Drill keeps the light focused on him. “It’s over. Let her go.”
“You want to take me on, Stamm?”
“Let McKenna go, then you’ll get your chance with me.”
Laughing, Matthews takes a step toward Drill. “You’re crazier than I thought.”
“Come on. Man to man. Let’s go.”
Matthews hesitates and I know he’s scanning the darkness, waiting to see if anyone else is going to come. “What the hell?” He steps forward into the clearing.
Drill drops the flashlight on the ground, highlighting a space he steps into, muscles tense and ready. Just waiting for Matthews to make a move. They circle slowly, sizing each other up.
“Evers is down, Stamm!” Jonathan’s voice slides through the trees.
Jonathan! I want to cry out, but before I can another hand clamps over my mouth. “Don’t yell, Mac, it’s us. You’re safe.” Kelly releases his hand and I turn to see for sure. “We’ve got to move. Now.”
I shake my head. “Not yet. Let’s just wait—make sure Drill and Jonathan—”
“We’ve got orders, Mac. We have to get you out of here.” Kelly’s voice is full of urgency.
“You ready to rappel?” Nix whispers, his eyes on my gear.
I shake my head. “They cut it. It’s ruined. They were going to make me . . .” But I let the words trail off. If I say it, then it’s real, and I’ll freak.
“Here. Use mine.” Kelly’s moving fast, taking his harness off as Nix helps me untangle from mine.
Drill lands a punch to Matthews’s stomach. Matthews charges when he’s bent over, carrying them both to the ground in a whirlwind of limbs.
“Where’s Jonathan?” I’m doing what Kelly says, trying to pull up his harness while my eyes scan the darkness for any sign of my brother.
“Hurry,” Kelly whispers, pulling his harness up around my waist and tightening it. Nix secures the rope they used to climb up the falls. “You remember Hell Week, right?” Kelly says, checking the ropes once more. “Easy as pie. Ritchie’s down below.”
I want to say thank you, to hug him and tell him I’m sorry for everything that’s happened.
“Go, Mac. You’ve got to get out of here. We’re right behind you.”
I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and step off the ledge. Pushing back, I let the rope slide through my fingers. It only takes two jumps to get down.
At the bottom, Ritchie unhooks me, my hands shaking too hard to be useful. “Let’s go.” He gives my arm a tug but I can’t stop looking up.
“What about—”
“Kelly and Nix are coming. The colonel and Drill have it under control. Now, hurry,” he says. “The guys we took out aren’t going to stay down for long. Jax intercepted an email. The rest of the Society found out what Matthews and Evers were planning. They’re on their way out here right now. We’ve got to get out of the woods.”
We start running along the trail by the river, a much easier way to go.
“The phone worked great. We’ve got their whole conversation on tape. Matthews and Evers are going down. The Society’s going down.”
“What about Jonathan? How—”
“Jax finally hacked into Matthews’s dad’s email tonight. Kelly was right. It was all there—how he’d ordered Matthews to pressure Jonathan all year to get you to quit. How they kept him from sleeping like they did Kelly, how they threatened to hurt you if he wouldn’t get you to leave. Drill called him and Colonel McKenna demanded to be part of this. He hadn’t even left town yet.”
“You guys are amazing.” The relief makes it easier to run. Jonathan never really turned his back on me at all.
Ritchie shrugs. “We’ll be even more amazing if you pick it up and we finish the Worm Challenge.”
Kelly and Nix catch up, giving each other celebratory high fives as they run. Kelly grabs my hand and doesn’t let go, pulling me on even though my legs are dead and all I want to do is sink down on the ground and curl up into a ball.
The static of a walkie-talkie breaks the silence. “Mission complete,” Drill says through the buzz. “I repeat, mission complete. Get back to campus, you four. All hell’s going to break loose.”
“Ready, Mac?” We’re out of the trees now, the last two miles a road run to campus. The clouds are gone, and a hint of sun glows on the edge of the horizon. Kelly’s green eyes sparkle and both dimples shadow his face.
“For what?”
“To finish the Worm Challenge!” He squeezes my hand. Ritchie grabs the other and we run onto campus together, Nix leading the way. When we round the turn for the last climb up to the obstacle course, the guys back off. I glance at my watch: 0645. It’ll be close, if we make it at all.
“Where’s the rest of Alpha?” I huff, muscles straining as we climb the hill.
“Look around.”
From the trees that line the side of the trail, one by one, the rest of the company—minus Wilson, the only Alpha recruit the Society has left—comes out. They’re clapping and Kelly starts a cadence as we all fall into step, climbing the hill to the last obstacle course together.
They’d waited for me.
Falling into formation, my recruit buddies let me go first, though none of them are far behind, over the walls, through the tunnels. I hesitate for only a second at the rope, the cheers from the guys behind me urging me on. The rope bites into my skin, but I use the memory of Amos to fuel me.
This is one war I’m going to win.
Back at the bottom of the rope, I wait. The rest of the obstacles we can do as a team and I’m not going to go off on my own. I’ve blazed enough trails this year. Together, Alpha Company crosses the finish line with two minutes and three seconds to spare. We did it.
The cheer is enormous and even through the exhaustion, I give myself a second to smile. Arms grab me and pull me into a hug. I know this hug. “Jonathan,” I get out, before he squeezes me again.
“God, Sammy.” He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. You came. Nothing else matters.”
He nods, fighting the tears that he won’t let fall. McKenna men don’t cry. “I’m sorry I was a dick. I didn’t want them to know I was onto them. That you’d given me proof. Getting Matthews demoted was all I could do without doing more harm than good. I didn’t mean any of it.” He looks me in the eyes. “None of it, Sammy.”
Drill runs through the recruits, giving congratulations, but his face is anything but happy. He leans his head between us, talking just loud enough for me to hear. “We need to go. Now.”
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FORTY-TWO
TIM’S KITCHEN IS PACKED—DRILL, JONATHAN, AND TIM pace like caged animals. Jax sits on the counter and Kelly fidgets. “I can’t stop shivering,” I say, my words sounding loud in the silent kitchen. When I got here I changed into a pair of Drill’s sweats, but even they can’t warm me up.
Kelly goes to Tim’s cabinets and starts opening them. When he finds what he wants, he pours the coffee grounds into the filter and sets the pot to brew. Then he sits next to me at the table, his eyes scanning me from head to toe to head again.
“Stop staring at me like that. I’m fine.” I wish I wasn’t shaking so he might believe me.
Drill walks to a basket on the kitchen counter. He grabs an apple and slices it, opens the pantry, and pulls out some peanut butter. He plops them on the table in front of me. “Eat.”
I pick up a slice and chomp down. “Happy?” I ask around the fruit.
“Something needs to happen to those bastards,” Kelly growls. He still feels guilt about his part in the Society and hasn’t stopped apologizing.
“They’ll pay, believe me.” Drill is using his dangerous voice again.
“So the million-dollar question is how? What do we do with the names? The information?” I
chomp down on another bite of apple.
“We don’t have to rush into this,” Jax says.
Drill lets out a snarl. “No one expects you to do anything right now. Just rest.”
“I can’t, okay?” If I stop even for a second, everything will come flooding back: the waterfall, the knife, the cut rope. The fact that they were actually trying to kill me. I know I’m going to have to deal with it. I just can’t right now. “I need to do something. Anything. If Jax thinks we can take them down, we do it.” I turn to Jonathan. “So, Colonel? What’s the plan of attack?”
“They’re lying low. Going to the local cops is pointless—half of them are on the Society’s payroll anyway. We’ve got to go to the board of directors and hope things haven’t changed too quickly, that the Society hasn’t had time to put more people in place.”
Drill nods. “Forget about jumping the chain of command. If we make the list of cadet members public, the board of directors will have to make sure something is done.”
“So we go to the Board.” My voice is breathy and my head is light, like I’m about to pass out. Next year, the DMA will be Pandora-free. Talk about jumping into the deep end, but we’ve got to do something. I look at Jax. “We’ll do it.” I swallow hard. “You’ve got the evidence?”
“Right here,” she says, pulling a flash drive out of her pocket. It had taken some doing, but Jax’s hacker skills paid off. She’d gotten photos of all the DMA cadets with their Pandora Society tattoos, the emails proving Evers shot me, the photos from Matthews’s kicking incident, and the recording from the Worm Challenge. We’ll hold General Matthews’s emails back. We need to make sure something gets done at the DMA before we take our chances releasing the bigger list. If they can control the Board of Supervisors, we’ll have to figure out another plan of attack.
“That’s it. It’s decided,” Tim says, his voice commanding.
“Okay,” I say. “But I need to make a call before we do anything.”
Tim stands up. “The phone’s right there. Your dad’s number is next to it. He’s expecting you.” How Tim knew what I was going to do, I don’t know. But then I think of Amos. Dad was the first person he always went to when he was in trouble. Of course he would know it’s what I want.
Once they’re in the living room, the television on, machine guns firing, I grab the phone and the number. My heart pounds so loud as I sit at the table, I’m scared I won’t hear if anyone picks up.
“Colonel McKenna.” His voice is brusque and serious on the phone. No extra syllables to spare. But I shatter all the same.
Tears spill down my face and my throat swells up. I’m not even sure I can talk. “Daddy?”
“It’ll be okay,” Rev says two days later, standing next to me on the steps of the admin building. “I’ll be there with you.”
The building is tall and imposing and I’m afraid I’ll lose my nerve. I still can’t stop shaking so I busy my hand tugging at the collar of my dress blues. Drill, Tim, Jonathan, and Kelly stand with us.
Tim’s cell phone beeps and he pulls it out of his pocket. “Jax wishes you luck. Actually, she told you to kick some ass, but . . .”
The laugh feels good, and even though I’m terrified I allow myself to enjoy it for a second.
Tim’s phone chirps again. “Jax again. The commandant’s out,” he whispers, like he’s scared someone will overhear us. “The board of directors just sent a press release.”
“The first casualty of the war,” Jonathan says.
Drill shrugs, clearly not upset over the “loss of life.” “He should have stood up to them. He got manipulated like all the rest.” He keeps his eyes on me, avoiding a look at my brother that will just start another argument between them. It’s been nonstop for two days.
“I guess there’s nothing left to do but go in there and tell the truth.”
“I’ll be right here when you get out.” Kelly doesn’t hug me but he’s there, a solid presence at my side.
“I know you will.” I glance down at my blues, smoothing the tunic even though there are no wrinkles.
“You look fine,” Drill says. He tugs on a stray piece of hair and I can’t help but smile. Then I turn and walk up the stairs to see what my future holds.
It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust inside. In the last two days, three helicopters had hovered above campus, chopping their way to the landing pad next to the football field. Helicopters that could only be bigwig military officers—the people who had summoned me here after Jonathan requested a meeting.
Raised voices from behind heavy wooden doors make me want to reach out for Rev. I take a step back, feeling the edge of a chair dig into my legs, my heart beating too fast to be able to survive long.
Evers’s voice is louder than the others. “It’s what they wanted—what you wanted.”
The noise makes its way out from somewhere deep inside.
The other voices are not as loud, but are equally strong. “We should be pressing charges against you. Using the DMA to do something like this—”
“Say whatever you want. You knew it would end up like this. You knew this would happen. And that’s why no one said anything when you found out we were still active.”
“This is the end of the road for you, Cadet Evers. You’re out of the DMA. Out of the collegiate military academies.”
“You can’t do that!”
“I can, and I will. You’re dangerous, Cadet Evers.”
The door jerks open so hard it slams against the wall inside the conference room. Rev steps in front of me, large and imposing.
Evers struggles to pull his DMA ring off. “Take this damn piece of trash. It’s worth about as much as this fucking school.” Winding up like a star pitcher, he rips the ring into the room where it clatters against the far wall. Then he turns.
“You,” Evers hisses when he sees me. “I should have dropped you off the waterfall when I had the chance.”
Blood thunders in my ears. I want to rip his eyes out, to kill him, to hurt him like he hurt me. “You’re pathetic,” I spit out, thankful for the adrenaline that keeps my voice from shaking.
“You’re going to ruin this school. You already fucking have.”
“Did you get what you wanted when you tried to kill me? Did you prove your point?” The words are out before I can stop them.
“Hell, yes. I’m better than you. Always will be. You needed to be put in your place.”
“As opposed to the place you’re in?” I look at him. Finally, really look. He’s got stubble on his face and a split lip that should have had stitches. Both his eyes are swollen and bruised from the beating Jonathan gave him in the woods. “The place where they’re kicking your sorry ass out the door, and I’m here for round two?”
He lunges for me, but Rev is there, his hands on Evers’s chest. “Now, now, Mr. Evers. I doubt you want another incident on your record.” Then he lowers his voice. “Get the hell out, now. Before I finish what her brother started. You’re a disgrace to the DMA.”
“No,” I say, my voice shaking. I nudge my way between Rev and Evers, knowing this is the last time I’ll have to stand this close to him. “Don’t go yet.” I pull my arm back and strike fast, my knuckles connecting with his cheekbone.
He stumbles back, shaking his head. Putting his hand against his cheek, he glares at me.
“What? Not used to a girl who puts up a fight?” I couldn’t have surprised him more. “Now you can go, asshole.”
Evers throws his arms up the air. When he’s out the front door, leaving behind a trail of profanity, I can finally breathe again. “God, that hurt.”
“You okay?” Rev turns to face me.
“Not yet.” My hand throbs and I cradle my fist in the crook of my arm. “Let’s finish this.”
A gentle cough makes me jump. “Recruit McKenna, they’re ready for you.” The commandant’s secretary holds the door to a large conference room open for me. There are uniforms all over the place; at least fifteen people
of varying rank sit around the conference table. “Reverend, this is a closed meeting. You may wait outside.”
“The reverend will be coming with me.” I push past her and wait to be sure Rev follows without even giving her a second glance.
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FORTY-THREE
EVERYONE STANDS WHEN I ENTER AND THE MAN AT THE HEAD of the table, someone I’ve never seen before, motions to a seat. When I sit down, Rev stands close behind me.
“Ms. McKenna, thank you for coming to meet with us. My name is Colonel Keene. I’m the acting head for the DMA board of directors. As you can imagine, our board has been thrown into upheaval since the training incident and the evidence the cadet colonel released to us.”
It certainly has—the most major change being Matthews’s father, who is sitting at the end of the table. He wasn’t on the board of directors last week. He must have pulled rank to be part of this today. My nerves go into overdrive.
Colonel Keene continues. “I’m sorry about the . . . unfortunate timing. Cadet—former Cadet—Evers’s meeting wasn’t supposed to take that long. The last thing we wanted was an altercation.”
If I’m going to get through this, I have to push Evers as far to the back of my mind as I can. Rev puts his hand on the back of my chair.
“I would like to apologize to you on behalf of the Denmark Military Academy board of directors and family,” Colonel Keene says across the table. “There were always going to be those cadets who did not want things to change, but we knew nothing of the Pandora Society.”
“Thank you, sir. But your apology would mean a lot more if I believed it.”
Rev lets out a loud breath behind me and I’m sure we’re both thinking the same thing. Keene’s name wasn’t on the list, but including Matthews, there are four others at the table who are DMA grads and Pandora Society members.
“We are taking immediate action to ensure this does not happen again. All members of the Pandora Society on campus will be drummed out this evening. They will not be allowed to continue their education here. Furthermore, we will be doing some restructuring to ensure that the Corps is as strong and safe as it can be. Commandant Lee is released from his position and a new commandant will take his place.”
Rites of Passage Page 30
