The Supernatural Files of CJ Delaney by Carol Williams

Author:Carol Williams [Williams, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2024-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

25

This Is a Stickup: Hand Over Your Notes!

After the meeting, Bix Jr. came up to me. “Sounds like you’ve gotten some good info on that—whaddaya call it, ritualistic stuff.”

I shrugged and glanced at him suspiciously. It wasn’t like him to be almost complimentary. “I guess,” was all I said.

“Think you could pass your notes on to me? My dad said I could take it from here.” At least he had the decency to look a bit sheepish. And maybe it was just my imagination, but did he even look a little sorry?

I held my notepad protectively against my chest and snapped, “No way, Bix. Do a little work and get your own notes.”

Now Bix’s freckled face was beet red. “Look, it’s not my fault you can’t work on the story and it belongs to my dad. So give me the notes!” He actually reached out his hand to take them!

I backed away. “You couldn’t handle them, anyway! My notes are full of stuff cultists do, like how they dig out the eyeballs and squish the guts around.” This wasn’t totally true, but there was still some stuff that made me glad for the ol’ nerves of steel.

In the ever-changing rainbow that was Bix’s face, he went from red to pale pink under his tan. But he managed to splutter, “So? That’s baby stuff. I can handle it. Now give ’em here.” He was being so rotten I almost felt glad. This proved Parker was wrong about Bix’s so-called lovey-dovey eyes. The only person this guy had a crush on was himself.

“No, jerk!” I said more loudly than I meant to.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. It squeezed just enough to make me close my mouth. I knew that hand.

Conti’s voice was low but firm. “CJ, give Bix your notes.”

It took everything I had not to let my lips tremble as I handed that kid my papers. I lowered my eyes so he wouldn’t see how close I was to crying about how my notes would get him one step closer to helping his dad get the scoop.

He smiled in that smarmy way he had when he was around grown-ups and said, “Thanks, Mrs. Delaney.” But he stopped smiling as he turned away from us. All he said was, “And, oh yeah, thanks, Cub.”

“Come with me,” said Conti softly to me.

Without another word I followed her into her office, where she shut the door. As soon as it shut, the tears spilled out. “It’s not fair! I did all the work,” I said. I wanted to shout, Why did you do that? You’re my grandmother. You’re supposed to have my back! But I knew better than to yell at Conti.

She gestured for me to sit in the chair across from her desk. “I know it’s hard for you to understand, CJ, but I’m trying to teach you a few things besides how to write a news story.”

I reached for a tissue on her desk. “Well, if you’re trying to teach me that Bix Anderson Jr.

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