“You know, the kids who waste their time celebrating they made it into the State Finals of the Solve-a-Thon never make it to Nationals,” Jeanine said.

“I think Tris can celebrate a little,” Josh called from the bathroom. “Besides, tomorrow is Fourth of July. He’s off.”

Jeanine sat at the table and began putting on her shoes.

“Hey, Jeanine?” I sat down next to her. “Did you ever hear Mom talk about why she and Walter left that place they used to work at with Chef JJ?”

“No, why?”

I told her what Keya had seen.

“She did what?” Jeanine was on her feet, one shoe on, the other still off. “We need to call someone! We need to file a complaint. Should we call the police?”

Josh opened the bathroom door. “What happened?”

I started to tell him, but Jeanine jumped in and finished for me. She was in hurricane mode.

“She can’t do that!” Josh looked almost as whipped up as Jeanine.

“I think she can,” I said.

“You know what we need to do.” Jeanine was pacing now.

“What?” I said.

“We need to find out what really happened between Mom and Chef JJ.”

“I think if Mom was going to tell us, she would have by now. I kind of get the feeling she might not even really know.”

“And it’s not as if you can ask Chef JJ,” Josh said.

“We can figure this out,” Jeanine said.

“Oh, really, how?” I said. “Go back in time? Not even you’ve cracked time travel yet.”

Jeanine gave me a dirty look. “It’s called research? Give me your phone.”

“Why?”

“Just give it to me,” she snapped.

I handed her the phone.

“What was the name of the restaurant Mom and Walter worked at with Chef JJ?” She tapped away at the screen.

“It was something Spanish. El something.”

“Chef JJ Jordan restaurants,” she said slowly as she typed. “Okay… The Parsonage, Wheat and Chaff, El Mariachi, Port—”

“El Mariachi. It was definitely El Mariachi.”

“El Mariachi, 3 Columbus Circle,” she read.

“Okay, so?”

Jeanine rolled her eyes. “Ever heard of field research?”

“Like when you collected animal poop and put it in the freezer?”

“It’s called scat.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Just think of it as a field trip,” she said.

“To El Mariachi?” I asked.

“Exactly.”

“Without the scat though, right?” Josh said.

“Without the scat,” she said.

“Okay, then I’m in,” he said.

“Me too.” Whatever this was, I was pretty sure it was a horrible idea, but it was a horrible idea that would keep me from thinking about the horrible thing I’d done, and right then, that was all I needed to know.

Chapter 20

I had to hand it to Jeanine. The carousel was the perfect cover.

From the second we’d gotten to the city, Zoe had been begging to go to the merry-go-round, but it was a long walk through Central Park, and my parents were refusing to go until the weather broke. Since the night at Nom Wah, the city had been on a slow roast. Heat shimmered up from the sidewalk, and tar patches along the streets stuck to the bottom of your shoes. The weather was showing no signs of breaking, and neither were my parents.