Page 46 of S.O.S. Perk

“Hey. Thorpe,” Perk jogged toward and called out to one of the wanna-be bullies he’d been hanging with.

“Yeah, Dude?” Thorpe headed over to where Perk stood near the auto-shop door.

“You seen Nelsin today?” he asked, bogusly.

“Nope. He wasn’t in class.”

Right.But had Jeremy thought to avoid Perk, or was the bastard just worn out from his late-night activities?

With the kid not in school, Perk would have to seek him out to have that chat about what Perk had purportedly done with Kaelyn. But if Jeremy didn’t answer his door, later, that would suck. Today was Friday, and not only would Perk and the team have to stew for two days if Jeremy shut him out, but Perk would be stuck having to come back to school on Monday to confront the asshole, which he’d hoped beyond hope to avoid if he could get answers out of Nelsin today.

Thorpe trotted into shop-class next to Perk. “Did you find out anything more about him and Kaelyn? That’s why you were asking us questions, wasn’t it? You wanted to find her.”

“I figured it might go a long way toward getting me some cred at my new school, yeah,” Perk fabricated. “But I also like to solve shit. When I found out that girl was missing…it made her seem kinda mysterious, you know?”

“So?” Thorpe questioned. “What’dya find?

“Nelsin was a dead end. I talked to him yesterday.” Perk lied. “He has no clue where she is.”

The Feds had warned Perk that while at school, he was not to validate any of the rumors or leak any information so as not to spook Nelsin. They were counting on the boy becoming complacent again as things settled down; hoping he’d pick up again on the money-grabs, like before things had shut down with the kidnapping.

“I figured,” Thorpe scoffed. “He’s just a nerd with a big mouth, trying to make himself look important when he really has nothing to do with any of the shit going down. He almost had me fooled, though. Especially with that game of his.” Thorpe huffed. “It’s good, but I’ve never liked the asshole. He thinks he’s so much better than us.”

“Well, he’s not. And you don’t have to think about it anymore. He’s not dangerous.”

In the big scheme of things, Jeremy wasworsethan dangerous. He’d been using his skills to not only steal large sums of money, but to—with no remorse—kidnap the Jefferson girl; planning on killing her without blinking. Whereas Thorpe, Higgins, and their buddies were simple bullies, flexing their muscles amongst the easy-pickings of those less popular on the school’s campus.

“You’re right. And luckily, he’s not our problem, anyway,” Thorpe agreed.

Perk began fishing farther afield for whoever might be helping Nelsin. “Does he even have anyrealfriends in this school?”

Thorpe shrugged. “I don’t pay too much attention. There aren’t too many people he actually hangs out with when he’s not pushing his game… Wait. He’s weirdly tight with one of the teachers here. Sometimes I see him and Mr. Shultz, talking inthe parking lot before school.” He snickered. “I even saw him getting a ride home with Shultz one day.”

“Eh. That’s probably nothing,” Perk diverted, “Maybe they’ll go to prom together.”

Thorpe threw back his head and laughed like it was the funniest thing, ever.

That was enough for Perk.

Sweet.This could very well besomething. Perk would have to make a call to Baskins so the team could do a deep dive on the guy.

But first…auto shop.

Perk nearly groaned. Today they were going to learn to change oil; something he’d been doing for years, not only on cars, but on a stable of army vehicles that were so complex they would probably make this teacher’s head spin. Not that Perk would let on that he was more than proficient.Nope.He’d pretend to be just as ignorant as the next guy.

Auto shop was Perk’s last class of the day, so it would be well after noon when he finished up. Which meant he wouldn’t be waking Baskins up with his call.

Too bad, Perk snickered.He’dhad to endure fatigue all day. The least he could do was deprive the agent of some beauty sleep.

An hour later, with oil under his fingernails, Perk loaded his backpack with books from his locker, made his way to the parking lot, then leaned casually against his car to dial FBI headquarters.

“How may I direct your call?” the operator asked, always incognito at this contact number.

At the last second, Perk changed his mind about talking to Baskins.

“Agent Vessers, please.”

“And who may I say is calling?”

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