Authors: Natalie Whipple
Mom, despite her best efforts, shrinks at the threat. “Asshole.”
The Phantom shrugs innocently. “I’m just a concerned, law-abiding citizen.”
“Bullshit!” I yell, pissed that he’s forcing my mom to stay behind. How am I supposed to do this without her?
“Hey,” one of the soldiers snaps at me. “No more talking.” They take me to the back of the truck, while Mom’s tears begin to fall. The Phantom’s laugh fills my ears, and I’d give anything to kick his skinny ass.
The locks on the back of this vehicle are ridiculous—three huge bolts that each need a separate code. The door opens with a puff of air, like it’s pressurized inside. When I look into the dimly lit space, I’m surprised to find someone else already in there, hunched over and squinting at the sudden burst of light. One look at his size and blazing red hair, and I know who it is.
Brady.
Now I’m even angrier. It’s one thing for The Phantom to mess with me, but with my friends?
“Fiona?” Brady says as the soldiers shove me inside with unnecessary force. They shut the door, and the locks wheeze as they’re reset.
“I’m gonna kill that guy.” I kick the side of the truck, wishing it was The Phantom’s head. Somewhere in my mind I know my rage is disturbingly high, that my need for vengeance could easily get out of control. But I don’t care. “What’d they accuse you of?”
Brady doesn’t look at me, seeming embarrassed. “Destroying private property.”
“Ugh! That land isn’t private!” I sit across from him on the narrow bench. “This is ridiculous. They just want an excuse to leech more information, and The Phantom gave it to them.”
This doesn’t seem to improve Brady’s mood. “You should have seen everyone, Fi. They were freaked out. Bea…she was on the verge of tears.”
These words extinguish all my fight. “I’m sorry, Brady. It’s all my fault.”
He shakes his head, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Don’t flatter yourself. You didn’t force us to do anything.”
“Whatever.” I lean my head back on the wall, thinking. “We shouldn’t talk anymore. Who knows what they’ll try to use against us, and we don’t know who’s listening.”
“True.”
The ride doesn’t take long, and when they open the door I’m surprised to find we’re at the school, not their little base at the factory. Truth be told, I’m kind of bummed—I was hoping to at least get a peek at the dig site Seth described. Maybe that’s why we’re here instead.
Since it’s a weekend, the school is abandoned save military personnel. Brady and I step out of the truck, and immediately five more soldiers surround us as if we’re thinking of fighting back. They take us to the office, where they’ve put up bars in the small copy room’s doorway.
How they think this would hold any respectable criminal, I don’t know. Even I could get through drywall.
After they take off our handcuffs and lock us in the cell, a soldier says, “The Major will be here soon.”
“Super.” I settle in on the floor. The area has been stripped of the copier and shelves, with only a few blankets and a bucket for I-don’t-want-to-think-about-it in the far corner.
“Soon” must be a term for “sometime in the future” in military speak, because Brady and I sit in that room long enough for my butt to start aching. I fold up one of the blankets to sit on, hoping that will help. It’s brutal to sit in silence, especially since I would prefer to pass the time joking around with Brady.
I can’t stop thinking about The Phantom and his smug grin. What did he tell the Army, exactly? Why is it that only me and Brady got taken in? They had to have seen Seth with us at the very least. Maybe they could only drum up enough fake evidence to arrest us, or maybe…
“Shit,” I say out loud.
This is a trap. We’re the bait.
Brady gives me a funny look. “What?”
I shake my head, wishing I had my cell phone so I could text Seth and tell him not to come. Because he’s the one they want—they already suspect him of knowing more than he’s saying. The Phantom just gave them an easy way to do it. All Major Norton has to do is threaten to harm us if Seth doesn’t tell him everything.
And I thought I was pissed before. Now I could punch out that wall without feeling it, I’m so wound up. Stupid Army, they play games just as well as any syndicate.
Hearing a door open, I scramble to see who’s coming in. My heart sinks when I see his strawberry hair and blue eyes. Seth looks horrified to see us behind these makeshift bars, but he should be more worried about himself.
“Fiona! Brady!” he says once he gets to us.
I push back tears. “Idiot, you should have stayed home.”
Seth gives me a hurt look.
Right then, Major Norton enters the office, as if he was waiting for Seth to show up. “Seth Mitchell. Since you’re here, can we have a word before I question our prisoners?”
“Uh…”
“Don’t. Tell. Him. Anything,” I say through my teeth. Because if this is how Juan and the Army are playing, then there’s no way in hell I’m letting them get away with it.
“Do I have a choice?” Seth asks the Major.
“No. Not really.” Major Norton’s eyes turn cruel, and I know all my guesses were right. Unless one of us caves, we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
When I hear just how loudly Major Norton yells, I’m not so sure Seth will remember my final plea. The volume makes his threats sound that much worse. He tells Seth that Brady is a danger to people’s safety and should be forced into the Army immediately, so that he can be properly trained. He explains that I could be prosecuted for all my past crimes if he felt like it—I’d be locked up for years if found guilty.
But Seth can stop it. All he has to do is tell the Major what we did in the desert last night and why. Easy. Then we can walk away like nothing happened.
Listening to this is too familiar. I feel like I’m back in Vegas, hiding in a closet while Graham threatens person after person. Drop the case, or your clairvoyant daughter will end up in the syndicate. Tell us where the Radiasure is, or you’ll never walk again. Keep quiet, or we’ll let your wife know about the other woman. If that didn’t work, the beat squad would take Radiasure pills to make their pain-causing abilities stronger—sometimes people wouldn’t make it out of that alive.
It’s always the weakest ones, too. Of course Major Norton didn’t go for Brady and me—we have abilities that give us more confidence in protecting ourselves and our loved ones. But he thinks Seth is little more than average, that intimidation will scare him because he’s defenseless.
How quickly Major Norton shows his colors.
Silence makes my ears ring after all that yelling. Then there is a mumble I recognize as Seth’s voice. Particularly his attitude tone. I don’t know what he says, but it has the Major yelling again, “Get out!”
The door opens, and Seth is smiling smugly. “I’ll be back with a lawyer next time.”
“You step one foot on these premises, Mr. Mitchell, and you’ll be the next one behind bars.”
He turns back. “So I can’t go to school?”
“No.”
“Damn. Those last few months of senior year are so critical.” Seth rolls his eyes and shuts the office door. He comes to me quickly—we probably have seconds to talk. “I told him his extortion attempts pretty much negate your charges. They obviously don’t have anything solid on you.”
“I know that.” I put my hands on the bars. “It doesn’t mean he’ll let us go, though.”
“Still working on that.” He leans in for a kiss, and that’s when how bad this is hits. I don’t know when I’ll see him or my family and friends next, so I savor his lips on mine and try to tell myself there’s a way out.
Major Norton bursts out of the office. “Get him out of here now!”
The soldiers scramble to surround Seth, and he’s escorted away before I can say goodbye. The imposing Major, face crimson red with anger, turns on me. “Bring her in.”
I sit in the same chair I was questioned in just days ago, but this time I’m not so much scared as I am livid. This guy isn’t any different from a syndicate leader. At least Juan’s men have the decency to be upfront about their crimes. I’ll take that over this charade any day. “I wouldn’t bother threatening me—pretty much seen it all and it won’t work.”
Major Norton grits his teeth. “Something was stolen from a secret military operation last night. None of my soldiers reported seeing anyone. How do you think that happened, Miss McClean?”
I’m not stupid enough to answer that question.
“You think being quiet will save you?” He smirks as he slaps a photograph onto the desk. “We have proof.”
My heart speeds up. I swear I was careful not to leave a single sign that I was in the area. Maybe it has been a while since I’ve spied and stolen, but it felt like it came back easily. Not sure I should see that as a good thing. I lean over to get a better look at the picture. My fear dissolves to the point that I have to fight back a fit of giggles. It’s an image of a footprint on the muddy bank of the pond. “That’s not my foot.”
Major Norton’s face fills with confusion. “Say that again?”
“Not. My. Foot.”
“How do you know it’s not your foot?” he goes on, like he can’t believe I’m telling the truth even though his own ability proves it. “Maybe you didn’t notice you left this print. Because something
was
stolen from us, and there’s only one person who could do that.”
“Really? Just one?” I fold my arms, confident I have this. “No offense, but I can think of like ten people who could have done that just as easily as me. Like that ass of a wall walker who turned me in as a scare tactic, for example.”
His face twitches, and I know he doesn’t have any clue how that formula went missing.
“Besides, my foot isn’t that long or wide,” I continue. “And if I were on some kind of a mission, I would
never
get anywhere near mud. I’ve done that kind of stuff enough to know what to avoid.”
Major Norton pounds the desk. “But you know why we’re here! I can feel it. You and your whole gang of friends.”
Mentioning my friends triggers something inside me. A need to protect. To deflect the suspicion solely onto myself. It feels wrong, but giving a piece of information here could at least keep The Pack out of this. “Of course I know why you’re here. The Radiasure formula, right?”
His eyes go wide. “You did steal it.”
“I knew about the formula way before you showed up,” I say, avoiding the accusation. “My father wanted me and my mom to steal it from the guy in China. Why do you think we ran? It was a suicide mission.”
“Truth.” The Major’s eyebrow quirks. “Interesting…”
I don’t like the way he says this word. It smacks too much of plotting. “Interesting how?”
“Of all the places you could have gone, you guys came to the town nearest the one Radiasure plant in the entire world. Why is that?”
I stare at him, the question taking me completely off guard. “It’s the only one? Really?”
He nods.
“I had no idea this was the only area where Radiasure was produced—I can promise you that. I’m sure my mother and brother didn’t know either. Our only goal was to get out of the syndicate.”
He has to know I’m telling the truth, and yet he doesn’t seem to care. “Maybe you believe that, but I can sense you have what I’m after.”
I can’t open my mouth. Nothing I say will prove me guilt-free on that account.
“You’re not as innocent as you act, and you
will
be telling me what you know one way or another. Guards!”
The door opens, and two soldiers come in. “Yes, sir?”
“Let the Mitchell boy go.” He looks at me, his smile turning sinister. “We have everything we need right here.”
This is what I wanted
, I tell myself over and over as the days pass in lonely silence. The rest of Saturday, all of Sunday, and now the last bell has rung Monday afternoon while I’ve been in this makeshift prison cell. They’ve only given me water, since after I got Brady out I’ve refused to talk. My stomach groans against my will, revealing my weakness when nothing else can.
“Hungry?” my guard asks. He’s the same one I saw at the waterfall, with nasty spikes on his knuckles and forearms. His tag tells me his surname is Tagawa, and that’s all I know about him.
“Nope.”
“Sure…” He laughs to himself. “Think you’re so tough.”
Even though I’m tempted to argue with Tagawa, I restrain myself. It’ll show Major Norton I’m craving human interaction. No one has come to see me—I assume because they aren’t allowed to. I wonder what they’re doing, how worried my mom is, if Seth is killing his head watching me.
I have to admit I didn’t think it would take them this long to get me out. At night when Tagawa starts to doze, I strain to hear if Mom’s out there unlocking doors with her mind. She could do it easily enough, but after The Phantom’s threat to do worse to me than the Army maybe she’s scared. If the military is already giving us so much crap, we can’t afford to officially break our deal with Juan’s syndicate.