Дэвид Балдаччи - One Summer

“But I’ve almost got it finished.”

“Okay, Dad, whatever. We can talk when you’re done with it.”

Mikki walked out to the street, where Liam was waiting for her in his car.

Liam grinned. “When you called this morning with your plan, I have to admit I was really intrigued. Now I’m downright fired up.”

“Good, because so am I.”

They arrived in downtown Channing and parked in front of the Play House. There were a number of cars sitting at the curb, including Tiffany’s red convertible. The marquee read, CHANNING TALENT COMPETITION APPLICATIONS TODAY.

Mikki grinned. “When I saw that sign last night, I really didn’t think anything of it. You know, who cares? But now — now the timing couldn’t be more perfect.”

“Let’s do it,” said Liam.

They walked inside the lobby and joined a line of people standing in front of a long table behind which sat a number of ladies with hair styled to the max and wearing clothes that probably cost more than some automobiles. One of them, an attractive blond woman in a formfitting dress, seemed to be in charge.

“Let me guess,” Mikki whispered to Liam as she pointed at the woman. “Tiffany’s mom?”

Liam nodded. “How’d you know?”

“I just flash-forwarded Tiffany twenty-five years.”

“Chelsea Murdoch. I heard my mom once say she was even worse than her daughter.”

“Wow, now, that’s a lady I have got to tangle with.”

When Liam and Mikki reached the table, Chelsea Murdoch looked up at them with such a haughty expression that Mikki just wanted to slap her. “Yes?”

“We’d like to enter the competition,” said Mikki politely.

Murdoch glanced at Liam and looked confused. “Both of you?”

“That’s right. Together.”

“Liam Fontaine, right?” she said.

“The one and only.”

The woman smirked, and then her gaze swiveled to Mikki. “And you are?”

“Michelle Armstrong. We’re down here from Cleveland for the summer.”

The woman looked amused. “Cleveland?”

“Yes, it’s the largest city in Ohio. Did you know that?” Mikki said innocently.

“No, I never saw a good reason to find out,” she replied dryly and then bumped elbows with the woman sitting next to her, who chuckled. Mrs. Murdoch pushed a paper toward them. “Fill this out. And there’s a ten-dollar processing fee. What are you going to do for your act?”

“Music,” said Mikki. “Drums, keyboard, and guitar.”

Murdoch looked at her coolly. “Pretty ambitious.”

“I’d like to think so,” Mikki replied sweetly. “I’m sure the competition is pretty tough.”

“It is. In fact, one young lady has won it three years in a row and is looking to make it four.”

“Would that be Tiffany?”

“Yes. She’s my daughter.”

“Of course. But I already knew she’d won it three times in a row.”

“How?”

Mikki pointed to the mammoth banner on the wall behind them, which had a large picture of Tiffany holding up three trophies with the words TRIPLE CROWN stenciled over her head. “That was, like, sort of the first clue.”

Mikki returned Murdoch’s scowl with a smile.

“Just put the form in the box over there and give your money to the lady in the blue dress,” she snapped.

“Great. Thanks for all your help, Mrs. Murdoch,” Mikki said in her most polite schoolgirl voice.

Mikki could feel the woman firing laser eye darts at her as they walked off. She filled out the form and gave it and their entry fee to the woman in the blue dress.

“Okay, step one is done,” Liam said.

“And here comes step two.”

Tiffany and some of her friends had just walked into the lobby of the theater.

When Mikki marched up to them, Tiffany stiffened.

“Hey, Tiff.”

Tiffany looked puzzled, and then glanced at her friends and back at Mikki. “Hi,” Tiffany said coolly.

“I wanted to thank you for the great time on the beach. It was really memorable.”

Tiffany snorted, and the other girls laughed. “Uh, okay,” said a grinning Tiffany.

Mikki leaned closer. “And just so we’re straight, we’re, like, so going to kick your ass in the talent competition.”

The smile vanished from Tiffany’s face, and her friends stopped laughing.

Mikki drew even closer. “Oh, one more thing. You ever lay another finger on me, they won’t be able to find all the pieces to put you back together again, sweetie.” She’d unconsciously used the same threat she’d overheard her dad invoke back in Cleveland.

Tiffany blinked and took a step back. “You think you’re so tough?”

Mikki put her face an inch from the other girl’s. “I’m from Cleveland. It’s sort of a requirement.”

Outside, as they passed Tiffany’s red convertible, Liam glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then reached in his pocket and pulled out a white tube. Pretending to be picking up something, he squirted the clear liquid from the tube onto the convertible’s driver’s seat. It was invisible against the leather.

“What’s that?” Mikki asked.

“After what they did to you, I think Super Glue is in order.”

“Liam, I’m so liking your style, dude.”

“Okay, so what’s the conspiracy?”

Jenna had come into the kitchen at the Little Bit to find Liam and Mikki using their break to huddle in one corner.

“Nothing, Mom,” Liam said a little too innocently.

“Son, you forget I was a lawyer. My lie detector is well oiled.”

He looked sheepish and glanced at Mikki. “You want to tell her?”

Mikki said, “We entered the talent competition as a musical act.”

“Well, that’s great. Why keep it a secret?”

Liam answered. “We’ll be going up against Tiffany, and I know her family is an important player in town. We beat her out of winning for the fourth year in a row, the Murdochs might mess with you.”

“They can try and mess with me, but I don’t think it’ll do much good. The Little Bit is pretty much here to stay.” She looked at both of them curiously. “So why this sudden interest in beating Tiffany Murdoch?”

The two teens looked at each other.

Sensing they were holding something significant back, Jenna said, “Okay, both of you, I happen to be the boss. And I want the truth. Right now.”

Between them, Mikki and Liam told her what had happened on the beach.

When they’d finished, the look on Jenna’s features was very dark. “That was a criminal assault on you, Mikki. And you too, Liam. You two could have been really hurt.”

“It was no big deal, Mom,” said Liam.

“It was a very big deal. Those kids need to be held accountable for what they did. Otherwise, they might do it again.”

“Mom, please don’t do anything. We want to handle this in our own way.”

Mikki added, “And if my dad finds out, he’ll beat them all up and probably end up in jail. I know my dad. He’s really overprotective. They were just teenagers, and he’s an ex — army ranger. You saw what he did to those two big guys. He can be like a SWAT team all by himself when he needs to be. They’d throw the book at him. So please don’t say anything, Jenna. Please.”

Jenna’s features finally lightened. “Okay, I see your logic. But does your dad know you’re entering the talent competition?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, I think the sooner he knows, the better.”

Mikki gazed at her. “Would you mind telling him?”

“Me? Why?”

“It might be better coming from another parent. I don’t think he’ll mind, but he’s been a little preoccupied lately. And we’ve already entered. I can’t pull out now.”

Jenna thought about this for a few seconds. “Okay, I’ll talk to him.” She checked her watch and smiled. “Break time’s over. We run a real sweatshop here. So get to it.”