J.M.J.

Waiting

Ned—Secrets Can Kill (remastered)

2010

"Ed?"

No one in the coffee shop moved to claim the steaming cup that had just been set on the counter for several seconds. Then Ned Nickerson realized that it must be his order. The barista had gotten his name wrong, again. At least it was closer than it had been last time. "Nick" maybe wasn't too far off from his last name, but his visceral reaction to it had been to cringe. He went up and claimed the cup, stuffing an extra dollar in the tip jar.

Then he went to sit in the second booth from the far wall. He liked the corner booth better, but it was occupied. It didn't really matter. He wasn't about to make a big deal just because he couldn't sit in his usual place.

Once he had sat down, he unzipped his backpack and started spreading his things out on the table for a study session. Studying in a coffee shop wasn't exactly his first choice for how to spend a Saturday afternoon, but it would have to do until Nancy came home from her case. Ned opened his laptop and typed in the password to unlock it. While he was waiting for it to fully wake up and connect to the WiFi, he pulled out several books and notebooks and considered which to start with. He had a paper due next Friday in his 19th century literature class, but it was only a five-to-six-page paper and he had already started on it. There was plenty of time to finish it before the due date. On the other hand, he had a calculus test on Tuesday and they had covered a few concepts in this section that he wasn't too confident about. He probably should study calculus, but he knew that if he got started on that, his brain would be too fried to get anything else done. He looked over his other books. He hadn't bothered bringing his engineering textbook or notes. There were no tests coming up in that; just a few homework problems due Monday that he had already finished up last night. He had some reading to do for his mythologies class, which definitely sounded the most fun, but he knew enough about self-discipline that he would enjoy it most if he got his other work done first. Anyway, it was only about fifteen pages and it wasn't due until Tuesday, after the calculus test. He would have enough time to read it then, after the ordeal was over. Finally, he decided he would start with his fifth and final class, German 103, before moving onto calculus. The paper and the reading could wait a little longer.

Ned opened his notebook from his German class and started reviewing the lesson from the most recent class. Before he could quite get his mind to settle down to studying, he grinned a little ruefully. Maybe it was just as well that Nancy was in Florida. If he could spend the day with her, he wouldn't be getting any studying done. He allowed himself a few more seconds to picture her face and her voice and then breathed a small sigh and settled down to studying.

At least, that was what he meant to do. He had hardly been at it five minutes when he felt someone walk up to him. He looked up to see a girl who was in his German class. He was pretty sure her name was Madison, but he had no idea of her last name. She gave him a flirty smile.

"Fancy meeting you here, Nick," she said.

"It's one of the campus coffee shops," Ned pointed out in a stiff tone. "And it's Ned."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know anyone still went by Ned." From the look on Madison's face, she clearly didn't realize until that moment that she would have done better not to say anything. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just…old=fashioned."

"There's nothing wrong with being old-fashioned."

"Oh, of course not. I adore old-fashioned things," Madison professed.

"Yeah, so does my girlfriend," Ned replied.

Madison's face fell. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend. I've always seen you alone."

Ned ignored the comment. "If you don't mind, Madison, I've got to get back to studying."

"Are you studying German?" Madison asked, noting the book he was holding. "Would you help me out with it? I'm so lost with all those declensions. To be perfectly honest, I don't totally understand what a declension even is."

Ned tried to think of a diplomatic way to turn her request down. If she really did just want to study, he wouldn't have minded studying with her. Foreign languages were definitely a lot easier with a study partner. However, Madison seemed like she had more nefarious purposes than merely studying.

"You know, actually, I was just thinking. I've got a calculus test coming up and I really should be studying for that. You don't know anything about calculus, do you?"

"Calculus? Yuck. Why are you taking a class like that?"

Ned shrugged. "It's a required course for my major."

Madison took in the array of books on the table: German language, calculus, an anthology of 19th century literature, and a book of Norse myths. "What exactly is your major?"

"I'm dual-majoring. English and engineering."

"Aren't you going to be in school for, like, ever trying to do both of those? I can't imagine very many classes overlap."

Ned chuckled. "I'm probably going to drop one of them, or at least switch to an associate's instead of a bachelor's. I just wanted to give them both a try before I decided what I wanted to do."

"And you still manage to have time for a girlfriend?" Madison asked skeptically. "Or maybe you don't, considering she never seems to be around."

Ned bristled. "She doesn't live in Emerson."

"Ah, I see. A long-distance girlfriend." Madison nodded knowingly, as if that made some kind of difference.

"Not really," Ned insisted. "She only lives a couple of hours away."

"Then she should come and visit once in a while."

"How do you know she doesn't?" Ned countered.

"I've never seen her," Madison insisted. She chuckled good-naturedly, although it was evident that she felt a sting beneath her feigned levity. "I know a brush-off when I see one."

"She keeps busy," Ned replied, but he immediately wished he would have just dropped it instead. Maybe Madison would have just gone away.

"Does she? I would think she could at least make time for her boyfriend." Madison shook her head. "I'd never settle for someone that I wasn't his number one. It's not fair of her to expect that of you."

"Fascinating, but if I want relationship advice, I'll write to one of those advice columns."

"You really are old-fashioned. That's so cute. We should get together sometime."

Ned glanced down at his book and then back up at Madison. "Like you said, I really am old-fashioned, and one girl is enough for me."

"But you don't have any girl right now. She's too busy, remember?"

Ned thought about the murder case Nancy was working on right now in Florida. "Only with important things. I can wait for her to get back."

"But is she waiting to get home to you? When a girl says she's busy and doesn't say what she's so busy doing, that usually means she's seeing someone else."

"I'm going to give women in general the benefit of the doubt on that one, but it really isn't relevant in this case. I know what she's doing. I know she finds much better uses for her time than bothering someone who isn't interested."

Madison huffed in indignation. "Well, I certainly hope she's worth the wait."

She walked off, trying to act nonchalant for the sake of her dignity.

Ned tried to go back to studying, but the conversation seemed to crowd out any ability to read through the German lesson, let alone work on calculus. Ned knew he could trust Nancy, but that didn't mean it was easy having her away so much of the time. He wondered what exactly she was doing. It was a murder case, after all, and that could be dangerous. She had been called in by a police detective who wanted her to go undercover at the scene of the crime: a high school. Obviously, none of the officers would be able to do that without calling attention to themselves, but Nancy was young enough to pose as a transfer student without raising eyebrows. Still, there was something about the situation that Ned didn't like. Maybe it was just that the culprit in this case had already proven that he or she was willing to kill to get their way, and their first victim had been another student.

Ned tried to shake the concerns off. Nancy should have been calling sometime soon, and she would need encouragement, not hearing about Ned's vague feeling that there was something not right with a murderer running around on the loose. It didn't take a detective to figure out what was wrong there. Ned idly turned the page of his book as he thought of something light and humorous he could say to Nancy.

Then an idea came to him. Nancy was undercover, so Ned would tease her by adopting an undercover persona of his own when she called. A German persona, naturally, he decided. That would even give him a chance to practice a little of his German. Now to decide what to say…

While he was deciding, Madison's parting shot came back to him. I certainly hope she's worth the wait.

"She is, Madison," he said softly as he started skimming through his textbook for possible German names. "She definitely is."