Drew Nance Book 2: "The Hidden Staircase" by Bobbie J. Cabot Chapter Nine: Frank and Joe / Tiger and Arcee

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It was several days since Drew and Sabrina had visited Screech Powers and had their heart-to-heart. Since then, the Drew house had become cheerleader central. Most would come over just to chat or hang out. Some of the girls sometimes brought their boyfriends, but the boys were a little wary coming over.

Drew was used to guys being shy around her, especially when their girlfriends were around. This time was no different. Still, Drew tried to be as friendly as possible, and did her best to be a good host. She’d be ready with guy-friendly munchies, and, when there were no boys around, she’d gravitate towards more to just plain chips, diet ice cream and diet sodas.

Their entertainment system was given a workout that it didn’t usually get, and everyone was pleasantly pleased with her selection of music and shows downloaded from Netflix or Tivo, or her selection of “vintage” (that was Paige’s and Heather’s term) DVDs. Drew had on-hand microwave popcorn for the boys and air-popped popcorn for the girls just for impromptu movie sessions.

Of course, the girls with boyfriends got the couches and sofas and the rest of them just sat on the carpet. Drew herself didn’t mind coz she could cuddle with some of the girls, just a girlfriend kind of thing, of course, although Drew couldn’t help but... react, especially when Callie was the one she was cuddling with.

Perhaps it was a female intuition or something, but Sabrina sensed something when Callie was the one almost always staying close to Drew, so she would cuddle with Drew, too. There were many moments that Drew would be sandwiched between Callie and Sabrina, and Drew basked in the friendship of her teammates.

When her dad would arrive home, it was almost a signal for everyone to behave (not that Drew’s friends were rowdy or anything). And most of them would say good night soon after, leaving, usually, Callie, Iola and Sabrina to have dinner with Drew and her dad.

Sadly, though, most of their dinners were takeout, but everyone knew the situation in the Nance house – there was no one available to cook, but it was Carson who usually brought the food, and he usually gets it from the high-end restaurants in Manhattan, so no one complained much. Carson would also pour some wine during dinner, but limited them to about a fourth of a glass each.

And after a pleasant little after-dessert talk, everyone would say goodnight. Carson would usually instruct his driver to bring the three girls home, with Drew usually riding with them.

The last to be brought home was usually Sabrina. The first time Drew brought her home after dinner, Sabrina insisted that she accompany her inside so she could be introduced to Sabrina’s family.

She made quite the impression, especially with the dad and Sabrina’s two four-year-old twin brothers.

Sabrina’s mother gave Drew the Third Degree, but it was okay. Sabrina’s sexual orientation was not something that her family didn’t know, and they didn’t really hide that fact, which Drew appreciated. Drew could only assume that Sabrina’s mother was interrogating her because she was a prospective suitor for her girl.

That felt a bit old-fashioned, but Drew didn’t let that bother her too much, and just rode it through. In the end, either Sabrina’s protestation that she was “just a friend” or just Drew herself, was able to impress her, and Drew found herself chatting with her parents very casually.

The two little boys were very quiet, and were looking at Drew with wide eyes. They hung on her every word, and when she looked at the two or tried to chat them up, they were suddenly stricken with shyness and hid behind Sabrina or their mom.

“I think they like you,” Sabrina’s mom said.

When she was about to leave, she squatted down to be on the same level as the two kids. She said goodbye to the boys, and one of them bravely came forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek before running back to his mom.

Everyone laughed at that and Sabrina walked her out.

“Listen,” Sabrina said, “thanks for dinner, and for bringing me home. My folks appreciate it. And I do, too.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Sabrina didn’t respond and just gave her a sisterly kiss on the cheek before closing their front door.

- - - - -

When the time for their trip to Hawaii was imminent, Lt. Hardy texted, and Otto called. Drew texted the Lieutenant, and promised to pass by Otto's garage right away.

“Hey, Otto!” Drew called when she got to Otto’s garage. She had the hardtop on Tiger and drove over. Otto came out. “Hey, kid! Come to take a look at your new car?” Drew got out of her little blue twin-top and rubbed her hands together in excitement. “You know it!”

Otto laughed and walked her to the back of the big garage.

“We did everything you asked. We replaced the engine with another Mercedes engine, and were able to sell the original for a good price, so that'll bring your cost down as well. We didn’t touch the factory brakes, no changes on anything major except that we had to disconnect the suspension mounts from the unibody to put in the solenoid servos. We...”

“You know, of course, that I’m not really following you...” Drew said. Otto laughed.

After rounding a big Volvo whose front end was being serviced, they came up to Drew’s Peugeot RCZ Sports Coupe.

She had to stop. It was that beautiful.

“Kinda grabs you, huh?”

“It’s beautiful!” Drew said in awe, and ran her hand over the bonnet.

“You asked for ‘candy apple red.’ We looked for the best ready-mixed candy apple red we could find, and decided to go with PPG’s pre-mixed color. That not only saved you time, but some some cash, too. How do you like it?”

Drew didn’t say anything and continued to run her hands over the RCZ’s surface. Otto just grinned, proud of what they’ve been able to do. He felt bad that they had to take off the RCZ’s original factory paint, but it wasn’t his car so he didn’t allow that to bother him.

“Like your Twin-Top, we took off the badges, like you specified, we got the ‘Autobot’ badges from that online store you told us about, and put them on. The badges are also in the subtle gunmetal gray you specified so they won’t be too eye-catching.”

Drew nodded. She touched its new tire rims. Instead of the popular low-profile tires, Otto had installed a set of wide, drag-style all-weather tires mounted on pure-chrome drag tire rims. The tires were not too wide to stick out beyond the RCZ's wheel wells much so they didn’t look completely like muscle-racecar tires, yet it gave Drew’s RCZ a one-of-a-kind look (not that the RCZ wasn’t cute enough on its own). Otto knew that Drew had a thing for drag racing so he had these put in. One would have expected low profile tires, but the original owner kept the rims AND the original tires. Otto COULD have gotten low profile rims and low profile tires, but he was working within a budget, and besides, he probably wouldn't have been able to get originals.

“We also replaced the standard steel spare with a light-weight space saver spare but made it better-looking with a nice paint respray,” he said. “If you put it on, though, it'll still be obvious that you have a spare on. So we also got an emergency repair kit in case you didn't want to replace the tire for a while.”

Otto then went through everything else that they did on the Peugeot.

The next thing Otto talked about was, like in Drew’s twin-top, Otto’s upholstery guy made detachable shoulder-to-hip straps to attach to the seat belts. When attached, the standard three-point seat belts became four-point safety harnesses. Otto also said they reinforced the frame and put T45 tubing inside the side frames, which made it as good as an honest-to-goodness roll cage just like the reinforced frames of real rally cars - more than adequate protection in case of a rollover, crash or collision. They were also able to retain the airbags, too.

Since the RCZ was a four-seater already (it was a 2+2 Seater), no modifications to the cabin needed to be done, and that saved some more bucks.

Otto also brought Drew’s attention to the replaced roof. The handmade fiberglass-and-acrylic replacement roof mimicked the original “double-bubble” roof, and Otto’s crew made this super-light immitation hardtop detatchable. That means Drew can go convertible if she wanted - Otto pointed out a black canvas convertible roof that was rolled up in a hidden compartment. When the hardtop was detatched, Drew can roll up or roll down the canvas roof via a switch on the dash.

Otto also showed Drew a little detachable chrome rack that Drew could securely clip on top of the trunk hood. It was light enough and designed in such a way that it wasn't in the way of the retracting canvas roof mechanism. This way, the capacity of the trunk was offset a little bit. He didn't make the rack, actually - it was just an after-market accessory of a Peugeot 206 he found while looking for “bling” for Drew.

He also included a fin that he copied from the RCZ R (not much of a fin - it was more like a slightly contoured hood). He explained that these fins will make the car perform better at high speed. They were standard to the RCZ R, not the RCZ, so if someone who knew about Peugeots saw her car, he’d probably assume it was an RCZ R. He also said that this should reduce the kind of shimmying Drew experienced in her Twin-Top when she drove it at speed.

Drew thanked Otto, and she had the guys put the rack and the seatbelt attachments on the back seat for now.

Also, the RCZ now sported brand-new scissor doors that swung up very like the doors on the classic Lamborghini Countach, Diablo and Aventador (that's partly why scissor doors are also called Lambo doors). Many would consider modifying the doors as a kind of... mutilation of the car's original design, but the doors still looked like, and were still mostly, the originals, except that they can now swing upwards as well as open normally. So no big deal.

Drew tried it on for size and she found the car very comfortable and easy to get into and out of, as per her request, and though the scissor door mechanism was extremely cool and high-tech, she found, however, that it was difficult to reach up and close the doors when they were up, but Otto showed a little switch on the dash that pulled the doors down. They were slightly slow, though, since they were only powered by the doors’ power-window motors, but Otto explained that, once a door was low enough that one can reach for the handle, the passenger can pull it down the rest of the way instead of waiting for the motor to close it completely. Otto even demoed how to trigger it from long distance via the car's remote-control fob.

He then showed another surprise: the doors could be swung out horizontally like the original, or opened to swing upwards like Lambo doors, but the passenger would have to pick either horizontal or vertical. Otto also took great pains to point out that when the doors are swung up, they completely cleared the door frames so that they didn't impede access or egress the way Lambo doors usually did.

As Otto and his mechanics demoed it, Drew got so excited she was having a hard time to not jump up and down.

The next surprise was an improved anti-theft kit, which added a GSM cellular tracker and alarm (all Drew needed to do was plug in a cell phone SIMM), and an anti-theft steering and accelerator lock. This means, aside from the standard alarm and ignition lock, if someone broke into the car, an automated phone call would be placed to her cell phone, and GPS coordinates would be sent constantly to an app on her phone, and, if the car wasn't moving yet, or the car stopped moving, the steering and acceleration would be locked and the hand brake would be engaged. Also, a very loud car alarm that sounded like a police siren replaced the standard alarm.

The fourth surprise was the suspension and steering. Otto’s guys managed to replace the suspension with softer street shocks without touching the brakes. The RCZ now had a softer ride, though, when the car was lowered, the suspension locks solid, making the car feel like it had no shocks at all (which was typical of low-profile race cars.

The fifth modification was a change in the exhaust. The RCZ now ran as quietly as a cat, and this improved the performance as well.

Otto then showed his final surprise. By turning a little toggle switch, the car could be raised an extra seven inches, thereby more than doubling its ground clearance. It was sort of like the effect lowriders had, but instead of making it jump up and down, the movement was slow – almost as slow as the inflation of a tire. It was only meant to prevent the undercarriage from scraping on bumps and potholes, not to make the car dance around. And, since the servos were mounted where the trucks mounted, the car’s structure was not compromised at all. And, even when raised, with its improved independent suspension, it could still corner like it was on rails.

But, other than that, the servos gave Drew's RCZ another extra feature: By turning the switch the other way, the car would be lowered to about a couple of inches from the ground: this plus under-chassis rubber fins that were deployed when it was that low allowed the RCZ to hug the ground even when just running at thirty - Drew's traction at high-speed was crazy-extreme, and gave the car an extra twenty MPHs. At least. Provided there were no potholes...

Otto also explained that Drew could keep the car in either position permanently so no worries, and when Drew flicked another switch, the shocks would become stiff, which was needed when driving under full speed.

Otto then went over some of the problems – the engine well had to be modified, and then reinforced, just like Tiger.

The Mercedes engine was expected to give at least 160MPH, which was more than decent for any sports car, but Drew’s Tiger could do so much better on straightaways since it was lighter than the Mercedes. Drew told Otto she reached 190MPH when she did that race. Otto did believe that the Twin-Top could exceed 160, but not 190. Still he didn’t openly question Drew.

But with the additions to Drew’s new RCZ, it wasn’t as light on its feet anymore because of added weight. Otto therefore believed it’s top speed will probably be lower than Tiger’s by at least fifteen to twenty MPH – maybe even more.

And though the new, softer shocks made for a more comfortable ride, it took away from its ability to make turns as tight as Tiger at high speed, and would most probably cause it to scrape its underside when it does, or maybe even roll the car. Then again, when the new hydraulics was set to its lowest profile, the shocks would become as stiff as a Formula One's, and it would corner like it was on rails. But then again, when it’s raised, the airflow would be affected and it might not be advisable to go full speed anyway.

Drew made a suggestion: “why not make a kind of change that when the car’s up, if the car hits the speeds when the airflow becomes critical, the hydraulics will automatically bring it down? Or maybe lock the speed so it won’t go over a critical point, depending on the position of the shocks.”

Otto looked at her. Obviously, he didn’t think of it.

“Ummm, we can work on that and install it when you bring it over next time.” Drew giggled at his nonplussed look.

Otto sighed and continued on.

“Like before, we also put a limiter switch under the dash so, with it on, you can't exceed 120MPH. We could have put in an NOS kit, too, Drew, but that could damage the engine, and Mercedes AMG CLA45 engines are hard to come by. But since the total weight isn't that far from the original RCZ's weight, I think you can hit speeds close to your souped-up Twin-Top. So an NOS kit would actually have been overkill.”

Drew nodded. “Did you replace the gas tank with a fuel cell, like you did Tiger?”

“Ummm, no. I've just been told by my new mechanic that fuel cell bladders have a shelf life, and if you use standard fuel, or keep fuel in the fuel cell a long time or not drain it when not in use, it's possible the fuel cell's foam and the bladder could degrade faster, and clog fuel lines and fuel pumps...”

“Drain? But I don't do that with Tiger...”

“I know. Apparently, you need to drain fuel cells. Anyway, we did the next best thing for your RCZ and put in a baffled tank instead that does some of the same things. Properly modified, of course, so as not to cause 'fuel starvation' that baffled tanks sometimes do.

“And we have a replacement baffle tank for your, ummm, 'Tiger,' too. Let me know if you want me to replace its fuel cell.”

“Do we have any left in my budget?”

“Well, if I can take your two cells and the fuel pump in trade, plus the saving we already made, I can do that for free. They're less than six months old so I can still sell them. I can even knock off a little bit from your bill.”

Drew clapped her hands delightedly.

“Now, going back to your RCZ's new engine, we do have a compromise – we’ve put in some hidden ducts so that, when you hit high-enough speeds and you open the ducts, the extra airflow will supplement the turbocharger. Hopefully, that will improve the engine’s performance enough to offset the extra weight our changes added, and, incidentally, improve the traction and aerodynamics, too. But a properly-installed NOS in another car may have your RCZ's engine beat. That's not likely, but possible.”

“No other engine improvements, then?”

“No - that's it.”

“Well, why not go batmobile and put on a couple of rockets or something?”

That made Otto pause again – yet another idea he didn’t think of.

“Hmmm... Yeah. Rockets on cars might be illegal... But, I think I might be able to find an alternative...”

Drew giggled. “I’m sure you will.”

“Okay. I’ll have something when you get back.

“Anyway, it goes without saying, you can’t register the car with Peugeot anymore. The car isn’t, in any way, stock anymore. They won’t be happy with that.”

“I can’t? Does that mean my buying her was illegal?”

“Oh, no. It’s just that Peugeot won't want to touch it anymore. You'll have to have it serviced somewhere else, if ever. Or with us, of course.”

These things didn’t fully register with Drew, of course. She was too excited. She grabbed the RCZ’s key from Otto, and gave him Tiger’s instead.

Otto laughed and closed the door for her.

“Oh, wait!“ Drew said. “I wanted you to do a repaint of Tiger!”

“Repaint?”

“Yeah. I mentioned that before. Can you have her redone in off-the-shelf black?”

“Black? That’ll be a big change. But cheap. I can do that.”

“Yayyy! And, don’t worry, I’ll take care of the registration changes. Oh, also...” She handed Otto the original Opel and “Tigra” badges. “Can you also put back the badges and the old rims?”

“Sorry, Drew, I sold the rims months ago.”

“Oh… Well, okay. Can you maybe change Tiger’s current wheel rim, or paint them in brushed aluminum so they’ll look like stock rims again?”

“Easily done. So what you’re trying to do is to make it look like stock?”

“As close to it without changing any of her insides, though.”

“Gotcha. In that case, I’ll try and get a complete set of the original rims, and pick a type of black closest to the factory color. How about the inside? Surely you don’t want the seats replaced with standard?”

“No, but can you replace the upholstery to a color and material that looks like the standard upholstery?”

“Right. Easily done.”

“Ummm, how much would this cost?” Drew cringed.

“Well, if I can get your current rims in trade, it’ll cost you nothing.”

“Yayyy! Thanks!”

After settling up with Otto and getting the car’s new title papers (Otto had already facilitated registering her new RCZ with the DMV under her name using his connections), Drew started up the engine and started to drive back to Staten Island in her new Peugeot RCZ Sports Coupe. She had a few thousand left and decided to keep it in her dresser drawer and deposit it in her account later.

Anyway, she couldn’t stop herself from showing off a bit, and made a little circuit of Manhattan before she went home. It got a lot of attention from all the bystanders and pedestrians, which was the whole point.

Since she was in downtown New York, she took that opportunity to pass by the Tate Center and went to the building’s underground motor pool. She showed her Permanent Visitor’s ID to the helpful little clerk that met her, and the guy stuck a new car sticker on her RCZ’s windscreen. The guy noted that she already had another car registered – a blue Opel. Since she was only entitled to one registered car, he had to cancel the Opel’s. Drew said that was okay.

After her little joyride, she finally went to the island via Brooklyn and the bridge, went home to drop off the rack and seatbelt attachments in their garage, put the remaining extra cash in her drawer in her room upstairs, and then went by Callie’s.

When she pulled up to Callie's, Callie and Aunt Arlene came out and oohed and ahhhed at Drew’s new ride. “What happened to Tiger?” Callie asked.

Drew shrugged. “She's still around, but as soon as the new owner shows up, she'll be taken away. I sold her to get this one. I'm calling her Arcee,” Drew giggled.

“Awww,” Callie said. “That’s too bad. Tiger was a very good little car.”

“Wanna go for a ride?” Drew waggled her eyebrows.

“Sure! Gimme five minutes.” She rushed back inside.

“Hey, Aunt Arlene,” Drew said to Callie’s aunt who was still going over the car. “How do you like my new RCZ?”

“Fancy ride, Drew.”

Drew giggled.

“How much did it cost?”

“Not much actually,” she lied. “It was a junker I had picked up and fixed.”

“But it still must have cost a lot.” She had a disapproving look on her face.

“Oh, Aunt Arlene! I didn’t spend any money!” She leaned out of her window and whispered to her conspiratorially. “Actually, I spent the money from selling Tiger, and the money I got from selling Phil back his car. He bought it back even though it wasn’t working anymore!”

They both giggled.

“I heard about that,” Aunt Arlene said. “Is it true that he paid forty thousand for it?”

“Oh, no!” Drew grinned. “That’s what he SAYS he paid. He actually paid a lot less than that, but I’m letting him have that one. It'll help him save face with his buds.”

“So, no out-of-pocket costs for this one?”

“None at all! I even managed to save a little from Phil's money.”

“Well, I'm proud of you, Drew.” She gave Drew a high-five.

“I’m ready!” Callie came down.

She hadn’t changed her outfit – she still wore her cutoff jeans and the little baby-tee, but had put on a leather jacket over it, and put on a pair of medium-heeled low-boots.

“Bye, Aunt Arlene,” she said, and bussed her aunt on the cheek.

“Okay. I’ll be out by the time you get back, though. I got a bit of overtime at the hospital.” She turned to Drew. “Drew? Not too late, okay? Even though it’s not a school night.”

“No prob, Aunt Arlene.”

“Hey!” Callie said. “There’s no handle!”

Drew giggled. “Oh, sorry! Just reach into the little cubby and the handle inside, or push the button right beside the cubby.”

Callie did and the door swung up.

“Wow! That was unexpected.”

“Great, huh?”

“Just like one of those fancy Italian cars!”

“The Lamborghinis, you mean.” Drew giggled.

“’Kay.” Callie got in, strained upwards a bit to reach the door.

“No need, Cal,” Drew said and pressed a button on her dash. It swung down and clicked when it locked in place. “Coolness,” Callie said and waved to Aunt Arlene through the window.

“Seeya, Aunt Arlene!”

And, with a muted roar, they sped away.

Callie said that Iola was with the ex-Varsity cheerleaders having lunch. Callie was actually invited as well but she had to do some stuff with her Aunt Arlene. Drew knew about the lunch because Iola texted everyone about it. Callie suggested that they should go, so she could make the lunch. Drew agreed so Callie texted Iola that they were coming over.

They went to Meatballs, the newly opened place near the school. It had opened just before summer break.

Iola was there meeting with the seven outgoing Varsity cheerleaders. Drew, Sabrina and the others, except for Polly and the Kates, knew this, and Drew thought it was a good idea that Iola keep her date. She and Callie were the only other Varsity cheerleaders from the old team that were still on good terms with the outgoing seven cheerleaders, including Janine. So they thought Iola’s lunch thing was a good way of keeping tabs on them.

The food in Meatballs wasn’t too exceptional, and the service was only so-so, but what it did feature was a big, paved parking area large enough for several hundred cars. Though parking wasn’t free, Meatballs was rapidly becoming the most popular place for the kids because they could park and show off their rides. Staten Island was the one borough of New York where cars were part of the regular teen scene.

Phil was there in his shiny black Ford Pickup. Everyone knew that his Escalade still wasn’t fixed, so he was driving around in his Ford for the moment.

As expected, he was holding court over the kids hanging out in the lot but as soon as Drew came out in her shiny red car and drove down the street, conversation stopped.

They watched as Drew got a ticket at the parking lot’s gate and drove slowly to an empty spot near the restaurant’s entrance.

Drew switched off, and the muted sound of her engine stopped. With an almost imperceptible whine, the RCZ’s Lambo doors swung up. The kids looking over went “oooh!” as they saw the doors swing up.

After a beat, Drew and Callie stepped out. In the silence, they waved to Phil and the others and went into the restaurant while the RCZ’s doors slowly closed automatically.

As the restaurant doors closed behind them, they could hear the conversations outside start up again. The two of them giggled.

Iola waved to the two as soon as they were spotted, and they came over. She was there with Janine and the six other ex-Varsity cheerleaders having lunch.

“Hey, guys!” Iola said coming over and giving Callie and Drew a hug. “Thank God you came over,” Iola whispered fiercely. “These guys are giving me the third degree! I need your help!”

“Leave it to us, girlfriend,” Callie said.

“Hey, girls!” Callie waved. “Drew brought me over in her new ride.”

“New ride?” One of the girls asked.

“See the candy-red one parked right by the door?”

They all craned their necks and looked.

“Wow! Nice car!”

“Cool, huh?” Drew dimpled.

“Where’s your little blue one?”

“I’ve sold her, actually, to help pay for the red one.”

“Awww. That’s too bad. Maybe Janine should have talked with you before she bought her new one. She could have taken Tiger off your hands.”

“You have a new car, Janine? Cool! Which one is it?”

One of the girls pointed to a new BMW Mini. It was colored in shiny pastel pink with a white top.

“Well,” Drew said, trying to find a way not to laugh. “She’s cute.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Janine said.

“Decided on a name yet?”

“Name?”

“It’s a thing. People give their cars names, you know. And they use feminine names and pronouns.”

“What did you call your blue one?”

“I called her ‘Tiger,’ ‘coz she’s an Opel Twin-Top Tigre.”

“Oh! How appropriate. How about your new red one?”

“I’m gonna be calling her ‘Arcee,’ like the female robot in The Transformers, ‘coz she’s a Peugeot RCZ Sports Coupe.”

“Arcee!” the girls squealed and giggled.

“Anyway, why don’t you join us?” Janine said, and Drew claimed two empty seats from the other table. Drew and Callie sat to the left of Iola, and Callie picked up a menu and ordered chili fries and diet Cokes for the two of them.

“So, Drew said innocently. “Where are Polly and the Kates?”

“I guess they’re busy and couldn’t make it,” Janine said with equal-sounding innocence. Of course, the cheerleaders knew they weren’t there because Janine didn’t invite them.

“Oh! Congrats, by the way, for making the team,” she said to Drew.

“No big,” Drew giggled, “not when you have two excellent coaches like Callie and Iola.” Drew high-fived her two best friends.

“I was surprised that you had your tryouts so early.”

“Not my idea, actually. It was Coach Stoeger who scheduled it. I auditioned along with the JayVees.”

“So, how’s the new team? I heard you guys had a meeting a few days ago?”

“Oh, it wasn’t a meeting, really. Just a get-to-know-you kind of thing.”

“So everyone’s okay?”

“Totally! The JayVees are great girls. Although we might lose one of them. You know Sabrina?”

“The redhead?” (Her feigned ignorance was so obvious.)

“Yeah. I think she’s not going to be joining the team anymore. I’m not really too clear why.”

“Uhuh...”

“I think she has some kind of beef with another girl, and that’s the reason she might not be joining. She wasn’t too clear, like I said.”

“Sure...” Janine said. Since Drew was playing dumb, she had decided to play dumb as well.

“Well, that brings the squad down to thirteen cheerleaders,” one of the others said. “Lucky thirteen!”

Drew laughed. “Yeah. Cross your fingers!”

“Will you guys be trying for the NCA finals again?” Janine asked.

“Depends on the coach. I want to. I think we have a good team this year. But I heard she’s having some trouble scaring up sponsors. So I don’t know.”

“I don’t know about that, Drew,” Janine said. “It’s real tough to get to the finals. My team only made it up to the semis.”

“I think we can make it if given a chance,” she replied.

“It takes a lot of practice, time, dedication. Your girls might not cut it.”

Drew looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You may be right,” Drew said diplomatically.

“And more importantly, it takes a lot of imagination and talent.”

Drew’s eyebrows came up. “Ummm, okay,” she said diplomatically.

Janine smiled insincerely. “Well, I’m sure everything will turn out okay.”

“I’m sure it will. So!” Drew said, and attempted to change the topic. “Are you girls ready for college?” The others were relieved by Drew’s question and jumped at the chance to change the topic.

The others started talking about planning for college and looking for a place to live near their new school. “You guys are all going to the same college?” Drew asked, and everyone started talking about their majors.

It was actually a fun lunch as they got to talking about their future plans and hopes, although Janine wasn’t joining in too much.

Almost all of them complained that the campus they were going to wasn’t their first choice but they all agreed to the university they selected because that was the one that accepted Janine, and Janine wanted them to be together.

They said they had pooled all of their money and were going to get one of two big apartments that were available for rent. They picked the smaller, more expensive one because of its proximity to the tennis courts and a gourmet coffee shop, because Janine loves tennis and specialty coffees.

Their classes didn’t all begin at the same day, but they agreed to move in at the same time as Janine because she insisted.

Drew and Callie talked about wanting to get to the NCA finals, and the more “seasoned” girls talked about their experience in the finals. The little talk turned to how to strategize for it and the kinds of things the judges were looking for, with Callie and Iola chiming in with their own points of view.

Over everything, Janine silently looked at Drew with a grim and faintly angry stare. Drew shrugged, as if to say, “What!? I didn’t do anything.”

“Well!” Janine said suddenly. “I guess I’ll leave you girls then. I have important things to take care of.”

She stood up, left some cash for her share of the lunch, waved at everyone and stepped out of the restaurant. They watched her walk out of the parking lot and went to her pink Mini. She drove out of the compound, honking her horn at a few bystanders in her way.

“Well,” Drew said. “What was that about?”

“Well...”

“Question,” Drew said abruptly, “are your college class reservations and everything done already?”

“Mine are,” one of the girls said, “but...”

“Here’s a piece of advice – better get all of your ducks in a row. You don’t want to mysteriously lose your class slots for no reason.”

“But... why?”

“Does Drew need to paint a picture?” Callie said.

“Here’s another piece of advice,” Drew said. “Maybe someone can call up that other apartment you guys mentioned and see if it’s still available. If it is, maybe someone should make a reservation for that place.”

“But we already have a reservation...”

“It’s up to you, but it’ll be bad if you guys suddenly find yourselves without a place to live.”

“We’re probably gonna have to put up the first month’s rent to reserve the other place. We don’t have....”

“I’ll take care of that,” one of the others said.

“But we already have a place lined up!”

“It doesn’t hurt to have a backup,” Drew said.

“But why?”

“Don’t be thick, Angela,” one of the others said. “What Drew’s saying...”

“Whoa!” Drew said. “I’m not saying anything!”

“Okay, okay. I meant that what Drew was... implying was that Janine might make it difficult for us...”

“Janine wouldn’t do that!” Angela exclaimed.

“Angela, she already did it to Polly and the Kates! And... to these girls.”

“And, besides,” one of the others said, “it’s just a good idea to make sure our school stuff is arranged, and to have a backup apartment. I’m gonna call my college later.”

“Yeah, me, too,” another one said.

“Drew,” the one called Angela said, “Why all this hostility? What has Janine done to you?”

“Me? Nothing. And what hostility? All I said was to have a backup apartment and to check out your college paperwork.”

“But...”

“But what, Angela? Is it because you know something? You know what? Yes, I feel a little hostile. We’ve heard stuff from Sabrina, Polly and the Kates. And whatever Janine or you guys did, it practically guarantees that the new squad won’t be able to go to the NCA finals. What’s more is that Janine knows that.

“What I can’t figure is that why she did whatever she did knowing that five of your team mates are still here. She did it to Polly, the Kates, and Callie and Iola here. I’m sad that these girls aren’t too close to you guys that you’d reconsider helping Janine do... whatever.”

“That’s uncalled for!”

Drew raised a hand. “You’re right. I apologize. I really do. It’s just that Polly and the Kates just realized that Janine doesn’t care about them, that she continued with her plans to kill off the team’s sponsors even though they were still with the team. Yes, we know about the sponsorship. And I guess Janine knows how the girls feel, that’s why they weren’t included in this lunch thing.

“I just bet you think of Janine as your friend, right? Polly and the Kates thought of her as a friend, too. Think about that, Angela.”

Angela looked at Drew defiantly. “You don’t know her, Drew.”

“You’re probably right, Angela. Anyway, feel free to tell her whatever you guys want to. But she’s a smart girl. I’m sure she can put the pieces of what we talked about together without your help. But I think you better check your apartment reservation and your class schedules.”

- - - - -

As Drew and the girls were debating the situation with Janine, Frank Hardy had been talking to his older brother Joe about his discussion with Drew.

Obviously, Joe was one of the few that was also privy to “The Plan,” and Frank was asking for his help.

It was mostly through Joe’s connections that they were able to do all that they were able to do so far. For example, it was through him that they were able to enlist Doctor Joe and Nurse Sally in their various clandestine schemes.

In any case, Frank told Joe about Drew’s idea about having a safe house for them, and even a “safe car.” And Frank agreed. Drew was even able to arrange for the house and a car, and it was up to them to make them safe.

“I think that’s a good idea, actually,” Joe said. “But this is a lot of effort. Your other informants have not been as difficult to manage.”

Frank sighed. “Yeah, I know…”

“I hope that all this work will pay off eventually.”

“Well, it already has. The material Carson and Drew have provided so far have been instrumental in putting some of the missing pieces in several cases. Like that supposed ‘accident’ in that Tate plant. Several murder cases have been initiatied, and the Justice Department will be able to get the class action suit on that faulty dam construction closed soon, and get some money for the affected families.”

“Do Carson and Drew know that…”

“Of course not. If they did, it would probably change their actions and their behavior. No, we need them to be this way. Slow and steady, Joe. That way, we can be on track to the BIG cheese.”

“Yup, yup.”

“So, can we make this happen for them?”

“Gimme what you got.”

Frank gave Joe the details of the car that Drew gave him, as well as details of the rebuilt house that Drew told him about.

All the while, Joe nodded along.

“That Drew is one smart cookie,” Joe commented.

“Yep. I know. And I want to keep her and her old man safe. We need them.”

“What I’m a bit weirded out is this whole boy-girl thing…”

“Give her a break, Joe. Could they help it if Dave Fayne’s undercover identities was for a father-daughter disguise?”

“I know, but couldn’t you have given them something else? I’m sure, between the two of us, we could have made up a couple of more appropriate identities from them.”

“I guess. But, you know, the covers that David concocted were perfect – I doubt if anyone can break through them. I can’t top those. David was a genius. His niece is a genius, too, apparently.”

“Nephew, you mean.”

Frank shook his head. “Joe, I’ve stopped trying to keep that kind of thing straight anymore. I’m taking my cue from her dad and from Sally. For me, Drew is, for all intents and purposes, a girl. But if she should want to become a boy again, I’m fine with that, too. And I’ll help her with that, as well.”

Joe nodded. “Okay. So, what else does your ‘girl’ want us to do?”

And Frank gave him some more of the details that Drew said she needed. He also pulled out the bearer bond she gave in order to fund it.

Joe nodded. He knew this will be expensive and was actually wondering where the money will be coming from.

“Your kid really has everything covered.”

“Like I said.”

“Yeah, yeah. So when does your ‘genius’ need all this?”

“I suppose after she gets back from her vacation. She’ll be in Hawaii for three weeks.”

“Hmmm. That’s barely be enough time. We better get cracking, then, brother-mine. You take care of the car registration and the cover identity for Drew, and I’ll start with cashing this in and hiring some folks to start setting up the safe house.”

“Okay.”

- - - to be continued - - -

 

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