Dani
The look Cam gives me tells me all I need to know. His eyes scrutinize my face accusingly. I fight the urge to stomp my foot dramatically. "I didn't tell her."
"So Caitlyn, your best friend, just showed up at this very remote and abandoned location selected specifically by me as a place where Lola and I could spend time together without any chance of being seen by people by chance?"
It's clear he doesn't believe me. "I didn't even know you'd be taking me anywhere, let alone here! How could I possibly have told her when the only time I've spoken to her today was before I even knew this place existed?"
He is slow to reply and I can sense that he's realising the many flaws in his logic. "Well, somebody had to have tipped her off and it sure as hell wasn't me! You could have easily texted her in the car or when you were off barging into Lola's building! What did you do - get her to follow us, send her our co-ordinates, what?"
Ï pull my phone out of my pocket and hold it out. "Go for your life and scroll through every message in this thing, you'll just prove yourself wrong."
Cam looks down. "I'm not gonna go through your phone."
"Why not, if I'm so suspicious and untrustworthy?"
"Look, there's just gotta be some way that she found us and I'm looking at the most likely options."
"Well I'm sorry but I can't help you. I don't know how she found this place or why she came here, but yelling at me for stuff I didn't do isn't really going to help."
He doesn't look up. "Sorry," he mumbles.
I nod. "I get you want this to stay under wraps so it doesn't cause trouble. But seriously - I don't even know you and suddenly you're driving me to abandoned quarries and involving me in some secret investigation scheme that nobody can know about. Doesn't that seem a little weird to you?"
"Everything has been weird since I met Lola."
"Yeah, whatever, but I mean creepy weird. So far this afternoon I've gotten in a random guy's car and let him drive me to a remote location far out of town where nobody would be able to find me."
"I suppose when you put it that way it doesn't sound great."
"No, it really doesn't."
He is quiet for a few moments that feel like an eternity. "My friends know I was close with Lola."
"You have friends?"
"Shut up, I already told you I do. Lola used to hang out with all of us sometimes when we could get away from school and come out here or something. If you'd feel better about other people knowing what we're up to in case something goes wrong, we could talk to them."
"How come you get to tell your friends but I don't get to tell my friends."
"Okay then, what friends do you have left other than Caitlyn?"
His words sting, but he has a point. I never really got close to anyone except Lola and Caitlyn, and now that Lola is gone, Caitlyn is all I have left. But something tells me that nothing good would come out of telling her what I'm up to - especially after this afternoon's weird SUV incident. "I guess you've got me there. Who are these friends of yours, anyway?"
"You probably wouldn't know them, but Kel, Mara and Zig. We were the four participants in our first science team challenge for St Kilda back in seventh grade. That's basically how I met them."
"Somehow I'm not surprised. So can we trust these losers not to screw everything up?"
He nods confidently. "I'm sure of it."
A moment passes and I suddenly remember that we're parked on the side of a random dirt road. "So, are we going back to the quarry?"
"I guess, hopefully if Caitlyn couldn't find us she moved on."
"You really think so?"
"I hope so. Besides, there's only one way to find out."
The silence seems to represent agreement, and Cam starts the car. I keep my eyes on the windows and the mirrors, waiting for Caitlyn's Prado to appear behind us. When Cam pulls up back at the quarry, there's no sign of anyone around.
We climb out of the car, and the air feels thick with tension. The wind is still whistling, and the eerie sound reminds me of the calmness in a horror movie just before all hell breaks loose. Cam seems to gravitate towards the looming hole and I want to chastise him for checking the least likely place Caitlyn could be hiding, but then I remember what this place means to him and I hold my tongue. I head back up to Lola's little building and realise that I forgot to ask Cam about its story. Cam might be annoying - a royal pain in the ass to be precise - but whether I like it or not, he knows a lot about Lola that I never did. And my curiosity about Lola's secret life and her seemingly sudden death is stronger than my hatred for him.
I swing open the creaky door and step into the concrete room. But as I scan the room that I stood in for the first time only recently, a clear difference stands out to me immediately. Lola's sign is gone. Bailey Castle is down.
Cam
When Dani tells me that Lola's sign is gone, I know for sure that something's up. We check all the buildings and the surrounding area, but there's no other signs that anyone was ever here. Eventually, we get back in there car, defeated. I look over at Dani, whose expression is unreadable. "So...how about meeting up with those friends of mine?"
An hour later I'm sat on my couch surrounded by Dani, Mara and Zig in an intense round of Mariokart. Kel is engulfed in the red beanbag in the floor with her arms folded tightly. "This little party would be a lot more fun if I actually got to play."
I pull my eyes away from the screen for a split second to glance over at her. "For the 47th time, the Wii only has four controllers, and you've already had twice as many turns as everyone else."
Kel scowls. "Cause I'm twice as good. Little Miss Popular can't even play on manual." She looks over at Dani, who has just driven her car into a wall. "Uh, no offence."
Dani reverses away from the wall and into a garden bed. "None taken."
Zig crosses the finish line and clears his throat. "So, while we're on the subject, why is Dani here with us? I didn't realise she was a friend of yours - in fact, I kind of thought the opposite."
He glances over at Dani who has just finished her first lap. "Uh, no offence?"
She looks over and promptly drives off the track. "I get it - I've treated you like ants for six years and all you've heard about from Cam lately is how I was a scum-sucking parasite who sucked the happiness out of Lola. No offence taken."'
She pauses. "I was actually her friend though."
Zig looks as though he regrets asking, and Kel still seems more concerned about when her next turn at the game with be. Mara pipes up. "Dani, I'm sure there's a lot more to the story that we're not aware of so I'm not really in a position to judge - especially at a time like this."
Kel unfolds her arms. "Yeah, Cam's kind of a drama queen too - not gonna lie."
I raise my eyebrows. "Do you not want another turn or something?"
Zig sighs. "Brother, I'm sure you've got plenty of crazy shit going on, but just give us the short version. Why Dani?"
A long and awkward explanation later, we migrate to my room. Mara and Dani have some sort of fascination with each others hair and are sitting against the wall on the carpet. Zig shifts my laptop to the side and sits on my desk. Kel lies across my bed with her head hanging upside down over the edge. Her face is rapidly turning red. ''So let me get this straight - you and Glinda the Good Witch are teaming up Get-Smart-Style to investigate a suicide that most likely just that - a suicide.''
''Yes."
"And you want our help?"
''Yes."
''You want us in your little game of 'Barbie: I Can Be A Detective?'''
"Yes."
Mara smiles. "This is kinda like real life Scooby Doo."
Dani grins at her. "That's what I said!"
Zig slides off my desk. "Well, I guess I'm in. You guys with me?"
Kel hauls herself back up the right way. "Might as well be."
Mara turns to Dani. "Only if you tell me what hair dye you use."
Dani looks confused. "I don't use dye."
An awkward silence hangs over the room, before Mara chimes in. ''Guess I'm in then."
Dani looks over at me. "So what now?"'
''Well, we brainstorm all the places we can search and people we can talk to. And most importantly - don't tell Caitlyn."
Mara stands up. "Do you want a ride home Dani?"
She smiles, but I can see the weariness returning to her face as the adrenaline of the afternoon starts to fade. "I'd love one."