Under Cover (22 page)

No use. How could he possibly hear my
thoughts or feel where I was?

Liam burst out, “Why the hell did you have to
poke around?”

I couldn’t say I was trying to help. That
would only make him angrier. I said, “Why the hell didn’t you get
the police?” For good measure, I added, “Stupid.”

Then I said, “Does Dad know where we
are?”

“How could he?”

Dad would expect Liam to be at home. What
would he do? He might even find the discarded ankle monitor, if
Austen had left it. But how would he think to look in the school
basement?

I felt something land on my thumb. Something
fuzzy, like a bug. I brushed it off. Even the bug was free.

“Yesterday,” I told Liam, “Austen got in
trouble with the police for stealing his grandfather’s car. I
should have said something then. But it was state police.”

He groaned. “Why don’t you shut up?”

“You’re right. I should save my breath.”

“For what? There’s plenty of air in here.
Especially what comes out of your mouth.”

Save it for what? Sending telepathic messages
to Ben? Like that was going to work. I’d never done anything
telepathic in my life.

A sound made me freeze. Footsteps on stairs.
There had to be stairs if this was a basement.

Austen.

I heard the muffled thud of a door
closing.

I barely whispered. “What’s that?”

“Bathrooms,” he said.

It gave me a moment of hope that made no
sense. “That’s how I got free the first time I was tied up. Only
then it was duct tape.”

Liam said nothing. What was there to say? I
was only babbling.

I heard more sounds.

Voices.
People?
They seemed to come
from beyond the wall. I asked, “What’s going on out there?”

“Commencement,” he said in a dull voice.

“Outside?”

“They only have it in the auditorium if it
rains.”

Liam was supposed to graduate. I wondered if
Austen was out there.

Another bug landed on my hand. It wouldn’t
get off. I tried to push it but it seemed to be attached. To the
twine. It was part of the twine. Grandma used that kind of fuzzy
cord when she tied up newspapers for recycle. I ran my thumb over
it, thinking of home.

Where I’d been rubbing with the tiger, I felt
a frayed end. That was what tickled me.

I made the tiger scrub harder. Ben’s tiger. I
loved it. I loved Ben, not just because he had given me the
tiger.

I tried to pull my hands apart. No use. I
worked faster. In a frenzy, I scrubbed and pulled, scrubbed and
pulled.

The sounds grew louder. A growing crowd.
Didn’t anyone else need the bathroom? And stumble in here by
mistake? Probably Austen locked the door.

My hands came apart with a force that knocked
me down. Pain stabbed my head.

I caught my breath. Sat up, realized what
happened, and took stock of myself.

Hands, feet, throbbing head. Everything.

I yelped, “I’m free!”

“Shut up,” said Liam.

“No, you don’t understand. I’m free!”

I crawled over to him. He was sitting up
against the post with his hands in back of it, as mine had been. I
could barely see him. The crowd outside quieted. Lights went on.
Now I could see a little better. There must have been a window
someplace.

Liam, too, finally realized what happened.
“How’d you do that?”

“My tiger.” I couldn’t see his knots but I
felt them. They were as tight as mine had been.

“What are you talking about?”

“My ring. From my boyfriend. I’ll show you
later.”

“There won’t be any later if we don’t get out
of here
now.
”

“I’m trying. It would take too long with the
tiger. I’m trying to untie your knots.”

“Try harder.”

“I am. They’re tight. I can’t even get my
fingernail in and I just broke it, and my head hurts.”

“Aw, your
fingernail,
” he sneered.

“I don’t care about the nail, I can’t get it
into the knot. Do you have anything in your pocket?”

“Why, you think Aus wouldn’t look there? He
took my knife.”

“How come you were carrying a knife? Are you
allowed to?”

“Nobody said I couldn’t. They were more
concerned about guns. Will you stop talking and hurry it up?”

“I need something to cut it with. Do you
think the custodian would have some tools? Where would they
be?”

“How would I know?” It was a moan of despair.
“If Aus comes back—”

“I won’t leave you.”

“You’d better.” He was brave now. Heroic. “No
sense us both getting slaughtered. You have to tell the world what
happened.”

I certainly would. This was all my fault.
They might have left him alone if it hadn’t been for me. And that
idiot Sandy Boyd. I struggled uselessly with his knots while I
looked around in the darkness. Not totally dark. The glow from
outside helped a little. There must have been daylight, too. It
was, after all, late June.

I pushed up off the floor to try a higher
vantage point. Still nothing but darkness.

And a dark shape against one wall.

“
Where would the
light be?” I asked.

“Switch is usually by the door but don’t turn
it on.”

He sounded desperate. He was afraid of
alerting Austen. I would have to do it all by feel.

Cautiously I made my way toward the shape on
the wall. It might have been a workbench. I had to feel each step
before I took it so I wouldn’t trip on anything.

Finally I was there, groping. It actually was
a workbench. Just above and in back was what looked like a row of
hanging tools.

The voices outside gave way to music. “Pomp
and Circumstance.” Commencement music. I felt so bad for Liam. He
should have been out there graduating. And Johnny Kinsser, too.
Probably Austen was marching in, smug in a long black gown.

I felt my way along the row of tools. The
music stopped and a voice came through a loudspeaker. How dare they
give Austen a diploma when he deprived two other people, one of
them, probably both, forever?

“Hurry
up,
” Liam said.

“I am. I can’t see.”

“Don’t turn on the light.”

I found something the size of a knife but it
had a serrated edge. A keyhole saw. I took it back with me and
almost stepped on Liam in the dark.

“What did you find?” He was barely hanging
on.

“A saw. It should work.” I got down on the
floor. It was fully dark there. My fingers searched for any part of
the rope where I wouldn’t be scraping his hand.

As I pushed the end of the saw through a tiny
space, he winced.

“Sorry,” I said. “Tell me if I get too
close.”

“Can’t be close enough.” He spoke through
clenched teeth.

Slowly I moved the saw up and down. I
couldn’t do it faster, it was such a tight fit. After every few
thrusts, I probed with my fingers to see if I’d accomplished
anything.

All the time, I listened. The PA system
drowned out everything. I wouldn’t know if Austen came until he
burst through the door.

He was coming. I heard voices and footsteps
beyond the door. I pulled out the saw, stuck it under my shirt, and
started crawling over to my own post.

“Get back here.” Liam’s whisper was
hoarse.

“What if it’s Austen?”

“Can’t leave me like this.”

He was right. With both of us free we might
possibly have a chance. I pulled the saw out of my shirt and
tackled the rope in a frenzy.

I heard his teeth snap together. His head
went back in pain and my own pain hit me again.

I stopped sawing.

“Don’t stop!” He sounded desperate.

I sawed harder.

He said, “Hurry!”

The rope seemed to loosen, if it wasn’t
wishful thinking on my part. I said nothing to Liam.

I tried to feel where I’d been sawing. Was it
frayed? Or again wishful thinking?

Suddenly, the saw popped free. I couldn’t
feel the rope on his hands. I patted the floor and felt scraps of
it.

He brought his hands in front of him and
shook them.

“If you weren’t my sister,” he said, “I’d
kiss you. Let’s get outa here.”

We both stood up. Pain made me dizzy. I tried
to ignore it.

What if Austen was right outside the door? I
could see light under it.

What if the door was locked?

Liam took my hand and led me toward it. He
turned the knob.

It opened.

“Quick!” he said. In front of us was a flight
of stairs. He looked around and we hurried up, trying to be
quiet.

At the top was a door. Liam did another scan,
then pushed it open. We came out in back of the school, where the
dumpsters were. And there was the Hudson River, on my right. I
breathed in the night air and forced the pain away.

The sky glowed with floodlights from the
front lawn. Liam pulled me toward the street. “You got any money? A
cell phone?”

“It’s all in my purse and he took it.”

Still holding my hand, he began to run.
Faster and faster, as if something was chasing us.

It was. A deep roar started below and beside
us. It came from the school. We dashed across the street.

Chapter
Twenty-One

The top of the school began to sink. Layer
after layer went down, folding in on itself.

People poured screaming onto the street.
Bricks and debris followed them.

Liam pushed me as far as he could into the
doorway of a closed shop and sheltered me with his body. Who’d have
thought he would be so gallant?

“We were supposed to go with it,” Liam said
in my ear.

“Austen did this, too?”

He didn’t bother answering.

Sirens came from everywhere. Police. Fire
trucks. Ambulances. Police cars blocked off the street. An officer
ordered everyone to get as far away as they could. Most had already
done so.

Another officer stopped us and asked if we’d
seen anything. Liam squeezed my arm. Meaning I should keep my trap
shut. I almost disobeyed him, but then I understood. We really
hadn’t seen anything. We had no proof the explosion had anything to
do with Austen. If we mentioned his name, it could easily get back
to him.

Liam tucked my hand under his arm and started
off.

I asked, “Where are we going?”

“Home.”

With no money and no cell phone, we would
have to walk. If only I had my purple Nokia. I’d never had a chance
to use it.

He kept his grip on my hand and towed me
along. I was glad of that, not only for the tow, but I hadn’t the
faintest idea how to get anywhere.

We turned the corner onto a side street.
People crowded up to the police barricade, trying to see what was
going on at the school. Or what used to be the school. I scarcely
paid attention. I was too busy keeping up with Liam’s long stride.
We passed a line of parked cars. I barely noticed them until I saw
one that looked familiar.

Someone was in it. I met his eyes.

I gurgled. “It’s Austen.”

“Huh?” said Liam. Then he looked, too. Aus
reached for the door.

We started running.

A car door slammed. We ran faster. I had
thought we were free.

The door slammed again.

“There are people all over,” I panted. “And
police. What can he do?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

A car started up.

He
couldn’t.
He was facing the wrong
way, toward the school. There were people in the street.

I’d forgotten that Austen was handy with the
U-turn. And ruthless about people.

He couldn’t even make a U-turn on that narrow
street. It had to be a K-turn, but he did it.

That street was mostly residential. It had
row houses, only a few with spaces in between. If we took shelter
behind them, we would be trapped. Liam plunged on, constantly
looking back.

I looked back, too. The car pulled ahead of
us and stopped. Austen got out, his black coat flapping.

Liam tried to reverse direction. Austen was
quicker, and dashed toward us. He raised his hand.

Liam caught him by the wrist. They grappled.
Liam twisted Austen’s arm. Austen went with the twist, turning
himself inside out, and twisted Liam in turn.

I screamed.

No one noticed. Some people looked around,
but no one did anything. The school had all their attention.

Liam punched Austen’s face.

Austen punched him back. Something silvery
clattered to the sidewalk. I grabbed it, just as Liam went
down.

It was a folding knife, unfolded and ready
for business.

Austen raised his foot to stomp Liam. I
plunged the knife toward his shoulder. He moved aside just in time
and the knife only grazed him, but he missed his stomp. Liam rolled
out of the way and onto his feet.

Austen tackled him and they both went
down.

I still had the knife. I aimed once again at
Austen’s back. He freed one of his arms to punch at mine. I kicked
his face. He grabbed my foot.

I went down. My head hit the sidewalk and
brought back all the pain. He grabbed the knife.

I ignored my head and kicked again. I didn’t
know what I hit. I think it was Liam.

I rolled. They grappled, fighting over the
knife. I wished I had studied karate instead of ballet.

My adrenalin pumped and probably Austen’s
did, too. When I had a clear shot, I kicked him in the groin. He
doubled over.

Liam scooped up the knife and grabbed my
hand. We ran toward the intersection.

A car roared behind us. How could he move so
fast?

We were almost across the street when the car
came hurtling. In an instant Liam again changed direction, towing
me with him.

We aimed for the opposite corner. Again
Austen had to make a U-turn. In the intersection there was plenty
of room and he could do it fast. We barely made it to the sidewalk
as his car lurched after us. Up onto the curb.