That was Alex. No subtlety. No finesse. Just see the problem and confront it head on. Our relationship had been weird since I’d come to the Academy at the invitation of my Juvenile Court judge. At first Alex thought I was a troublemaker and not to be trusted. I thought he was obnoxious and superficial. But things had changed between us when we’d gone up against Blankenship. He could still be very stubborn and always thought he was right, like now, but when we were in Hawaii, he’d softened toward me somehow. Like maybe he was starting to like me. A little bit. Maybe.
This only made things difficult and confusing for me. I mean, before Hawaii he and Pilar, who is my best friend and roommate, spent all their spare time together. Like they had a little thing going. But in Hawaii, he started in on me with all the soft talk and moony-gooey looks and touching me on the shoulder and telling me to be careful and not treating me like I was a troublemaker and looking at me with those ice-blue eyes of his. God, it was confusing.
“Simple process of elimination, huh?” I said.
He nodded.
“Nothing is that simple. I don’t think it’s likely one of us helped Blankenship steal the book. Remember we’re dealing with stuff we don’t even understand. Weird stuff. We’ve all seen it. I don’t believe that one of us would just blurt out, “Hey, Blankenship! That book you’ve been killing people to find? Over here!”
Pilar and Brent cracked up, but Alex got all smirky. Alex even looked handsome when he was smirking.
We stopped in the hallway where it split off to the boys’ and girls’ wings. We waited till the hallway was clear of other students. Then I looked at everyone.
“Look. We need to get this out in the open. Alex is right about part of it. There were only six people who even knew where the book was. So unless Blankenship is some kind of mind reader, one of us told him where it was and how to get it.”
Everyone looked really uncomfortable when I said this.
“We can all tiptoe around this or we can deal,” I said. “Nobody wants to suggest one of us is a traitor. I told you all: He was going to kill Pilar, so I told him his book was fake. But I never told him where the real one was. The book is gone. So he figured out the location all on his own and managed to steal it from right under our noses, or somebody told him where it was and how to get it. It’s the only logical conclusion. I know it wasn’t me. How about the rest of you?”
“What the heck are you saying?!” Alex said, his voice rising. “You think it’s one of us? Are you crazy?”
“No … I …”
“Look, I know a few things you don’t know. One, neither Brent nor I have even been around Blankenship since the night on the ship. You and Pilar were captured by him, twice. So if I’m thinking rationally, you two are the logical suspects.”
Pilar took a sharp breath and her hand flew to her mouth. I was instantly volcanically mad.
“You listen to me … you … you … muscle-bound … Neanderthal,” I said.
Alex was waving his hands and made the time-out sign before I could work up an even bigger head of steam.
“Wait, before you fly off the handle. I’m not saying you did it on purpose. Maybe Blankenship used some kind of mind control or truth serum or something and you don’t remember. They have access to that kind of stuff. You could have been manipulated into saying something and not even have realized it. It wouldn’t be your fault.” Alex was trying very hard to look sympathetic, which was a good look for him. It took the edge off his words a little.
“Oh,” I said. Brent nodded.
I ran my hands through my hair. I felt hot and sweaty. “But I don’t think that’s the case. We were never alone with him. I mean, I only saw him for a total of a few minutes—he just wasn’t around. He wasn’t interested in me until the ceremony.”
“Well, maybe he used some type of technique you don’t remember, like hypnotism or something that leaves you with no recollection of what happened. And he took your fingerprints or something and used them to get in the vault,” Alex said. He walked along making all kinds of gestures like his theory was the absolute truth. Always soooo confident in himself. Confident and handsome. Sigh.
I didn’t know what to say. It was possible. Blankenship did have access to all kinds of high-tech, not to mention otherworldly, gear. But it didn’t seem right, and wasn’t really what had been bothering me. It wasn’t Pilar or me who told Blankenship where the book was, or how to get it. I knew who it was. At least I was pretty sure. The question was: What was I going to do about it?
CHAPTER THREE
Shopping Is the Best Medicine
WE WERE GOING TO the mall! An absolute honest-to-goodness mall! It felt like years since I’d been shopping. We’d all been so down in the dumps since Hawaii, Mr. Kim finally relented and let us leave school for a little Saturday-afternoon shopping trip. What a lifter of spirits good old Mr. Kim was.
When he said we should go to the mall, I was torn. We really should be concentrating on finding Blankenship and the rest of the artifacts. We knew one of them, the Firehorn, was held by some rich, reclusive collector lady out in California. Since I’d figured out that the Book of Seraphim itself was actually a map to the location of the other artifacts, we were pretty sure that one of them was somewhere in Japan. After I’d recovered from everything that had happened in Hawaii, I told Mr. Kim to get us to Japan and those other places to find the artifacts right away, before Simon did.
But our headmaster was cautious. He pointed out that we’d gotten lucky in Hawaii. Pilar discovered where the statue had been hidden. But so far, the other clues at the other locations of the artifacts had been unfigureoutable. And, Mr. Kim was more than happy to add, Japan and South America were large places, and we could be running around forever looking for the objects. He felt we needed to study and analyze more before we made our next move. We should keep training and studying Pilar’s facsimile copy of the book, and make a move when we had a plan in place and knew where to look.
I don’t think that was the only reason Mr. Kim was being cautious. He understood that, underneath it all, he had a mole in the midst. Someone, somehow, was selling us out to Blankenship; he was able to show up wherever we went. I think it was eating Mr. Kim up that the spy was someone close to us—someone he trusted.
He also knew that we knew that someone was betraying us. But he wanted us to try to keep living our regular lives, going to classes and being normal teenagers. He was giving us distractions so we wouldn’t think about the mole while he tried to figure things out. Rather than risk another confrontation with that freakazoid Blankenship, Mr. Kim wanted us to study and train and try to decipher those pesky clues so maybe we could get to the artifacts before Simon.
But back to the shopping! There we were, with Mr. Kim suggesting the four of us take the van to the mall on Saturday morning. We all had jobs at school and our hourly wages were credited to an account in our name that we could use for pocket money and buying stuff we needed. Mr. Kim gave us each some cash from our accounts, told us to have a good time, and sent us on our way.
Alex drove the Henderson’s Dry Cleaning van, one of the vehicles Mr. Kim kept in the secret spy hideout, and after about forty-five minutes on the road we pulled into the parking lot of the Philadelphia Galleria. It felt so strange to be out of school. Well, not really. Since we were always sneaking out of the Academy to try and catch a supervillain, it actually felt quite normal. But this time there would be no bad guys or explosions or narrow escapes from the clutches of an evil megalomaniac. At least I hoped.
“I can’t believe it,” I said. “The mall! The Gap. American Eagle. A Nordstrom! I haven’t been this excited since I got to Blackthorn.”
Pilar, Alex, and Brent seemed a little uncomfortable with the whole mall thing. Maybe because there was no place to study there. Or rock walls to climb. Or exercise facilities. Maybe if the mall had a giant martial arts store where they could slip in a workout while they were shopping they’d be more comfortable. Or if they could
go to an algebra store and do some math problems in between trying on clothes. They didn’t seem down with the whole leisure-time thing.
“Come on, you guys. This is exciting. This mall has a Macy’s and a Quicksilver!” I said.
“Electronics World,” said Brent.
“Bookworld,” said Pilar.
“Extreme Sports Outlet,” said Alex.
I guess I was wrong. There were places for them to study and work out. Anyway, at least they were starting to warm up to the idea of the mall. Alex parked the van and we all scrambled out and headed for the closest entrance.
Inside the mall looked like a … well, a mall. It had been so long, I’d almost forgotten. We’d entered by the food court and the smell of freshly popped popcorn and cinnamon rolls made my mouth water.
“Oh my God,” I said. “Doesn’t that smell heavenly? Cinnatreats for me!”
“Do you know how many carbs there are in one of those things?” Alex asked. Buzz kill.
“Don’t know, don’t care,” I said. “Come on, the Cinnatreats are on me!”
They followed me to the nearby stand and we got in line. Alex insisted he didn’t want one, but Pilar and Brent agreed to split one. I ordered one for myself plus an iced double-mocha latte. I may or may not be the reincarnation of a Roman goddess, but either way I need to keep up my strength. Alex got an ice water. He’s a wild man.
We sat down at a table and the first taste of the Cinnatreat was like an explosion of warm caramel heaven in my mouth. This is why malls were invented. Buy One Get One sales at all the most fashionable clothing stores and a plate full of cinnamony goodness. Alex, Pilar, and Brent all sat there, glancing around nervously, like they were in a dentist’s office or something. I decided my friends needed a lesson in quantum mall-shopping mechanics.
“We need to have a plan,” I said. “Shopping is an art form and we need to take it seriously. First thing we do is a circuit of the mall to check out all the stores and see what they have on sale. After that, we divide the mall into sections starting with the anchor stores and working our way outward in a counterclockwise fashion. Hmm … We have to decide what to do with our packages. Personally, I favor returning to the van to drop them off as we finish each quadrant. We don’t want to get too loaded down. After …”
Brent, Pilar, and Alex were all staring at me in stunned disbelief.
“What?” I said.
“Are you out of your mind?” said Alex. He sure knew how to push my buttons.
“I’m sorry, Captain Buzzkill. Were you saying something? Because I’m in full shopping mode and frankly you’re a little bit of a wet blanket today. Maybe you need a quick trip to the health-food store for B-12 or bee pollen or something to perk you up a little bit. But in the meantime, just let me lay out the plan, okay?”
Alex just chuckled and shook his head.
“Umm, Rachel?” Pilar said.
“Yes?”
“I really just want to go the bookstore. I haven’t been to one since this summer, and there’s a new book out that I want.”
The bookstore? Our first trip to the mall and she wants to go to the bookstore?
“Sorry, can’t allow it. If the guys want to go do guy stuff, fine, but we’re shopping for clothes, my friend. We can visit your little bookstore when we’re done. There’s a new CD I want, anyway. Come along with me and be a good girl.”
The guys decided they wanted no part of my plan to attack the mall in a systematic manner. Brent was going to go to Electronics Emporium or whatever it was called (only he made it sound like a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or something) and Alex was going to start at the sporting goods store and hook up with Brent later. They agreed to meet us at the bookstore in three hours.
Much later, I would think back on this day and remember what Mr. Kim was always warning us: Simon Blankenship or at least some of his henchmen could be anywhere. And while Mr. Kim wanted us to be cautious, he figured since we left Blackthorn from the cave and no one knew we were gone, we’d be okay. Besides, we couldn’t let Blankenship intimidate us. If someone was watching us on the inside, we needed to act normal so we didn’t tip him off we were onto his mole. And a mall was a pretty public place. What could happen?
Pilar and I spent three hours in shopping heaven. I kind of had to drag her into it at first, but after about the third store she started getting into it. I helped her pick out a beautiful peasant smock, which she looked fabulous in, and we found some great deals on jeans. For me, it was like old times back in Beverly Hills. We made a couple of trips out to the van to stow our packages. Before I knew it, the three hours were almost up and it was time to meet up with the boys.
We were on our way to the bookstore, on the upper level of the mall, when down below there was a loud shout and I spotted a woman sprawled on the floor. We saw a young kid, maybe twelve or thirteen years old, a few steps away, running down the colonnade clutching her purse. He’d snatched it. A real live robbery in progress!
As it turned out, this purse snatching happened right in front of Electronics Emporium and the next thing I knew Alex came tearing out of the store, sprinting after the kid. He must have been waiting on Brent, and had seen what happened from inside. Brent popped out a few seconds later and stopped to kneel down by the woman. He seemed to be asking her if she was okay. She nodded and he went running off after Alex, who by now had disappeared from our sight on the upper level.
Where were the security guards? None were around. It was a huge mall, though, and they could be anywhere. Or on a coffee break. Maybe there had been a stroller accident and they were writing up the report or perhaps a shopper had been apprehended carrying food and drinks into a clearly posted no-food-or-drink store. Whatever the reason, I didn’t see a guard or cop anywhere in sight.
“Come on!” I shouted to Pilar. We ran a few feet down the upper level plaza to the stairs and then hustled down to the lower level. Way down the main mall corridor, Alex was just disappearing through a doorway and Brent was several yards behind.
We dodged through the crowd of shoppers, sprinting down the corridor until we got to the door. Brent had disappeared through it a few seconds before us. It opened into a hallway leading to the delivery areas for the mall stores. Brent was rounding a corner about thirty yards ahead of us and we ran hard to catch up.
We skidded around the corner and that was when we ran right into trouble. The corridor had been deserted, but around the corner it widened into an open area with a series of loading docks where trucks could back up and offload their freight. Since it was a Saturday, there were no trucks, but up ahead I saw Alex standing near a group of guys. There were about ten of them, and most of them looked to be between sixteen and eighteen years old. The kid who had stolen the purse was standing next to the tallest one of the group. As we ran up after Brent, he handed the purse to the tall guy, who opened the purse, removed the lady’s wallet, pulled out the cash, and stuffed it in his pocket. He threw the purse on the ground.
“Give it back,” I heard Alex say.
“Who are you?” the kid said. He was wearing a red bandana and a tight denim vest over a white T-shirt. His jeans were low on his hips and he wore motorcycle boots. His arms were covered in tattoos. He looked dangerous.
“A concerned citizen. I said give it back,” Alex said. Alex was getting into that posture of his, somewhere in between extreme tension and quiet anger. He was like a coiled spring. This was going to get ugly.
My finely honed instincts in urban group dynamics told me this was a gang of some kind. I’m from Beverly Hills and we don’t really have a lot of gangs there. Gangs tend to clash with the landscaping and make the servants uncomfortable. Therefore I didn’t have a lot of up-close Crips-and-Bloods experience. But using my keen powers of observation, I deduced this was a gang. They all wore the same kind of clothes and looked like a pack of wolves or something. The other guys in the group had been leaning against the walls smoking. When we’d arrived they’d all stood up and fo
rmed a semi-circle around the tall kid with the tats.
“And what if I don’t?” he sneered.
“Then I’ll take it back,” Alex warned him.
“Alex,” Pilar said. “I don’t think this is—”
Alex held up his hand to silence her, never taking his eyes off the tall kid.
“Better listen to your girlfriend, homes,” the kid said. Really. He said homes.
For some reason, that scared me. It got scarier when the kid reached into his pocket, pulled out a really long switchblade knife, and flicked it open.
“You get out of here before I cut you!”
Okay, straight past scared and now officially terrified. Some boarding school I get sent to. I mean, a boarding school should be all about ugly school uniforms and SAT prep, and instead I get megalomaniacal supervillains and gangstas with really big knives. This wouldn’t make very good copy for the Blackthorn Academy brochure. If that judge that sent me here were there right then I’d have kicked her right in the—well, you get the idea.
Alex just stared at the kid. It was very quiet.
“Look. You don’t want to do this. I’m not letting you keep that money. And you’re not using that knife. Get that through your head. I’ll take it away from you before you even know what happened. Now give back the money and you’ll still be able to walk out of here.” Alex was calm. Too calm.
“You don’t get it, punk,” Mr. Tattoo said. (I like to make up little nicknames for people—especially villains—and Mr. Tattoo seemed appropriate.) “This mall is mine. This money is mine. If you don’t want to start bleeding, turn around right now and leave.”
I had no idea where the guy came from but all of a sudden I heard a voice from behind me.
“Put the knife away, Booker,” the voice said.
The voice startled me and I jumped and spun around, and without realizing it I went straight to third-pattern fighting pose. Hours of early-morning and after-school Tae Kwon Do training does that to you.
The Spy Who Totally Had a Crush on Me Page 2
