“Kane is taking over? Who told you that?”
“Kane told us Pillars to spread the word that he’s cleaning house around here. He’s moving into the headmaster’s residence as we speak.”
My head is already exploding when Zack goads me more. “Damn. If I knew a hottie like Emily Dombrose was desperate enough to hook up with losers like you and Boyle, I would have done her a favor and given her a ride myself. It’s too bad she was sent home before I got a turn.”
Jose lunges for Zack. I pull him back with everything I’ve got, but I barely keep them apart. I’d love to watch Zack get crushed, but Cameron’s right. It’s just Laney, Jose, and me now. We don’t need to make it any easier for Kane by getting expelled for fighting.
“No, Jose!” I spin him aside. “We know it’s BS. The police will figure out it’s a lie. You don’t want to get busted over this.”
“Good thing you got a friend like Michaels,” Zack says. “Or maybe not. A lot of his friends seem to be experiencing bad luck these days.”
Cameron moves closer. “You know, Mr. Kane would be happy to help your friends if you’d only provide a certain document. In fact, he’d make it well worth your cooperation.”
“The only way I’d give him that TPD was if it was covered in anthrax,” I say.
“Shame. ’Cause he’s running out of patience, and you’re running out of time.” Cam turns and saunters away, with Zack trailing behind.
Students start trickling to their lockers, staring at us.
Jose whispers, “Meet me at the secret room after school. Make sure you aren’t followed.” He adds, “I’ll tell Laney too.”
Forty-four
That afternoon, I cut around campus the long way just to make sure I’m not trailed on my way to the mausoleum. Jose is already in the hidden room waiting for me.
“Let’s take the tunnels and see if we can learn anything by spying at Boyle’s house,” he says, lifting the staircase.
I hold it still. “Wait … isn’t Laney coming?”
“I never had a chance to talk to her.” He crawls inside. “She was surrounded all day by people asking about Kollin.”
We navigate the tunnels to the headmaster’s house in silence. It’s broken by the sound of voices as we climb the rungs to the room behind the fireplace. Jose holds a finger to his mouth and I nod. We creep up behind the one-way mirror.
Kane strolls in front of the fireplace, talking to a familiar-looking redhead. She’s sitting on the sofa, tapping a pen against a notepad on her lap. There are papers and a laptop spread out next to her.
“But why frame him?” she says. “You agreed we needed his support at the board meeting.”
“I did, but Boyle’s become more of a nuisance than a help. He’s interfered with everything we’ve set up so far. We can do this without him.”
“How do you figure?” the woman says, twisting her pearl necklace in her fingers.
I realize now where I saw her before—she was the woman onstage with Kane at the Pillar assembly.
Kane loosens his silk tie and collapses in a chair opposite her. “With Boyle’s arrest and the recent ‘crime wave’ on campus, it’ll be easy. I’ll convince the Board that change is necessary to restore the levels of excellence William Singer intended for his school. Even the most stubborn board members will be grateful I intervened; this is clearly a crisis.”
“What if the headmaster tells the Board how you bribed him to get his support?”
“Do you really think anyone would trust anything Boyle says at this point?”
“True.” The woman nods, then smiles slightly. “So how the hell did you get the headmaster to meet that girl in the woods at 1:00 in the morning?”
Kane leans back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Cameron called Boyle and said he needed to confess something about the vandalism but was scared. He asked him to meet him confidentially in the woods after midnight.”
“And the girl?”
“Zack forged a note with Talan Michael’s signature and left it in her locker, telling her to sneak out to the woods at 1:00 a.m. for Sevens’ business. Michaels is notorious for his “night crawling,” so she bought it. The Galesburg police were staked out and waiting.”
With a glint in this eye, Kane adds, “It worked perfectly. There were records already of Boyle meeting privately with Emily over the past few days. With all that, the police were able to get a warrant.”
I want to punch the grin off his face.
“They did all the leg work for us,” he finishes. “And the Pillars look like heroes. Brilliant, huh?”
“Quite.” She sets the pen and notepad aside, walks over to the bar cart, and pours two drinks.
“And that’s also six hundred thousand more for us,” Kane says. “Not to mention that getting rid of Matthew allows us to scour this house looking for the TPD … and the hidden cash.”
She hands a glass to Kane. “You really think there’s money hidden here?”
“It’s possible. When the detectives investigated Singer’s murder, they learned there’d been regularly scheduled armored car deliveries from his personal vault to his home for almost a year. But they couldn’t find a safe here, or any evidence of large purchases.”
She sits back down with her drink, crossing one long leg over the other. “So maybe Singer gave it away. Or like the police suspected, maybe the Sevens stole it.”
Kane jiggles the ice in his glass. “The Sevens were never aware of it.”
“How would you know that?”
“I overheard a conversation once between Singer and Caesar Solomon. Singer was explaining how he’d selected some students to protect his school in case anything happened to him. He said that down the road, he planned on surprising them with a fortune for their loyalty.”
“So why did the police think the Sevens took it?”
“Because I never told them about that. They based their theory on my eyewitness account of the fire—where I said I heard Singer screaming that the Sevens were trying to rob and kill him.”
“So you lied?”
“I took some license with the truth, but that’s not germane to this conversation. Right now, we need to focus on securing that TPD. The money will be a nice bonus if we find it.”
“You’re a remarkable man, Stephen.” The woman stands up and casually strolls around the room. “Cunning,” she says, “and successful at getting what you want. It’s too bad Mr. Singer didn’t realize what was in front of him. If you’d been chosen as a Seven, things would have turned out differently.”
She stops at the far wall to study a portrait of William and Mary.
“That’s exactly what I told him. When I found out Singer was forming a secret society, I volunteered my services.”
“And he refused?”
“He said he already selected his pledges. He was an ass to me and furious at Solomon.” Kane stares at his glass, then chugs down the rest of his drink.
“Why?” she asks. “Because he thought Solomon told you about the Sevens?”
“That, and other things.” Kane sets his glass on the table next to him and rubs his forehead. “Needless to say, Singer chose the wrong Sevens. Naive and stupid, every one of them. William Singer was a fool to the end.”
The doorbell rings. “Would you mind, Katherine?” Kane says.
She carries her drink to the door and opens it. “You’re late.”
The six Pillars traipse behind her into the living room. “We got here as soon as we could,” Cameron says.
Kane rises to address them. “I want each of you to take a room upstairs and search it for that TPD. Katherine already took apart the downstairs after police left this morning. Look through bookshelves, behind cabinets, anywhere Mr. Singer might have hidden papers. And use these.” He tosses them a box and Zack pulls out a pair of latex gloves.
As they each slide on a pair, Kane turns to Cameron. “Were you able to plant the evidence in their lockers?”
“No.” With a wicked smile, Cameron adds, “We figured out something even better. Zack overheard the football coaches talking. With the season canceled, they decided to collect the gear and uniforms for next year. They had the custodian empty the football bags from the players’ lockers so they could inventory the equipment tonight. All the bags were lying there in a stack. We figured out which were Marcus’ and Jake’s and stuffed the evidence inside them. That’s why we’re late, actually.”
“Great work!” Kane slaps his hand on Cameron’s back. “This couldn’t be more perfect. The coaches will stumble on it and call the authorities for us. Excellent plan, Cam!”
Kane continues giving the Pillars directions, but I’m done listening. I take off down the rungs and back through the tunnels.
“Talan!” Jose whisper-yells behind me.
My heart’s pumping like a jackhammer, drenching my brain with dizzying thoughts. Back at the mausoleum stairs, I wait long enough for Jose to catch up.
“Those are my best friends,” I pant. “I have to get whatever the Pillars planted before the coaches find it.”
Jose grabs hold of my arm. “You’ll get caught. Maybe we should focus on the TPD. We’re running out of time.”
“I won’t be able to concentrate knowing my friends will be expelled. Kane has hurt enough people on account of me. You stay here and spy, and I’ll get back as soon as I can.”
I run up the stairs with Jose a step behind me. “I’m coming with. You heard what Boyle said. We need to stick together.”
We sneak out of the mausoleum, but motor once we hit the woods. The fieldhouse is a few blocks away. We’ve got to make it before they close the school for the day.
The rear entrance is still unlocked. Jose peeks through the wired window on the door, straining his neck to one side. “The bags are piled up against the back wall.”
“Is anyone in there?”
“No.”
I swing the door open, rush to the rancid-smelling pile, and start sorting through the player bags.
“How do we know which are Marcus’ and Jake’s?”
“They’re labeled with the jersey numbers. Marcus is eleven, and Jake is thirty-five, no … thirty-six.”
We tear through the bags in search of those numbers and haul them out. Jose weeds through Jake’s equipment and pulls out black clothes splattered with red paint stains. I find the same in Marcus’ bag, along with an empty can of spray paint. Jose stands up, juggling everything in one arm while he bends to zip the bag closed.
“Freeze right there!” a voice booms.
Busted.
Forty-five
My holding cell is six by eight feet, with three brick walls, a cage door, and a stainless steel toilet in one corner. I can see Jose in his cell, caddy-corner from me, but we’re too far apart to talk privately. Neither of us has spoken since we were arrested four hours ago.
Coach Gaspari told the police that it looked like we were putting clothes and spray paint in some football bags. We say nothing. God knows I’ve already done enough damage opening my stupid mouth.
Sergeant Lynch unlocks my cell door. “Your bail’s been paid. Your attorney is waiting at the front desk.”
As I follow him down the hall, Lynch tells Jose, “You’re going to be a while. Your houseparents just got ahold of your mother and she’s going to need some time to arrange bail.”
Jose grimaces at the mention of his mom, and I feel like crap. So much of this is my fault. Why’d I get involved in the first place?
As I step out of the holding area, I see Mr. and Mrs. Shanahan sitting at a desk, being interviewed by a detective. I can read their thoughts from their faces. They’re angry and stunned and sick to their stomachs. Something inside me breaks when Mom’s eyes well. My days at Singer are over and we both know it.
That’s why I had to make a new plan for myself.
That’s why I walk straight past them without saying a word.
That’s why I didn’t use my one phone call on them.
Dad catches my sleeve as I pass by. “Where you going, son?”
But I’m not his son anymore. I knew it’d be over eventually. I need to cut ties while I can still protect them. “I’m eighteen,” I say. “I’m a legal adult. I don’t have to tell you anything, and I don’t need you here.”
Mom looks like I slapped her. When Dad grabs my arm, I peel his hand away and plod over to the front desk, where Stephen Kane waits with a stack of papers.
“You won’t be sorry,” Kane says. “Making a deal with me is the smartest thing you ever did.”
I’m sickened by my own words: “Just get me the money and I’ll give you that document.”
“I told you, Michaels. You and I have a lot in common.”
“And leave the Sevens alone,” I remind him. “We do this my way, or no TPD. You still don’t know who the other Sevens are. You cross me, and I’ll let the other Sevens turn that TPD in at the board meeting.”
“Just so there’s no confusion”—Kane repeats what I told him on the phone—“you want fifty thousand dollars and a limo to the airport, in exchange for the TPD by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow?”
“And you stop hassling my friends.”
Kane’s lawyer appears at my side. She looks down her nose at me. “I’m Katherine Jones. I’ll be representing you as your attorney. You’re to say nothing until we talk privately. Did they read you your rights?”
I nod.
“Stephen, let his houseparents know that he’s being released into your custody. I need to sign some papers so we can get out of here.”
Kane walks back to the Shanahans, while Katherine takes her paperwork to the clerk.
I look around and see Laney watching me from the waiting room, tugging her ear. I need to get rid of her before Kane sees her. When I’m sure no one’s looking, I hurry over toward her and pull her into a doorway, out of sight. “You need to go away. Now! Before Kane sees you.”
“What’s going on? What happened? The police searched your room and found the skull in your vent.” Laney is talking a mile a minute. “They told Mom and Dad you were caught planting evidence in Marcus’ and Jake’s bags. Marcus was so pissed, he totally narced you out for everything.”
“Did Marcus mention anything about you?”
“No, but he’s so hurt. He thinks you tried to set him up.”
“Everyone leaves me eventually. I’m better off this way.”
“Better off what way?”
“It’s over. I cut a deal with Kane. I told him I’d get him the TPD if he agreed to bail me out and give me enough money to leave town.”
“What are you saying? What about the Sevens?”
“There’s nothing we can do now,” I say. “We have no idea where the TPD is and that board meeting is tomorrow morning. It’s best to keep quiet. Kane still has no idea about you. You have a bright future and you’ll graduate before the school goes to hell next year. They’re still going to need houseparents, but if you piss Kane off, he’ll be more than happy to fire your mom and dad. Don’t blow it all for nothing. I’m taking care of myself. You need to do the same.”
Laney’s voice trembles. “Where will you go?”
“I’ll make a fresh start somewhere. I’ll have enough money to take my time and figure things out. That’s all I ever really wanted out of this in the first place. The money. Kane will set me up good. In eight months, you’ll be in college and I’ll be on a beach somewhere and we’ll both be happy. That’s all that matters.”
“No it isn’t, and you know it.”
“It’s over, Laney.”
“No!”
“Yes! The Sevens are finished. Kollin’s dying, Jose is behind bars, Emily’s been sent home, and Headmaster Boyle’s career has been destroyed … it’s over.”
“You said you loved me that night in the mausoleum.” Her eyes brim with tears. “How can you just leave?”
I’ve got to convince her. “’Cause that’s what people do, Delaney. They
leave.” I peek around the corner and see Katherine scooping up the paperwork. I make sure to stare deep into Laney’s eyes. “It’s over,” I say firmly.
I slip back into the lobby, leaving her standing there alone.
Don’t look back. Keep walking. It was going to end eventually.
I join Kane and Katherine at the front desk.
“You’ll be spending the night with me,” Kane says. “Well, mainly with Katherine. I have an appointment with my banker to withdraw your money. Maybe you could take Katherine to get the TPD while I’m gone.”
“No way,” I say. “I expect to see the money and a limo waiting with the door open before I hand that to you.”
“Fine.” He looks me up and down. “But don’t try anything. I’ll be setting the alarm system in case you’re thinking of running. I already added extra security all over campus for the board meeting tomorrow. You couldn’t run ten feet without being caught, not with the entire student body and staff turned against you. And if you try, there’ll be no one to bail you out next time.”
“You keep your end of the deal,” I say, “and I’ll take care of mine.”
Forty-six
Kane’s chauffeur drops us off at the headmaster’s residence. “Wait here,” Kane tells his driver. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Katherine and I follow him to the room with the fireplace. She tosses her coat and briefcase on the couch, and Kane points to a dial pad on the wall.
“See that?” he tells me. “This burglar alarm is wired for every door and window in this residence. If you even think of escaping, Security will be on you before you can say prison sentence. I’m not sure how long I’ll be, but Katherine’s been kind enough to keep you company in my absence.”
There goes my plan to run for the mausoleum.
Kane keys a code into the keypad. “This gives me thirty seconds to leave the house,” he explains to Katherine. “Then it sounds an alarm the instant a door or window is opened. Be careful not to accidentally set it off.”
He bolts for the door and slams it behind himself.
Secret of the Sevens Page 25
