Send them out to search

“Hey,” you say, getting their attention. They stop their chattering. “I want you all to get dressed and find Sissy. She hasn’t come back yet, right?”

They all look at each other, and Karen shrugs.

Lisey’s annoyed, but she understands.

“Where should we look?” Kris asks. “You think she’s still at Professor Austen’s house?”

“I don’t know,” you tell her frankly. “Check there. Check the school. Check anywhere that she might go. She can’t have left town without coming back here to pack first. It’s not a big town. Find her. I want you back here by dinner time.”

“Are you cooking?” Karen asks, giving you a look.

“I’ll cook,” you assure her distractedly. “Just find her.”

“What are you going to do?” Kris asks you.

“I have to wait for a call from Mavis.”

“Who?” Karen makes a face and cocks her head.

“Mavis. Miss Griffin. She’s the one who has to deal with Professor Austen,” you remind them. “We have to make sure that Sissy’s OK and that we have a case that she can take to the school.”

“Sounds boring.” Karen pats Kris’ rear. “Let’s go.”

“Yes. Go.” You wave at them as they head upstairs. You’ll just have to hope that the women of Gurlberg will be satisfied with having some breasts in their faces, because they won’t be getting their money’s worth out of anyone’s dancing skills, except maybe from Lisey. Lisey… is a good dancer.

They head out, and you make a pot of coffee. You want to go out for a slice of pie, but you have to wait for this call. Upstairs in your room, you take off your blazer and open your blouse, revealing your chest in your unremarkable, white bra.

You aren’t a knockout like Kris, but you were pretty comfortable with your body until you found out that you were going to have to show it off to a bar full of people.

Of course, the call comes while you’re half undressed. You hurry downstairs to get the phone. It’s Mavis.

“CCL House,” you say.

“Jenny?”

“Ms. Griffin,” you reply.

“Has anything changed?”

“No, ma’am.”

She sighs. “OK. Come over to my house. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

Perfect. Your business outfit is fine for this, so you just button up, grab the grade book, and get in the car. Mavis lives in a nice house not far from the university. The street is lined with big trees, and a lot of the doors have fall wreaths out. It’s a pretty neighborhood, and it’s quiet.

You ring the bell, the book under your arm.

Mavis opens the door. She’s no longer wearing her outfit from this morning. She still looks nice in jeans and a sweater. You smell coffee as you go inside into the warmth.

She brings you a cup without a word, and you sit with her in her living room, the book on the coffee table in front of you.

“Talk to me about our case,” Mavis says, looking straight at you.

“I saw it. One of my girls saw it. Another one of my girls experienced it,” you add, fairly confident that Lisey will talk. “I have this, which shows some grades that are going to look a little strange. And I’m getting a witness from outside CCL.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“I made a deal with Free Gurls.”

“They are not going to be credible,” Mavis says.

“I know. It’s not one of them. But they know everyone and everything. They’re connected. We have enough. I’m not trying to send her to prison, I just need her fired,” you say bluntly.

Mavis looks taken aback. Then she nods.

“From what the bikers said, it sounds like she’s bad news,” you say. “It really does.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Mavis tells you.

“Can you be a witness too?”

Mavis shakes her head. “No. This is your baby. I’ll put you in front of the right people, but you have to convince them.”

“I’m on top of it,” you promise her.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“I’m serious.” Mavis sighs. “You’re going to make enemies.”

“I’m CCL. I already have enemies,” you say. “Set it up. The sooner the better.”

“You’re a bossy little minx, aren’t you?”

“A lot of my girls like that,” you say, drinking the last of your cup and putting it down on the saucer. “Thanks for the coffee.”

Mavis doesn’t move to get up, she just looks at the book. “Can I hold onto that?” she asks. “I want to look through it, and I want to have something to show when I open this conversation.”

Let her keep the grade book?

Or take it with you?