Mindsurge (Mindspeak Book 3) (12 page)

Stop talking to me like I’m ten. Why was it so important to get me away from school?

“Wellington is being evacuated this afternoon.”

“What? Why?” My voice came out a little louder than I’d planned.

“Oh, here we go,” Fred said from somewhere behind me.

“My money’s on Jack sedating her before this is done.” Georgia crossed her arms and leaned against a tree to watch the conversation.

“Coach Williams received intel from his contacts at the FBI. They’ve been monitoring phone lines, and apparently there’s been some chatter about someone taking the entire school out.”

“Taking it out? Who? What does that even mean? Like bombing the school?”

“Or a major shooting. We don’t know. But Coach felt it was reliable enough, and Dr. Wellington suggested that the nine of us get away from the school before the evacuation even began.”

“Why did he suggest we leave before the others? I should be there. That’s my school now.”

“Dean Fisher is running things just fine. You’ve owned Wellington for like two minutes.” Jack’s words reeked of condescension.
 

“You’re not telling me something. Why did we sneak away before the evacuation was even announced?”

Jonas moved to stand directly beside Jack. “Your name was mentioned repeatedly in the wiretap. The FBI believes there’s a bounty on your head.”

“A bounty?” I nearly laughed. Not because this was funny, but because a bounty seemed so… absurd. “You mean there’s a reward for my capture? That’s ridiculous.”

Jonas and Jack traded glances.
 

“What?” I placed a fist over my heart.

Jack stepped closer and cupped my cheek. “Someone wants you dead, Lexi.”

I searched Jack’s eyes. This wasn’t news. It wasn’t that long ago that someone ran us off the road. But hearing Jack say the words made the threat seem more real. “Sandra?” Which didn’t make sense. Why would she go to such trouble to share information with me, entice me to join her, if she wanted to kill me?

“I don’t think so. I don’t think she or the IIA ever intended to kill you, only to lure you into her web. According to Coach, this is different. It’s a threat from an unidentified source.”

I rubbed my chest above my racing heart and concentrated on keeping my breathing slow. “Sandra knows who wants me dead. Maya mentioned something before she nearly drowned me.”

Jack placed his hands on either side of my head. “We are not going to let anything happen to you.”

I nodded. “Why not tell me this from the beginning?”

Because I think you know why someone wants to kill you. I was pissed when Coach and I couldn’t find you earlier. You were with Seth, learning more information that you’re planning to keep from me.

I’m not—

Jack held a hand up.
Don’t bother. If you were about to say ‘I’m not going to keep anything from you,’ then you’d be right. Before we leave this forest, you
will
tell me everything. Whether that’s tomorrow or next week will depend on you.

Fine. Let’s hike.
I hadn’t wanted to keep everything from him. I was scared. And now, all I could think about was Ms. Long. If someone had murdered her because of the information she had regarding my inheritance, was I in danger for the same reason? Was my mother?

Wait. Take this.
Jack grabbed my hand and slid a ring onto my finger. I looked—it was the same ring I’d used to paralyze Sandra inside The Farm.
I believe it will work on bears as well.
He winked.

I turned and stalked off, while rubbing the underside of the ring with my thumb. I should have been scared, but Jack looked worried enough for both of us. And anger trumped fear.

Georgia shrugged at Fred like she was impressed that Jack and I hadn’t come to blows. “What?” I said to her, practically provoking her into a verbal argument.
 

“I’m just surprised how easily you gave in, that’s all.”

“She hasn’t given in,” Jack said. “But she will.”

~~~~~

Kyle led the way, followed by Dia and Lin, then Briana and me. Georgia and Fred laughed from time to time behind us. Jack and Jonas brought up the rear.

We had been hiking for well over an hour when it was decided we would stop for a late afternoon lunch. I leaned against a tree, setting my pack on the ground at my feet. Jack handed me a bottle of water.

“Thanks.”

“We’re going to camp tonight.”

I had already guessed that was the plan, given that all four guys had heavy packs on their backs, complete with tents and other supplies. The girls also carried camping supplies. Well… except for me. I hadn’t been given enough notice to prepare for anything.
Whatever,
I thought.

“Take a walk with me.” Jack grabbed my hand and tugged gently.

I studied him for a minute. He wore a black and white flannel shirt over a tight black Under Armour shirt. It was the perfect combination of sporty and rugged. His eyes pleaded with me.

I pushed off the tree. Jack turned and, without dropping my hand, led me farther along the path and away from the others.

After ducking through a tunnel of low-hanging tree branches, the path opened up to reveal a clearing beside a creek that ran through the center of the gorge.

Jack dropped my hand and walked backward while appearing to size me up. “How about a light workout?”

A light workout, huh? I quirked an eyebrow. What he meant was, he wanted to do a round of taekwondo while he played mind games with me. I gave my head a little shake.

“Scared?”

Very, but I wouldn’t tell him that. A breeze picked up and blew wisps of hair away from my face. The air was crisp and carried the scents of damp leaves and moss growing on the bark of trees preparing to go dormant for winter.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you listened to the reading of your dad’s will. I’m sorry I haven’t been with you for a lot lately.” Jack unbuttoned the cuffs of his flannel shirt and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. “Jonas thinks that whatever you inherited is the reason someone wants you dead. And I suspect it has very little to do with your new ownership of Wellington.”

“I suspect you’re right.”

“Talk to me, Lex.”

I walked toward the stream that ran rapidly over large rocks. Like a little kid, I grabbed a small, fallen tree limb and poked at the mud beneath the bubbling rapids. Jack didn’t deserve the hypocrite I had become. He also didn’t deserve to know that the reason I was keeping so much from him was because I believed his father was the one who killed my dad.

He grew so quiet behind me, I wasn’t sure he was still there.

“Tell him, Lexi.”

I jumped, almost falling in the water. Jonas had snuck up on us. I faced them both. Jack looked from Jonas to me. “Tell me what?”

Jonas nodded encouragement.

Tears flooded my eyes.
I can’t,
I mindspoke to them both. A lump the size of a mountain formed in my chest and threatened to cut off my air supply. I swallowed hard against it and looked up through the shedding trees to the blue sky overhead. A tear spilled over and slid down my cheek. Sandra always followed through on her threats.

Jack took two giant steps forward to stand right in front of me. “Whatever it is, we’ll be fine. We’ve survived so much already. I can’t help you if I don’t know what it is.”

I stood straighter, swiped at the tears that revealed sadness instead of the anger that burned deep in my gut. “You say that like there’s nothing so big that it can’t take us down, but you’re wrong.”

“I’m not wrong. There’s nothing you can tell me that will change that. I haven’t made the best choices where you’re concerned the past few days, but my feelings haven’t changed.”

“It’s not your feelings for me that I’m worried about.” I turned away again. I was about to destroy any hope of a happily-ever-after with Jack once and for all.
 

Jack placed hands on my arms and rubbed up and down. When I remained silent, he flipped me around. Jonas had disappeared. “This is ridiculous. Just tell me. Nothing will change between us. I promise.”

“Don’t you get it?” I lifted my arms in a move that broke the contact between us. “Everything has
already
changed. We won’t recover from this. And that was exactly what Sandra wanted.”

And that’s when it dawned on me. Sandra fed me this video about Jack’s father, and sent Maya into our lives, at a time when we were already vulnerable. Not that she could have known just how vulnerable we were, but she had certainly intended for my twin clone to cause problems, and surely she knew that discovering that John DeWeese killed Dad would drive a thick wedge between Jack and me. “This is what she wants,” I said. “She wants to drive me away from you.” I turned and started to walk away, but Jack stopped me.

“Then don’t let her. Don’t let her win, Lexi. Tell me right now. Just say it.” His fingers wrapped around my wrists, holding me in place as I stared up into his eyes. “Spit it out, Lex.”

“Your father killed my dad,” I whispered.

“What?” His jaw tightened. “How do you know this?”

I stiffened under his touch, then said in a low voice, “Sandra sent me a video so that I could watch him do it. It was my birthday gift.”

Jack’s eyes searched mine. What was he looking for? Truth? Deceit? For any sign that I might be mistaken? His grasp on my wrists loosened, and this time it was Jack who turned away.

And after a few beats, he stormed off into the forest.

“I don’t know where he went!” I screamed at Jonas. “He just walked away after I told him.”

I turned on him, and he backed up a step. “This is
your
fault. I
told
you this would destroy him.” I hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell Jack that I’d made sure the FBI knew John DeWeese had killed Dad.

I looked around the campfire Kyle had built. Kyle had kept himself busy constructing a campsite from the moment we decided where to camp for the night. Staying busy was his way of coping with the heartache he suffered the day Dani was stripped from us.

Dia and Lin, who huddled together on a log, seemed to only have each other. Jonas, Georgia, and Fred supported and protected each other. Briana hardly ever spoke of her family. We all suffered in our own way.

And now Jack faced the realization that his parents were not what he once believed—that his father was responsible for taking the one family member I’d had left who was capable of loving me.

We all had lost. Each in different ways, but we suffered nonetheless.

“I’m sorry,” Jonas finally said, but he didn’t sound sorry. “He needed to know. That, and so much more. This camping trip is about more than us escaping some unrealized threat on the school. It’s about you finding a way to trust again—for us
all
to trust each other. Sandra wants you to feel alone, but you’re not alone in this.”

“Don’t you think I know that?”

“Do you? Then start acting like it.”

“That’s enough,” Briana said. “You both have to stop this.”

Jonas raised a flippant hand and stormed off toward the fire, joining the others.

“What’s going on between you and Jonas?” Briana asked.

I glanced sideways at her. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I mean. I can’t decide if you two fight like a brother and sister protecting each other, or a couple in love.”

Jonas looked up from where he was stoking the fire. Was he hearing our conversation? I thought I had successfully kept him out of my head lately, but I had no way of knowing. I only knew that he had stopped controlling my movements. And that he didn’t seem to know certain things I had learned recently. His eyes drifted back and forth between Briana and me, eventually landing solely on Bree. His cheeks relaxed, and his lips lifted into a smile.

“Is that answer enough for you?” I smiled at her.

“For now.” She left me and joined him on a log beside the fire.

~~~~~

I tossed and turned for hours. Just after four a.m. I gave up. Trying not to disturb Briana, who snored softly beside me, I unzipped the tent and slipped out into the sounds of the forest waking up around me. Birds chirped, trees creaked, and something wrestled in the leaves behind the tents.

A light fog hovered along the ground at the base of the trees. Someone shifted in the tent beside ours—someone else who couldn’t sleep, maybe. Had to be Jonas or Jack, because theirs was the only tent that hadn’t been up when I’d gone to bed the night before.

I’d heard Jack’s voice when he’d returned. It had been well after dark. I could have punched him for scaring me like that, which is why I turned over and pretended to sleep when he looked in on me. He mindspoke my name, and, fighting against tears I refused to let fall, I ignored him.

Now the fire, smelling of charred beech and the lingering scent of roasted marshmallows, smoldered in the middle of our semicircle of tents. I zipped my parka all the way to my chin and, relishing in the peacefulness of the early morning, went in search of a spot to think. I found it on top of a large boulder overlooking the creek.

Not long after I settled into a morning meditation, Jack entered my mind.
I’m sorry I worried you last night.

Not knowing how to respond, I remained silent.

I understand if you don’t want to talk to me right now, but please don’t wander far. It’s dangerous in the dark.

I mentally scoffed at that.
Is that why you were gone several hours past sundown?

I wasn’t far. I just needed time to think and… space. You of all people should be able to understand that.

I guess I deserved that.
Since I had asked him for space not long ago.
So, did you think?

Yes. We should talk.

I nodded, though he couldn’t possibly see me.
I’d give anything for a chai latte right now.

There’s tea in my pack, but we’ll have trouble with the latte part. I’ll make you some as soon as we get the fire going again.

You want to join me?
I asked. I was so tired from keeping Jack at a distance. My heart ached knowing I had been the one to hurt him the day before. Or ever.