I lifted the lid and peeked beneath it and then set it back into place. “It’s worse than I thought.”
“What?” Sarah demanded.
I flipped the lid open, revealing row after row of chocolate truffles. The interior of the lid was etched with the name and logo of a Belgian chocolatier with stores in NY, London, Beverly Hills, and Paris.
“Is that a card?” Kate asked.
The corner of a linen rectangle just showed from beneath the top row of chocolates. I pulled it free and stared at it like it was a scorpion.
My name was written on the top fold in elegant cursive script. I opened it and read, slowly and unbelievingly, and then set the card on top of the chocolates with a stunned expression.
“What does it say?” Kate asked.
I rose and walked to the bathroom. Serena reached for the card and opened it. She read it silently and then aloud.
“Please do me the honor of coming to the Old Glory clearing at eight o’clock this evening. I hope you like chocolates. These are delicious. Yours…” She turned it over. “But it’s not signed!”
Sarah’s mouth fell open. “No way.” She looked at me standing in the bathroom doorway, holding the jamb for support. “I knew it was a secret admirer. I was so totally right!”
“What should I do?” I asked, my voice as wobbly as my legs.
“You go meet your admirer, of course!” Sarah said.
“And wind up at the bottom of a lake somewhere,” Kate scoffed. “Or in a cage in some dude’s basement.”
Serena looked worried. “This could be something sketchy. Kate’s right. Like maybe Luke wants to make sure you never press charges.”
“Devious,” Kate said. “But I agree.”
“So I shouldn’t go,” I said.
“I didn’t say that,” Kate clarified. “We’ll go with you. To make sure you don’t get jumped by some pervert.”
“I know kung fu,” Sarah said solemnly. “I used to watch it on late night TV. My hands are weapons.”
“Guys, seriously.”
Serena nodded. “Kate’s right. We’ll go with you. We all have cell phones, and I have a metal flashlight I can do some damage with.”
“And I’ve got pepper spray,” Kate chimed in.
“Me too,” Sarah affirmed. “We’re like Ridley Charlie’s Angels.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I said. “If it is some kind of trap, maybe I should call the police.”
Sarah snorted. “And tell them what? Someone sent you flowers and a box of chocolates? I’m sure they’ll call in the SWAT team for that.”
Kate spoke in a newscaster voice. “Academy hottie pursued by unknown male who lavishes her with gifts. Film at eleven.”
“Lavishes?” I repeated.
Serena looked at her watch. “We have three hours. Maybe Sarah can teach you some defensive techniques.”
Kate laughed. “Like she’s ever tried to defend herself from a dude in her life.”
Sarah scowled. “I got mad skills. Sting like a wasp. Hit like a…a…brick.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I need to think about this. I mean, you have to admit it’s weird. And Kate’s got a point. It could be dangerous. This isn’t normal first-date stuff.” Not like I’ve had a lot of first dates to compare. But still.
“What are you going to wear?” Sarah asked. “I mean, assuming you wear anything at all?”
“You want to take my place?” I fired back. “Sounds like you’ve got more game for this than I do.”
She fluffed her hair. “All I have to do is dye my hair, cut it, and hack six inches off my legs, and I could be your twin. He’d never suspect.”
“I think it’s romantic,” Kate said. “Although I’m still bringing my pepper spray.”
“Maybe I should borrow it,” I suggested.
“If you don’t know how to use it, you could shoot yourself in the face.”
“Well, I have a little over three hours to learn.”
Eight o’clock found us standing at the edge of a clearing with the remains of a brick flagpole base in the center, where the school in a bygone era had raised the flag every day and the students held a morning prayer. The practice had died out several generations before and now was just a distant memory, although the spot’s name had stuck. Kate had invited two guys she’d met a couple of days before, and one of them carried an aluminum baseball bat and the other a length of pipe, although neither looked particularly dangerous. But safety in numbers, right?
We stood in the warm breeze and Kate inspected my outfit – after an hour of back-and-forth of fashion consultation, we’d finally agreed that I could stick with my clean pair of black jeans with my Docs, but would borrow one of her tops – an ice-white satin spaghetti-strap blouse I felt was way too flirty but the others deemed the perfect choice. I agreed to wear it only if I could bring one of my lumberjack shirts in case it got cold. That was shouted down in favor of Jared’s jacket, which all agreed looked hella tough, even if it was way too big.
“Now what?” I asked, looking around the clearing.
“You ever see that movie where the hero gets called to a meeting, and then a sniper takes him out?” one of the guys asked, sounding both mocking and nervous.
“Who invited him?” Serena asked Kate.
“How long do we wait?” Sarah asked. “I’m missing a raging party somewhere, I’m sure.”
I cocked my head at an unfamiliar sound. A rhythmic whap, whap sound was approaching from the eastern night sky, and we stared in amazement at the heavens as the dark silhouette of a helicopter appeared overhead.
“What the–” the second boy blurted, and then his voice was drowned out by the sound of the chopper’s blades beating at the air as it slowly descended. A light flicked on beneath the nose, flooding the clearing with blinding glare, and then it settled on the field, the downwash flattening the tall grass in a wide circle around it.
I held my breath as the cabin door slid to the side. A man climbed out and glanced around before spotting us. He squinted in the darkness and then
