Chapter 35

I headed upstairs and knocked on Terri’s door.

“Come in,” she called.

As soon as she realised it was me, she grasped me in a tight hug. But even the feeling of her firm little breasts pressing against me couldn’t lift my spirits.

“Thank God you’re okay,” she said. “Mum banished me up here as soon as the police arrived. I thought you were in some kind of trouble.”

“I am and I’m not,” I said. “I spent last night with Joanna Kafkasian at the Mountview Deluxe Hotel and now she’s been reported missing. At the moment, I’m the last person known to have seen her.”

Terri’s eyes widened. “Joanna Kafkasian,” she repeated. “Wow, for a dork you’re punching well above your weight. Prom with Cayenne Proctor followed by a night with Joanna Kafkasian. Wow!”

“Mum’s grounded me for a week,” I admitted. “Better put some decent clothes on, we’re eating out tonight.”

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know. It was Dad’s decision. I need to get changed too.”

As I peeled myself out of Terri’s hug, I belatedly realised how comforting the warmth of her body had been. Returning to my own room, I scowled at the tuxedo: there was no way I was going to wear that this evening. Instead I swapped my jeans and t-shirt for a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt.

I was ready first and had to wait for the others.

“Any preferences?” asked Dad, after we had all assembled.

“Thai?” suggested Terri.

Being a small town, there wasn’t much choice. The Thai place was something of an oddity compared to all the usual chains, and it hadn’t been open long so we’d never been there before.

Dad looked around for dissenters but I didn’t really care: I was worried about Jo and praying she hadn’t fallen victim to the witch. I felt so helpless. And yet if I’d told the police my suspicions, they would probably have been even more dismissive than my mum.

I vaguely remember the food as being good but I can’t for the life of me remember what I ate. And any conversation washed right over me too. I think the others picked up on my mood and left me alone to wallow in my misery.

It was a relief to get home. On checking my smartphone in the privacy of my room, I found a text message from Dimitri telling me to read my e-mail. That reminded me to send text messages to Michael and Dennis to say I’d been grounded and I’d see them at school the next day. I didn’t want them waiting in vain at our usual rendezvous point.

Dimitri’s e-mail was disappointing. The hotel’s security system was very secure, and the only way to access the footage currently was from within the hotel’s security centre. However all the day’s security footage got uploaded in the early hours of the morning to the hotel chain’s servers, and Dimitri thought he might be able to hack in and access it after school the next day. And, of course, he wanted to know why I needed the footage.

I e-mailed a ‘thank you’ in reply. I also told Dimitri I’d been grounded so I wouldn’t see him before school the next day, and I’d explain everything when I saw him next. I wasn’t looking forward to having to admit to my friends that I’d lied to them by omission.

I slept badly that night because I couldn’t stop going over and over in my mind what I could have done differently. I definitely wished I’d thought to ask the police to let me know if they found Jo.

Next morning I got ready for school on autopilot. I had just stuffed my books and laptop in my bag and was heading towards the door when Mum intercepted me.

“Not so fast,” she said. “I don’t trust you. I’m driving you to school this morning.” Then she turned to Terri. “Would you like a lift too?”

“No thanks, Mum,” said Terri. “It’s a nice day so I’ll walk to school with my friends.” She finished her own preparations then sauntered out of the door.

Although it wasn’t far, Mum delivered me to school a few minutes earlier than my usual arrival time. “Don’t forget,” warned Mum, “straight home after school or you’ll be in trouble.”

“Yes Mum,” I replied, managing to resist the urge to be condescending.

I hung around the school’s main entrance until my friends arrived. Fortunately that wasn’t long. “Can we talk privately?” I asked them, after we’d exchanged greetings.

All three nodded, and we moved away to an area on the school sports field where we wouldn’t be overheard.

“I made a commitment to someone,” I said, “and I had to break it yesterday for that person’s own good. I want to break it again because you deserve to know the truth and I need your help, but I want you to promise that what I tell you will go no further.”

Michael and Dimitri nodded their assent and Dennis made the Scout’s Honour sign.

“I told you I went for a meal with Joanna Kafkasian,” I said.

The others nodded.

“What I didn’t tell was that we decided to have the meal that was part of the prom package. Marcus and Cayenne had already elected to take it in their room at the Mountview Deluxe. After the meal, Joanna and I watched a movie then stayed the night.”

Their expressions showed that my friends hadn’t been expecting that.