Free The Case of the Missing Mascot (A Sherlock Shakespeare Mystery Book 1) by Sydney Katt Page A

couldn't bring myself to connect the call. What could I really say to him at this point? Until I knew whether I wanted to stay in this relationship or not, it didn't make sense to talk to him. All that would accomplish was letting him manipulate me into feeling a certain way or fighting with him again. I didn't want either. I didn't need to hear his voice until I knew my own mind.
    Easier said than done, really. Watson and Jamie had made good points, in their own ways. Tom had never been a contender for Boyfriend of the Year based on his treatment of me. He'd always been a distraction from my schoolwork. If I needed to study for a test and he wanted to go to a party, we'd always gone to the party. Anything I wanted or needed came in a distant second to his whims.
    Sure, there'd been some good times. When Tom wanted to turn on the charm, he could make even me feel like the most beautiful and special girl in the school. I'd probably even had some fun at the parties and sporting events he'd made me go to. Of course, it wasn't like he was around anymore. With the distance factored in, those good times would be fewer and further between than they used to be.
    But I couldn't just leave him hanging after that text either. He'd be able to see that I'd read the message. I had to respond, whether I wanted to or not.
    I sat in my room trying to compose an appropriate response until my stomach started grumbling so loudly that I could no longer ignore the fact that I hadn't eaten since lunch. I typed out a hasty message to let him know that I'd meet him before the football game and we could talk then. That would buy me nearly seventy-two hours to figure out whether what we had was worth fighting for.
    And without any more interruptions from Tom, that would give me seventy-two hours to figure out where Irene had stashed Champers before his absence ruined the Homecoming halftime performance.

CHAPTER TWELVE

    Wednesday was a slightly less chaotic day as everyone began coming to grips with the loss of Champers. Students were still noticeably upset, but the teachers were a little more professional than they'd been the day before. Actual teaching happened, which was probably a good thing since there were tests on the schedule for next week in most of my classes.
    No more Jamie freak-outs either. Actually, I hadn't seen her all day. When she failed to show up for the class we had together, I tried to call her, but had to leave a message. After the frenzy she'd worked herself up into last night, it wouldn't surprise me if she'd made herself sick over this whole law school thing.
    It was a little weird walking by the ruins of the convenience store before and after school. The fire was out, but the smell of burnt wood and sour milk still clung faintly to the air. There was something else, too, but I couldn't quite place it. Maybe one of the stoners had left their stash to go up in the blaze.
    I'd made good time on the walk from the school to Main Street, so I decided to stop into the cafe for a juice pick-me-up before I started work at the bookstore. I unlocked the bookstore so that I could dump my stuff off behind the counter and then walked half a block down to the cafe. Irene, as usual, was friendly to me as she took my order, but she kept glancing off behind me and muttering to herself about something I couldn't quite make out. That was strange even for her. Maybe the stress of keeping the mascot hostage was starting to get to her.
    Before she could start my juice, a timer went off in the kitchen and she disappeared from sight through the opening. It was still early, so there was only one table of high schoolers and they weren't paying any attention to me. Since I was basically invisible at this point, it was the perfect time to snoop.
    When the renovations were nearly complete on the cafe, Irene had showed me and Drew around. Other than the main dining area and the restrooms, there were two other areas: the kitchen she'd just disappeared into