The Naughty List (The Naughty List #1)(8)

Aiden deserved to know what I did with the Smitten Kittens; he’d understand. But I couldn’t tell him because then he’d know I’d kept something from him for the last two years. I twitched my nose and snuggled closer to him, feeling his heat and trying to block out the negativity.

“I love you, baby,” Aiden breathed into my hair as he hugged me.

“I love you too.” I closed my eyes.

SOS CHEATER INCIDENT REPORT

CASE: 043

CLIENT: Caitlyn March

SUBJECT: Michael Garnett

FINDINGS: At approximately 1:00 a.m. on January 30, Mr. Garnett was observed talking online with an unnamed female accomplice. The conversation was not recorded, but judging by Mr. Garnett’s actions, we can safely say it was of a sexual nature.

After a thorough phone record search, it was also discovered that Mr. Garnett had been texting obscene messages to a Lisa Belgium. He’d also set up a false MySpace account in order to schedule their meetings. Once retrieved, all the correspondence was sorted. You’ll find the transcripts included with this letter.

Note the encounter scheduled on page four. At that meeting, Mr. Garnett and Ms. Belgium were photographed kissing in front of the Seattle’s Best coffeehouse. Those photos are included, as well as pictures of Mr. Garnett in front of his computer. Some with boxers, some without.

We trust that this report will remain confidential as some of the information contained within could compromise our top-secret status.

SOS is sorry for your loss, and we offer our deepest sympathies. We hope that we will not have to assist you again in the future, but please keep us in mind for referrals.

CHAPTER THREE

“PASS ME THE BOBBY PIN,” I SAID, CHEWING ON the corner of my lip as I fiddled with the padlock on Serena Santos’s metal school locker. I was glad it wasn’t a Master Lock—those suckers took forever to pick! Kira felt around in her blond curls for a second, then smiled as she pulled out a pin and handed it to me.

“Remembered it this time,” she said, beaming. Although Kira had called me about sixteen more times, her depression over Darren only lasted until about five this morning. I was proud of her bravery.

“Hurry, Tess,” she whispered, looking both ways down the hall. “The janitor will be here in twenty minutes.”

Sugarplum fairies! I’d better get to it.

I readjusted my stance, checking the half-lit walkway one last time before I inserted the metal pin into the padlock, twisting and turning it just right. It clicked.

Kira giggled. “I don’t know how you do that. I failed the lock-pick course three times.”

“I remember.” Poor Kira. She had a hard time learning new trades. Now, cheer routines? She was a pro at that.

“I bet Aiden would think it’s totally cute you can pick locks.”

My stomach turned as I looked over my shoulder at her. “Let’s not think about Aiden.”

She grinned, her dimples deepening in her cheeks. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”

Kira’s blue eyes twinkled as she wiggled her eyebrows at me. I couldn’t help it—I laughed. She was right: ignoring Aiden was impossible. And ignoring the guilt I felt for sneaking around was even harder.

“Hey,” she said, putting her arm over my shoulders. “Don’t look so down, Tess. I’m sure he’d understand if you just told him about SOS.”

Kira and the squad knew my inner turmoil about lying to Aiden. And even though they loved Aiden, it was too late for me to tell him the truth. I’d lied for too long. No, I’d just have to stick out the school year. SOS was the Smitten Kittens’ secret. I exhaled.

“We have work to do,” I said, and yanked open the locker with a metal clang.

Kira reached down to grab the equipment out of the backpack. She pulled out a jewelry-size black box and opened it, revealing the small GPS tracker that Leona had scored a few weeks ago with our frequent shopper’s discount.

I took the tiny tracking device from its package and peeled off the self-adhesive back. Then I stuck it in between the pages of Serena’s über-thick chemistry book.

SOS had been alerted that she was a “person of interest” in a new cheating incident. Apparently, Paul Masterson had been disappearing between seventh and ninth period every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So had Serena. Only, SOS hadn’t been able to find where they’d been sneaking off to, and we never accuse without proof. Even if the subjects cheated every time (which they did), we would never tell our clients that. They deserved for it to be definitive. One hundred percent. But it was always 100 percent bad news.

After the chip was settled between the pages, I turned to Kira. “Test it,” I said.

She pulled out the SOS phone, punching in the code with a series of beeps. Even though each of us had an encrypted cell, there was only one official SOS line. So at every meeting, we switched possession. It helped to make everyone feel included. Kira especially loved when it was her turn—total self-esteem boost.

There was a blip.

“Easy squeezy,” she said, holding up the phone to me. I watched the little red light flash, pinpointing our exact location.

I nodded. “All set.” I shut the locker, resetting the padlock, and grabbed up the pack from the linoleum floor. “What time is it?” I asked.

“Almost six.”

I groaned. “We’d better jet. Aiden will be at my house for breakfast at six thirty.”