Cat In A Topaz Tango

Temple placed herself in the center of the middle bench seat, thinking she was going to be in the middle figuratively for this whole road trip. At least here she could see both of her traveling companions. She’d noticed a couple of backpacks and duffle bags in the rear storage area. Molina and Rafi had a lot less to get together and pack. They weren’t the star of this expedition. But they had a lot more “baggage,” nevertheless.

She smiled to remember Matt’s wee-hour amazement at this rapid turn of events when she knocked on his door at 3:00 A.M., as predicted. Why had not been predicted.

“You’re going off to L.A. with Molina and her hated ex-cop boyfriend to audition for a teen talent show? With them posing as your . . . parents?”

“Hey, I can look positively adolescent at times. But, no, nobody got that carried away.”

“How can you create a pop tart entity from scratch?”

Temple grinned. “I’m hoping tomorrow you’ll talk your agent, Tony Fortunato, into playing along and ‘repping’ my appearance at the contest finals with those folks. Molina’s minions will set up the security end of it. Crawford Buchanan will dutifully pimp the Zoe Chloe mystique on his radio spots. It’s not hard to become a fullblown media phenom these Internet days. I’ll be working with pros, remember.”

“Molina and her ex?” Matt snorted. “I hope you’re a good marriage counselor, caught between those two.”

“I’ve been listening religiously to a really fine radio counselor all my lonely midnights.”

“Yeah? I’d kiss you goodbye but you look so teenage and tasty I don’t dare mess with underage fiancées. Take care, Temple. The company you’re in puts you in a volatile situation. Think of Molina and Nadir as furious grizzly bears whose cub is threatened. You don’t want to get caught in the middle of that clawfest.”

“They seem strangely subdued. And they need me to be ‘point’ girl. A stupid kid with attitude can ask questions they can’t. And get other kids to confide in her.”

“You can do that with more than kids. From what you tell me, you’re the bait on this fishing expedition. Call me early and often and let me know what’s happening, even if I’m on the air. I can duck away for a minute or two. You have my direct line. If they endanger you—”

“They’re more likely to tangle with each other.”

“Keep to the speed limit,” Molina said as soon as Rafi got behind the wheel and restarted the engine.

“You wanta drive, Lieutenant? We’re not even out of town yet, Carmen. Give me a break.”

She stirred uneasily in the passenger captain’s seat. “I want to, but it would blow our cover, daddy dearest.”

Jeez, Temple thought. They already reminded her of Midnight Louie having a spat with his namesake at the Crystal Phoenix, Midnight Louise. Catfights all the way to L.A. would not be fun.

“Cool it, you two,” she said in Zoe Chloe’s bored but sassy voice. “I’m the star here, and I gotta plan my audition. Get into character.”

“You already are a character,” Molina grumbled, grabbing her seat belt.

She seemed fidgety, and kept adjusting the plastic strap over her long torso as if it irritated her. Molina was almost six feet tall. Temple would have thought any seat belt would fit her like a dream. They always cut across her own throat like a garrote because she was so short. Even Mariah was taller than she now, which only helped Temple’s teen masquerade. Being petite is why her sixty-year-old Aunt Kit looked just right beside her new late-forties’ husband, Aldo Fontana.

Gee. Temple got momentarily misty-eyed. Kit and Aldo were on a honeymoon to Lake Como and Florence, Italy. She and Matt would be honeymooners someday soon, but maybe not to Italy. Maybe to . . . Cabo or Monaco. Matt liked to swim. Temple liked to look at him in swim trunks.

Meanwhile, for now, she was off on one of those National Lampoon family vacation nightmare movies with a possible teen slasher movie ending ahead of them all.

As the SUV accelerated onto the freeway ramp, Molina cleared her throat.

“As subtle as always,” Rafi said, settling himself in the driver’s seat. “I won’t speed enough to draw any state troopers. Count on it.”

Molina lifted a tall Styrofoam cup of McDonald’s latte coffee from the central console. “So just what kind of ‘interaction’ did you and Mariah have at the Teen Queen house?”

“The same kind as me and the little broad in the backseat had. I figured out they were both up to something and kept an eye on them. What with the weird happenings and the place’s history as a death house, I figured looking after the competing girls was my beat.”

“Some of those ‘girls’ were of age, in their late teens.”

“Yup. And they weren’t ‘girls,’ Carmen. They were manipulative little sexpots.”

“Not Mariah.”

“No. Not yet. She’s gone to Catholic school. That puts off the inevitable some. I know how much you like to put off the inevitable.”

“Like you?”

“Like anybody who gets close to you.”

“As if you ever did.”

“As if you wouldn’t have run away if I hadn’t.”