Authors: Natalie Whipple
Brady leans his head back on Hector’s bed, sighing. “Let’s face it. There’s only one way to guarantee people won’t find it. I have to bury it.”
Seth purses his lips. “You’re probably right.”
“I hate to say it.” Hector stirs the merinite. “But if it’s safe to do so, caving in the place would contaminate the merinite with dirt and rock, which would make it a lot harder to find and extract. It may even destroy whatever process is happening there to create it in the first place. That’s probably the best we can do.”
“Are you sure?” Bea puts her hand on Brady’s arm. “That place…”
“It’s okay.” Brady gives us a big smile, and I’m surprised it’s not his fake one. He takes Bea’s hand. “I have you.”
A big grin spreads across her face. When she leans her head on his shoulder, Hector and Carlos make gagging sounds.
I roll my eyes. “We’ll have to meet up at my place tomorrow, see if my mom can help figure out how dangerous destroying the merinite might be.”
Hector nods. “She was a huge help with this test.”
After saying our goodbyes, I head to my car parked in front of Seth’s house. Miles took Mom to work so I could have it, and for once I’m glad to drive home by myself because I don’t know where Seth and I are at. He watches me unlock the car door, and when I glance at him our eyes meet.
“I don’t like fighting with you,” he says.
“Then stop.” I open the door, but he grabs me before I can get in. I don’t hug him back. “So you’re mad at me but hugging me?”
“Be safe. Keep your phone on.” He squeezes me tighter, then whispers, “I don’t want to sleep in the same house with him, but I have to, don’t I?”
I bite my lip, the frustration fizzling. My boyfriend is scared. Of his own father. Our lives are starting to be similar in ways I’d rather not have them be. I wrap my arms around him. “Yeah. You be safe, too. We’ll look into it tomorrow.”
“Okay.” He kisses me once, and there’s something sad about it, as if he’s unsure of whether I want his lips on mine or not. Then he heads for his house, and I watch him until he disappears behind the door.
As I drive home, I wish I could turn off my brain. I’m tired of thinking, of worrying, of making sure no one is following me. By the time I’ve pulled into my driveway, I feel like I could sleep for weeks. I drag my feet towards the front door, telling myself I need to be on my guard but knowing my reflexes are shot from fatigue.
So when a person wearing black emerges from the bushes pointing a gun at me, I almost expect it. It would be the perfect time for an attack. I pull out my phone and call Mom. “I’m dialing the person inside who can rip that gun right out of your hands, so if you’re gonna shoot you better do—”
“Fiona!” a feminine voice says from behind the mask. She puts the gun down. “Thought you were at Bea’s, sorry.”
I quirk an eyebrow. “Do I know you?”
She shrugs. “Miles might have mentioned me once or twice.”
Well, now I’m wide awake. “Spud?”
“Yup. Ah, there she is.” Spud aims the gun again. This time she pulls the trigger, and the silencer hides most of the sound. I turn just in time to see a person hit the ground. I stare at the fallen body, horrified that my brother’s girlfriend is a killer. Does he know this?
“What the hell?” I step back from her, scared.
“Oh, come on. You think I’ve survived this long without fighting?” Spud heads for the street, and I feel obligated to follow. Besides, maybe she’ll explain what she did, because right now I’m not sure my brother should be with a girl like this.
“Sorry I had to do this in front of you.” Spud kneels down next to the corpse, typing something into a fancy-looking phone. “This bitch was too smart for her own good, going completely off the grid. It was the only way to intercept her.”
I don’t want to look at the body—the thought alone makes me ill—but when I finally get the courage to face whoever Spud shot, my eyes go wide with horror. This can’t be happening. Short brown hair, hazel eyes, perfect skin that can change to any shade she pleases—I know this woman. “Noelle.”
She used to teach me how to steal and hide. She’s from my dad’s syndicate.
As I take in the reality, I don’t know what to feel. Noelle was like a mentor to me—as a chameleon, she could almost understand how I felt being invisible. She would tell me I’d find myself eventually. She taught me how to use my ability in ways no one else could teach me. But at the same time, if she was here tonight then it means she was on a mission for my dad. Finally, there is a hint that he’s not ignoring what’s happening in Madison—and Spud just protected us from him.
Maybe I should feel grateful. But it seems horrible to be grateful someone is dead.
Spud searches Noelle’s body, for what, I don’t know. All I can see is the blood pooling in the street. All I can feel is the urge to cry and throw up. Spud reaches into Noelle’s bra and pulls out a small box. “Always in the bra,” she says. “Is that protocol or something?”
It takes me a moment to find my voice. Still, it comes out weak. “Um, not that I know of.”
“You probably didn’t wear a bra on your missions, so how could you?” Spud opens the box, and even in the dark I recognize the contents: knock-out needles tipped in purple and killing needles tipped in red. And here I thought Dad only made those for me—another reminder of his lies. There is also a piece of paper, which seems to be what Spud is after. She smirks. “Written in code. Cute. I dream in code, idiots.”
“What does it say?” I ask.
“Directions to the mark: your address, best ways to break in, the location of Miles’ room.” She throws it in the blood. “Nothing about her superiors, though, damn it. I need to take out the puppeteers, not the puppets.”
I lost her at “Miles’ room.” My mind reels—his injured foot, the extended visit, the overall sullenness…Why didn’t I see it earlier? Now everything makes perfect sense.
My dad is trying to kill Miles.
Covering my mouth to hide a sudden sob, I take a few steps back from the body. Poor Noelle, yet another victim of Dad’s twisted plots. There’s only one thing that could be more important to my father than Radiasure, and that’s making sure no one can challenge his power. Of course he wouldn’t let Miles live now that he can replicate the mind controlling scent. Just how many times has he tried to kill my brother? My gut says this isn’t the first.
“Fiona?” Spud’s voice floats into my mind. “You can go inside if this is making you sick. My people will be here to clean up in a couple minutes.”
“Your people?”
She nods. “They don’t know who I am, but they pretty much worship me and would do anything to be associated with me. May as well take advantage.”
Our front door slams, and soon Mom and Miles appear in the driveway. Mom must have heard my call before I hung up. Spud stands and takes off her head mask. Her black hair tumbles out and brushes at her shoulders, and her big smile is beyond stunning. She waves excitedly at my brother. “Hey, baby!”
Miles does not seem to share her enthusiasm. His eyes are filled with horror as he takes her in. “Lee Seol…what’re you doing here?”
She pouts, pointing to the body. “She went off grid. Excuse me for making sure you didn’t die tonight.”
“What?” Mom says in a high-pitched tone.
Miles pinches the bridge of his nose, and then Spud—who apparently has an actual name—puts her hands on her hips. “Oh for serious? You didn’t tell them yet? You said you would!”
“I couldn’t find the right time!” Miles cringes at the body still in the road. “Maybe we should go inside before you keep yelling at me?”
“Fine.” Spud tromps to the door like she owns the place, and I get the sense that this kind of confidence is normal for her. Just as I’m about to go inside, a black van breaks in front of our house. A group of masked men get out, put the body in the back, and clean the street. I wish I could do more for Noelle—give her a proper funeral—but I can’t, so I shut the door.
“…Could you not tell us? We’re supposed to stick together. We can’t do that if you’re keeping
assassination attempts
a secret!” Mom already tears into Miles, while Spud taps her foot furiously.
“I wanted you and Fiona to have a normal life for once,” Miles says quietly, like he knows he can’t escape the lecture. “Is that so horrible?”
Mom grabs him by the shoulders. “Yes. You dying is horrible. I don’t want normal if you’re dead.”
“Me neither,” I say.
Spud gives him a steely look. “Told you.”
He sighs. “Graham and I were doing fine for a long time—it’s only gotten bad recently.”
This doesn’t quell Mom’s anger. “Graham knew?”
“Ugh,” I say. “That’s why you took him back to Tucson with you so easily. He was your backup. You guys expected this to happen!” Stupid brothers. I should smack them both.
“So they’ve been after you since you left?” Mom asks.
“Pretty much.” Spud sits on the couch, typing again. “And after that hack I did for the Radiasure info, the O’Connell syndicate has gone crazy old school. No cell phones. Hardly a blip of computer use. I’ve had to hack security cameras, radios, and other peripheral devices just to get anything on these chicks. It’s pissing me off. Why does it have to be so hard to keep my boyfriend alive?”
So that’s what she’s been busy with. Not running from my dad herself, but watching out for Miles.
“I’m sorry, okay? I honestly did think I could handle it.” Miles sits next to Spud, scoops her up and kisses her even though now is so not the time. I figure I should cut him some slack, since they rarely see each other.
“When did it get bad?” Mom asks, not seeming to mind the sight of them together.
“About three weeks ago.” Miles doesn’t take his eyes off Spud, as if he can’t believe she’s in the same room as him. “Lee Seol has a
real
database of syndicate-affiliated people: their pictures, names, abilities, what type of illegal work they do most. But that’s not the best part—she’s made a program that can identify their faces on any camera she can hack into.”
She smiles mischievously. “I made that when I was like ten. Comes in handy when everyone’s out to get you. Literally.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re way too proud of that. Anyway, the program sends her warnings when questionable people are spotted in places within a certain radius of her…or anyone else she decides to watch out for.”
“Like my annoyingly self-sacrificing boyfriend.” She snuggles into him, and I have to resist the urge to ask how in the world they got together. Because it’s way too late already and I have a big day tomorrow. After what I just saw, sleeping is the closest I can get to blacking out and forgetting.
“So your program flagged people in Tucson?” Mom asks.
“Further than that—I have visuals in every airport in the U.S. I’d catch them flying into Phoenix at first. It was easy to scare them off with enough time to prepare…” Spud scowls, and it’s kind of scary how such a tiny girl can look so mean. “But then they changed tactics, going by road, and I’d catch them at gas stations. They started getting into Tucson, and I’d have to warn Miles each time.”
“Graham and I were usually able to shake them off,” Miles continues. “But then Lee Seol was sending warnings every day, then every hour—they were closing in on us, so we had to leave. We hoped they wouldn’t follow us here, but looks like Dad’s broken the deal entirely now.”
“Well
that
didn’t take long.” I collapse onto the floor, unable to maintain an upright position with all this information pounding me. “What’re we supposed to do about this?”
The front door unlocking makes us all jump after what just happened. Spud looks at her device, which must be some kind of custom smartphone. “It’s Graham. Good.”
Sure enough, Graham floats through the door. He looks confused as he takes us in, but then he seems to put the pieces together. “This must be the infamous Spud, which means something bad happened tonight and everyone finally knows what’s up.”
“Yup.” Miles eyes Graham. “And where the hell were you for so long?”
“With Allie. She came to visit me, got a hotel room in Saguro for the weekend since there’s not much room here.”
Miles raises an eyebrow. “And you didn’t stay the night with her?”
“I came back to get a few things.” He glances at Spud, then back to Miles. “Or do you want me to stay in the guest room with you? Do you need an extra guard?”
Miles shakes his head rapidly. “Nope! We’re good.”
I groan, not wanting to think of my brothers and their girlfriends and—gross. “Please stop now.”
“Yes.” Mom seems as squirmy as I am. “If we’re safe for now, I think we should all get some rest before the sun comes up.”
“Safe as far as I can see,” Spud says as she looks at her screen. “Of course, I can’t account for Juan’s dudes in the area, but the O’Connell syndicate isn’t here.”
“Good enough for me.” I pull myself off the floor, ready for bed. But when I get there, my mind won’t shut off like my body has. Because if Graham knew about Dad going after Miles and helped protect him, how can I possibly believe he’s spying on us for the syndicate? Which means there’s only one person I suspect, and if I’m right I don’t know how Seth will handle it.