Casey walked out to Bailey’s house, arriving in a little over an hour. The night was dark and damp, and she shivered as she hid in the pine trees at the edge of the property. The men were nowhere in sight. Neither were any teenagers. Death had taken off a few miles ago, and Casey didn’t miss the added chill.
Which window was Bailey’s? She couldn’t tell. It was practically impossible to see which window had black curtains, since they all were dark. She studied the house, trying to remember the lay-out, and finally decided on the second window on the east side. If she was wrong, well, she’d run like hell.
She gathered a handful of pinecones and situated herself under the window. She tossed one. Then another. The curtains swept aside, and Bailey’s white face shone in the window. She glanced behind her, into the house, then turned back to Casey, a finger up. Her face disappeared and the curtains fell. Casey stepped back into the shadows, wondering how many kids were there.
Just one.
“Where were you?” Bailey demanded. “And what was the deal with the shed?”
Casey pulled her further from the house. “Somebody told.”
The girl’s face screwed up. “Told what?” She seemed genuinely confused.
Casey felt a tiny bit of weight ease from her shoulders at Bailey’s apparent innocence. “One of your friends told…” How to explain? “…told the bad guys how to find me. They were coming to the shed. They’re probably there right now.”
“No. Nobody would give away the shed. That’s crazy.”
Casey held up the phone. “Someone also told them I had this. They’ve been tracking me all day.”
Bailey’s mouth dropped open. “So they know you’re here? Right now?”
“No, the phone’s off. But any time I had it on today they traced it, found out where I’d been, and went there.”
And now Pat Parnell was gone, whatever Dixon meant by that. Had Casey gotten him in trouble by visiting? Gotten him killed? No, Death would have told her that.
“But why would someone tell?” Bailey said. “And who did?”
“I don’t know. What do you think? Who would betray you all like that?”
Bailey was distressed. “None of them! They wouldn’t…” She jabbed her finger at Casey. “You’re just saying that. It didn’t really happen. Why would you say that?”
“If you don’t believe me, go out to the shed right now and look. The men might still be there.”
Bailey jerked away, crossing her arms over her stomach. “I don’t…” She shuddered. “What should we do?”
“Where are the others?”
“Home.”
Casey really wanted to know which kid had told, but getting them back together tonight would be tricky. “We should sleep. I’ll be in touch tomorrow. Okay? And listen…can we keep this just between you and me? Not tell the others until we figure out how to stop the leak?”
Bailey was silent for a few moments before shrugging. “All right.”
“I need to see you all. Where would it work?”
Bailey hesitated, then swung around. “After school tomorrow, Johnny has a JV football game. We’re all going.”
Casey couldn’t show up there. Too many people. “How about afterward?”
“Sometimes we get pizza in town. Sometimes we go to Newton, to the Denny’s.”
“And how would you get there?”
“One of us would drive everybody. It’s about six miles.”
Casey couldn’t go that distance. “Can you make sure you go to the pizza place?”
“Yeah. They usually listen to me.”
Casey had noticed. “Will you walk from the stadium?”
“It’s right down the street, so yeah.”
“What route will you take?”
Bailey’s face scrunched up as she thought and she rubbed her face hard, smearing her eyeliner. “Up Adams to Main. It’s simple.”
“Any way you can go a different path, where there won’t be many people?”
“I guess. I’d have to come up with an excuse.”
“I have confidence in you. They’ll do what you suggest.”
Bailey paled even more in the illumination from the house’s outside lights. “Okay. So I guess we’ll go back behind the library, you know how you can see the stadium from there? There’s a road that’s more like an alley, and we can take that up toward the pizza place.”
“What time?”
“Six?”
That should work. “Thanks, Bailey. I’ll be keeping the phone off until then. No sense in leading them to us. Goodnight.” She turned to go.
“Casey?”
She stopped.
“Why did you come to me? Why didn’t you think I was the one who’d talked?”
“Because you’re the real deal, Bailey. You care about the others, and about your group. You would never give away your hiding place.”
Bailey frowned. “I care about you, too.”
“Which only proves you’re crazy. But thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow. And remember…” She put a finger to her lips.
Bailey smiled brightly, her teeth shining. “You know me. I can keep a secret. Goodnight, Casey.”
Casey smiled back, and slipped away into the night.