Free Get Even by Gretchen McNeil Page A

was ready for extrication.
    “Can I help you?” the barista asked.
    Kitty reluctantly pulled her gaze away from Olivia and Ronny. “I’ll have a small—” Kitty started as she recognized the barista. “Barbara Ann?”
    “Hi, Kitty.” Barbara Ann smiled; her eyes did not.
    Kitty stared at her former teammate, unsure what to say. Barbara Ann Vreeland had been a sophomore at Bishop DuMaine when Kitty was a freshman, and had been captain of the junior varsity girls’ volleyball team until she was expelled from school after being implicated in a grade-fixing scandal. The last time Kitty had seen her, Barbara Ann had tried to recruit Kitty into the scheme by offering her a passing grade in geometry. The scandal had broken two days later, and Kitty hadn’t seen Barbara Ann since.
    “How are you?” Kitty said lamely.
    Barbara Ann shrugged. “Good, I guess. I’m at Gunn now.”
    Kitty tilted her head to the side. If Barbara Ann was at Gunn, they should have played each other at volleyball.
    “I don’t play anymore,” Barbara Ann said, as if reading Kitty’s mind.
    “But . . . but you were amazing,” Kitty stammered. “Pro level. I thought—”
    “Oooooooh,” Olivia groaned from her table. She grabbed her stomach, doubling over in pantomimed pain.
    The Coffee Clash was half-empty, but several patrons glanced in Olivia’s direction.
    “Babe?” Ronny said nervously, not moving from his seat.
    “My stomach,” Olivia cried. She writhed in her chair.
    “Are you okay?”
    Olivia stumbled forward out of her chair, bracing herself against the dessert counter. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
    That was Kitty’s cue. She wanted to talk to Barbara Ann, find out why she wasn’t playing anymore, and if that was somehow her fault. But they were on a tight schedule. With a weak smile at her old teammate, she stepped toward Olivia. “What’s wrong? What hurts?”
    Olivia jabbed at her stomach below her rib cage. “Here. It’s like I’ve been stabbed.”
    “I didn’t do anything,” Ronny said, slowly rising to his feet. “I never touched her.”
    Kitty fought to keep from rolling her eyes.
    “It must be your appendix,” Kitty said instead, sounding like an extra on a medical drama. She snatched Olivia’s purse off the back of her chair. “We need to get her to the hospital. Now.”
    Ronny’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. “Right. Um, should I take her? Or, I mean, do you have a car?”
    “It hurts!” Olivia sobbed.
    Were those real tears streaming down her face? Wow, she really was an amazing actress.
    “Come on,” Kitty said, putting an arm around Olivia. “I’ll take you.”
    Kitty took one last glance over her shoulder as she escorted a groaning Olivia out of the café. The rest of the patrons had returned to their conversations, but three heads were turned in their direction. Barbara Ann’s stare was hard; Ronny’s, dumbfounded. And in the back of the café, Theo Baranski gazed at her, eyes wide, watching their retreat.
     
    “How much longer?” Margot asked. Bree could picture her, manically checking the clock every thirty seconds, paranoid that they were behind schedule.
    “Two minutes.”
    “Finally,” Margot said sharply.
    “Not my fault his ancient laptop was so slow. Freaking PCs.”
    A soft chime echoed through Bree’s earpiece. “Kitty just texted,” Margot said. “She and Olivia left Ronny at the Coffee Clash. His drive time is approximately sixteen minutes in rush hour traffic.”
    “Then I’ll be out of here in five.”
    Bree stared at the download progress bar, which kept changing its mind as to how much time was left. It taunted her, jumping from thirty seconds, to sixty, to ninety, then back to thirty. Come on . Her fingers tapped impatiently against Ronny’s desk as she glared at the screen, mentally threatening it with physical harm if it didn’t hurry up and finish.
    “Cut it out,” Margot said, her voice edgy. She was losing her cool.
    “Cut