Her eyes, his lies

Chapter 12

The park was surprisingly well-lit for what amounted to a grassy field with roughly carved benches strewn about. An overflowing trashcan stood on one end of the entrance, abutting the street. Fireflies circled around the electric lamps that dotted the park.

Victoria had made it to their rendezvous point first. She looked up at the sound of footsteps, and waved to Jane. Jane was panting and her lungs were burning. She had run the entire way from the parking lot. No mean feat for a couch potato like her.

"How'd it go? I was texting you," Victoria said, scooting over to give Jane space on the bench.

Jane collapsed into the seat with a sigh. Her eyes were drawn to the fireflies as she thought of how best to phrase her experience.

"It was... scary," she said.

Victoria chuckled. "Did you find out whatever it was you needed to find out?"

"Yeah," Jane said. From her pocket, she produced the thumb drive with the intact copy of Beatrice's information.

Beatrice's weakness notwithstanding, Jane's mind flitted to the other tidbit of information she'd found.

"It wasn't what I was hoping for," Jane admitted, perhaps to herself.

"Why not?" Victoria was watching her closely.

Jane thought her friend seemed strangely invested in this, almost as much as Jane herself was. Or perhaps it was just curiosity. "Ryder's in on it. I think. Or, at least his dad is."

"His dad?" Victoria's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Sounds serious. What are you gonna do?"

Jane turned her eyes to the floor, thinking.

"I don't know yet. There's something more going on," Jane said.

"So does that mean you're gonna cancel?"

"Cancel what?"

"You know, your date. With Ryder." Victoria wiggled her shoulders in a cartoonishly suggestive way. She looked positively ridiculous.

Jane giggled, and poked her. The giggles abated as she considered Victoria's question seriously.

There was no doubt that the school would be alarmed now, especially with what amounted to vandalism of the principals office. If the school was alarmed, would Ryder's organization be as well?

How deep did this go, if adults like Ryder's father was involved? Who could she trust to help her, if she needed it?

Jane was chewing her lower lip. "What do you think I should do?"

Victoria smiled. "You should absolutely go! Maybe you could use it to get intel."

The giggles returned to Jane. "Intel?"

Victoria crossed her arms. "Yeah. Intel. What's wrong with that?"

"Okay, G.I. Joe," Jane teased.

"Ha-ha," Victoria said, sarcastically. "But hey, promise me something."

Jane looked up. "Okay. What is it?"

"Ask me for help if you need it. Come on, we've been friends for months. And you didn't tell me anything at all. Well, until today."

"I know. I'm sorry, I just..." Jane trailed off as she realized she didn't have a valid excuse. At least, one that didn't make her seem completely paranoid.

"I'm not blaming you," Victoria assured her. "I just wanna be in on this. With you."

Wordlessly smiling, Jane nodded.