Now You See Me

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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.

‘And there they were at the dining table, the conspirators,’ Amanda said. ‘Clare, the kidnapper. Stuart Kelley. And. .’ she paused dramatically.

Jenna couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘Mr Jackson.’

Amanda’s eyes shot daggers at her, but she was distracted and rewarded with Ken’s wide-eyed reaction.

‘So it is true?’

Amanda nodded solemnly. ‘He’s one of them, Ken. The second I saw him, the shock sent me right back into myself. But I decided I was going to find out more about this. That’s why I took the job in his office, so I could spy on him. On Mr Jackson, Ken. Not you guys.’

Ken offered a weak smile. ‘OK, I was wrong about you. I’m sorry.’

Amanda affected the look of a martyr. ‘I just wanted to prove to you all that I could do something to help us.’

‘Did it ever occur to you that we could have all worked together and accomplished more?’ Jenna asked.

Amanda made a face at her. ‘Look who’s talking. Miss Sociability. Since when have you been into teamwork?’

‘Since I came to grips with reality,’ Jenna shot back. ‘You should give it a try sometime.’ She turned to Ken.

‘Can I use your phone? I want to make some calls.’