Most Likely (Most Likely #1) - Sarah Watson Page 0,20

for the office building. Probably.

Now that she was thinking about the park, something nagged at her. The developer had cited the park’s declining popularity as a reason to close it. She claimed that attendance had dropped off significantly in the last ten months. CJ had taken the developer at her word, but now that she thought about it, it didn’t seem true. She drove by on the way to Martha’s all the time, and the park was always filled with kids. She went online to see if she could verify the attendance numbers and stumbled onto something very interesting. The park hours were different now. It used to be open until ten PM. That had changed recently. Ten months ago, to be exact. Now the park closed at sunset. In the winter, that could be as early as four PM. There was more information and CJ kept reading.

“Holy shit,” she said out loud.

As quickly as she could, she dialed Jordan’s number. When Jordan didn’t pick up, she called Martha.

“Hey,” Martha said.

“Put Jordan on.”

“Well, hello to you too.”

“I found something huge.”

“I’m still going to need you to say hello. Because manners. Also, Jordan has now tried on ten thousand skirts and I’m bored out of my mind and you owe me so hard.”

“I think the councilman has been actively trying to kill the park.”

“What? Hang on.” CJ heard a fumbling noise and then Martha’s voice, now distant and hollow. “You’re on speaker. Jordan’s right here. Should I conference in Ava?”

“Yeah. Get her.”

Ava was at her mom’s office working with her fancy French tutor. Or maybe it was her fancy calculus tutor. Her mom hired a lot of fancy tutors. CJ waited for the call to connect. She felt impatient and excited all at once.

“We’re all here,” Martha said.

Ava started to say hello, but CJ cut her off. “I think the councilman is helping the developer kill the park. Is he allowed to do that?”

“What?” said three voices in unison.

CJ’s call waiting clicked. She checked the number. It was Wyatt, her new boss at Sensational Recreational. She wasn’t sure why he was calling. She wasn’t starting until next week.

“I have to take this other call,” CJ said.

“Wait, no. Don’t go,” said Jordan.

“I have to. I’m sending you a link. The reason park attendance is down is because someone shortened the hours. You’ll never guess who.”

“Who—” shouted three voices before CJ clicked over and cut them off.

“Hello?” CJ said. She tried to sound calm even though she was absolutely buzzing. It wasn’t just someone who had shortened the park hours. It was the councilman. Why would he do that unless he wanted the park gone?

“Clarke. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.” He was speaking loudly, practically yelling over something happening behind him. It sounded like screaming.

“What is that?”

“Not important. I know you’re not supposed to start until next week, but is there any way I could persuade you to come down sooner?”

“Uh… I mean… how soon?”

CJ heard a crash and then more screaming. She said, “Oh my god! What is that?” at the exact same moment that he said, “How fast can you get here?” Then they both said, “What?” at the same time. Then there was a long pause.

“You first,” Wyatt said.

“What is that sound?”

“That, Clarke, is the sound of children at play. Now how fast can you get here?”

CJ pulled into the parking lot of the rec center fifteen minutes later. As soon as she got out of the car, she heard the screaming. It was coming from the gym. CJ quickly locked her doors and half walked, half ran across the parking lot. When she opened the double doors, she was surprised to see that Wyatt had been telling her the truth. This was the sound of children at play. A dozen or so boys in wheelchairs were spread across the basketball court playing a game that she would later learn was flag rugby. It was completely confusing, totally violent, and the boys absolutely loved it.

CJ saw Wyatt, wearing a striped referee shirt and following along with the action of the court. Occasionally, he blew the whistle that hung around his neck, and the boys would either cheer or shout depending on the call. Wyatt noticed her and waved her over.

“Clarke,” he said as she approached. “What took you so long?”

Was he serious? She didn’t think he was serious. But maybe. “Uh… I drove straight here. But I’m ready to get to work. Where do you