Buried (Bailey Roberts Trilogy #1) Editing

21: Going Through the Motions [3rd Draft]

Bailey suddenly felt very tired and she dropped her gaze to the floor with a heavy sigh. "Not in slightest, unless you're saying Samantha's a lesbian."

"Call her Sam, only her mother calls her Samantha," Harper offered.

Since Harper was the nicer of the two girls, Bailey ignored the interruption. "Well?" she prompted.

"You are dense as hell!" Rajah growled. "Why do you think Sam's parties were always hopping? Drugs!" Rajah finished, offering the last part quietly.

"She was not a drug addict!" Bailey cried out in disbelief. She hadn't known Samantha well. Other than the girls' need to party to death she hadn't come across as a drug addict.

"Of course she wasn't, she was a dealer. Her suppliers were Luce and Finley. Sam owes them money and they've been looking ever since she disappeared."

Rajah had her attention now. Bailey leaned towards her, eyes sharp, body alert, hoping Rajah would continue.

The corner of Rajah's mouth lifted in an amused smile. "That got your attention didn't it? I knew there was a reason I didn't buy this whole act of you giving up. It's because you haven't. Idn't that right?"

Bailey scowled at Rajah's 'cat at the canary' expression.

"You caught me," Bailey spoke sarcastically rolling her eyes. "Now, why are you telling me this?"

Rajah fiddled with one of her braids and licked her lips appearing as if she was considering her next move before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small piece of paper. "Here, it's Luce's number. I let 'em know you might be calling so they shouldn't get too amped up that you have this number, but I'd do it sooner rather than later. They are drug dealers after all."

Bailey stared dumbly at the piece of paper before fumbling with her books to clutch the folded scrap in her hands. "They've been looking since Sam disappeared haven't they?"

There must have been something Bailey's voice at that moment, because Rajah's harsh facial expression softened before she responded. "Yeah, they have. Let's pool our information together."

"If you already know this information that these girls have, just tell me," Bailey pleaded softly.

Rajah shook her head and took a step back. "Not here! More importantly some of that information isn't mine to tell and a lot of what they got was done illegally. That's why we need to call them this weekend. Some of the shit they found makes my blood run cold."

Bailey nodded and licked her bottom lip. "Okay, this weekend."

Rajah pursed her lips together. "Black people always die first," she grumbled under her breath.

"That's not true," Bailey started; suddenly worried that Rajah may not help.

"Relax. This weekend," she nodded and then jerked her head indicating that Harper should follow.

"Raj, thank you," Bailey hollered down the hall.

Rajah raised a dismissive hand, not even bothering to turn around. Bailey smiled widely. Things were looking up.

The piece of paper with the drug dealers' number on it proved to be the only thing that could keep Bailey's attention throughout the first periods of the day. In second period Bailey had just kept it unfolded, resting on her book, gazing intently at the numbers. What she expected to see, she didn't know, but her legs jiggled with anticipation and she decided she wasn't going to wait until the weekend. She'd do it after school. She needed the information now. Today. Gwen's life depended on it.