Eight
Clarity ran into the bathroom and saw Miss Tik walk by with Ms. Avenworth side by side. She checked the schedule of classes and stayed in the restroom for an hour. Five minutes before the end of the class, she opened the locker next to the one used by Miss Tik and got inside sideways. The place was uncomfortable but deep enough to hide her. Ten minutes later, she overheard the voice of Ms. Avenworth and Miss Tik.
“Any news, these police officers are useless frankly.”
“Cactus is still looking for the formula around town, he checked with Juarez yesterday and the girl is in jail now, she doesn´t have the formula, but we need to know a bit about it more for our search to be effective. Who wants this formula exactly?” Clarity felt the weight of Miss Tik push against the locker.
“I can´t tell you that, it´s confidential. But you keep searching, and I´ll pay you well if you find it.”
“How much?”
“A lot, but I need to see it first.”
Clarity heard Ms. Avenworth step away from the head of administration. She stayed still for a few minutes and heard the sound of Miss Tik changing beside her. Clarity heard the beep of a cell phone and Miss Tik whisper.
“Oye? sí, guarda la fórmula, la mujer no quiere pagar...tenemos que averiguar a quién quiere venderla...qué? las chicas han escapado, gracias...hasta luego Cactus.”
Clarity understood enough Spanish to know the woman was talking to Cactus, telling him to keep the formula and that they had to find out who was the final buyer of it. They also knew that she and Lanai had escaped from jail. Keep the formula. Miss Tik had the formula. Clarity heard the head of administration step away and pushed the locker open a few minutes later. She lowered her head to read the Center´s pamphlet and exited the Center, finding her friends standing beside a nearby tree.
“If Miss Tik told Cactus to keep the formula, it means, they have it, they stole the formula and set you up,” said Lanai.
“Exactly,” said Clarity, “Cactus had a key of all safety boxes on the ship and he put Ms. Avenworth´s money in mine. I think that they wanted a good alibi and police off their back, and now they´re trying to gauge how much the formula is worth to Ms. Avenworth to sell it to her.”
“Who could possibly want to pay for the formula of a simple cocktail?” said LT.
“A soft drink company,” said Clarity, “don´t forget Ms. Avenworth is a super taster, she must have some kind of ability to come up with new drinks which can be turned into commercial products.”
“We need to find that formula and return it to Ms. Avenworth to prove our innocence,” said Lanai.
“Yes,” said Clarity, “and ensure we don’t get caught by Juarez.”
They started walking towards the strip, when Lanai pushed Clarity and LT into a narrow side street.
“Police car,” said Lanai.
Hiding in line behind a water pipe made of cement, they watched a grey police car roll by slowly and recognized the moustache of Juarez in the passenger seat. The car was headed for the Yoga Center and Clarity saw three men step out of the car and enter the gym, while Juarez stood against the car smoking a cigarette.
“They´re looking for us, they probably went to the Fiesta Americana to find Ms. Avenworth and alert her of our escape,” said Lanai.
“Let´s get out through the other end of the street, and find a place to eat” said Clarity, “I´m starting to be hungry.”
After lunch, LT found a small shop selling running shoes and to make some money, offered the shop owner, an old man who also repaired and brushed leather shoes, to help sell the items to tourists.
Around seven in the evening, the owner paid them and Clarity counted the money.
“Seventy three pesos,” she said, “I hope it´s enough for dinner.”
“It´s enough for a taxi,” said LT, “let´s go to my friend´s place for dinner, his name is Trecker Adams, he works in one of the busiest and most popular bars here, Señor Frog´s, on Carretera Escénica.”
“What does he do there?”
“He´s a prankster,” said LT.