Flush - Carl Hiaasen [45]
“Seven-thirty,” I said.
She winced. “A.M.? You gotta be kiddin’ me.”
Abbey said, “It’s important. Please?”
We followed Shelly inside. She sagged onto the sofa and tucked her legs up under her tatty pink bathrobe.
“Killer headache,” she explained, running her tongue across her front teeth. “Large party last night.”
She was clearly in pain, so we got straight to the point. “We need your help,” I said, “now.”
“To do what?”
“To stop Dusty Muleman. You promised, remember?”
She laughed—one of those tired, what-was-I-thinking laughs. She looked across at Abbey. “And you promised to keep your big brother outta trouble.”
“We won’t get in any trouble,” Abbey said evenly, “if you help us.”
It sounded like Shelly was having second thoughts. I wondered if she really was afraid of Dusty Muleman after all.
In a discouraged voice she said, “I don’t know what we can do to stop him. He’s tight with all the big shots in town.”
“But he’s poisoning Thunder Beach,” I said. “You know how sick a kid could get from swimming in that bad water? Same goes for the fish and the dolphins and the baby turtles. It sucks, what Dusty is doing. It’s awful.”
“Yeah, but—”
“And don’t forget what happened to Lice,” I added. “Remember how you told me you had a dog in this fight? Remember—”
“Lice is exactly what I been thinkin’ about,” Shelly cut in. “Say they really killed him, okay? You s’pose they’d hesitate to do the same to me or you, if somethin’ goes wrong?”
It was about time she got worried, and who could blame her? If she was right about Lice being dead, then Dusty and Luno were cold-blooded murderers.
But one glance and I knew Abbey wouldn’t back off, no matter what the risks. Neither could I.
“Shelly, I know it’s dangerous—”
“Not to mention crazy,” she said.
“Yeah, and probably crazy,” I agreed. “Look, if you don’t want to be a part of this, it’s okay. I understand.”
She shut her eyes and rolled back her head. “Uh-oh, here comes the guilt.” She pressed her knuckles to her ears. “Enough already, Noah. This poor blond head’s about to explode.”
Shelly stretched out on the sofa. Abbey got some ice cubes from the refrigerator and wrapped them in a dish towel, which Shelly gingerly positioned across her brow.
After a minute or two of muffled moaning she said, “Guess I wasn’t feelin’ so brave when I got up this mornin’, but hey, a promise is a promise. Count me in.”
Abbey and I looked at each other with happy relief.
“So what’s the big plan?” Shelly asked. “And how does your daddy fit in?”
“He doesn’t fit in. We’re not telling him about it,” Abbey replied.
Shelly opened one bloodshot eye and studied us. “That’s probably a darn good idea,” she said.
“But he’ll still get blamed for everything—if we get caught,” I pointed out. “That’s why we need you.”
Shelly sighed. “So let’s hear it.”
When we told her our plan, she didn’t laugh or make fun. She just lay there, thinking.
“Well?” Abbey said impatiently.
Shelly levered herself upright, balancing the ice pack on her forehead. “This idea of yours is so whacked,” she said, “it just might work.”
“Does that mean you’ll help us?”
“And all I gotta do is flush?” she asked. “That’s it?”
“That’s all you’ve got to do,” I said. “Flush, and flush often.”
* * *
The next thing that happened was all my fault. I wasn’t paying attention.
Abbey and I were riding home slowly along the Old Highway, talking about the Coral Queen, when somebody rushed up on us from behind. Before I could wheel around, Jasper Muleman Jr. grabbed my bike and Bull grabbed Abbey’s, and together they dragged us backward into a stand of Australian pines.
Not again, I thought in a panic. It wasn’t me I was frightened for—it was my sister.
No sooner had Jasper Jr. knocked me to the ground than I heard Bull cut loose with a spine-chilling wail. Instantly I knew what had happened: He’d been too careless with Abbey.
“Make her let go!” Jasper Jr. hollered at me.
“I can’t.”
Jasper Jr. jerked me to my feet. “Underwood, you don’t make her let go of Bull, I’ll snap you like a twig.”
Bull kept