The Academy - Drop of Doubt (Year One, Book Five) (The Academy Series)

by C. L. Stone

  Surprise filled me when I spotted Wil sitting next to my book bag. He had his head tucked into a book. I supposed when I had left my bag with Karen, I’d expected the seat to be empty when I returned.

  “Wil?” I said quietly.

  He looked up, his glasses sliding along his thin nose. He blinked at me. “Sang?” he asked in surprise.

  I blushed. “Everything okay?” I was surprised to see him in the office again. Was Hendricks making him a lackey, too? Did he call in everyone?

  Wil tilted his head. “Shouldn’t I ask you that? You come in here a lot.”

  I blushed, not realizing that he’d noticed. I didn’t share a class with him. And hadn’t he been here a few days ago? Did he have to check in with the front office? I couldn’t imagine he was in trouble. “I try not to,” I said.

  I reached for my bag, picking up the straps and pulling it up to hang from my shoulder. Paper fluttered to the floor, scattering around the tile They must have been sitting under my book bag.

  “You dropped something,” Wil said. He knelt down, sliding the papers together to try to pick them up.

  “They’re not mine,” I said softly, but knelt down with him, wanting to do the right thing and at least pick up the mess for whoever it belonged to. Did Karen distract me so badly that I sat my book bag down on someone else’s stuff?

  When I was on my knees, collecting the papers, I realized they were photos.

  Wil flipped them over, and stopped, gazing. “Are ... what?” he said, mumbling between his words.

  I flipped over the set in my hands and gasped, nearly dropping them again.

  The pictures were of me. Me, in Nathan’s bathroom, as I was getting dressed that morning in the same jeans and T-shirt I was wearing now. I leaned over, checking the ones in Wil’s hands. Those were taken earlier, and in some I was mostly naked after my bath.

  There was the same permanent marker scrawled over my face.

  Come out, come out, wherever you are.

  SENDING IN REINFORCEMENTS

  I snatched the rest of the photos from Wil, and without a word, lunged down the other hallway, seeking out refuge.

  North had the door open waiting for me. He closed it after I nearly shoved him out of the way. I leaned against the wall, needing something solid behind me to hold me up.

  Knowing something was wrong, North’s eyes were wide, his brows furrowed in question. But the moment my eyes met his, his face changed. He slammed the office door shut behind him and came toward me. He slapped his palms on the wall, one on either side of my head, hovering over me. “What happened?”

  I still clutched the photos to my chest, only now that I was there, I was terrified. Had I lost any in the hallway? Did one flutter under a chair in the lobby that I didn’t see? Did Wil see who left them?

  North dropped his hands, capturing my shoulders. “Don’t just look at me like that. What’s going on?”

  I drew the photos away from my body, showing him the images. I held my breath.

  North pulled the pictures from my hands and flicked through them.

  And the way his eyes darkened had me shivering down to my bones.

  “Where did you get these?” he asked, his voice low and cold.

  “They were underneath my book bag when I went back for it.”

  He lifted his head, meeting my face. “Who was sitting next to your bag? The one you were talking to?”

  “Karen,” I said. “And Wil when I came back. He helped me pick up the photos.”

  He dropped the photos on Dr. Green’s desk and turned to me, capturing my arms and holding me up slightly. “Listen, Baby, stay in this room. Don’t move.”

  “Wait,” I said. I clutched at his arm. “We have to ...”

  “This is close enough,” he said. “This is as far as it goes. Taking photos while you’re in school, that was fucked up, but in Nathan’s house?” His hands surrounded my arms, tightening. “One of those assholes out there saw who did this. This is ending now. If that Wil kid did it ...”

  “It wasn’t Wil,” I said. “It can’t be him. He was working the day of the spa photos.”

  North jerked his head up. “What spa photos?”

  My mouth dropped open. Did I not tell them? “When I was at the spa with Victor, there was another stack of photos; they were left on his car.”

  North rocked his head back. His eyes darted back and forth over my face, as if creating a plan. “Fucking shit, this no phone thing is going to kill us all.” He released me, turning and snagging the landline phone from Dr. Green’s desk.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Hang on.” He waited through a couple of rings. I heard the click of the phone and a muffled voice but I couldn’t pick out who it was. “Could I talk to Victor?” His eyes narrowed at a point in the wall. “Is he there? No, listen. If Victor’s there, I need to talk to him. It’s an emergency.” After another moment, North reeled his head back, slamming the phone down on the cradle. “God damn that new maid.”

  “What’s going on?”

  North swung around. He gazed at the photos again, studying them. Moments passed. I shivered, knowing I was nude in a lot of them. I didn’t think this was what he was studying. He wasn’t even looking directly at my images in the pictures. It was triggering his thoughts.

  In a flash of rage, his eyes widened as something finally settled. It was like his brain finally clicked with answers. “Listen to me, Sang. Stay here. I’m going to go find Victor.”

  Part of me was happy someone was finally looking into Victor’s whereabouts. “I could go with you,” I said.

  “No.” He turned from me, heading to the door. “You’re going to lock yourself into this room. There’s a reason why Victor has himself holed up at home and won’t answer the phone. You’re going to wait here until one of the others comes to get you to take you to a random, secure location.”

  “You can’t just lock me up in a bubble.”

  “Like hell I can’t,” he said. His eyes told me there wouldn’t be an argument about this. He collected half of the stack of photos, shoving them into his back pocket. He went to the door. “Stay here, lock up. Don’t move. I don’t want to have to chase your ass around town if fuck-face shows up.” He slammed the door behind himself.

  I recoiled, dropping back into Dr. Green’s chair, afraid to move, afraid to disobey.

  ♥♥♥

  I might have been willing to stay in the office, but I wasn’t willing to stay down and quiet. I worked through what to do, and picked up the phone, using the instructions to dial the front desk.

  “What can I do for you?” asked one of the secretaries in a syrupy voice.

  “Could you please call Mr. Blackbourne on the intercom? I think he’s in Music Room B,” I said to her, checking the time on the phone.

  “Who is this?” she called at me.

  “This is ... his assistant,” I said, lying, but if she couldn’t see me, would she know? “It’s kind of an emergency. Could you have him come to his office?”

  She sighed into the phone. “I’ll call him down.”

  I wondered if I should unlock the door, but I didn’t want to risk disobeying North. Also, I was creeped out, too. Whoever had taken and left the photos had gotten really close. I couldn’t believe Wil or Karen would leave them. I wished the cameras recorded all the time. It would have been easier to catch whoever it was. Maybe I could talk to Karen or Wil later and ask if they saw someone around.

  It took only five minutes before there was a rattling at the doorknob. It was followed by keys tumbling the lock. Mr. Blackbourne poked his head in. “Miss Sorenson?” he asked, his voice dripping with surprise.

  “Mr. Blackbourne, I got called into Mr. Hendricks’s office,” I started. I knew he would ask about it and I wanted to get to the real point quickly. “When I came back, there were pictures under my book bag in the lobby. North saw them and he left and he...”

  “Wait, wait.” He held up his hand. He closed the of
fice door behind himself, throwing the lock. “Where’s North now?”

  “He’s heading out to find Victor.”

  “Where?”

  “North called Victor’s house. The maid said he was there but won’t come to the phone. North is finding out why he’s hiding. There’s something he knows and ...”

  “If Victor’s securing himself in his house, there’s a reason. North shouldn’t interfere.”

  “But there were pictures.”

  Mr. Blackbourne’s steel eyes zeroed in on my face. “What pictures? The ones from your phone?”

  I stepped back, picking up the photos sitting on Dr. Green’s desk. “They were left under my book bag when I had to keep it in the lobby to go see the principal.”

  He took the photos from my hands. Another wave of feeling awkward swept through me. My cheeks heated but I felt I couldn’t focus on being modest when something more important was going on.

  “There was another set on Victor’s car when we left the spa,” I said. “He was going to investigate and promised to take someone with him. But...”

  Mr. Blackbourne looked up. “There’s more?”

  “Someone followed us when we went to the spa. They took photos while we were there and managed to leave them on his car before we left. They had a message, too. Someone was following us. Volto, I guess. The guy with the mask.”

  He frowned. His eyes shifting to the photos. “Miss Sorenson. I need you to wait here for me.”

  “But...” I said, feeling the urge to ask him not to put me in a bubble, either. I had called him in because I thought he’d let me go with him after North.

  Mr. Blackbourne closed the distance between us. He captured my chin between his fingers, focusing on my face. “Right now, I need you here,” he said in his commanding voice, but a couple of notches softer. “I’m going to call Nathan down to stay with you through the rest of fourth period. You’re to go to lunch, and attend all your classes. I need you to appear as normal as possible. Please.”

  His gray eyes told me much more than he was saying. There was something in the works, something I wasn’t seeing. This plan required that I do exactly as he asked, to appear normal to other people.

  I thought he was asking me to do the impossible, but I relented. “As you wish.”

  The corner of his mouth rose a millimeter. “You’re getting the hang of this.” He released me and turned to the door.

  “Wait,” I said.

  He faced me again. “Miss Sorenson?”

  “It’s Mr. Morris. Mr. Hendricks told him to follow you.”

  He nodded and the look on his face told me he wasn’t too surprised. “I’ll be careful.”

  I listened as his footsteps disappeared down the hallway. I sank into Dr. Green’s office chair, curling into myself. Mr. Blackbourne knew. That’s what we needed right now.

  AMBUSH

  When another knock at the office door sounded, I had been dazed out wondering what Mr. Blackbourne knew about.

  Nathan popped his head in. He scanned the space until he found me sitting in Dr. Green’s chair.

  “Peanut?” he called to me softly. He came in, closing the door behind him. “You okay?”

  I had my feet up in the seat, my knees pressed to my chest. I studied Nathan with his red brown hair, partially messed up on one side, like he’d been sleeping in class. He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days. The hairs along his face blended into his tan so it was barely noticeable. The gruff look suited him. I nodded to him. “I’m supposed to act normal,” I said, in a small voice. I didn’t know what else to tell him.

  “When are we ever normal?” he asked. He grinned. He opened his arms and moved forward. “Get up for a second?”

  I stood, and he pulled me in, his arms encircling my waist. For a moment, I paused. I didn’t understand it at first, and then I hugged him around his neck, sinking into him heavily. I’d been so tense; this was the first moment I’d relaxed, when he hugged me.

  “Peanut,” he whispered into my ear. He brushed his cheek against mine, the roughness of his stubble scratching lightly.

  “Honey,” I replied, my voice almost gone. I swallowed. “Sorry. I’m just so tired.”

  “You don’t have to be sorry,” he said. He backed his head up until those serious blue eyes could pierce into mine. “You’re going to come with me and eat something at lunch, okay? You’ll feel better. You just need to get through the next few classes. After that, you’re going to come home with me and you can sleep all you want.” He rubbed my back, smoothing his palms over my shirt to warm my body. “Is that okay?”

  It sounded fine, it was the question at the end that made me pause. Kota never questioned, he just told me what to do. When Nathan asked, it made me second guess, like he wasn’t sure. Maybe that was the difference between the two. Maybe that’s why Kota was in charge. His confidence reassured me. Nathan was a comfort, but that little question made me feel like I was making the decision, and I wasn’t always confident about my decision making. “I think so.”

  “Not exactly the fantasy birthday you expected, is it?” he asked.

  “It’s not anyone’s fault,” I said, firmly believing that. How could any of us have predicted these circumstances? “Yours was kind of ruined, too.”

  “Let’s make it up to each other,” he said. “Tonight, we’ll make pancakes. You’ll get chocolate chip. I’ll get strawberry. We’ll make banana strawberry smoothies and we’ll watch a movie. Something quiet and relaxing.”

  “Zombies?”

  He grinned. He reached for my hand, bringing it to his mouth and kissing the palm. “Actually, Kota gave me an idea. He asked his sister about her favorite movies. He thought it was a good idea to maybe throw in a few girly titles. We’ll pick one of those, if you want.”

  “Like what?”

  “Probably some romantic comedy,” he said. “I guess I could suffer through one or two.”

  I started giggling. Relief washed over me. I understood what he was doing then. Trying to get me to lighten up a little before we met up with the others for lunch. He was probably right. If I needed to appear normal, I needed to at least relax around the guys a bit. And North and Mr. Blackbourne were going after Victor. They’d make sure everything was okay. If I stuck with them, it’ll be fine.

  I followed Nathan out into the lobby, where he stopped holding my hand and guided me out into the main hallway. I was surprised it was raining outside. Because of it, instead of gathering in the courtyard for lunch, we ended up sitting on the main stairway. With Victor and North missing, and knowing Mr. Blackbourne had left, I felt out of sorts. Nathan filled them in on what Mr. Blackbourne told him. They knew about the pictures, and where North was going.

  “All right,” Nathan said after everyone was filled in. He pulled out a package of chips from his bag, opening them. “Sang’s going home with me tonight, right? We’re supposed to appear normal? We’ll scout the grounds and keep an eye out for the photographer in case he’s lurking around. I’ll put plastic on the windows or something.”

  “I think I should take her to my house,” Kota said.

  “Well you can have her tomorrow night.”

  “Tomorrow night I’ve got ... Academy stuff.”

  Nathan grunted and shoved a chip into his mouth. He spoke while chewing. “Sang, what do you want to do?”

  I blushed. “I’m not sure.”

  “Let me take her tonight,” Kota said. “Since I can’t be there tomorrow.”

  “Oy? What about the rest of us?” Gabriel asked. “You get her all week long. When do we get to hang out?”

  Kota blinked at him, lifting his hands in the air. “It’s just that time-wise there’s—”

  “I’ve been working for fucking two weeks.”

  “Hey,” Nathan snapped. “We’ve all been working.”

  “Well geez,” Gabriel said. “Let’s measure how hard we’ve been working. I’m saying I’ve got time off, now. I want to do stuff with her.”


  Nathan grunted. “Get in line.”

  “This isn’t about fun,” Kota said. “We should send her home if we wanted her to be completely normal, but I didn’t want to attract attention to her sister and have something happen to her.”

  “Maybe she should stay with someone else for a change,” Gabriel said. “Can’t we take her? Luke and I could take her to his house.”

  “She needs to stay close to home. We need her to settle into a normal routine.”

  “Going out with us should be normal.” Gabriel pushed a palm into his eye. “Fucking shit. Sang. Say something.”

  “I don’t ... I ...” I’d never seen Gabriel so worked up before. What did he want me to say? Kota was the boss, wasn’t he? He made the schedule.

  Gabriel frowned, shaking his head. “Forget it.” He snatched up his bag, shoving it over his shoulder, and stood up. He marched off, up the stairs.

  I wanted to call after him, but hesitated. I didn’t want to draw attention make it look like a scene. I glanced at the guys, who were looking into their own bottles of soda or their bags of chips, as if avoiding each other. Weren’t they going to stop him?

  If they weren’t going to go with him, I would. I stood up, grabbing my bag.

  “Aggele mou,” Silas said, he reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Maybe you shouldn’t. He’s really agitated today.”

  “I’m just going to talk to him,” I said. I followed after Gabriel.

  Up on the second floor, I caught sight of him just before he was turning the corner around some lockers. “Meanie,” I called to him.

  He took a couple more steps as if he wanted to keep going. His sneakers screeched on the tile as he stopped short. “What, Trouble?” he asked in a low tone, not turning.