"Dawn!" Everyone exclaimed in unison.
"Oh...hi!" Dawn forced a big smile and tried to play it cool, but inside she was panicking.
"What are you doing here?" Mary Anne dove in for a hug. "You didn't tell me you were coming!"
"Yeah..." Dawn hugged her step-sister back weakly. "I just got in."
"When?" Mary Anne pressed.
Dawn shrugged, "Just...earlier..."
"Earlier today?" Mary Anne badgered.
"So, um, what's going on?" Dawn blatantly ignored Mary Anne. "Why are you guys running down the street?"
"Somebody was stalking us," Kristy explained, continuing to look around like a manic chicken. "We think it might be Mike Pike – and that he could lead us to Evie Newton."
Dawn frowned, "The Newtons have been all over the news. The interview they did last night on channel five was just heartbreaking!"
"Channel five? Last night?" Claudia clarified. "I thought you said you just got into town today!"
"Let's discuss the semantics later," Kristy urged, highly agitated. "We have to go after Mike...or whoever it was that was spying on us!"
Claudia, Stacey and Mary Anne followed blindly as Kristy sprinted off toward the park. Dawn stood behind, watching them go.
They can't find out my secret, Dawn insisted to herself. They just can't.
The OG BSC charged into the park.
"Claudia and I will go this way!" Kristy commanded, pointing to the left. "Stacey and Mary Anne, go to the right!"
Stacey and Mary Anne made their way toward the fountain...the dog park...a group of picnic tables full of families. No one looked or acted suspicious at all.
"Maybe Claudia was wrong," Stacey suggested. "Maybe there really wasn't anyone looking in the window at us."
"Maybe," Mary Anne admitted, "But...honestly...I swear there have been times when I've caught something out of the corner of my eye."
"Like, a person?" Stacey asked.
Mary Anne nodded, "With a hood. Just like Claudia described."
"No way!" Stacey scoffed. "That is beyond creepy!"
"And the other day, when I was babysitting with Charlotte at the Newton's house and heard that baby crying, I saw someone running away wearing a hoodie." Mary Anne recalled. "They were kind of far away by the time I saw them, but...they definitely had on dark colors and a hood. Just like Claudia described."
"We need to call Officer Bilson right away," Stacey insisted. "Let's go back and see if Kristy and Claudia found anything."
Meanwhile, Kristy and Claudia were scouring the large playground on the west end of the park. It was covered with kids, but no shady stalkers in a hoodie.
"He got away," Kristy muttered, punching the side of the large, plastic play structure. "Damn it!"
"You should save that for your little sister," a bitter voice piped up.
Kristy and Claudia turned to see Becca Ramsey pushing her little brother Squirt on the swings.
"Did she just suggest that you punch Karen?" Claudia asked.
"It certainly sounded like it," Kristy mused.
Claudia shrugged, "Well, I'm sure she's not the first."
"And she sure won't be the last," Kristy added.
They walked closer to Becca.
"Is everything okay?" Claudia asked.
"Not really," Becca seemed to tense up even more. "I just quit the BSC."
"Really? Why?"
"Karen is completely over the top," Becca vented. "She called an emergency meeting to discuss how to get more business. I mean, a child is missing. How can we be concerned about a stupid baby-sitting club?"
"Yeah," Kristy commiserated, "Karen can definitely be way too intense sometimes."
"It's a family trait," Claudia added.
Kristy shot her a dirty look.
"I just can't care about baby-sitting right now," Becca went on, "I mean, it's bad. The Newtons are devastated. I heard Jamie won't even come out of his room at all."
"We're going to find Evie," Kristy insisted.
"I hope you do," Becca glared for a moment and then looked off into the distance. "And I hope one day Karen Brewer learns her lesson and finds out that the world doesn't revolve around her."
At that very moment, across town, a cold chill went up Karen Brewer's spine. Maybe it was Becca Ramsey's angry prophecy...or maybe it was the fact that she was standing two feet from the granddaughter of a witch.
Druscilla Porter held her head high as Karen looked her over disapprovingly.
"So, you want to be a member of the Babysitters Club?" Karen scoffed. "What are your qualifications, Druscilla?"
"I like to baby-sit," Druscilla stated simply. "And call me Dru."
"Okay, Dru," Karen said pointedly. "What makes you a good babysitter?"
"Seriously Karen?" Dru sighed, "I gave you all of that info when I applied the first time."
"Fine." Karen relented. "You want the job and we need a babysitter. So, we'll see how it goes."
"Okay," Dru agreed, unaffected by Karen's harshness.
"Our number one priority is to make parents feel like they can trust us to keep their children safe," Karen went on. "So we are doing a temporary outreach kind of thing...For every job, we are assigned a member of the original BSC as a contact person. That way if you get scared or anything weird happens or whatever, you can call them."
"Yeah...that makes sense," Dru said slowly.
"So, you might be paired up with Mary Anne from time to time," Karen told her, "Would that be awkward for you?"
Dru considered the question. Three years ago, she had found out that Mary Anne Spier was not just a nice, quiet babysitter...she was actually the long lost daughter Dru's grandmother had given up. So Mary Anne was Dru's aunt. But they didn't talk or spend any time together or anything. Apparently Mary Anne was still processing things, whatever that meant. The whole situation was very strange and very uncomfortable.
"Because if it's a problem for you, it's a problem for us," Karen lectured. "We don't want drama."
"It's not a problem for me at all." Dru replied, unwilling to jeopardize her new position.
All that mattered was that she was finally right where she wanted to be – in the Babysitters Club.
As night fell over Stoneybrook, the original BSC left the Stoneybrook Police Department after meeting with Officer Bilson about the hooded stalker, and went their seperate ways.
Claudia curled up in her old bed, in her old room. It had been such a strange day. From the lows of searching for Evie and being stalked by a hooded figure to the highs of whatever was happening with Officer Bilson, Claudia had emotional whiplash. Of course, Claudia knew the perfect antidote to such a day. She pulled a pack of Twizzlers from her pillow case and curled up with a favorite old Nancy Drew book.
Stacey saw the light in Claudia's room as she drove by. She thought about stopping by, maybe having a sleepover for old times sake. But she didn't. She just kept on driving, listening to the radio and letting the rhythm of the road lull her, distracting her from her thoughts and many troubles. Stacey had hoped being back in Stoneybrook would put things in perspective for her, but it only made her more confused. It reminded her of who she used to be. Who she was before all of the bad decisions and unfix-able mistakes. But was Stoneybrook Stacey the real Stacey? No. Part of her felt like she never really belonged in Stoneybrook. She had always thought her heart was in New York City...but...that never felt quite right either. At that moment, Stacey was more sure than ever that she honestly didn't know who she really was or where she belonged. And she truly didn't know if she would ever find out.
Mary Anne and Alec went back to Alec's hotel room. With all of the terrible things going on, Mary Anne was so grateful Alec was there for her. She didn't want to be back in Stoneybrook. It was a life she had tried to leave far behind. But...here she was, pulled back in. But having Alec there made it slightly less traumatic. She felt so safe and so loved with Alec. And he had a way of making her feel so hopeful that everything would turn out okay. At this point, that hope was all she had. And it was worth holding on to as tightly as she could.
In a motel on the less upscale side of town, Dawn sat on the edge of the bed. How did she end up here? How had her life ended up this way? She had run off to California for the hundredth time, this time going to USC in hopes of becoming a dietitian. But...that hadn't worked out...and she had resorted to some things she wasn't proud of. Was she going to be able to continue to keep her secret? Or was she about to be found out?
And finally, at the Brewer mansion, Kristy prepared for another sleepless night. It was hard to stop her mind from racing – worrying about Evie, going over clues and theories, and now, wondering what was going on with her boyfriend.
She hadn't heard from him in two days.
In their last conversation, via text, she had informed him that she would be staying in Stoneybrook for awhile. Actually, she had used the word 'indefinitely'. He said that he understood and wished her luck, but she suspected he wasn't happy with the news. It was hard to tell through a text. But she was pretty certain he was disappointed, and rightfully so. They'd had plans to spend the summer together. Their upcoming vacation to the Bahamas clearly wasn't happening now. And it was a bummer, but Kristy knew she was doing the right thing. Right then Stoneybrook was where she needed to be.
As she had probably a dozen times already that day, she dialed his number and listened as it went straight to voicemail. She hung up, knowing she had nothing left to say.
I've lost Dax, Kristy lamented, her heart hurting at the thought.
And then, suddenly, her phone rang and her heart nearly sprang from her chest as she fumbled to answer, knowing it would be Dax calling back – finally.
"Hello?" Kristy answered, heart sinking as she realized that the number on the screen was a Stoneybrook area code.
"Kristy?" a small voice asked.
"Vanessa?" It was Vanessa Pike calling.
"They got him, Kristy!" Vanessa said. "The police got Mike!"
