Yet a Stranger (The First Quarto #2) - Gregory Ashe Page 0,69

still parked, and the smell of something burning was filling the car.

“Auggie, I think you might need a mechanic to look at this. Don’t be mad.”

Sitting up, Auggie grinned and shifted into drive. “You don’t have to say, ‘Don’t be mad,’ after everything. And it’s fine; the car always makes the smell.”

“Ok, but in my experience, dealing with anything like this early on is better than waiting until it’s too late—”

“Dad,” Auggie coughed into his fist.

Sighing, Theo sat back and raised his hands, silent. Then he glanced at his watch. “Shit, when was Sadie supposed to leave her house? I know you said we had to hurry.”

“Oh, um. I kind of made that up.”

Theo let the tires thrum for a moment.

“Just the part about her leaving her house,” Auggie said in a rush. “Because you were so mad at me, and I thought if we could start working together again, maybe you’d forget about being mad.” Hesitating, Auggie offered a weak smile. “Don’t be mad.”

After the Civic had limped another mile, Theo trusted his voice enough to say, “Why don’t you tell me how you found her and why you think she’s Cal’s dealer?”

“Oh, that was easy once Chuy explained how it works. It’s all about knowing the right person, which I kind of knew, but I didn’t realize you had to, um, know them. Like, I thought it’d be the way I do stuff, where you can connect online, but I guess drug dealing is still stuck back with the dinosaurs.”

“God,” Theo said, “how awful.”

“Right? Anyway, I did get Orlando to talk to his parents, and they let me sign into Cal’s account on Facebook—they have access to his account now. I just worked my way through his pictures, checked it against his friends, made a list of everyone who I could see partying in the pictures or who bragged about partying in their feed. Then I took that list and ran it through Missouri’s online court records. Lots of them had some sort of criminal record, but Sadie was the only one who’d been busted for possession with intent to distribute, so I decided to start with her.”

When Theo had digested this, he said, “That’s amazing.”

Auggie’s shoulders relaxed, his chest came up, and he smiled.

“So she doesn’t know we’re coming?”

Shaking his head, Auggie said, “I thought it’d be best if we took her by surprise.”

“And what were you going to do if I refused to go with you?”

“I’m going to spare you the embarrassment of pretending that was a real question.”

When they got to the house, it looked like yet another of the 1950s-era homes that had weathered the intervening decades without much assistance. The asphalt shingles were hairy and green with algae, and in many places the shingles were missing, and the tarpaper underneath looked waterlogged and saggy. More of the same green algae stained the siding, which had once been white. Several tall trees shaded the house, and the grass had killed the lawn and left bare earth and patches of moss. When Auggie stopped the Civic, the breeze that rushed into the car through the open window was cold and smelled like half-frozen soil. Theo buttoned his flannel shirt again, then stopped when he saw Auggie shivering and tugging on his tee.

“Here,” Theo said, shrugging out of the flannel.

“No, I’m fine. I just—it was a lot warmer at home, and then it felt like a nice day at the Sigma Sigma house. I should have—”

“Auggie, for the love of Christ, take it. I’m fine. I didn’t just fly in from the land of milk and honey and board shorts.”

Murmuring something, Auggie pulled on the flannel. It was too big for him, and he cuffed the sleeves, but as usual, somehow he made it look good.

“What was that?” Theo said.

“Nothing,” Auggie said with a sugary smile. “Just remembering your deep, unrequited love for California.”

Theo grunted and opened the door.

“Theo?”

When he looked back, he was unsurprised to see Auggie’s eyes were wet again. “Just, thanks.” Auggie plucked at the flannel and added, “For everything.”

“Will you please stay in the car until I tell you to come up to the house?” Theo raised his hands. “I’m not going to cut you out of this. You found her. But I want to check something first.”

Auggie nodded. Apparently being the single most difficult part of Theo’s life more than a dozen times in one day was exhausting; he slumped back in the seat, chewing the placket of the flannel shirt,