A Penny's Worth (The Cephas Bourdon Series)

by A. M. Hooper

  “Of course you do—but Dominic's gonna be pretty upset in a moment, and I don't think you want to be alone when that happens.” He smiled mockingly and offered his hand. I walked past him, unwilling to touch him. He was despicable; how could I know when he was lying and when he was telling the truth? I scowled as I passed him and followed my dad to the door.

  “Hey,” Cephas called, his voice slightly raised. “We're going this way. The hall is too crowded. We need to make an entrance.” I turned around to see what exit he was referring to. He stood on the desk and released the ceiling vent. Tossing his back pack into the dark hole, he secured his hold on the ceiling and pulled himself in after it. My father and I hurried over to the desk.

  “Come on, Em. Up you go,” my dad instructed.

  “Are you kidding?” I asked.

  “No. Why is it that you find this so fantastical when compared with the rest of the night?” he asked, standing on the desk beside me. He held out his clasped hands for a footstool. I scowled again and stepped into his hands. I leaped for the ceiling and Cephas caught me by the hand. The left corner of his mouth twitched upward as he used one arm to pull me up into the ceiling.

  “What, you think you're strong or something?” I asked spitefully.

  “A little,” he said cheerfully. “Could you move? Your dad needs some space to pull himself up.” I watched my dad pull himself up into the opening. His biceps flexed under his weight.

  “How are you so strong?” I asked indignantly. “You spend your day in the office.”

  “They have a gym,” he replied.

  “Oh.”

  “What, you think girls are the only ones who put any time into what they look like?” Cephas scoffed as he began crawling through the air vent on his hands and knees.

  “I guess I thought you were all too busy lying to me to spend time on your physiques.” Cephas shook his head in exasperation.

  “You know what, come off it. You can have your little rant when this is all over,” he offered mockingly.

  “Little rant!” I shouted back. “You call this a little rant? You made me believe my mom was dead twice, and you lied to me like five billion times, and you think you’re in for a little rant?” I spouted, letting the adrenaline run freely through my veins.

  “Shhh,” Cephas chastised, “We’re trying to be sneaky.” His voice read comical—really? Humor was his choice of response? I hated boys. My dad chuckled behind me, too.

  “Do you have something to say, Dad?” I asked spitefully. He stopped laughing, but a smile laced his voice.

  “Is this your first fight?” he asked in good spirits.

  I scowled my anger in his direction.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, pushing my wispy hair out of my face.

  “We have to save Thackar,” Cephas replied.

  “Save Thackar? Why?”

  “Well, when Dominic goes in and sees the funds are transferred to the wrong place, and that Thackar lied to him, he's going to kill him.”

  “What? Why would Thackar do that? Doesn't he work for Dominic?”

  “Don't I?” Cephas smirked and continued wiggling through the small vent. “I told you I didn't leave you alone. Thackar was protecting you.”

  “But he held a gun on you!”

  “He had to keep his cover.”

  “Just like you,” I muttered malevolently. Cephas stopped and turned around, halting a few inches from my face. His expression was angry.

  “Yes, Emmaline. I pretended I was someone else and got you to fall in love with me. But there's more at stake here, so if you could keep the snide comments to yourself, it'd be really helpful.”

  “I thought you said love was the most important thing,” I shot back, proud of my quick wit.

  “It is,” he replied, “but what good is love if we’re all dead?” he asked calmly. He wasn’t angry, and he wasn’t irritated; no cynicism laced the edge of his voice, and no sarcasm filled his eyes. I nodded, content with his explanation. He turned back around and began sliding across the metal once more.

  “Thank you,” he muttered.

  “Does anybody else have anything to do with this?” I asked. I might curtail my rude comments, but I would never stop asking questions. It was a personal flaw.

  “You'll find out momentarily.” We crawled a few more feet and Cephas stopped abruptly.

  “Now, please, don't try to be heroic. Just stay there and let me take care of everything.”

  “What's the plan?”

  “I'm going to save Thackar before they kill him.”

  “Then why are we going with you.”

  “Because I have no other way to protect you at the same time.”

  “Can't my dad protect me?”

  “He could, but I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you.” He looked up at me and smirked. “Just try not to get killed, alright?” He tweaked my nose and I scowled before he turned around to continue our trek through the vent. I followed, trying to be as quiet as possible.

  Cephas peered through a vent opening.

  “Right on schedule,” he commented, ignoring me. “They've left the box seat and moved, hopefully, to the kitchen.” He continued crawling through the vent. Without another word, he spun to a sitting position and pulled out a gun.

  “You two try to keep quiet in this part of the vent and I'll come back for you.”

  “How long should we wait?” my dad asked.

  “Wait until I come back. Please don't do anything stupid,” he implored before shuffling a little ways down the duct. I felt like calling after him, telling him how I felt, but my voice escaped me. What if he died and I never told him my true feelings? I told myself I was being melodramatic, but this was serious, right? We could honestly all die. I was allowed to be dramatic about love when I was about to lose it. Cephas kicked at a vent cover and it clattered onto the floor. My heart drooped a little at the thought I may never get to talk to Cephas again, and then he glanced in my direction. His eyes found mine and my heart picked itself back up. That was all I needed. I mentally recorded the gleam of Cephas’ pure blue eyes, and the pure statement there. He loved me. I could never forget the smile that sparkled in his eyes—the smile meant just for me. He winked, then disappeared through the vent. My heart beat faster and I tried to forget about Cephas’ mesmerizing eyes so I could focus on the situation at hand.

  My dad and I hurried quietly across the duct to the next vent to listen. In an instant, the sound of clicking guns traveled through the aperture. I peered through the opening to see what was going on.

  “Where's the girl and her father?” Dominic demanded. Cephas held a gun on Dominic, who held a gun on Thackar. Thackar aimed his firearm at James, and James pointed his weapon at Cephas. I swallowed, afraid Cephas didn't know what he was getting into. He knew what he was doing—right? I had never seen so many people ready to shoot each other at once.

  “Back in the other box seat where you left us,” Cephas replied. His narrowed eyes suggested a no nonsense attitude, but Dominic wasn't about to give up so easily.

  “I don't believe you,” he replied, peering over his gun to look Cephas in the eyes.

  “Do I care?”

  “You will when I find them. James, that vent was awfully noisy.”

  “Yes, sir,” James muttered happily. He picked up a chair and threw it with great force into the air vent above. He threw it exactly where we were sitting, causing me to let out a short scream. My dad's eyes grew wide with fear as James aimed his gun at the vent. We both darted our faces away from the vent cover as a bullet hit the frame. I let out another scream, covering my mouth to muffle the noise. I couldn't see what was going on and I was breathing so heavily that someone must have heard the noise. Everything happened so quickly that I was falling before I even realized James was beating and pulling at the air duct. Metal creaked and a loud commotion struck the air as I fell through the chasm.

  My dad landed on top of me and the metal clattered all arou
nd us. The noise was so ear splitting that I reached up to cover my ears, only to realize I couldn't move. My body lay crumpled underneath my dad's weight. I shoved instinctively at his shoulder in an attempt to move him. He wouldn't budge. I looked up at the ceiling, pinned beneath my dad. The walls extended to the next story, though pipe lines blocked any direct view of the ceiling. Sunlight crept through a skylight above, yielding slits of brightness across the purple and yellow floor. Casting my eyes around, I noticed a large island with a stainless steel counter top—this had to be the catering kitchen. After a moment, my dad came to and leaped off of me.

  “Em, are you alright?” he muttered, standing clumsily from the rubble. I glanced up from my horizontal position. All of the men stared at us, except for Cephas, who held his gun and eyes on Dominic. All of their guns, however, remained pointed at the previous victims. Even James had resumed his position, though he was a little farther across the room now. I sat up and took my father's hand. As he pulled me up to a standing position, he placed his hands on both of my shoulders to stabilize me. I clasped the top of his hand subconsciously. I was afraid, more so than I had been during the entire time I had known Cephas. Just a few days ago I was on Senior trip, fantasizing about art museums and dancing with Cephas. It was ridiculous I was even here. I might die, and that was a thought that had never once crossed my mind in seventeen years.

  “Put the gun down, Dominic,” Cephas demanded, jolting me from my thoughts.

  “Not until you transfer the money,” Dominic ordered. The sudden look of shock in Cephas’ eyes was very unsettling and he glanced at Thackar.

  “I thought you said you transferred the money!” he hissed, keeping his gun aimed at Dominic.

  Thackar's gun shook in his hand. His entire body trembled out of fear.

  “I did, but the computer . . . something happened—I'm sorry, Cephas. The money didn't transfer.” Cephas’ eyes shot up at Dominic. A low chuckle escaped Dominic's voice; it was slow and defined, like he was mocking a different person with each part of his laugh.

  “Well, well, well, it looks like your plan failed, boy,” he said happily. Cephas’ eyes darted in between Dominic and Thackar, jumping once to my face. He looked afraid. No response left his mouth.

  “But tell me, Cephas. How did you get this far?” he asked. He glanced down at Thackar, menace showing on his face. Cephas didn't waste any time. In the moment Dominic removed his gaze, Cephas stepped forward and Thackar ducked. Cephas’ shoe connected with Dominic's hand, flinging the gun through the air. Clutching his wrist, Cephas twisted Dominic around and kicked his legs out from under him. Dominic landed in a kneeling position on the ground, bowing, as it were, to Cephas, whose metallic firearm rested on Dominic's wrinkled forehead. Everything happened so quickly. In the commotion, nobody could do anything to help either party, so the staging of the room remained the same. However, Cephas was now in control. The moment stilled and Dominic's heavy breathing overtook the ominous silence. He glared up at Cephas, unable to remove himself from his position on the uncomfortable, tile floor. I looked at Cephas’ face—the left corner of his mouth twitched upward.

  “First, I decided you were the devil,” he began, focusing solely on Dominic's dastardly face. Dominic didn't respond.

  “So I came up with a plan,” he continued, “which proved quite simple to carry out, given the skills with which you equipped me.” The entire room was still, each person listening intently. My fear was gone, replaced by excitement to finally understand what had been going on over the past month.

  “You sent me to bring Emmaline's dad to you, but I had my own agenda. Mr. Brickard agreed, after some argument, to help me transfer money into various accounts.” I gasped audibly. I couldn't believe my dad knew about this! He was responsible for getting me into this situation! I felt his hands on my shoulders—their betrayal seared through my shirt sleeves straight through to my skin. I wanted to remove his hands, but I couldn't. I couldn't make Cephas lose his focus. I closed my eyes and listened, trying not to cry. As long as my eyes were closed and I didn't squint, I could maintain my composure.

  “You did manage to throw a small glitch into my plan, though. Kidnapping these two a day ahead of schedule was a little frustrating to my scheme, but I'm pretty good at improvising. Emmaline helped me with that one—she sucks at lighting matches, but she did just fine.” The smirk in his voice pissed me off, but I kept listening. “I didn't plan to blow up the mine, but I had no choice. Emmaline helped me with the next part too. See, it helps to have people on your side—really on your side. That's why it was so perfect that you sent me to pursue Emmaline. She turned out to be a very helpful addition to my plan.”

  The smirk spread across his face once more. He was gloating. I hoped he wouldn't lose focus; that always seemed to happen when he got too full of himself.

  “My parents gave me this poem to help me figure out how to take you down. It was fairly simple to make out the hidden meaning, especially since I knew my mom and dad really well. I evaded you guys for a while to give Emmaline time to figure it all out on her own. She's smart as a whip. Too bad you gave me the best possible pieces in the game.” He tilted his head curiously and his eyes narrowed. Dominic's head had fallen slightly and he stared at the ground.

  “Are you still listening to me, Dominic?” Cephas asked. “Because I can stop explaining and kill you now, if you prefer.” Dominic looked up and scowled. My heart began to race. I hoped he wouldn't stop explaining now! I was so close to figuring out the truth!

  “Please . . . continue,” Dominic responded with sarcastic gallantry.

  “Are you sure? I mean, this gun should kill you rather quickly.” Cephas cocked the gun and pushed the steel barrel against Dominic's head. James instantly took a step toward the pair, willing to shoot at any moment. Dominic took a deep breath and met Cephas’ eyes.

  “Just . . . finish,” he said, the anger rising in his voice. Cephas removed the gun a few inches from Dominic's head.

  “After Emmaline 'solved' the problem, she was more than happy to agree to help me. People's minds are interesting, Dominic. A sense of knowledge evokes an obligation to share. That's probably why I'm telling you what happened—simple human nature. And that's why Emmaline decided to help me. Let's take it from when we came back after leaving the safe house, shall we?”

  I saw Thackar moving out of the corner of my eyes. Scooting himself across the textured rug, he pulled himself against the wall in a sitting position, his gun aimed constantly at James. He winced. I looked at his leg and saw blood seeping out of his leg. Dominic had done something terrible to him before we arrived. I could tell he was in pain. Cephas started talking again.

  “We came back, convinced you not to kill us, and then you took us to the machine. Emmaline didn't have everything figured out by then, but I was hoping she would figure it out; if not, I would just 'figure it out' instead. It was important to have Emmaline do the figuring—it kept your focus away from me. Conveniently, Emmaline did read the poem I strategically placed on the desk, and she ran it through her mind. We needed to shrink my pupils. She asked for a flashlight, so I rummaged in the drawer to find one. I had already given Thackar a flashlight, but I needed to put the flash drive into the drawer for Mr. Brickard. I hadn't had time to fill him in on everything yet, thanks to you, so I utilized Emmaline once more. She helped her dad locate the account numbers. They were listed as page numbers in a dictionary according to certain words underlined in the poem. That poem has been extremely helpful and completely undetectable . . . just like your machine.”

  Cephas smirked again. I thought back to my conversation with Dominic. I had clued my father to the dictionary so he could put things together. The dictionary had some clue to the whereabouts of the flash drive as well. It was all so ingenious. Cephas was smart. He had fooled me, my dad, and Dominic. I scowled. He had twisted my mind to make me do what he wanted me to do. I was his pawn—a 'piece in the game,' he had said. He already had everything figured
out. I should have known he didn't really need my brain to solve the puzzle. I could feel frustration building in my chest.

  What right did he have to manipulate me? He had lied to me . . . again. And my dad had betrayed me. I started to breathe faster and faster. I was afraid I might hyperventilate. I needed to get out, go somewhere, do something. Where was Cephas’ car when you needed it? I wanted to drive. I wanted to drive really fast. I closed my eyes again, picturing the time Cephas and I had driven up the mountain. I sped around the curves near the edge of the road, rushing past the trees that covered the mountains. The car went faster and faster up the steep hill, and then I remembered Cephas had been sitting next to me. I forced my eyes open and glared at the man who had lied from the moment we met. His gun was still aimed at Dominic. At least I wasn't breathing as quickly anymore. Cephas was still explaining.

  “After you sent me out, I called in a red alert to all of the agents. I knew you would send all of them except for James and Thackar, which was convenient, since Thackar was protecting Emmaline and Mr. Brickard. This left you quite vulnerable, with only one agent to protect you—especially him.” Cephas nodded toward James, whose sunken face angered at the insinuation.

  “I sent the agents to find Emmaline's mother; they did find her.”

  “But you said you sent them to the wrong place!” Dominic argued. His voice was agitated. I had never heard him breathe any tone but calmness.

  “I was lying. I sent them to Emmaline's mother and they staged the whole thing . . . just like in the beginning.” Cephas’ confidence was evident in his smug expression. “And you thought nobody could touch you.” He smirked and pulled the hammer back on the gun.

  “And now you're going to die,” he breathed out, his iris swirling into a deep gray, nearly black, hue. I gasped audibly and Cephas glanced in my direction. He was going to kill Dominic. Dominic was going to die. I was really going to witness a murder, and there was nothing I could do about it. Cephas would never forgive himself, either. His self-hatred would grow stronger and there would be no hope for us. How can you love somebody if you don’t love yourself? I felt the world falling apart around me, crashing and tumbling when I had worked so hard to get here. As blood drained from my face, Cephas’ eyes softened a little and he plead silently for my understanding. I couldn't give it—I couldn't. He was going to kill him, and things would never be the same.