by C. L. Stone
“I can’t predict the future,” North said. “Maybe you’ll get tired of us all and kick us all out.”
“North—”
“I’m just saying we’re all making choices.” He stabbed his finger at the dashboard. “All I know is, when I talk to Victor about it, he’s torn at the idea of keeping you here with us or taking you with him. If you chose to stay with us, he’d stay with you here. I’m the same way. It sounds crazy, but I’d actually prefer if we stayed together.”
“You don’t want to drag me to a cave?” I asked quietly with a small smile.
“Shut up,” he said, “or I’ll go find one to drag you into. We want to stay together as a group, and we want you in the group. This is our fault, really. Not yours.”
“It’s my fault,” I said. “I bumped into Kota, and the next thing I know, you all kept trying to help me...”
“You needed it,” he said. “But we could have called in other Academy members. You could have even been out of this school and with a girl team by now.”
Internally, I shivered at the thought. I really disliked the idea of joining a girl team. I wasn’t sure why. I grew intensely uncomfortable thinking the only way to join the Academy might be on a girl team. I blamed it on being overly fond and biased about my own team. “We can’t go on what if scenarios,” I said, repeating what Mr. Blackbourne had said.
North nodded. He turned the car off the interstate and headed onto a ramp marked Hannahan. “So we’re on the same page? We’ll work at this as long as everyone is onboard?”
“I want to make sure everyone’s happy with it,” I said. “It feels wrong for me to ask it of anyone. Gabriel seemed fine until we went to Lily’s. At first I thought he was okay. Suddenly, he’s envious of Victor and then he’s all quiet. I’ve tried to talk to him, but he’s ignoring me.”
“Look,” he said. “Right now he’s busy trying to save your ass. So he’s got your cell phone, running around with it, looking over his shoulder. It might be he doesn’t have the time to talk. And that was a lot to consider, having all that suddenly thrown at him.”
“I’d feel better if I could talk to him,” I said. “I think if I can get him on my side, he can help me convince the others.”
North nodded. “Victor’s on board. Silas...I’m not sure where he stands.”
“He knows?” I asked, surprised. He didn’t mention it at all, but then they’d been trying to keep it a secret.
“He does,” North said. “Sort of. He needs to talk with Mr. Blackbourne about it, but he’s hesitating. I think he’s waiting it out to see where everyone else is. I think he’s okay with you being with me, and some of the others, but not everyone. Maybe he’s worried they’ll drag you off to a cave somewhere when he isn’t looking.”
I smiled at that. The complicated mess ahead of us seemed daunting, but North was a strong advocate to have. “If you work with Silas, I’ll work with Gabriel?”
“That sounds like a plan,” he said.
I breathed out slowly. “You know, I’m still not sure exactly how this will work out. Even if I like the idea, what are we doing?”
“At this point, I just think we need to all be aware of the plan, but do it in steps. If we can get everyone on the same page, then we’ll figure out the details.” He shrugged. “If we try to plan too far ahead at this point, it’s doing it without the others, and we need everyone on the same page before we start taking it to the next step.
That sounded reasonable. This wasn’t going to be an instance where a guy asks a girl out, she says yes, and then they’re together.
I held on to the thought that all relationships were complicated and needed work. More than one step at a time, it would be overwhelming.
The GPS on the phone started giving more directions the closer we got to the neighborhood. Soon, we ended up on a narrow street in the middle of a small subdivision.
We found the right road and North slowed the Jeep down. I scanned the area for Gabriel’s car.
There were two cars parked in yards along the street. Only one had a for sale sign. It was a rusty two-door Buick, like the muscle cars I’d seen on television. I grimaced at the sight of it. It desperately needed new paint, and there was a wheel missing on the back.
North groaned the moment he saw it. “Fuck,” he said. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He stopped the car in the middle of the street, and hopped out, moving right to the Buick. He’d left the Jeep running, door open wide.
My heart skipped. I checked behind us to be sure we weren’t blocking the road for anyone, and then hopped out of the Jeep to join him.
I stood beside North on the side of the road, checking out the old rusty car. A back window was cracked. The muffler was on the ground under the trunk. The longer I looked at it, the more I was sure it was simply a broken, beat up old car. “It doesn’t look like it really drives,” I said. “Are we sure this is the one?”
He looked up the road. “There’s that old truck on a lawn a few doors down. Something tells me that isn’t it, though.” He sighed, putting his hands on his hips, and glared at the car. “I didn’t know Gabriel was into muscle cars.”
“He never talked about it with anyone,” I said. “Luke had to drag out the street name, but wouldn’t tell him what it was.”
North moved to the car, checking out the inside. “Mold everywhere.” He moved to get down on the ground, doing a pushup move to check the broken wheel and under the body. “The bottom’s rusted. Might still be salvageable.” He stood up, pressing a palm to his forehead. “Baby, we need to ask him straight.”
“What about?” I asked.
“Look, this thing is maybe a couple thousand dollars at most. It’s in terrible disrepair. It’s been sitting outside in the elements for who knows how long. They’d sell it cheap. He’d have the money by now if he really wanted it. I don’t think this is it.”
“He said it was on this street.”
“This isn’t Gabriel, though,” he said. He gestured toward the hood. “A muscle car? A rusted out piece of shit that hasn’t been off this yard in years? No. That doesn’t sound like him.”
“He might like it,” I said. “Maybe with new paint. Maybe he wanted an old one he could paint.”
“But he’d have to get it fixed up to drive it. He’s never shown an ounce of interest in working on cars before.” He pointed to the Buick. “Maybe I’m wrong, but we need to double check. If I know anything about Gabriel, this isn’t it.”
I glanced up and down the road. I didn’t see any other cars that looked like they might be for sale. Most cars that were in view were parked up close to the garage, looking owned by whoever lived there. “Maybe you’re right.” It was hard to imagine Gabriel wanting to fix up a car. Paint it, yes, I could see, but if he wanted some car as a rite of passage, would it be something he’d have to get North to help him with?
Still, I was reluctant to move on. The answer was on this street somewhere. “Can we drive through the street again?” I asked.
North nodded. We got back into the Jeep, and started to move up and down the street again. North checked on the truck that was parked near the road, but he said it looked like someone still used it. There was a cup in the cup holder. Someone had just parked it in the yard.
Nothing else looked for sale. “Maybe he made his deal,” I said. “Maybe he’s making payments? That’s why there’s not a for sale sign. He’s buying it already. They just keep it off the road.”
North groaned. “Yeah, that sounds like him. He won’t tell me until it’s too late.” He pulled the Jeep around and started out. “Sorry, Baby. I know you wanted to get it for his birthday, but he’s already taking care of it. You’ll have to trust him to get what he wants on his own.”
I nodded, frowning. I should have been happy we didn’t have to worry about securing his car for him. I don’t know why, but I was disappointed. Again, I felt discouraged, like when I had discovered what Silas wanted, and realized making it happen was more th
an what I could do. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, curling up.
“Don’t look like that,” North said. “It’s a sweet thought. He’d appreciate it, but it just didn’t work out. He’ll be happy with something else. We’ll buy him some more paint and brushes and he’ll love it.”
“Luke said to get him an art set,” I said, still disappointed, but unable to express it to North. It sounded stupid. I wanted to find out what they all wanted and give it to them? I couldn’t even find the car Gabriel wanted.
North reached out, grabbing my hand while he drove. He rested our hands on the armrest between us. “Listen, Sang Baby,” he said. “We’ll get him whatever you want to get him, okay? Just don’t look like that.”
I pressed my lips together, trying to push back looking sad. I changed the subject. “Now we have to go meet Kota and Mr. Morris?”
“We’ve got some time to kill,” he said.
He pulled into a fast food place near the school. He bought us both grilled chicken sandwiches and waters. He said he wasn’t sure how long meeting Mr. Morris would take, and we should eat a bit now before we got caught up in something. We sat in the car, eating quietly.
“You didn’t eat much at lunch,” he said.
Once I was finished eating, I sat back, watching people filter in and out of the restaurant and driving by.
North claimed my hand again, holding onto it. At first, he was sitting back, waiting, like he was going to take a nap.
I was thinking about if I should send a text to Gabriel, about how to talk to Lily when I was nervous to call her. Absently, I started rubbing my thumb just inside North’s palm.
I didn’t realize I was doing it until North squeezed my hand tighter and then sat up straight. “Stop.”
I was confused for a moment, and then started to pull my hand away.
“No,” he said, as he clamped down tighter on my hand to still it. “It tickled.”
Somehow North and tickle didn’t work together. I relaxed my hand, letting him hold onto it. “North?”
“Hm?”
I hesitated, not sure where to start at first. “Thanks,” I said. “For helping me with Gabriel’s car thing.”
“No problem.”
SANG THE TARGET
North eventually followed directions to the café we were supposed to meet Mr. Morris at. He circled the block a few times before he pulled in. “There’s probably people nearby. He won’t come alone. I need to know the neighborhood in case we need to make an escape from him.”
“He should be looking over his own shoulder,” I said, thinking of Mr. Hendricks and Mr. McCoy. “He’s in more trouble than he probably realizes.”
North smirked. “You should tell him that.”
The café was small and served only a few baked sweets and a variety of coffee. Mr. Morris sat outside at a patio table amid other people. Plenty of chances for us to be observed by the public. Plenty of places for anyone to blend in among them and watch us.
“Can’t really blame him,” North said. “We’re the enemy making contact.”
It was hard to imagine us being an enemy of Mr. Morris. If it wasn’t for Mr. Hendricks, we’d all be at home right now, doing homework, taking time off with family. I tried to envision Mr. Morris, and what his home life was like. He probably didn’t enjoy having to take time out to talk with us.
North and I got out of the Jeep. North pointed out Kota inside the cafe door.
“Stay close,” North said. “Kota will approach him first.”
I stood by with North, out of sight of Mr. Morris. Kota left the inside of the cafe, and walked over to Mr. Morris. Mr. Morris lifted his head, said a few things. His eyebrows shifted, and he scanned the area. He didn’t appear happy to see Kota without me.
Kota motioned to us. We stepped out from around the Jeep. North walked beside me.
At the table, I met Kota and sat with him. North sat at a table behind us, nearby but alone. He acted as a lookout. When a waitress arrived, he ordered a single coffee.
Mr. Morris looked cross as I sat down. “I expected you to bring one of them, not the whole team.”
“They’re just protective,” I said, trying to sound sympathetic.
“What for?” he asked, eyeballing Kota and then his gaze settled behind me to where North was sitting.
Kota waved a hand at him. “Listen, we’re not here to hurt anyone.”
“I’m not even supposed to talk to you all,” he said. “Mr. Hendricks said to keep an eye on your people, but all this running around... It’s stupid. A waste of time.” Mr. Morris shook his head and bent over his coffee, glaring at it. “I can’t even transfer to another school. He’s got me by the balls now.”
“How?” I asked, sensing this was more than just money problems.
Mr. Morris’s jaw clenched. “I can’t talk about it.”
I shared a glance with Kota. Mr. Morris was in trouble. Mr. Hendricks might be blackmailing him. I had to wonder what Mr. Morris had done to deserve it.
Kota peeled his eyes away from me to study Mr. Morris. “I don’t know what he’s up to, but you really should consider backing out as much as possible.”
“I can’t,” Mr. Morris said.
“The only reason he’s threatening you is because he’s got something worse going on that he doesn’t want discovered,” Kota said.
Mr. Morris stilled at this and then lifted his head up. “I didn’t think about that.”
“The question is, what would you rather go down for?” Kota asked. “Whatever it is, his is probably much worse.”
Mr. Morris shook his head and then gazed out to the parking lot. “He’s not even clear on what he wants. One minute, he’s saying to follow you. The next, he wants Sang followed every minute. It’s a wild goose chase.”
“Why does he want her followed?” Kota asked.
“It was after Mr. McCoy showed back up.” He turned his head and squinted his dark eyes at me. “Did you really attack him in the girls’ locker room?”
My eyes opened wide. “He...I mean...” I fumbled, shaking.
“He said he confronted you with questions about someone stealing from students and the next thing he knows, you’re trying to get around him to run off. Then he tries to stop you, and you attack him.” He looked over at Kota. “Says he woke up with someone dragging him off and he bolted.”
A lightning strike couldn’t have rattled me harder. I was stuck to the chair, trying to recall that day, my memory fuzzy. So much had happened since. I couldn’t help but feel perhaps I did strike first. Maybe technically I had. He came after me, and I crash into him to defend myself. The situation...Mr. McCoy...From his perspective, maybe he was trying to pull me to the principal’s office and I was fighting him off like a wild animal?
I clamped a hand over my heart, looking over at Kota. Suddenly I was questioning that day, my own terrified thoughts of Mr. McCoy in that shower room. Had I somehow overreacted? Maybe after what my stepmother had done to me in the shower, and the fact that we’d been in the shower area changed my perspective of what Mr. McCoy had intended.
Still, he had been trying to drag me off somewhere. I had been uncomfortable and tried to leave and he wouldn’t let me. He knocked me down. I didn’t think I’d done the wrong thing. I was trying to survive. It would have been different if someone else was there, another teacher maybe.
“He came after her,” Kota said calmly, focusing on Mr. Morris. He spoke clearly, his voice powerful and even. My wild thoughts stilled until all I heard was his voice. “He cornered her in the shower room after everyone else had left. He made sure to isolate her and then when she felt uncomfortable and asked to leave, he stopped her.” He motioned to me. “She hadn’t stolen anything, and even if she needed to be interviewed about it, he purposefully made sure everyone else had gone, that the coaches had left and had forgotten about her. It was no wonder she reacted.”
“How do you know?” Mr. Morris said, an eyebrow raised. “How do you know what
happened?”
“Interviews after,” he said. “I asked the coaches, who said they didn’t remember Sang joining them and then were left wondering where she went after they’d interviewed everyone else. McCoy had the list of students. He rattled off the names, purposefully skipping her. At the end, he said that was everyone and dismissed them.” Kota stabbed a forefinger at the table. “He was making sure she was alone in that locker room. I don’t know about you, but if he wanted to confront a thief like that, he could have done the routine with everyone else present. That wasn’t what he was doing.”
My heart lifted, reassured now that Kota had said something. I wanted to reach out, to hold his arm or something. I was rattled now, though, unsure of what to say or think. Suddenly, I was exhausted, like I’d just relieved that experience again. I shivered, willing this to be over.
Mr. Morris pursed his lips, nodding. He picked up his cup and spoke instead of drinking. “It sounded fishy,” he said. “Still, he has most people believing she attacked him and that she’s really crazy.”
“The point is,” Kota said, “he’s got you chasing her around while Mr. Hendricks is doing something worse. You look like you’re involved working with him.”
“How do you know what he’s doing?” Mr. Morris asked.
“He’s working this hard for nothing?” Kota asked. “He’s got teachers spying on ordinary students. He’s gone so far as to have people chase us around to make sure we’re not watching him. That means he’s got something worth paying attention to.”
Mr. Morris nodded slowly. “He’s waiting for me to tell him things. Like where this Academy is. He keeps saying if I find it, he’ll back off.”
Kota looked back at North and then at Mr. Morris. “We could give you a location, but he won’t find much. It’ll be a lot like chasing us around.”
My eyes widened. A location? For the Academy? Where?
