Free Missing Me by Sophie McKenzie Page B

long soak in the bath I’d been looking forward to. Annie arrived back about an hour later. Again, she was all concerned and wanting to talk,
and again, I walked away, shutting myself up in my room and watching movies into the small hours.
    I slept late the next day, Sunday, and it wasn’t until I’d been awake for half an hour or so that I remembered my phone was still switched off. I turned it on, to find messages from
Rosa and Esme. Rosa’s was an invite to go shopping the next day. Esme’s said:
    Come over Thurs? No tigers! Ex
    I texted ‘yes’ to both. Even if my family were really annoying, at least I had friends.

12
Undercover Mission
    I enjoyed shopping with Rosa. She was full of questions about my meeting with Allan and wide-eyed with horror when I told her about escaping the tiger. I half thought of asking
Esme if I could bring Rosa along to meet her, but it seemed a bit presumptuous. Anyway, I wasn’t sure if they’d get on. From the short time I’d spent with her, it was already
clear Esme wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
    Allan rang me just before lunchtime the next day. He said he was about to fly to France on business, but that he’d be back in
The Examiner
offices on Friday morning.
    ‘I’m in an all-day meeting with the editorial team,’ he said. ‘The desk editor is Matthew Flint.’ He paused expectantly, as if I should know who this was.
    ‘Wow,’ I said, hoping this was the right response.
    ‘Matthew’s young but he’s
really
building a reputation,’ Allan said proudly.
    ‘Actually, I’ve always wanted to be that kind of proper journalist.’ I hadn’t meant to tell him right then, but I couldn’t stop myself. As the words gushed out of
me, I blushed. What was Allan going to think of me now?
    ‘That’s fantastic,’ Allan said. ‘I’m thrilled you’re interested. Perhaps . . . when I’m back . . . we can talk about that . . . about the best way to
get started?’
    ‘Oh, yes, thank you.’
    How cool was that? Allan was being really encouraging, like he thought it was perfectly realistic for me to want to be a serious journalist. Annie was so negative about everything . . . always
seeing the potential problems in any course of action. It was wonderful to have someone listening to my hopes and dreams and sounding so enthusiastic.
    I told Allan that I was going over to see Esme on Thursday.
    ‘At her house?’ he asked.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Great,’ he said. ‘That’s . . .’ He paused. ‘That’s great.’
    I was sure there was something else he wanted to say. My mind ran over the possible options. Was he worried about me going alone to a house where a suspected criminal lived? Or was he hoping
I’d have a chance to speak to Baxter himself?
    ‘Mr Baxter will be at work, won’t he?’ I said.
    ‘I would think so.’ Allan hesitated again.
    ‘Yes.’ I frowned, still trying to work out what was on his mind. And then I thought I saw . . . I’d be in a brilliant position to try and find out more about the stuff on
Baxter that Allan was investigating. If I could discover something useful, Allan would be really pleased
and
I’d show him I was serious about becoming a journalist.
    ‘D’you want me to ask Esme if she knows anything . . . say, about Miriam 21?’
    ‘No,’ Allan said quickly. ‘No, I’m sure she won’t know and if she happened to mention you’d said something, it might put you in danger with Baxter
himself.’
    ‘OK, well, shall I just keep my ears open? See if anyone mentions it?’
    ‘Only if you’re comfortable doing that,’ Allan said. ‘I don’t want you putting yourself at risk.’
    Time passed slowly until Thursday afternoon. I arrived at Esme’s house five minutes early so hung around outside for a bit. The marquee was gone from the front garden, and the house itself
looked even bigger than before. It really was a mansion. Three floors high, plus the hidden warren of basement cellars, and at least six rooms across, with wings