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Ling’s mouth just seconds after Lexi had found that newspaper article. And as they reached the top landing, something else was bugging her. In the time it took to climb six flights, Kim Ling had exhibited a freaky ability for remembering cat names, a semi-knowledge of opera, plus conversational foreign language skills. Lexi wondered if she was one of those scary-smart kids with a brain the size of Utah.
    â€œOkay, listen up—I’m gonna need you guys to keep low to the ground,” Kim Ling said with the authority of a police academy field-training officer. “We’re exiting onto the roof past a burglar alarm with extremely sensitive sensors.”
    â€œBut there’s no electricity,” Kevin reminded her.
    â€œBattery backup. And we
do not
want to set it off under any circumstances. Got it? Good. Now just do what I do.”
    She ducked down and carefully scooted across the floor sideways like a Dungeness crab, then slowly slid flat-backed up the heavy metal door with her face in sharp profile.
    Is she kidding with this?
Lexi wondered if a breeze was worth such a crazy maneuver. She took a deep breath and an even deeper plié and, thanks to having two years of ballet under her belt, wound up safely next to Kim Ling—in fifth position. She turned to see how Kevin was doing when—
RIIIIIIIIIING
—the bone-rattling alarm went off. Kevin and rocky road were flying through the air.
    â€œGreat!” Kim Ling barked. “I said, ‘do not under any circumstances set off the alarm,’ and he freakin’ sets off the alarm.”
    â€œSorry.”.
    â€œIt was an accident.” Lexi grabbed her brother and led him onto the roof deck away from the deafening noise—and Kim Ling.
    A few seconds later, the alarm stopped screaming and Kim Ling tore out of the building and hurled the rocky road into a trash can where Kevin was standing. “Snaggit! You are such a little klutz.”
    Lexi’s face went hot. “Listen, he said he was sorry, didn’t he? No need for name-calling. And why do you keep saying ‘snaggit’ anyway? That’s not even a word.”
    Kim Ling looked at her with the eyes of a girl who had surprisingly met her match. “Blame my parents,” she said in a normal conversational tone. “They charge me fifty cents every time they hear me swear. I had to start making up my own PG-rated curse words—either that or take out a loan.”
    Lexi willed what could have been a smile into a scowl and sauntered over to the edge of the roof. “Kev, come here. You can totally see the river and clear into—I don’t know where.”
    â€œNew Jersey,” Kim Ling offered. “The armpit state.”
    Eventually all three wound up leaning on the low wall that trimmed the rooftop, staring in silence at the pinkish submarine-shaped clouds floating in neat rows across thesky. Lexi could feel her tension melting away along with the French vanilla as she handed the pint to Kevin. Finally, that cool breeze they had been looking for wafted up from the Hudson River and kissed their faces.
    â€œIt’s nice on the roof, isn’t it?” Kim Ling said dreamily. “Pots of hydrangeas, patio furniture … since we installed the alarm, hardly anyone ventures up here anymore. Well, except three-R. She likes to sunbathe without a top.”
    â€œReally?” Kevin asked.
    â€œStick your tongue back in your mouth. She’s, like, seventy.”
    Everyone laughed out loud—even Lexi. But she quickly snuffed out any glint of joy with tightly folded arms. “You sure seem to have your nose in everyone’s business.”
    â€œI’m going to be an investigative journalist. Nosy will come in handy,” was Kim Ling’s oddball response. “Sorry I tore your head off, Kevin. I get like that sometimes.”
    â€œThat’s okay. Want some ice cream?” he asked her as his face turned three