Kitally smiled. “Yeah, they’re gone. You can come out of hiding.”
Salma came in and eased herself into a chair with an enormous sigh. Kitally knew it wasn’t possible, but it seemed as if the girl’s belly had expanded since the last time she’d seen her.
“Your boss can be scary at times,” Salma said.
“She’s really not so bad,” Hayley said. “She’s just angry at the world right now.”
“I don’t know if angry is the right word,” Kitally said. “When I look into her eyes, I don’t see the same Lizzy Gardner. This new Lizzy seems possessed.”
Hayley sighed. “She’ll be fine. She just needs time.”
“Well, I didn’t want to tell you this in front of Lizzy,” Salma said, “but I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the Ghost.”
That got Hayley’s attention. “Yeah, what about her?”
“I think I know who you’re looking for.”
“Do you know her name?” Kitally asked.
“No, but before I slept in the park, I was living with a friend who was dating a guy who lived on Fedora Street. He had a roommate who looks just like the person you two were discussing the other day: skinny, pale-skinned, and she had white hair that she gelled to make it look like she had a porcupine on top of her head. You can’t miss her. She definitely stands out in a crowd. And she’s funny about her sneakers.”
“How so?”
“She has a dozen pairs of white sneakers, and if she gets a scuff mark, she throws a tantrum.”
“That’s gotta be her.” Hayley looked at the time. “I’ll pull up a satellite map on the Internet, and you can show me where she lives.”
“Why don’t we go for a drive,” Salma said, “and I’ll show you exactly where the house is.”
Kitally got up, ready to go, but Hayley hesitated, probably conflicted about having a pregnant teen as a ride-along.
“I need to get out of here,” Salma said. “I haven’t been outside since you two brought me here.”
“My car?” Kitally asked.
“I just filled my tank,” Hayley said. “We’ll take the Chevy.”
Hayley and her beloved hunk of junk, Kitally thought, but she gave her a one-handed salute. “Whatever you say, boss.”
They took the ramp to US 50 West and continued on to Business 80 toward West Sacramento. Kitally was sitting in the passenger seat, and she turned to the side to look at Salma. “How are you feeling?”
She rubbed her belly. “Fine.”
“You look like you’re ready to explode. How does it feel to have a person growing inside you?”
Hayley shook her head at Kitally’s question but said nothing.
“It’s a strange sensation,” Salma said. “Especially when the baby kicks like it wants out.”
“Bizarre,” Kitally agreed.
“Yeah, it used to do somersaults, I swear, but now that there’s less room in there, it sort of hurts when it pushes its feet into my ribs.”
“Ouch.”
It was quiet for a moment before Salma said, “So when’s Lizzy’s baby due?”
“What do you mean?” Kitally asked.
“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”
Hayley frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know. Seems obvious. Every little smell makes her sick to her stomach, she hardly eats, and she has a definite baby bump.”
Kitally looked at Hayley. “Do you think she could be?”
“No. I think Salma has baby on the brain.” Hayley looked into the rearview mirror. “No offense.”
Salma smiled. “No offense taken. Besides, I know I’m right. Everything I said, plus her mood swings and the stuff she eats.”
“She did turn down a Rice Krispies Treat the other day,” Kitally said. “And come to think of it, she doesn’t drink coffee anymore. I thought that was odd.”
“Take the next exit,” Salma told Hayley.
In another few minutes they were on the 1600 block of Madrone Avenue. Unfamiliar turf for Kitally. All three of them were quiet as Salma pointed and told Hayley to take a left.
“Never mind,” Salma said. “That might be her up ahead.”
Sure enough, a skinny girl dressed in black jeans and a dark sweatshirt with white spiky hair was heading for the gas station on the corner.
Hayley pulled into the gas station just ahead of the girl and told Kitally to roll down her window. “Hey, you,” Hayley called.
Unconcerned, the girl turned toward them and strolled over to the window. “What’s going on?”
“You wouldn’t happen to know where we could find some weed, would you?”
“I might.” She leaned lower so that she could see all the way to the backseat. She pointed a finger toward Salma. “Don’t I know you?”
Salma’s eyes widened. “I don’t think so.”
The girl snapped her fingers. “You’re Jane’s friend, Salma. Why don’t you girls wait right here while I head inside and buy some smokes?” She smiled and then touched the collar of Kitally’s blouse. “I like your shirt.”
“Thanks.”
“There’s a decent party happening a few blocks away,” the girl said, walking backward toward the mini-mart. “Maybe you can give me a ride.”
“Sure thing,” Kitally said. After she watched the girl disappear inside the mini-mart, she said, “We’ll give her a ride straight to the police station on Jefferson Boulevard.”
Hayley looked over her shoulder at Salma. “So that’s the same girl, right?”
“That’s her. She hasn’t changed a bit,” Salma said. “If we’re giving her a ride, we need to be careful. That girl has a mean temper, and there’s no telling what she might do.”
Kitally looked at Hayley. “We found the Ghost. Should I go inside and keep an eye on her?”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
Before Kitally could get out of the car, Hayley grabbed her arm. “Never mind.” She gestured toward the parking lot behind the building. The girl was sprinting across it. “Looks like she’s making a run for it. Buckle up.”
Hayley gunned it, squeezed her way between the guy pumping gas and the mini-market. A man filling his tank held his arm high in the air and shook his fist at her.
The Ghost was fast, running toward a chain-link fence and then vaulting over it into a backyard and disappearing without losing a step.
“Whoa, can she fly or what?” Kitally said.
The Chevy’s tires squealed as Hayley made a sharp right out of the gas station, bouncing over the curb and tossing them around inside the car, lifting a grunt from Salma in the back.
Hayley shot down the block and made a right onto a quiet neighborhood street, hoping to cut the girl off on the other side. The Ghost couldn’t have made it through all the yards in the block, but Kitally saw no sign of her.
As Hayley swept around the next corner, circling the block, the underbelly of the car began to shake and the wheels rattled. “This thing doesn’t sound good,” Kitally said. “There’s smoke coming out from under the hood. You need to pull over!”
Hayley ignored her.
“Oh no!” Salma cried out. “Not now!”
Glancing over her shoulder, Kitally found Salma wincing in pain. Her clothes, along with the backseat, were weirdly dark. No, not just dark. Wet.
“She just jumped another fence at the end of the block,” Hayley said. But when she floored it, the car shook and the engine hissed in protest.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Hayley said as the car slowed. She pummeled the gas pedal with her foot, but it didn’t do any good. The engine died. Holding tightly to the wheel, she coasted slowly to the curb.
Leaving the keys in the engine, Hayley jumped out of the car and headed after the Ghost.
“Get back here!” Kitally shouted. “We have a problem!”
It was no use. Hayley was gone.
Kitally looked back at Salma. “Don’t you dare have that baby right now. This is not a good time.”
Salma panted, her face red and pinched. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead. She did not look well.