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There were very few subtitles. The movie was a nice blend of Hollywood glamour and Bollywood flair, with just enough snarky humor. Gigi even giggled a few times. I relaxed back into my seat, pushing aside for a moment money problems, Cal, mortal peril.
I forgot sometimes what it was like just to be lazy. Not to run, run, run, checking through the list of things that had to be accomplished that day or the sky would fall down around my ears.
I was content to sit there with my large popcorn, soaking up the revamped romanticism, but Gigi was up every twenty minutes to go to the bathroom. After the third trip, I started worrying about her kidneys. When she bounced out of her seat during Darcy’s disastrous proposal, I waited a minute and followed her out to the lobby.
Unfortunately, the other movie had just let out, and a crowd flooded the lobby. Apparently, a lot of people wanted to Sense and Sensibility that night. I searched the flow of faces, looking for Gigi. I turned the corner around the concession stand and saw Mr. Dodd leaning against the wall, scanning the crowd. Dropping my popcorn, I ducked into the crowded ladies’ room. There was a line, of course, and I subtly glanced under the stall doors for Gigi’s turquoise striped sneakers.
“Gigi?” I hissed.
No response, other than concerned or irritated looks from the other ladies in the bathroom.
“Gigi Scanlon, if you’re in here and ignoring me while I make a jackass out of myself, I am going to be very pissed.”
Other than a few feminine snickers … nothing.
I stuck my head out through the door and checked for Mr. Dodd. I didn’t see him, but I did see my sister, ducking in from an exterior door, looking all flushed and happy. She was tucking her phone into her pocket and looking around the lobby. She turned her back to me while peeking down the corridor. I snuck up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, all the while watching out for Mr. Dodd.
“I know exactly what you’re up to, sister.”
She shrieked and whirled on me. “Iris, I—I’m so sorry!”
“I see how you are, skipping out on valuable sisterly bonding time to secretly text Ben.” I scowled at her. “You’d rather exchange xoxo’s with your supercute boyfriend than watch a girlie movie with me.”
“No one xoxo’s.” She laughed, her cheeks flushing. “I’m sorry, Iris. It’s nothing personal. But the ‘Snake Dance’ sequence was just too much for me.”
“It’s—” I turned to see Mr. Dodd across the lobby. A cold, watery sensation seeped through my chest, surging to an all-out tidal wave when the crowd parted enough to let me see the long, lean frame of Peter Crown stepping from behind Mr. Dodd. Mr. Crown whispered furiously to Mr. Dodd, who was pointing in our direction. Crown turned, his steely eyes locking with mine. He mouthed something along the lines of “Get them out to the car.”
I grabbed Gigi’s arm. “It’s fine. We’re leaving.”
“Because I took too many trips to text?”
I looked over my shoulder as a steady stream of people moved between us and the vampires, preventing them from inconspicuously crossing the lobby. I did, however, hear Mr. Dodd growling, “Get out of my way!” as he tried to move through the clumped concession line.
“We just have to go,” I told Gigi, pulling her through the front door, staying tucked within a large group moving toward the parking lot. I pulled her behind me, forcing her to walk faster.
“Iris, why are you being all weird?”
“I’m naturally weird,” I said, breaking into a sprint and tugging her along. “Come on. You can get to the Dairy Freeze a little early, get some chili cheese fries before Sammi Jo and Braelynn show up and start talking about diets.”
“Ugh.” She groaned as I unlocked the car. I kept an eye on the door of the theater, watching as the vampires moved across the pavement toward us. “I hope no one sees me riding around in this.”
I was suddenly very much on board with Gigi’s arguments against driving around in a bright yellow van. This was not the vehicle you drove when you wanted to be incognito. She slouched down in her seat while I pulled out of the lot.
I was able to relax a little once we were safely on the main drag through town. Vampires or no, Crown and Dodd weren’t going to abduct us from a street in front of dozens of other drivers. I pulled my phone from my purse and saw that I had a voicemail waiting. Gigi raised her eyebrows when I punched in my access code and listened. I was usually the one giving her “distracted driving is the moron’s equivalent to drunk driving” lectures. But I figured that fleeing from disingenuous vampire administrators called for a special exception.
The voicemail was from Ophelia. It was brief and cryptic, like most conversations with Ophelia. “Iris, I thought you’d want to know I finally tracked down a hard copy of that delivery schedule we discussed. Peter Crown was assigned to that task. Keep that in mind. Keep the information close to you. Stay where you are. I will talk to you soon.”
Mr. Crown had delivered the poisoned blood to Cal’s house? Not surprising. Ophelia managed to find this information after Mr. Crown chased us out of a Jane Austen movie? Well, that was decidedly unhelpful.
Which was also in line with most of my conversations with Ophelia.
I dialed Cal’s cell phone, but he didn’t pick up. I dialed Ophelia’s number, but I got sent to voicemail. I left her a message saying that I’d seen the gentleman we’d discussed before at the movie theater, and I hoped she’d catch up to him.
Gigi gave me a suspicious look. I offered her a grim smile but checked the rearview mirror every few minutes to see if we were being followed. Annoyed with my antics, Gigi was overeager to get out of the car when I pulled into the lot of the Dairy Freeze.
“Free at last.” She sighed.
“Have fun,” I said. “Stay here at the drive-in. Stay with the other girls. Call me if your plans change.”
