Chapter 4

There was a blemish on the front of our house, near my parents’ bedroom. Not as bad as I had feared. Dad saw my glance and said, “They were going to come and paint it next week, while we were away.”

Later I looked at myself in the mirror in my bathroom. It had been a long time since I’d last done it. There was still a small dressing on the cut; the stitches were going to come out in another week. I looked thinner than I had been before; I had shadows under my eyes. I sighed and lay down on the bed.

Later in the afternoon, Detective Katzenberg knocked on the door and came in and sat on my chair. “Your mother was telling me you are already making plans to go back to school next week.”

I nodded, and she went on. “I want to put one of my people in there with you.”

I shook my head. “I’ll be okay.”

She laughed. “Karen, you probably will be. But I have a boss too. And he has a boss, and above him is the mayor. And then there’s the governor. You’re an issue, an election year issue. You end up dead, and I end up unemployed.”

“No one cares about me,” I told her, hoping it was true; I didn’t believe it could be otherwise, not in my heart of hearts.

“Oh, they care. We don’t want to upset your parents; I knew they were having, still are having, problems with this. But twice while you were in the hospital, they tried to kill you. They really aren’t very smart, and when we’re ready, we can do a good job. We were ready; no one got hurt, they simply were arrested.”

She went on, “I have this very nice young officer who works undercover. She spent three weeks last month at another high school; no one twigged to her identity. That investigation didn’t pan out, and we decided to save her for another day. This is it. We’ll just say she’s a transfer student and put her in the same classes as you.”

I didn’t think it would work, but didn’t know how to tell her. She was a policeman; she should know that.

“You put a stranger in all my classes, and they’ll know. Everybody will know.” Just straight out, I thought, that would be best.

“Perhaps. But we have to try.”

I thought for another second. “What’s she doing this week?”

The detective grimaced. “Reading profiles and looking at mugshots. Research.”

“Put her there tomorrow. By the time she’s been there for a week, she won’t be a new face.”

For a moment, the detective stared at me, then shook her head. She reached into her purse and pulled out a cell phone. “Begay? Lily. Busy?” I couldn’t hear the words on the other side. “Come over to the Reynolds home. I want you to meet her.”

After a few minutes, my mother bustled in with a glass of milk and some cookies. The detective grinned. “Probably chicken soup for dinner. My grandmother always served chicken soup when I was sick.”

With a straight face, I said, “Doctor Richards said I needed lots of protein to make up the blood loss. She said I should have steak and potatoes.”

“I’m going to ask for her if I ever go in again,” the detective said with a laugh, “the last time all I got were poached eggs and toast.” She grimaced and stuck out her tongue. “Bleah! Ulcers.”

She looked at my mother. “In a few minutes, the undercover officer who will be watching Karen at school will be here. Please remember that aside from this meeting, you do not know her. Any mistakes could be dangerous for all of you, but particularly for Officer Begay.”