Before she could finish, someone yelled, “Hey, Red and Redder!”
They turned as two other students from school came trotting across the street. The one who’d spoken was Dave Minderjahn, a junior who was one of the legion of guys who wanted to go out with Melissa. He was with his sister, Eileen, who was a sophomore and in a few of Dana’s classes. They were both trim, athletic, with dark hair and brown eyes. Eileen was a very pretty cheerleader, but not one of the nasty stuck-up ones. She was a bookworm who also did sports. Dave was on the school’s soccer team. They wore identical FSK High sweatshirts. Dave wore his over green corduroys, and Eileen wore hers over new and very tight designer jeans. Dana had no idea why Melissa never went out with Dave. He was cute, and she didn’t mind his nickname for the Scully sisters—Red and Redder.
“Wow,” said Dave, “that’s so messed up, isn’t it?”
“Huh?” said Dana.
“About Maisie.”
“Who?”
He gave her a funny look. “Maisie, from school? She was killed last night.”
CHAPTER 7
Craiger, Maryland
6:42 A.M.
“What?”
Dana almost yelled it.
Dave and Eileen stopped walking for a moment and stared at her in surprise.
“Was she a friend of yours?” asked Eileen, suddenly looking concerned, and then she shot her brother a stern look. “That’s your problem, you goon. You drop stuff like that on people with no warning.”
Dave put his hands up as if trying to back away from her rebuke. “Whoa! How did I know Dana and Maisie were friends? Jeez, Red, I’m so sorry.”
“No,” said Dana, “it’s all right. I … it just caught me off guard.”
Eileen touched her arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry,” said Dave quickly. “Were you guys close?”
“No,” said Dana. “I … I didn’t know her at all. It’s just…”
Melissa stepped in. “It’s fine. I doubt Dana ever met her.”
“No,” said Dana. “I don’t know who she is.”
“Maisie was a senior,” explained Melissa. “I have—had—gym and social studies with her. It’s just such a shock, you know? Someone in our school being—”
“How did it happen?” demanded Dana. “Where? Did they catch who did it?”
“Wait … what?” said Dave, still off balance. “Catch who? For what?”
“Did they catch the guy who killed her?”
Eileen shook her head. “Oh … no, it wasn’t like that. Goon squad here said it wrong. Maisie wasn’t killed killed. Not like you mean. God! It wasn’t like that. She was killed in a car accident.”
“Oh…”
Dana wasn’t sure if that was a relief or not. It didn’t feel like one. Then she realized everyone was staring at her.
“Oh,” she said again, changing the emphasis. “That’s awful, I mean. What happened?”
They began walking together, Eileen on her side, Dave over next to Melissa.
“From what I heard,” said Eileen in a confidential tone, “she was high.”
“High?” said Melissa. “Maisie Bell? No way.”
“You knew her?” asked Dave.
“Not very well, just saw her in class. But she didn’t seem like the kind of girl who’d be out doing drugs.”
“Well, that’s what I heard,” said Eileen primly. “That she was at some party outside town and had her mom’s car. She left late and smashed into a tree.”
“Single-car accident,” said Dave, nodding. “No one else to blame. Just her and a bunch of bad choices.”
Dana wondered if he was quoting someone. Probably. It sounded like the sort of thing a parent would say over breakfast at home.
“It’s so sad,” said Melissa. “She must have had a karmic debt to pay off, and once she was done, she lifted off the planet.”
No one commented. Few people ever did when Melissa said things like that. Dave and Eileen nodded soberly as if they agreed with the substance of what Melissa said, but Dana caught the brief look that flashed between the siblings. Amused, tolerant, affectionate, and a little exasperated, and clearly disbelieving. Dana could relate to a degree. While she shared some of her sister’s new age beliefs, Melissa seemed to go further and further out, talking a lot about spirit journeys, channeling ancient entities, astral guides, and that sort of thing, all of which made it hard to keep up.
“It’s so weird,” said Dave.
“What?” asked Dana. “Her dying like that?”
Dave shook his head. “Not just her. Seems like a lot of people are checking out lately. Maisie’s, like, the fifth this year.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Dana, shocked.
“You and Melissa are pretty new here, Dana,” said Eileen. “You moved here, what, around Christmas?”
“After Thanksgiving, but we didn’t start school until after the Christmas break. Mom homeschooled us for a while and—”
“And so you don’t know what’s been going on,” interrupted Dave. “See, Maisie wasn’t the first teenager from Craiger killed in a car accident. Maisie makes five.”