Right from the Gecko by Cynthia Baxter Page B

said, “I think you’ll have a better idea of what I’m talking about after you’ve met Holly. It’s just that…it wasn’t really a good look for her.”
    â€œOkay,” I said, trying to reserve judgment.
    â€œThen there were the clothes. Again, it was the same kind of thing.”
    â€œThe same how?”
    â€œHolly started imitating Marnie. Marnie dressed kind of crazy sometimes. And she could carry it off, since she weighed about a hundred pounds and she had this pixie thing going for her. She’d show up in one of those short flouncy skirts, or maybe one of those little sweaters—shrugs, I think they’re called—and she’d look great. But then, a few days later, Holly would show up in the same style garment.”
    â€œThey say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” I remarked.
    Karen shook her head. “I think it was more than that. It was almost like Holly wanted to
be
Marnie. And there were other things besides the clothes. Like she’d order whatever Marnie was having for lunch. And she started using the same expressions Marnie used. And then she began keeping track of wherever Marnie went and who she went with.”
    Maybe Holly was just lonely, I thought. But the fact that her behavior had made Karen so uncomfortable made me wonder if it could be explained away so easily.
    â€œOf course,” she continued, “that was only up until a few months ago, when Marnie won that award. As soon as that happened, everything changed.”
    â€œChanged how?” I asked.
    Karen stuck her hand into her pants pocket and began jiggling the box of Altoids. I didn’t think she was even aware of what she was doing. “Holly got kind of…mean. It was clear she’d idolized Marnie, but Holly was also a very competitive person. She was sure she was going to get that award, and she wasn’t at all happy about the fact that Marnie won it.”
    â€œHow do you know Holly thought she’d get it?”
    â€œI overheard her talking to someone on her cell phone about it right before they announced the winners,” she replied. “I couldn’t tell who it was. Her mother, maybe. But she sounded all excited about it, as if she was sure she was a shoo-in. See, she’d just done a big article on a new plant Hawaii Power and Light was trying to build. It never happened, since there was such a strong public outcry. But she’d done a great job of covering the story. Even Mr. Carrera thought so.”
    â€œBut then Marnie won the award instead.”
    â€œExactly. And after that, everything was different. It was like Holly froze Marnie out completely. She wouldn’t even talk to her unless she absolutely had to. You know, about job-related things. But it wasn’t just Marnie. She began acting oddly toward all of us. She became…withdrawn. Sulking all the time, not saying much, that kind of thing.”
    With a shrug, she added, “And then, a few weeks later, Holly just upped and quit. Completely out of the blue. I sure didn’t see it coming. I don’t think any of us did.”
    Glancing back at the building, Karen said, “I should get back. The phone’s probably been ringing off the hook. Mr. Carrera will have a fit.”
    â€œThank you, Karen. For filling me in, I mean.”
    She grimaced. “Well, if you were going to go looking for Holly, I figured you should know that Marnie wasn’t exactly at the top of her A-list. At least, not anymore.”

    Once the cardboard box was settled beside me on the front seat of the Jeep, I checked the Post-it Karen had handed me, the one with Holly Gruen’s cell phone number. When I’d first gotten it, I couldn’t wait to call her. Now, after what I’d learned, I felt as if I was treading in dangerous waters.
    Yet there was no way I could walk away. Not when I hadn’t learned anything that convinced me I wasn’t in the