The Child Thief 6: Zero Hour

by Forrest, Bella

  Corona reached over to stroke Aurora’s hair lovingly.

  I was touched by the family dynamic that the three of them shared. It gave me hope for my future relationship with my own daughter and Jace.

  And Henry. The thought spurred a question in me.

  “Nathan,” I asked, changing the subject. “I noticed that this wasn’t a . . . full meeting.”

  I wasn’t sure how else to phrase what I was trying to ask. I didn’t want to accuse Nathan of keeping any one person—or possibly two people—out of the meeting if perhaps there was another reason at play.

  Nathan stared back at me for a while, seeming to think about my question deeply. “Everyone I feel I can trust is here,” he replied darkly.

  So it was true. Nathan hadn’t invited everyone, and he had made that choice for a specific reason. But what was that reason? Did Nathan have definitive proof of something?

  Or had my possibly baseless accusations against Robert barred him from mission work?

  “Stay by your phone, Robin,” Nathan continued. “You and your team will be back here today.”

  Then Nathan, Corona, and Aurora turned and began to head into the administrative building, but not before Aurora could turn and cast me a sympathetic and understanding look. And then they were all inside, and Team Hood was left on the porch alone.

  “Corona’s daughter?” Gabby repeated incredulously.

  “No wonder Nathan was so intent on risking it all to get her back,” Nelson replied.

  I couldn’t think about those things right now. I had something else I needed to attend to. I turned and walked purposefully away from the administrative building.

  “Robin!” Jace called after me.

  “There’s just something I have to do,” I called back over my shoulder.

  I was set in the decision I had made, so I didn’t turn around. I quickly made my way back to the camps and to the section of the tents where I knew the mechanics were staying.

  I recognized a few faces as I walked up, but I didn’t see Henry. And before I could ask, Silver had spotted me.

  “What do you want?” she asked roughly.

  I turned to look at her. I kept eye contact, holding her gaze for a moment before I spoke. I wanted her to know that she didn’t intimidate me, if that was what she was trying to do.

  “Where’s Henry?” I demanded.

  She paused before answering, as if she was sizing me up. Then she walked to a specific tent, and I followed. She turned back to me and cocked her head toward it. I placed my hand on the hanging flap of the tent to open it, but Silver spoke again before I could go in.

  “He’s had a rough time of it,” Silver said. “Including among his own team.”

  I winced. Was Silver the only friend that Henry had left? He must’ve been feeling so alone. Silver went on.

  “So be nice. Any bad news you might have to share can wait.”

  Then she turned and walked away from me. I watched her for a moment. Maybe she wasn’t trying to intimidate me like I had thought. Maybe she was just looking out for her friend, knowing that he was being ostracized.

  I turned back to the tent and, before I opened the flap, cleared my throat and announced myself.

  “Henry?” I cautiously began. “It’s Robin.”

  There was no response or sound from inside. Perhaps he was sleeping.

  “Can I come in?” I tried again.

  Still no answer. I was starting to wonder if maybe I should try again later when a voice sounded from inside.

  “Okay,” Henry replied simply.

  I pulled back the flap of the tent, ducked my head, and stepped inside.

  Henry was lying in his sleeping bag facing away from me when I entered. He didn’t turn to greet me. I hovered momentarily over him, feeling uncomfortable and cramped, until I decided to sit cross-legged beside him.

  “Henry,” I ventured again.

  This time he turned to face me. “Hey, Robin,” he said flatly.

  He looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot, like he had either been crying or hadn’t slept in some time. Dark, puffy skin under his eyes gave me the impression that it was the latter. His skin was sunken and sallow, and his cheekbones were prominent, as if he had lost some weight.

  “Henry,” I repeated, more sympathetically. “You look awful.”

  “Do I also look like a traitor?” Henry spat out, his voice rising. “Because everyone else here seems to think so.”

  I paused, taken aback by his outburst. “Has Nathan talked to you?” I asked.

  “No one has talked to me,” Henry replied. “In days.”

  My heart sank as I considered what he was saying. So Nathan hadn’t even interrogated Henry. He was just being ignored and excluded. How could that be fair or just?

  Henry suddenly sat up.

  “Leave with me,” he said, looking more alive than he had since I had entered his tent.

  “What?” I asked in confusion.

  “Let’s leave this place,” he said. “Together. There’s nothing here for us anymore. Hope isn’t here, and we’re no closer to getting her back. Let’s go. Let’s leave and go get our daughter.”

  I sighed. I had hoped that we were done with this conversation, but I also had to expect it after Henry’s rough days spent in Brightbirch.

  “You know I can’t do that, Henry,” I replied.

  He looked down and was quiet.

  “Let’s go talk to Nathan together,” I said. “I want you to work with us on our missions. You just need to give Nathan your alibi, and I’m sure it will be okay.”

  “I knew you wouldn’t come with me,” Henry said, turning away from me.

  “I’m not talking about leaving. I’ve already answered you about that,” I shot back, feeling myself getting frustrated. “I want you to come with me to talk to Nathan. Surely there’s something we can do.”

  “There’s nothing you can do,” Henry replied.

  I wasn’t getting anywhere. I remembered how stubborn Henry had always been. It would’ve been a nightmare if we had somehow wound up together in the end. Henry and I were both unrelenting in our wants and convictions. With Jace, I had a voice of reason and compromise instead of an obstinate wall.

  But this wasn’t about Jace or even about the love Henry and I had once shared. It was about talking to Nathan and getting him to see that Henry was innocent.

  I hadn’t been the friend to Henry that I should’ve been. I had been going back and forth between having faith in him and doubting his intentions. But I didn’t want to give up on him, especially not after seeing the condition he was in.

  Besides, we still had to find our daughter.

  I tried again. “If we could just talk to Nathan, we could fix this. If you could just explain to Nathan where you were and what you were doing, and if you have anyone who can corroborate that, then it’ll make it better.”

  “You don’t understand, Robin,” Henry said.

  “Then make me understand!” I yelled in exasperation. I didn’t want to play these word games with Henry. I was trying to help him.

  Henry turned and angrily looked at me. “Okay, Robin,” he said venomously, “how does this sound? I’m innocent because I was in the surveillance room at the time of the attack, right next to the projection controls?”

  I felt my blood turn cold.

  “You lied to me,” I said. “You told me—”

  “I know what I told you, Robin,” Henry cut me off. “I did it because I didn’t need anyone else thinking I was guilty. Didn’t work very well, did it?”

  “Does Nathan know?” I asked.

  “He didn’t,” Henry replied. “Until he started digging. Now I’m the number one suspect, I assume.”

  I thought of Robert. There were at least two suspects in Nathan’s eyes, and one of those was because of me. Was Robert feeling as alone and lost as Henry did? A white-hot guilt was spreading over me.

  “Why were you even in there?” I asked. “I thought it w
as restricted access.”

  “For work,” he replied earnestly, looking at me with pained eyes. “I swear it was for work. Piper had told our team lead the day before the attack that they were having some issues with the projection controls and asked for a mechanic. It was supposed to be standard maintenance stuff.”

  “Well, if you were ordered to go there, then Nathan can’t be too suspicious about your story,” I offered.

  “Yeah, except I wasn’t ordered to go,” Henry said sadly. “On the morning of the attack, I went to the hangar where we got our daily tasks and saw that my team lead had been assigned to projection controls. But his name was crossed off and replaced with mine, and I didn’t even think to ask about it. I just went in his place. Which probably makes me look even guiltier.”

  “Who changed the names out?” I asked.

  Henry shrugged. “It could’ve been the team lead. A guy named Bear. Or it could’ve been someone else. I have no idea. I didn’t see Bear that morning, and he didn’t make it out of Edgewood.”

  I was shocked by the news. So someone had reassigned the tasks to send Henry to the surveillance room at the time of the attack? And the only person who had the authority to do that, and thus could be questioned about it, was dead? Did that mean that Henry was being framed?

  Or was he lying?

  Henry turned away again, and we sat silently in the tent together. I didn’t know what to say. Henry was right about Nathan’s suspicions; none of the details were looking good for his innocence.

  And honestly, even I was more confused than ever. Was Henry still lying? Or was he finally coming clean?

  And if he was telling the truth, was he being framed by the real mole?

  “I want to be alone, Robin,” Henry finally said.

  I sighed. I didn’t feel good about leaving him to stew in his obvious stress and sadness, but I didn’t know what to say to him to make him feel any better. So leaving was probably the best option.

  “Okay, Henry,” I replied.

  I backed out of the tent and began the walk back to my own, Silver watching me suspiciously as I walked away.

  The team was sitting around the firepit eating lunch when I returned. But they weren’t alone. I noticed with surprise that a newcomer was eating lunch with the group.

  “Aurora,” I said as I walked up to the team.

  Aurora smiled graciously. “Hope I’m not intruding,” she began.

  “Of course not,” I replied. But why was she here? She had just been reunited with her parents, so it seemed strange that she was already out and mingling with the teams. Unless . . .

  “Actually, I came to speak with you,” she continued. “Do you have a moment to talk in private?”

  I looked over at my team members. Nelson shrugged from out of Aurora’s line of sight. So obviously Aurora hadn’t explained why yet.

  “Sure,” I said in response, trying to sound casual. “My tent is over here if you want to step in.”

  Aurora nodded and then stood to follow me. We reached my tent, and I held it open for Aurora and then followed her inside.

  “Thank you,” she said as she found a space to sit. “I’ll be brief.”

  “How can I help?” I asked.

  “I wanted to see what you knew about Preston Industries,” Aurora went on. “Through your dad.”

  “My dad?” I repeated, puzzled. “I never knew my dad. He was a factory worker.”

  “No, no,” Aurora interjected. “I mean your adoptive father. Edward Sylvone.”

  I shook my head, confused by the question.

  “I’m sorry,” I told Aurora. “But I don’t understand. My adoptive father worked for the government. I had never heard of Preston Industries.”

  “Your adoptive father is on the board. Has been for years,” Aurora replied. “I thought maybe he mentioned something about it around the dinner table.”

  My eyes went wide. Edward Sylvone, the man who had raised me and then kicked me out of his home when I was only sixteen years old, was on the board of Preston Industries? Did that mean that the government and Preston Industries were one and the same? Or was he more of a lobbyist for the government, there to request funds and offer incentives?

  I shook my head again.

  “I’m sorry,” Aurora continued. “I hope I didn’t upset you. I just wanted to see if you had any additional details. Either through your adoptive father or from doing research about your daughter’s adoptive mother.”

  Mavis? How would doing research about Hope’s mother lead me to . . .

  Preston Industries. It suddenly hit me. The company was associated with Mavis somehow. I shouldn’t have been surprised, knowing how rich Michael and Mavis Preston were. But it had still come as a shock to have it confirmed.

  Aurora sensed that the detail was new to me.

  “Nathan told me about your daughter,” she said. “I just didn’t know how much you knew.”

  “I don’t know anything about the Prestons. Except that I’m going to take my daughter back from them someday,” I replied. Although, I suddenly realized with unease that it was strangely coincidental that my father had worked on the board of a company owned by Mavis’s family. Could he have had some say in who adopted my daughter?

  Aurora nodded in understanding after I finished speaking. We were quiet for some time while I was lost in my thoughts about Mavis and Edward before she finally continued.

  “Mavis is a nasty woman,” Aurora said. “I’m sure your daughter will be very happy when she’s back with you.”

  “You know Mavis Preston?” I asked incredulously.

  I had been wondering all along and was waiting for my time to ask. And now Aurora had just offered the information freely. Could Aurora help me find Hope? I currently had no information on Hope’s adoptive family, other than their location and social status. I didn’t even know what they looked like.

  “Well, yeah,” Aurora replied. “You know her, too.”

  I narrowed my eyes and shook my head again. What was Aurora getting at?

  “Robin, Mavis is the head of public relations for the regime,” Aurora replied.

  My jaw dropped. Then that meant . . .

  “Back in Chanley before you rescued me,” Aurora went on. “Mavis was the other woman on the platform.”

  26

  Nathan’s text came as the dinner spread was being laid out. Not that I could see it from my tent, but I could definitely smell the food. I hadn’t left the tent since Aurora took her leave. I was too lost in my own thoughts to return to my team members and try to make casual conversation.

  But Jace wouldn’t let me spend the day alone, so he came in shortly after Aurora left.

  I told him everything. I told him about confronting Robert and the doubts I felt afterward, about my conversation with Henry concerning his alibi, and about the revelations that Aurora had shared. It was nice to talk to someone, but getting it all out in the open left me feeling mentally and emotionally drained. Aurora’s intel in particular made me feel like our end mission in Little John was going to be uncomfortably close to my personal history. Would I be going up against my adoptive father and my daughter’s adoptive mother in our attacks?

  Jace was kind enough to just listen, without offering his opinions or baseless reassurances. And so we mostly enjoyed each other’s company in silence after I finished talking.

  That is, until we got the text.

  Team meeting now. Same place. —N

  “Let’s go,” I said halfheartedly. I wasn’t sure I could take any more groundbreaking news in one day, but I knew how important it was for us to be moving forward.

  Jace and I stepped out of our tent and joined the rest of the team heading toward Fiora’s office. Nelson moved to walk beside me as we reached the road.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked, her voice ripe with concern.

  I nodded. “As okay as it can be for now,” I replied. “Just got some disturbing news about Hope’s parents. And my own adoptive pa
rents.”

  Nelson waited for me to continue but didn’t press me when I chose not to.

  There were other people on the road with Team Hood, but it didn’t look like this meeting was going to be as large as the last one. It looked like these were mission teams, given that these were people I had seen before during outside excursions. Maybe that meant mission planning was underway.

  We reached the administrative building and found it unlocked, so we climbed the rickety steps up to the second floor and entered Fiora’s office.

  The usual suspects were already there: Nathan, Corona, Fiora, Evers, Liza, and Arlo were all standing around the front of the desk and waiting for the mission teams to arrive. But Aurora was there also, looking stunning in a form-fitting turtleneck dress. She smiled in acknowledgement of us as we entered the room.

  Team Hood took seats to the left of the desk, beside the terrariums and bookshelves that lined the wall that connected to the parlor. Fiora’s colorful macaw was preening its feathers on its perch, and her fat Persian cat was cleaning itself on the top of her desk.

  The combat, flight, medic, and tech teams were all in attendance, as well as Luka and some of the other Brightbirch leads. We waited anxiously as the last stragglers made their way in and found seats. Finally, Nathan looked over all of us and walked toward us to begin.

  “Teams, you’ll notice that this meeting is smaller than our last,” he said. “This is because in addition to sharing some new information today, we’ll also begin planning our next wave of attacks.”

  The word attacks reminded me just how much things were about to change. I was so used to Nathan saying that we would be planning missions. Attacks sounded much larger in scale.

  “But first we’ll discuss our news,” Nathan continued. “We’re receiving reports from our scouts about a steady increase in factory uprisings and rebellions. Factory workers in an eastern town called Lumley even managed to completely destroy the cannery they worked in. But as you can imagine, it didn’t go well for them in the end.”