“Tane Ngata!” Adina exclaimed, stretching her arms overhead. Everyone, including the black shirts, turned to stare at her.
“Do you know him? Are you yourself an eco-terrorist?” Harris was in her face.
“What? No! Why would I?” Adina laughed nervously.
“What did you just say?”
“I was doing my vocal exercises. To be ready for the pageant. I do them all the time. Tane Ngatatatattannnnneeeeetane. Just limbers the tongue right up.” She gave him a coy smile.
“Gummi bears!” Tiara pointed wildly to the vending machine in the corner just as the elevator doors opened.
“Our ride’s here,” Harris said.
Tiara glanced toward the machine. “But … gummi bears.”
“Wouldn’t want to mess with those pretty teeth,” he said and ushered them inside.
They rode up in silence.
“What kind of a person doesn’t let you have gummi bears?” Tiara sat on the cot, her fingers worrying the hem of her new MermaidTopia shirt.
“And everyone seemed to know who you meant when you said Tane Ngata.”’
“We may be close to her imaginary BF,” Shanti agreed.
“Maybe not so imaginary after all,” Petra said.
Adina paced in front of her cot. “This is all very, very strange. My journalist’s instincts say there’s something going on.”
“Or maybe that guy, the eco-warrior, is a terrorist,” Miss Ohio said. “Maybe they have him captured for a good reason.”
Tiara sniffled. “I don’t want to do the pageant anymore. I want to make another hut. That was fun. And I want some gummi bears.”
“You can have all the gummi bears you like when we get back,” Petra promised.
“If we get back,” Nicole said, and it made her arms goose pimply despite the heat.
Someone brought them French fries and soda, and the girls dug in. The French fries were heavenly; the soda burned their throats in a good way. It was just like being back home, like before. For a moment, their doubts were cast aside. They tried to enjoy the fact that they’d finally been rescued, just like in all the stories they’d read as girls. The ones that ended happily. They had new clothes and shoes. Their hair smelled of freesia, their skin of vanilla. All the creature comforts of home.
But if everything was fine, why did they feel so wrong?
“Tiara, what’s the matter?” Petra asked. Tiara hadn’t touched her food. “Is this still about the gummi bears?”
“No. It’s just, I have a question. But it’s probably dumb.”
“There are no dumb questions,” Petra said. “Except for some.”
“How come, if they want us to do the pageant, they sent Mary Lou back home? That doesn’t seem fair.”
It was a simple question. The sort of simple question that could completely unravel a complicated argument.
Agent Jones stepped into the tent. “Hello, girls. How’s everything?”
“Fine,” they said.
“Good, good. Say, I’ve been meaning to ask, wasn’t there a Miss Texas with you?”
“Tayl —”
Adina cut Tiara off. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason. There’s always a Miss Texas in the Top Ten. My daughters and I run a pool.” Agent Jones tried to smile and managed only a grimace.
“Will your daughters be watching tomorrow?” Adina pried.
Agent Jones blinked and looked away quickly. “Of course.”
For the high school paper, Adina had covered a student council scandal in which the student body president had sold test answers in order to buy himself a new SUV. When she’d pressed him on the allegations, he’d done the same blinking and looking away. It was the tell of a liar.
“And they’re fifteen and seventeen?” she said, deliberately getting their ages wrong.
“Yep. Fifteen and seventeen.”
When she’d busted the student council president, Adina had felt triumphant — it was a “gotcha!” moment. Now, she felt real fear. This man was not to be trusted, but she didn’t know why or how much danger they might be in.
“Sorry. Miss Texas didn’t make it,” Adina lied. “Spider bite.”
“Well. That’s a real shame.”
Adina yawned for effect. “Whoo. I am sooo tired. We should probably get our beauty sleep. Got a big day tomorrow. Nighty-night, Agent Jones.”
Agent Jones left without saying anything back.
“Something’s not right,” Nicole whispered when they were alone again.