Red(61)

All too soon, her mom strode out onto the stage, dressed in a yellow sleeveless blouse and bright green capri pants that made her look like an ad for a lemon-lime sports drink. She beamed at the girls with a high-wattage smile that was almost painful to look at. “Good afternoon, ladies! I’m sure you’ve all had a very exciting day at school, and I hope you’ve been reveling in all the attention. You deserve to be treated like royalty, so enjoy every second of it! We’re going to run the pageant in real time today, which means you’ll do your full talent routines and all of your costume changes. The dressing room will be filled with pageant volunteers, so please take advantage of their help. And remember—heads high, shoulders back, tummies tucked, and big, bright smiles!”

Felicity cruised through her personal introduction, her swimsuit portion, her talent routine, and her mock interview question on autopilot. Before she knew it, her mom was giving them a final pep talk and releasing them for the night. Everyone headed for the door in twos and threes, bemoaning how they’d tripped on their trains, sung wrong notes, or looked like whales in their swimsuits. Their work for the day was done.

Felicity’s was just beginning.

She followed Haylie and Ivy down the hall, half listening to Haylie talk about her pre-pageant diet and meditation ritual, but when they reached the front door, she stopped short and pretended to rummage through her bag. “Crap,” she said. “I think I left my car keys in my mom’s office.”

“Want us to wait for you?” Ivy offered.

“No, it’s fine, just go.”

“Okay. I hope you find them.” Haylie hugged her tightly. “Oh my God, I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’m so, so glad we’re all doing this together.”

“Me too,” Felicity said before Ivy could cut in with a snarky remark.

“Think positive thoughts before you go to sleep, and don’t forget to eat breakfast!” Haylie called as she pushed the front door open.

Felicity went around to the side door of the auditorium, opened it a crack, and peeked inside. She couldn’t see her mom from this angle, but she could hear her having a wrap-up meeting with Brenda and Celeste, both of whom had been on the pageant committee for a decade. Felicity wondered whether she had time to slip into her mom’s office and swap the interview questions now, before the meeting ended. But that seemed too risky—she should probably hold off until her mom left to pick up the twins in a few minutes. She propped the door open a bit, sat down, and settled in to wait.

After fifteen minutes, the meeting still wasn’t over, and she heard her mom say, “Shoot, I’m going to be so late to pick up the boys. Let me call Felicity and ask her to go get them, and then we can talk about the florist.”

Felicity’s phone started vibrating in her bag, and she jerked back from the door in a panic. Thank God she’d remembered to turn off her ringer before rehearsal. She dashed up the hallway and around the corner and managed to catch the call on the last ring. “Hello?”

“Hi, baby. Where are you? Why are you out of breath?”

“I’m in the parking lot,” Felicity lied. “I’m not out of breath, I was just … laughing. What’s going on?”

“I have to be here later than I thought, so I need you to pick up the boys at day care, okay? If you could get them into their pjs, that’d be really helpful. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“Sure, okay,” Felicity said. “No problem.”

“You’re a lifesaver. See you later.”

Felicity hung up the phone, her head spinning. Waiting to swap the envelopes was no longer an option. It was now or never.

She jogged toward her mom’s office on the other side of the building. Nearly all the other offices she passed were dark and unoccupied—most of the staff left early on Fridays. Please be unlocked, please be unlocked, Felicity begged silently as her mom’s door came into view. Through the window of the office, she spotted the box of gold envelopes on the desk—she could easily make the exchange and be out in thirty seconds. After one final glance up and down the hall to make sure she was alone, she turned the doorknob.

It was locked.

She cursed under her breath. Maybe someone at the security desk could open the door for her. She was hesitant to involve another person in her criminal activities, but she didn’t have much of a choice. Every second she waited was one second closer to being caught.

When she reached the desk near the front door, Felicity saw that her favorite security guard was on duty, and her heart lifted. Arthur had always had a soft spot for her. Today he was napping in front of his bank of monitors, his long Santa Claus beard spread out on his chest, and he startled awake when Felicity touched his shoulder. “Felicity!” he boomed. “How you doing, honey? It’s so good to see you!”

“You too,” Felicity said. “Listen, could you do me a huge favor? I think I left my car keys in my mom’s office, and she’s in a meeting. Would you mind opening the door for me?”

“Anything for my girl.” Arthur hoisted himself out of his chair with a grunt and started down the hall at approximately the speed of a Galápagos land tortoise.

It took nearly five minutes to reach her mom’s office. Felicity plodded alongside her old friend, answering his questions about the pageant and trying not to betray her panic. Even when they reached her mom’s door, the ordeal was far from over—Arthur had a key ring the size of a grapefruit, and he had no idea which key was the right one. After sixteen tries, the lock finally clicked open, and Felicity nearly did a cartwheel.