Playing with Fire (5 page)

Tom plopped down on the marble steps in front of the school to wait for Chad. They hung out at Tom's place together most days after school…or used to. These days Kelly frequently had something she wanted Chad to do—a lot more than Alison used to. Chad never complained, though—and why should he? Dating Kelly was cool; Tom knew that.

“Hey, Tom,” Kelly said, coming up behind him. “Could you hold this for a sec?” She handed him her metallic tote before he could reply. “Thanks, you're a sweetie.”

Tom blushed. “No problem,” he said. “I love a fashionable accessory.”

Kelly laughed.
Mission accomplished
, Tom thought. If you can't have the girl of your dreams, at least you can impress her with your dorky sense of humor.

Tom watched as Kelly pulled her compact out of her purse and put on some lip gloss. It was a pretty pink shade—not too obvious. The perfect choice, of course.

“Have you seen Chad?” Kelly asked, slipping the gloss and the compact back into her purse.

“Unh-uh.”

Kelly's eyes narrowed as she scanned the lawn. “I told him to meet me here right after class.” She sounded annoyed.

Tom nodded. “I'm sure he'll be here any second,” he said. “He's not stupid enough to stand up a beautiful blonde.”

Just then Aunt Christine pulled up to the curb and honked her horn. A bunch of students turned to gawk at the actress in her sporty Mercedes. Kelly waved. “Be right there!” she shouted.

“Where is he?” she asked, sounding thoroughly put out. “Aunt Christine doesn't like to be kept waiting.”

And neither do you
, Tom thought. But then, why should a girl like Kelly have to wait for anything? If she were his, he'd never keep her—

“What's up?” greeted a voice behind them.

“Your number,” Tom mumbled to himself. “You almost missed your ride, man,” he said more loudly, nodding toward Aunt Christine. She was checking herself out in the flip-down mirror, pretending not to notice she was drawing a crowd.

“Where have you been?” Kelly asked, lacing her fingers through Chad's and giving him a pout. “You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago.”

“Sorry,” Chad said. “Mrs. Naslund kept me after class.”

“Next time tell her you have an appointment with Hollywood,” Tom said.

Kelly smiled. “Right,” she agreed with a laugh. She gave Chad's hand a little tug. “Come on, let's go. You want a ride, Tom?”

Tom glanced up at Kelly. He wanted to come. And he didn't. He'd had a crush on Kelly since grade school, and this had been the year he was going to get her. Until she'd set her sights on his best friend, Chad.

“No, thanks,” he said. “I'll just walk.”

“Okay,” Kelly said, obviously not giving it a second thought as she pulled Chad toward the waiting car.

Tom watched them go. He ignored the stabbing feeling in his heart as best he could.

Half an hour later Tom unlocked the door to his house and stepped inside the cool entry hall. He hadn't even closed the door when he heard voices—two of them. Zoey was hanging out with someone.

Kicking off his shoes, a habit picked up when Debbie #2 (the second in a long line of narrowly avoided stepmother candidates) was in power a couple of years ago, Tom followed the voices into the kitchen. His sister and Alison Rose were sitting across from each other at the counter, laughing. The sound was foreign. It didn't really go with the house, and it took a second for Tom to realize why. Zoey never laughed anymore. So why was she laughing with Alison? Had she forgotten what her “best friend” did to her back in fifth grade?

“What's up?” Tom asked, giving Alison a little
wave. If they had been at school, he wouldn't even have made eye contact—being nice to Alison had become social suicide. But Tom couldn't exactly ignore her when she was sitting right there in his kitchen. Besides, she looked kind of cute with her hair pulled back in low ponytails. Good looks ran in the family.

“Not much,” Zoey replied. It was probably the longest conversation they'd had since Zoey's latest expulsion. Tom found it hard to believe they were even related, let alone that they had once been totally tight. Oh, well. His sister's return to Silver Spring hadn't exactly made Tom's life easier. Their dad was so worked up over whatever it was Zoey had done that now
both
of them were under extra-intense scrutiny. Thanks to Zoey, Tom was under even more pressure than normal to never screw up.

Tom opened the cupboard and pulled out a giant bowl and a box of Cap'n Crunch. “Want some?” he offered as he began to pour.

Alison shook her head and smiled. “Some things never change,” she said.

Tom topped off the bowl. “More for me,” he said as he added some milk. He was spooning
up the sweet crunchies before he had even put the milk away. He and the Cap'n went way back. Sugary cereal was the thing that got him through elementary school.

“Remember the time we put shredded wheat in the Crunch Berries box?” Alison said, her eyes bright.

Zoey laughed. “Oh, man. That was perfect.” She eyed her munching brother. “When you realized what was in your bowl you looked like someone ran over your dog.”

“It wasn't funny,” Tom said gravely, remembering the prank. It had actually been a little devastating. “But that was a long time ago. Forgive and forget, right?” he said pointedly, looking right at Zoey. He had no idea what was up between these girls, but he hoped it was all cool. For both of them.

Just then the front door slammed and their district attorney dad walked into the kitchen, talking loudly on his cell phone.

“I need it done today,” he bellowed, waving his hand wildly. “No excuses.”

“How was your day, kids?” Tom whispered to the girls with a roll of his eyes. His dad
couldn't care less about his own kids, and it burned Tom up.

“Great, Dad, how about yours?” Zoey answered quietly. Not that it mattered. Mr. Ramirez was talking so loudly he wouldn't have heard them if they shouted.

“All right, fine. Call me when it's done.” Mr. Ramirez flipped his phone closed and stood in the kitchen with a smug expression on his chiseled face. “I have great news,” he said, clearly bursting to tell someone. He looked at the three kids sitting in front of him, then past them in search of somebody better to tell. There was nobody there, of course. “Do you know who you're looking at?” He held his arms wide and waited for an answer.

A lousy dad, a jerk, a slimeball?
Tom thought. Any of those would be accurate.

“Maryland's next congressional candidate!” he blurted.

Tom stared at his father. “You're running for Congress?” he asked incredulously. “Don't you have to be an honest person to do that?” he added. He regretted it immediately.

“What is that crack supposed to mean?” his
father shot back. “I suggest you focus on yourself and start growing up, Cap'n.” He knocked the cereal box with his knuckle and stepped closer to his son. His voice got deeper and quieter as he spoke. Not a good sign. “When you are making straight A's, playing first string, and getting scholarship offers from Ivy League colleges, you might be able to offer me advice. But not before.”

Tom felt a flash of annoyance. His dad was always on him to do more, do better. As it was, Tom was no slouch. But no matter what he did, it wasn't enough. Besides, what about Zoey?

“Why are you lecturing
me
?” Tom asked hotly.
You're no great example, and
—“I'm not the one who got kicked out of boarding school.” He lobbed the ball of flame into his sister's court.

Across the table, Zoey glared.

Whoa. Alison looked from Zoey to Tom and back to Zoey, who looked ready to explode. Not that she could blame her. That was a low blow. Alison hadn't realized Tom was capable of being anything other than nice and funny. And she'd never seen a family fight as dirty as hers did. The Ramirez clan was coming pretty close.

“Zoey is another matter,” Mr. Ramirez said in his deep, rumbling growl. He sounded like a tiger coiled to pounce. “For another time,” he added, eyeballing his daughter. Then he leveled his smoldering gaze at Tom, giving him one last angry look before he turned his back on the kids and left the room.

“Whoa!” Alison said, breaking the icy silence the DA left in his wake. “Well, he's as friendly as ever.”

“As ever,” Zoey repeated, rolling her eyes. They laughed, and the tension melted. “What were we talking about? Cap'n Crunch?”

Alison grinned. She loved the way Zoey could shake things off and move on. Like, she obviously wasn't holding a grudge about that awful night in fifth grade. And just now her brother had totally messed with her and, as far as Alison could tell, Zoey wasn't kicking him under the counter or anything. Watching her new/old best friend play with a few pieces of cereal, Alison wondered why she had turned on her in the first place…even though she knew the answer.

Kelly.
The name swam around in her brain like a great white shark. Kelly was the one who hadn't liked Zoey. Probably felt threatened by her, Alison realized. And Alison had been stupid enough to let Kelly goad her into humiliating Zoey in the worst way—on what turned out to be the worst possible night.

Tom dumped the last of the cereal into his bowl and added more milk. “It's always a little
sad when there are only a few bites left.” He shook his head and clutched his chest.

Alison smiled. Tom was cute—something she'd never really noticed before. Probably because she had been too focused on Chad. But that was no longer an issue…even though she sort of wished it were. Chad had been a good boyfriend—funny, handsome, smart. Alison still couldn't believe he had ditched her for Kelly. Didn't he realize Kelly was just using him? He couldn't really be falling for her. Could he?

Alison sighed. Who was she kidding? Her cousin was beautiful, popular, crazy, and fun. Everyone fell for Kelly. Including her.

The front door opened again and Debbie #5 (actually named Deirdre) stepped into the house. She strolled into the kitchen and dumped her hideous and huge last-season Gucci bag on the counter.

Alison blinked at the woman standing before her. She wore a tight-fitting dress with a wide belt and a ridiculously low neckline. It was hard not to stare at her obviously surgically enhanced figure. She looked like a Barbie.

“Did you hear?” she squealed excitedly. “Your dad is running for Congress! Congress of the
United States
!” She spun around as if in a dream.

“Really?” Zoey said with exaggerated interest. “Of the United States? Gosh, I figured he'd be running in Mexico or Guam.”

Deirdre ignored the smart-aleck remark. “Imagine me, a congressman's wife!”

Alison coughed and covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh out loud. Tom's face, on the other hand, suddenly shifted into a mask of annoyance.

“Yes, we heard,” he said.

“Well, where
is
that future politician?” Deirdre asked, her eyes wide.

“On the phone,” Zoey said, jerking her thumb toward the den. “I think the pope called, or something.”

“The pope!” Deirdre screamed.

Tom snorted, and Deirdre's face fell. “Oh, that was a joke, right?”

Zoey rolled her eyes. “Um, right.”

Deirdre left the kitchen with a clatter of
high heels on tile. The smell of her perfume stayed behind.

“Ugh,” Zoey grumbled, fanning the air in front of her nose. “I think she's the worst Debbie yet.”

“Definitely,” Tom agreed. “If only her brain were as big as her…”

“Bag,” Zoey finished with a sly grin.

“I'd take Debbie number two over her any day,” Tom announced, dumping his bowl in the sink. “Her rules were weird, but at least she had a brain.”

Zoey nodded her agreement as she picked up the TV remote and hit a button.

Alison sucked in her breath. The news was on. And Helen Rose was the lead story.

Zoey could not believe her luck. She stared at the image of the perfectly styled woman on the television screen. Her face looked composed in spite of the fact that she was surrounded by throngs of shouting reporters and a pack of lawyers leading her into the county courthouse. Zoey had seen Helen Rose before, of course, but had forgotten just how poised she was. Onscreen she almost looked…fake. Not human.

“Change the channel, Zoey,” Tom hissed, looking sideways at Alison, who was staring at the screen as if she'd seen a ghost. Zoey tightened her fingers around the remote but didn't
press any buttons. This was too sweet an opportunity to let slide. Alison had followed her home after school like a puppy for three days straight, and Zoey was getting a little bored. It was time to get her revenge plan rolling.

“It's not like this is news to Alison,” Zoey said easily as she watched Alison's reaction. “You've seen it all before, right?” she asked with a smile. The tidbit on the news was a welcome surprise. A chance to see Alison squirm…

But if Alison was shaken, she didn't let it show. Like mother, like daughter. “Right,” she said woodenly. “Old news.”

Zoey hit the volume button, and the sound of a reporter's voice echoed in the room. “Rose is being held while the police and federal agencies conduct their investigation. As of this evening, no business associates or family members have been cleared of involvement in this unusual financial scandal. But a spokesman from the district attorney's office assures reporters it will be a miracle if anyone comes out of this investigation ‘smelling like a Rose.'” The reporters yucked it up. Zoey fought back her own chuckle.
This was better than anything she could have planned.

Alison put her hand around the edge of the kitchen counter to steady herself, and Zoey grinned. Alison was already so vulnerable. Revenge was going to be easy…and sweet.

Distracted by her plans for payback, Zoey didn't notice Tom getting to his feet. By the time she realized what he was doing, the television was already turned off.

“I think we've seen enough of that,” he said, shooting his sister a “what is wrong with you?” look.

Alison nodded as she pushed her stool in and carried her glass to the sink. “I'd better get going,” she said, sounding kind of hollow.

“Right,” Zoey agreed without getting up. “Catch you tomorrow?”

Alison grabbed her bag off the counter and slung it over her shoulder. “I guess,” she said softly. She turned and left the kitchen, making her way through the living room on the way to the door. As Alison passed a shelf full of crystal collectibles, Zoey saw her pick up a small glass elephant figurine and slip it into her pocket.

Zoey had all but forgotten about Alison's little habit. She considered busting her on it but decided not to. She couldn't care less about the trinket—probably left by some Debbie—and if Zoey was going to repay Alison in full, she needed her trust.

As soon as the front door closed, Tom turned to Zoey.

Here we go
, Zoey thought.
A lecture from Mister Good Guy.
But before Tom could say anything, a voice called out from the den.

“Zoey, I need to see you for a minute,” DA Dad announced. Zoey blew her hair out of her eyes as she strolled casually into the den. What now?

Sitting behind his giant mahogany desk, her dad looked kind of…small. Zoey was appreciating that little fact when he opened his mouth and told her another fact that she didn't appreciate at all.

“I've hired a tutor for you,” he said flatly, eyeing her over the top of his half-rim reading glasses. Zoey started to protest. He raised his hand to stop her.

“Objection overruled,” he said before she'd
said a word. “You will see a tutor twice a week until further notice. I will not allow my daughter's delinquency to destroy my reputation. The media would have a field day if they knew what you did. I'm running for Congress—so you'd better shape up.”

Zoey's eyes narrowed as she watched her father flip through some papers on his desk.
I'd like to shape
you
up
, Zoey thought. But she knew there was no use in arguing. Her father was a criminal prosecutor who never lost. Ever. And he had just handed down his verdict. Case closed.