Page 9 of Spring Forward
“What movie did they pick?” Madison was enjoying their stakeout despite herself. “Please tell me they aren’t seeing the latest of those dad-saves-his-daughter-from-kidnappers movies? You’d think after four, the kidnappers would decide to take someone else.”
Derek gave one of his half laughs of agreement. She’d heard those so many times while they were together. No one else made that sound. It was cute. “Kidnappers are notoriously stupid,” he said. “Fortunately, for us, your mom and Grant chose the sappy, romantic flick.”
“‘Sappy’?”
“Did I say that? I meant,wonderful, heartwarmingromantic flick.” He obviously didn’t mean that at all, but he held up two tickets, so he apparently thought the movie was worth enduring in the name of covert operations. “Do you think they’ve had enough time to get popcorn and all that?”
“Peek in the window,” she said, motioning ahead of them.
He waved her over with him, leaning enough to glance in the tinted glass. “I kind of feel like a criminal. If anyone asks, I’m saying this was all your idea.”
“Hey, we’re in this together. If I go down, we both go down.” She’d forgotten how much fun they used to have. Their sense of humor was the same. They both enjoyed being just a little odd, though she didn’t think either of them had ever admitted it.
“You ratted me out, see,” he said with a 1920s gangster inflection. “So I’m taking you down with me, see.”
She laughed. “Your '20s gangster impression needs work.”
“You no-good, dirty rat.” He even tried to make a Humphrey Bogart face. That hadn’t improved since the night they watchedAngels with Dirty Faceson cable because he’d been sick and didn’t feel good enough to leave his apartment. He’d been doing that ridiculous impression ever since. She’d been laughing at it from day one.
“So, Bugsy,” Maddi said. “Is the coast clear?”
Derek looked inside again. “We have a clear shot to the concession stand. We can get you some Junior Mints before the show starts.”
“Wow. Dinneranddessert.”
He flashed her a big, goofy grin. “That’s right. I know how to show a girl a good time.”
“I probably should be footing the bill for this. It’s my investigation, after all.”
He pushed open the door, holding it for her. “You can pay for tomorrow’s itinerary.”
“Tomorrow’s?” She stopped halfway through the door. He was planning to spend the next night with her as well?
He looked surprised by her confusion. “Did you think you would find out everything you needed to know about my uncle in one night? I thought you’d want to be more thorough than that.”
Shehadtaken off a full week of work, after all. If Mr. Fabulous had been a pig from the first minute, she’d have sent him off and spent the rest of her vacation with Mom. But a more subtle jerk, she realized, would require more observation. So far, Grant McGee didn’t seem like a jerk at all. Either he wasn’t one—which was hard to even imagine—or he was better at hiding it than most.
“I intend to be completely thorough,” she told Derek.
His nod seemed like approval. She liked that. No lecture, no treating her like an incompetent child. Not enough men were like him.
He ordered a large popcorn like he always had and got her a box of Junior Mints. She, of course, remembered his usual movie-theater snack, but it surprised her that he remembered hers. Her own father didn’t remember her birthday half the time, let alone her favorite candy.
Derek stuck his head in the theater where their movie was showing, checking to see where Mom and his uncle were sitting. Folsum Lake didn’t have stadium-style theaters with doors on the sides, but the old school ones with the entrance at the very back.
“We’re in luck. They’re about halfway to the front. If we take a seat here in the back, they’ll never spot us. Maybe in the corner where light from the door won’t hit us.”
Dark corner. In the back.She liked the idea, but she couldn’t deny the fact that most of the appeal had nothing to do with hiding from her mom.
They slid into the back row, taking the two seats closest to the wall. Apparently Derek remembered she preferred not being next to the wall. He took that seat without having to be asked.
“A person could fall asleep here, and no one would see them for days,” she whispered.
The theater was only about a quarter full. Enough people to go unnoticed, and not so many that they couldn’t whisper now and then without getting shushed.
“Here’s what I’m thinking,” he whispered. “You keep an eye on your mom—watch for any signs of being unhappy or miserable or anything. I’ll watch Uncle Grant and let you know if he does anything you might object to.”
Her eyes hadn’t adjusted yet; she could only just make out Derek’s silhouette in the dark. How could he possibly see what his uncle was doing from clear across the room?
