bit.
If my mouth hadnât been full I probably would have asked what the hell he was talking about. But I couldnât talk for a second and that was just enough time for my brain to catch up. He knew what Nick had planned, but I didnât. But how did he know? There was no way Nick had said anything. He wasnât that stupid.
âYeah, well thatâs not till later,â I said. âHow did you know, anyway?â
Score! His face got all red and he looked down at his feet. âDonât say anything to Nick, okay?â he whined. âYou know I can sort of get around those controls they put on the library computers, so you canât play games and stuff? I was overriding the programâitâs not that hard to doâand Nick was standing there talking to Zach and Brendan about that girl, Erin.â Oliver glanced up at me. âI have really good hearing. Really. I got tested and everything,and I can hear stuff when other people canâtââ
I cut him off. âAnd you heard what Nick said.â
He nodded. âI havenât told anyone. I wouldnât.â
Right. Except here he was telling me.
I glared at him. At least I hoped thatâs how it came across. I was bigger than he was, and I could pound him if I had to, but I didnât want to. âWhat did you hear?â
Luckily he was the kind of person who talked way too much. He put the last bit of his burger on the paper wrapper and wiped his hands on his jeans. âNot that much, really. I know that youâre going to be waiting for her on the trail after she gets off work and take her down into the woods behind the school.â His voice was so damn whiney I thought I might have to pound him after all.
I kept on eating the onion rings, like I wasnât all that interested in what he was saying.
âAnd...and I heard Nick say about herhair. How youâre gonna shave it off and all.â He laughed. âSheâs gonna have to go to another school or get a wig or tie a scarf around her head the way people who have cancer do.â
Nick was going to shave Erinâs head. How did he think he was going to get away with that?
âGo,â I said to Oliver. âGo home and keep your mouth shut. You got it?â
He nodded. Then he took off. He was afraid of me. He didnât even stop to grab the rest of his food. Yeah, I was such a tough guy. Except now what was I supposed to do? Go tell Erin? Oh yeah, that had worked so well the last time Iâd tried it. Try to stop Nick? I thought about how it still hurt when I took a deep breath. No way.
What made him think it would work, anyway? Even if they could grab Erin without her seeing them, sheâd know their voices. Sheâd know because who else would want to do something like that to her? Did he think she wouldnât go to the cops?
It wasnât going to work. Sheâd see them or hear them and run and scream and it wouldnât work.
I gathered up the garbage and stuffed it all in one of the cans. Then I went home.
Chapter Six
Dad was back. Heâd had a haircut and he smelled like some kind of aftershave that made my nose prickle. He was standing in front of the little closet, going through his shirts. His guitar was back in its usual place. âWhere were you?â he said.
âOut,â I said, dropping into a chair. âWhere were you?â
He looked over his shoulder at me. âOut,â he said, mimicking my voice.
âAt Rustyâs,â I said. Rustyâs was a bar near one of the highway off-ramps. They were always after my dad to play there. He was good, and he knew all the old country and rock stuff people wanted to hear. But itâs kinda hard to be in a bar and not drink a lot, and it was better if he didnât drink too much. I donât mean that he got rough or anything. Heâd just cry and miss my mom and be depressed for weeks. So it was better if he didnât go to