Marilyn Kaye - Gifted - Now You See Me

Serena drew in her breath sharply. ‘Amanda took over Margaret’s body?’

‘Yes,’ Carter replied. ‘She felt sorry for her. She didn’t want to be Margaret, but it happened.’

‘Margaret. .’ Jackson repeated, and frowned. Serena turned to him.

‘My friend, who was helping me out. She pretended to have just lost her mother. She came to a meeting — you met her. She was freaked out, she couldn’t handle that stay in jail. She was a nervous wreck, remember?’

‘Whatever happened to her?’ Stuart asked.

‘She had some sort of breakdown and she’s living with her parents in Florida.’ Suddenly, Serena gasped. ‘Ohmigod, it’s all starting to make sense! Her behaviour at the seance. .’

It dawned on Tracey that she should be recording this conversation. Hurriedly, she fumbled with her mobile phone, looking for the little icon that would turn the phone into a recorder. .

And it slipped out of her hand.

‘What’s that?’ Clare asked.

They were all staring at a mobile phone, which had suddenly appeared on the floor. Serena reached down and picked it up.

‘It’s not mine,’ she said.

Tracey tried not to panic. OK, they had her phone. They’d see the pictures she’d taken. They might even be able to figure out that the phone belonged to her. But it wasn’t like they could do anything to her — they couldn’t even see her. .

Then her stomach turned over. Because they weren’t looking at the phone any more. They were looking right at her. And they could see her.

JENNA’S MOTHER WAS TRYING very hard to grasp the situation. ‘But why would the principal want to get rid of you, Jenna? You haven’t been in any trouble since you started at Meadowbrook.’

‘He’s afraid of me, Mom,’ Jenna explained. ‘Because I can read minds. I don’t know what he’s thinking about that’s so bad, but he doesn’t want me to find out.’

‘Why don’t you just tell him you won’t read his mind?’ Mrs Kelley suggested.

‘I don’t think he’d believe me,’ Jenna said.

‘Oh, dear,’ her mother sighed. ‘Jenna, couldn’t you just stop reading minds? It’s not really a very nice habit, is it?’

Jenna smiled. Her mother meant well, but she was no Dr Paley. She’d never be able to understand.

The doorbell rang. ‘That must be Emily,’ Mrs Kelley said. ‘She called earlier and I told her you were coming home.’

But it was a different classmate who stood in the doorway.

‘Ken!’

‘Emily called and told me you were home,’ he said. ‘I have to talk to you about something.’

‘Come on in. Mom, this is Ken Preston, from my class at Meadowbrook.’

‘Hello, Ken,’ her mother said brightly. ‘Would you kids like something to eat? There are cookies. .’

‘No, thank you, Mrs Kelley,’ Ken said politely. ‘I just need to talk to Jenna about something. I won’t stay long.’

‘I’ll give you two some privacy,’ Mrs Kelley said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

‘She’s nice,’ Ken said.

Jenna nodded. She could remember a time when she would never have willingly allowed a classmate to meet her mother. She could also remember a time when the mere notion of Ken Preston showing up on her doorstep would have boggled her mind.

Now she wasn’t boggled, but she was puzzled. ‘What’s up?’

‘Tracey’s been invisible for a while,’ he began.

Jenna nodded. ‘I know. She came to see me at Harmony House.’

‘Well, she came to see me this morning. And she says. .’ He frowned. ‘This is going to sound crazy. She claims she spied on a meeting. That Clare woman, Serena, the guy who said he was your father. . and Mr Jackson!’

Slowly, Jenna nodded. ‘That doesn’t sound so crazy to me.’

‘But you haven’t heard the rest of it. She says Carter’s the spy, not Amanda. She says she actually saw him talking at this meeting.’

‘Wow!’ Jenna breathed. ‘I wouldn’t have guessed that .’

‘You believe her?’ Ken asked.

‘Tracey doesn’t lie, Ken.’

Ken frowned. ‘She said I should talk to Amanda. And to ask Amanda to tell me what she told her. Does that make sense to you?’

‘Yeah.’

Ken pulled out his mobile and just looked at it for a moment. ‘She’s gotta hate me. I mean, I haven’t exactly been very nice to her.’ Then, with a less-than-enthusiastic expression, he hit a number.

Jenna grinned. ‘You got her on speed-dial, huh?’

‘Forgot to take her off,’ he mumbled. ‘Hello, Amanda? This is Ken. Yeah. Um. . are you busy? I mean, like, could I come by and talk to you about something? OK.’

He put the phone back in his pocket. ‘I’m going over there now.’

Jenna grabbed her jacket. ‘I’m going with you.’

He didn’t protest. In fact, Jenna could have sworn she saw relief in his eyes. She couldn’t blame him. She wouldn’t want to face an irate Amanda alone either.

And she was glad Ken was by her side when Amanda opened the door. The look Amanda gave Jenna was a lot scarier than the one she gave Ken.

‘What’s she doing here?’ Amanda wanted to know.

‘Don’t worry, Amanda, I’m not armed,’ Jenna said.

Amanda sniffed, but she stepped aside and let them both in. Before Ken could say anything, she made a statement.

‘I am not the spy.’

‘I know, I know,’ Ken said. ‘Tracey told me.’

That didn’t seem to make Amanda any happier. ‘Oh, so you believe Tracey but you wouldn’t believe me .’

‘I want to believe you, Amanda!’ Ken exclaimed. ‘It’s just that, I don’t know, you get me all mixed up!’ Suddenly, his face was red. Jenna had the feeling he’d just admitted something he didn’t want to say.

And Amanda went pink. ‘You mix me up too!’ she blurted out. ‘I mean. . Oh, never mind, just forget it.’

Ken looked like he was about to smile, but then thought better of it. ‘Well, for cryin’ out loud, Amanda, what was I supposed to think? I find out you were at that seance all the time, knowing full well that it was a scam, but you let me go on and make a fool of myself believing that woman was a real medium. I was pretty pissed off at you!’

‘Aw, you can’t blame her, Ken,’ Jenna broke in. ‘She got to be a twenty-five-year-old woman for a weekend. It opened up new shopping opportunities.’

Amanda glared at her, and Jenna actually backed down.

‘Sorry. I’m sure you had other reasons.’

‘No kidding. Look, I know what you guys think of me. You think my gift is worthless and I only think about myself. I wanted to show you that maybe I had something to offer. Like, I could find out more about these people who are out to get us. And I did.’

‘What did you find out?’ Ken asked.

Amanda smirked. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’

‘Oh, go ahead and tell him, Amanda,’ Jenna said.

Amanda narrowed her eyes. ‘Did Tracey tell you? She promised to keep it a secret.’

‘She didn’t have to tell me. I read her mind.’

‘She wouldn’t tell me either,’ Ken said. ‘Tracey told me to ask you to tell me what you told her.’ He grimaced. ‘Did that make sense?’

‘I guess so,’ Amanda replied with clear reluctance. She paused dramatically. Jenna had an enormous urge to scream, ‘Spill the beans, Amanda,’ but she managed to keep her mouth shut. She knew the girl would want to make the most of this moment.

First, they had to hear the tale of her two hours in jail as Margaret, her desperate attempts to get back into her own body, her fear of never seeing the light of day again, blah, blah, blah. Someone bailed both her and Serena/Cassandra out of jail, and they went immediately to a meeting in a nondescript suburban house on an ordinary tree-lined street.