The Babysitter Murders - By Janet Ruth Young Page 0,22

coughing blood into a handkerchief. Dani thinks how awful it would be for his father to go through that and then to find Gordy hacked into pieces in their basement.

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“The sun’s almost setting,” she says. She breaks into a run.

He’s beside her. They’re evenly matched.

“Long legs,” he says, but he’s complimented her so much she can’t hear it anymore; all she knows is she’s having fun again.

At the base of Shark’s Jaw, Dani crosses the path to Gordy’s side. They’re both panting. She places her hand against the back of his head, pressing his forehead against her shoulder. She ruffles his hair and checks his scalp for signs of blood. He’s okay, she thinks. I’m not hurting anyone.

“That felt nice,” he says. “What you just did. You are nice. I know you are. I can feel it.”

The charge from practicing in his house is still between them, but broken down outdoors and softened, and it passes easily from her to him and back again. He wears a white T-shirt too, so she feels like they’re brother and sister, or twin babies.

“Time to climb up,” he says.

“Wait,” says Dani. Her hands drift down to the belt loops of his jeans. “I want to ask you something.”

“You want me to pay your overdue fines? No way!”

“No.” She brushes away the joke and presses her cheek into his so he can’t see her expression. “Gordon, have you ever worried that you would hurt someone who trusts you, someone who’s vulnerable?”

“Dani,” he says, turning her face to him, “I don’t care if you end up hurting me. You can do your worst as far as I’m concerned.

Because between now and then, it’s going to be great. It’s going to be spectacular.”

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Dani hates having bad thoughts about Gordy, Shelley,

Mrs. Alex, Beth, and Mr. Gabler. But it’s worse having bad thoughts about Alex. If Dani lost control with a friend or an adult, they could defend themselves, but Alex couldn’t. She would be alone with him, and no one would protect him against Dani.

She calls Mrs. Alex and leaves a message: “I need to talk to you about the job. I need to talk to you about babysitting.”

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Dani rings the bell. No stab or kill, she tells herself.

You need to have this conversation without using the words stab or kill.

Alex appears inside the screen door.

“You’re not coming till tomorrow,” he says.

“I know. But I need to talk to your mom. I wasn’t able to get her on the phone. I left a ton of messages saying I need to talk, but she hasn’t called me back.”

Dani’s babbling. Alex doesn’t need to know all this. He doesn’t care about phone messages. But she keeps talking because he’s the person she owes an apology to. He’s the most important one, not her or Mrs. Alex. His voice was on the recording when she called Mrs. Alex and left a message. His voice stopping and starting while Mrs. Alex, in the background, told him what to say and when to go ahead. How will I tell him I’m finished and I’m not coming back?

Dani couldn’t get Mrs. Alex to call her back. She had called three times on the house line and twice on Mrs. Alex’s cell phone.

She had even paged the cell phone and called Mrs. Alex at work.

She kept calling, kept making it sound important. “I need to talk to you about the job . . .” “I need to talk to you about babysitting

. . .” “I need to talk to you about Alex . . .” She even said “I’m worried about Alex . . .” but Mrs. Alex didn’t call her back. Now she JANET RUTH YOUNG

has to get her attention, but carefully. Sensitively. Without using the words stab or kill.

“We made you something,” Alex tells her. “It’s for tomorrow, when you come over.”

“You did?”

“Hi,” Mrs. Alex says, opening the door. She’s wearing the yoga pants and slippers that say “comfy day at home.” “I didn’t think I’d see you until tomorrow.”

“Didn’t you get my messages?” All in all, there have been seven.

“I did. I just thought it would be best if we talked in person.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“If we talked in person next time we saw each other.”

“Here it is,” Alex says, pulling her to the couch and climbing on her lap. He gives her a certificate made from a computer template. At the