?d rein in the emotions that tended to run wild where the pyramid was concerned.
But she surprised him by staying perfectly cool—at least on the outside.
“I wouldn?t think of it, Mister Drexler. I promise to keep my hands in my pockets. You can even handcuff me if you want.”
He shook his head and turned away. “I?m having serious second thoughts about this. I?m rescinding my offer.”
Weezy?s eyes ignited and her lips pulled back, baring her teeth as she started to rise to her feet.
Jack pulled her back with a warning look. He was just as surprised, disappointed, and angry, but all might not yet be lost. If she detonated, however …
