Max & Me Mysteries Set Page 5

  He smiled at me. "Sure are. Locally grown. We just got them in today."

  I smiled back. "I'll have to tell my mom." I wanted more than anything to ask him about Max. I hauled in a deep breath. "You're Alice Hunter's uncle, aren't you?"

  His smile faded. "Who wants to know?"

  "Um—I'm a friend of hers from school. She hasn't been there for a couple days, and I was worried."

  "Humph." He frowned. "She's sick. Has the flu or something."

  "So she's at home?"

  "Last I heard."

  "Do you think I could stop by and see her?"

  "I wouldn't—not if you don't want to catch anything." He looked me up and down. "You don't look like you need a flu bug."

  "I guess not."

  Feeling relieved, but not quite thrilled, I left the store and pedaled back home. Once inside, I called Max's place. Max answered.

  "It's you." I almost started crying. "What happened to you? I was afraid you'd moved away. I'm so sorry."

  "Hey, it's okay. I talked them out of going."

  "I went by your place, but nobody answered the door and Serena wasn't at work and . . ."

  "Get a grip, Jess. I'm fine. Serena's been sick."

  "I stopped by where she works and Jillian told me she hadn't called. I think she's lost her job."

  "She didn't. She went back to work this afternoon."

  "Can you come over?" I had to see her.

  Max hesitated.

  "Did they hurt you again?"

  "It doesn't matter. What matters is that I have a plan. I could use your help—that is, if you're up to it."

  "Sure." I sighed. "Anything."

  "Invite me to spend the night at your place tonight."

  "Okay." I was beginning to get that tight feeling in my stomach again. A warning telling me I was slipping into dangerous territory and I'd better back away. But I had come too close to losing my best friend, and I wasn't going to let that happen again. I put my hand over the mouthpiece and told my mother that I wanted Max to spend the night.

  "Jessie . . ." She paused to look at me, and her resolve faded. Mom had a hard time saying no to me. "I thought you said Max was gone."

  "She's still here. Please, Mom. It's important." I usually didn't take advantage of her weakness, but this was different.

  "All right. As long as you get to bed early and do your homework."

  "We will." I just hoped Max didn't have some late-night expedition planned.

  Max showed up wearing new jeans and a tank top with an unzipped Husky sweatshirt. I stared at her. "Max, your hair?" Her wild, spiky, colorful hair had been shaved off.

  "What?" She stepped around me and into the living room. "You think you're the only one around here who gets to go with the hairless style?"

  "It's not a style." I stepped inside and closed the door.

  "Sure it is. I saw a bald singer on television the other night and told Serena to give me a buzz cut."

  "You went bald so I wouldn't feel alone, didn't you?" As soon as the words left my mouth I knew I was wrong.

  "Sheesh." Max's gaze drifted to the floor. "You think the world revolves around you or something? My hair was like straw from all the dye jobs I've had."

  I didn't believe her. Another possibility slipped into my head. "Serena shaved your head, but you didn't ask her to."

  Max looked away. "You have a wild imagination. I happen to like my head shaved."

  As always, Max was making the most of the situation. I could only imagine what it must have felt like for her. She loved those crazy and colorful hairstyles of hers. They were part of what made her so outrageous. How humiliating for her. How cruel of Serena.

  "You can tell me the truth, Max."

  "Yeah, and have you tell your parents—no way."

  "I won't say anything." I wouldn't have to. Mom would know the minute she saw Max.

  Mom and Sam had gone to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner, and Dad hadn't come home yet. Max and I went out through the patio door and headed down to the dock.

  "Can we take the boat out?" Max asked.

  "Sure. Just make sure you don't row out too far. I'm not the best rower."

  "I'll do it."

  "We have to use the life jackets."

  She pulled an orange jacket out of the box and tossed me a yellow one. I climbed into the lightweight aluminum boat and sat on one of the three benches.

  We rowed out about a hundred feet from shore before Max put the oars in the locks. She leaned back against the box that held the other life jackets. Hands behind her head, she closed her eyes. "Feels good being out here."

  "It does. "I dipped my hands in the water and made little swirls.

  We sat there for a long time just breathing the cool mountain air and taking in the beautiful scenery. Chenoa Lake covered about ten thousand acres. The three small towns were situated at the north end. The rest of the perimeter was protected forestland. There were several islands on the lake, and at the south end the water drained out into Chenoa River. In all the years we'd lived there, we'd never explored the entire lake.

  After a while Max sat up. "You were right, Jess. Serena shaved off all my hair while Bob held me down. I was too ashamed to go to school. Serena wasn't sick. Bob knocked her around after he was done with me. All because your mother called Child Protective Services."

  "It's not fair to blame my mom. If you had told the social worker the truth, they would have taken you out of there."

  "You still don't get it, do you? I don't want to go to a foster home. But none of that matters. The real problem is the drugs. I'm going to find out who their suppliers are. I'll tell Detective Johnson, and he'll close them down. Bob and Serena won't be able to buy the stuff anymore."

  I wanted to tell her it would never work but couldn't make myself say it. Stopping the supply wouldn't end the problem, but Max had convinced herself that she'd found an answer.

  "You want to back out?" she asked.

  "No. I'm with you." And I would be, every step of the way. Max didn't always make the best decisions, and there was no way I'd let her handle a job like this alone. Over the next few minutes she outlined her plan in detail. While I doubted anything would end Bob and Serena's drug use, Max's plan would hopefully eliminate one more drug dealer. What I didn't tell her was that if I had anything to do with it, Bob and Serena would be arrested as well.

  CHAPTER TEN

  When Sam called us in for dinner, Max rowed back to shore. The steak, potatoes, and salad we had may as well have been cardboard for the way they felt in my mouth. I ate a few bites and slid the rest of my food around, making it look like I'd eaten something. My conscience twisted itself into a hundred knots, all designed to stop me from making another huge and dangerous mistake. I wouldn't listen.

  Max ate everything on her plate and took seconds.

  Sam thought it was cool that Max had the same haircut as mine. Max joked about it like she had with me.

  The evening went by fast with each of us having to catch up on the work we'd missed at school. We were in bed by nine. Mom kissed us both good night. "Max, it's good to have you here. You're always welcome. You know that, don't you?"

  I smiled. Mom was so transparent.

  "Thanks, Mrs. Miller."

  I lay in bed a long time, trying to go to sleep. My body was tired, but my brain wouldn't shut down. I kept thinking about Max and her crazy ideas. And my own idiotic decision to go along with her.

  I have one of those trundle beds with a mattress that you pull out, and Max was lying on it next to me. "You asleep?" she asked.

  "No."

  She sighed. "You go to church, don't you?"

  "Yes." I wondered where she was headed with her questions.

  "Do you believe in God?"

  "Of course. Do you?"

  "I used to before my mom and dad died. I don't know anymore. Bob and Serena don't."

  "Maybe you could come to church with me," I said. "Check it out for yourself.
"

  "Maybe I will." She was quiet for a while, then lifted up her head. "Could you pray for Serena and Bob? Maybe God will listen to you. He sure doesn't listen to me."

  "Sure. But all the prayers in the world aren't going to make your aunt and uncle give up drugs unless they decide they want to stop."

  "God won't stop them?"

  "No." I rested my chin on my bony wrists. "It's complicated. Has something to do with free will."

  "Are you saying it doesn't do any good to pray?"

  "Of course not. God answers all our prayers, just not always the way we think He should."

  Pretty soon I heard her slow, steady breathing. I said an extra prayer for Max and her family and eventually fell asleep.

  Max went home right after breakfast on Saturday morning, saying she'd call me later and we'd put her plan into action. It's a wonder I didn't develop an ulcer while I waited.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  "It's time," Max said when I picked up the phone Saturday afternoon. I'd just finished an English paper and taken a nap.

  "Time for what?" I pretended not to know what she was talking about.

  "They're gone. Meet me in front of the tea shop in five minutes. And bring your cell phone."

  I told my mother I was going into town and wanted to take the cell with me in case I needed her to pick me up.

  "Are you feeling okay?" She felt my forehead.

  "I'm okay, just a little tired."

  Mom got that worried look. "I'd better make an appointment for you to see Dr. Caldwell. We should get your blood checked again."

  "Okay. Just not today." I put the phone in one of the zippered pockets of my pants as I headed for the door. Once outside, I jumped on my bike and pedaled so fast I was out of breath when I put my bike into the stand. My legs ached and felt a little like Jell-O. For a minute I wasn't sure I could stand up.

  Max was already there, sitting on a bench. I sat down beside her to catch my breath.

  "You okay?" she asked.

  "Yeah." I panted. "Just a little out of breath."

  "You can stay out here if you need to."

  "No," I said. "I'll come with."

  She turned to face me. "There they are. Don't look. They're parking. I don't want them to see us." She looked back toward the shop. "They're going inside," she whispered.

  This was the first really good look I'd gotten at Serena since that awful day I saw her in her bathrobe yelling at Max. Today she looked like a model, with her curly blonde hair and a slim-fitting sundress and matching sandals.

  "Are you ready?" Max nudged me.

  I'd never be ready, but I nodded anyway.

  The shop was one I'd gone into lots of times. When family and friends visited they always wanted souvenirs. I knew the people who owned the shop and didn't figure them for drug dealers, but these days, you never knew. Of course, anything was possible since they hardly ever worked in the store themselves. They had a manager and several employees.

  We sneaked in—actually, we just walked in, cause you couldn't sneak. A bell dings when someone comes in or out. Anyway, we walked in and stepped to the right, behind a rack of sweatshirts.

  The clerk glanced in our direction, but then went on talking to Bob. Serena was looking at a cute T-shirt with a picture of an angel on it. "Your order is in the storeroom," the clerk said. "Come on back and check it out."

  "See, I told you," Max whispered, ducking down so her aunt and uncle couldn't see her.

  "The ‘order' could be anything. What makes you think it's drugs?"

  "I just know," Max said. "Let's go back so I can get a look at them."

  I shook my head. "No way. They'll see us for sure."

  "You're right. That would mess things up. I need to get closer though, so I can at least hear them. Did you bring your cell phone? We'll need to call the cops so they can catch them red-handed."

  I nodded as my hand closed around the phone. My way of escape if we got into trouble.

  We made our way to the back of the shop, stopping next to a rack of screen-printed T-shirts like the one Serena had been looking at earlier. The winged creature I thought was an angel turned out to be a fairy, lighting on a flower.

  The clerk came out of the back room with a foot-square box and set it on the counter. "This is the last one."

  "Are there more coming in?" Bob asked.

  He shook his head. "Not this time." He rang up the purchase and Bob handed him a credit card. I thought it was strange—Bob buying drugs with a credit card—but I didn't say anything.

  We waited in the store, pretending to be shoppers, until Bob and Serena left. The clerk kept looking at us like we were shoplifters or something. I could tell he wanted us out of there. After a few minutes, Max grabbed a candy bar from the shelf near the register and paid for it.

  The clerk was a guy in his twenties. His name badge read "Danny Edwards." "Have a nice day," he said in a sarcastic tone. The bell jingled as we left the store. Max didn't stop until we got to the end of the block.

  "Give me the cell," she demanded.

  I dug it out of my pocket. "What are you going to do?"

  "Call the cops. That guy just sold my aunt and uncle a box of drugs."

  "I don't know, Max. Doesn't it seem kind of weird that the guy would ring up the sale and then accept a charge card?"

  "No." Max punched in 911. "Don't you get it? They bought a statue. The statue is full of cocaine or something."

  "What? You have X-ray eyes? You can see through boxes?" I was really getting irritated.

  "Trust me, Jess. They've done this before. " Apparently someone answered the phone, cause she held up a hand for me to be quiet.

  I sighed and went to sit on a bench a few feet away, listening to Max describe the shop and tell them that the clerk had drugs in the back room. My stomach hurt again, and I had a feeling things were not going to go as she'd planned. If she was right, what would happen to the package Bob and Serena already had?

  A few minutes later the same detective who'd found us in the warehouse pulled up in front of the gift shop. Detective Johnson was in the store maybe five minutes before he came out. He saw us sitting on the bench and headed our way.

  "We're in trouble," I said.

  "No, we're not. He just wants to thank us for the tip."

  The scowl on his face told me I was right, but I had no intention of arguing with Max. Besides, I didn't have time to say anything.

  "You called in that anonymous tip, didn't you, Max?"

  Max leaned back and looked up at him. "What if I did? Did you find the stash?"

  "We didn't find anything. And we don't have enough evidence for a search warrant." He hunkered down in front of us.

  "So you didn't go into the back room?"

  "What makes you think there are drugs in there?"

  "I overheard the clerk tell these people their shipment came in. He took them to the back room and they came out with this box. They didn't open it or anything but . . ."

  Detective Johnson shook his head.

  "It had to be drugs," Max told him. "What else would it be?"

  He rubbed the back of his neck like I've seen my father do when he's exasperated. "These people get shipments all the time. They own a gift shop, for Pete's sake. I know you want to be good citizens, but harassing shop owners isn't the way to do it."

  "But . . ."

  "Leave it alone, okay? I don't want to see you kids getting hurt." He shook his head. "Police work is serious business. It can be dangerous. I thought you learned your lesson at the warehouse the other day. If we hadn't been there, those guys might have killed you."

  Max had a set to her jaw that said she had no intention of giving up. As for me, I sat there swinging my skinny legs, scared to death we'd end up in jail. "We didn't mean to cause any trouble," I said. "We were just trying to help."

  "That kind of help we don't need. This wild goose chase just cost the taxpayers a few thousand dollars in manpower, wages, and paperwork."
r />   I opened my mouth to comment, but Max beat me to it. "No way."

  "Yes way. It costs a lot of money to check out a tip. Keep that in mind next time you think you've found a drug dealer. Now, I want you two to do whatever kids your age do. No more looking into criminal activity, no more drug investigations. You leave that to us."

  More than anything I wanted to tell him about Serena and Bob, but I knew Max would kill me. She wanted the drugs stopped, but didn't want to turn in her aunt and uncle.

  "Okay," I said.

  He turned to Max, who shrugged her shoulders. "What if we see a place being robbed or somebody being mugged? Is it okay to call you then?"

  He smiled. "Come on, Max, you know the difference."

  She smiled back. "Just so we're clear."

  He left then and the butterflies in my stomach began to settle down. At least they did until I looked over and noticed Danny Edwards, the clerk from the gift shop, scowling at us. "He knows it was us, Max." My breath caught in my throat. "He knows it was us who called the police."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Max glanced at the clerk just as he ducked inside. "Great. " She began chewing on her lower lip. "I can't go home. I know he'll call Bob and Serena. He'll tell them it was me."

  "Does he even know who you are?"

  She nodded. "I think so. If he doesn't, they'll be able to figure it out. How many girls do you know with bald heads?"

  She had a point. I was afraid to go home too. The clerk didn't know me, but the store owner sure did. A call to my parents would probably result in my being grounded or worse. I'd never gotten into trouble before I met Max. Maybe that's because I was too busy being sick and getting well again to worry about making the wrong choices. Of course, part of it was seeing how difficult things were for Mom and Dad when Sam acted up or when I got sick. I didn't want to upset them more than they already were.

  "Come stay overnight with me," Max said. "If you're with me, they won't do anything."

  I got up and headed for my bike. "I don't know if that's a good idea. Why don't you just stay at my place?"

  "I can't. They'll expect me to be home tonight."

  "How can you be sure they won't hurt me too?"