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His palm returned to the back of his neck, rubbing. He sat away from me a bit, leaning on his other hand against the bed. “Sort of. A little.”
“And their bank accounts?” I asked. “Like Mrs. Gunther’s?”
His smile faltered. “It’s not that invasive.”
“But you do,” I said. I stood up, starting to pace. It was something that bugged me still. “I mean, are you tracking people? You mentioned you followed them on GPS before. Monitoring their emails? How far do you go?”
“Wait, hang on,” he said. He reached out, taking my hand. His longer fingers easily enveloped around mine, and squeezed gently to stop my pacing. “It’s not what you think. It’s not everything and everyone.”
“Who then?”
“People we know. You usually have to know someone personally and prove you have their best interests in mind. And we wouldn’t do that with just anyone. Like Harry with his grandmother. She’s by herself, retired. Her kids moved away. Harry was worried about her. And what he’s got set up to keep an eye on her isn’t really that involved. Banks all have advanced security systems now, right? Well banks have notifications in place to protect your accounts. If you lived in Charleston, for example, and then suddenly your debit card was making purchases in Morocco, the bank might send out an ‘unusual activity’ notice. They may even call you to ask about your purchase.”
“So?”
He tugged my hand toward him and I sat down again, close enough that our thighs were touching. Even then, he continued to hang on. His thumb traced softly over the back of my hand. “Well, what’s the difference between a stranger at the bank asking you about your account, versus some family member you trust? In our case, Mrs. Gunther’s bank account was flagged when a large withdrawal was made. Our friend was notified when that happened. He didn’t know the details, just that something occurred. When he called about it, and she told him she lost money in a Ponzi scheme, he asked us for help getting it back. No foul play. He was just worried. And good thing, too. This is bigger than he realized. I could have hacked her account, I guess, but that’d take hacking a big bank, and I don’t really want to take that risk unless we don’t have an option. I don’t know if we have the time, anyway.”
I was idle for a moment, considering what he was saying. I supposed if I had an elderly grandmother out there to look after, I’d want to keep tabs on her. “What else do you do?” I asked. “I mean, what’s the point? What is it all about? What’s the Academy for?”
He shifted on the bed next to me, letting go of my hand. He leaned in, and his arm brushed against mine. He hovered over me. “How interested are you?” he asked quietly.
“What do you mean?” I asked, breathless with him so close.
“Thinking about joining? Is it something you think you’d like to do?”
I studied his cerulean eyes, and slightly parted lips that curled up into a smile. He wasn’t just asking. He was hoping. Inviting. “Do you think I should?” I asked.
He shook his head just once. “It can’t be up to me.”
“But you’ve got to have an opinion.”
“I do,” he said. “I want to know what you think.”
I turned away, staring at the table, at his laptop needing to not look at him so I could think. I couldn’t help feeling a desire to join, and most of that was from him. His sweet-natured ways had my heart racing and I wanted to please him and be a part of whatever made him this happy. Could this group be as horrible as I’d feared if someone like Corey was part of it? He was a sweetheart, taking care of old ladies and jumping in head first to sort out the missing girl issue. He didn’t once think to back off, to go back home to let someone else—like the police--deal with it. Here he was with a glint in his eyes, alluring.
If I wanted to know about the Academy, it might be possible to join like he wanted. If I didn’t like what I saw, I’d be in a better position to get out, along with any files they had on my brother and me. I didn’t see a problem with that. “How do I join your team?” I asked.
His smile lifted, lighting up the blue of his eyes into a brilliant sparkle. “Can you wait until we’re done with this case? When we get back, I can get you started.”
“What does it take to get started?”
“There’s an application process. We’ll probably want to do some initial work beforehand, though.” He jumped to his feet and started pacing. “I haven’t brought in anyone before. I mean, I brought in Raven but it was Axel taking the lead on him. You’ll be my first.”
“Yours?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what struck me more: That he said he got Raven on the team, or that he was planning on doing this with more than one person. He’d said I’d be first. He wanted more?
He paused in his pacing, looking at me. His eyebrows scrunched together, like he wasn’t sure what I was asking. “Can you do me a favor, though?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“Don’t tell anyone yet,” he said. “Not the other guys.”
“Why not?”
“Well, there’s a process to joining,” he said. “I think you’re ready but the others probably wouldn’t agree. If you’ll work with me privately on it, I can get you in faster.”
His excitement was growing on me. Getting in quicker was exactly what I needed. “How long will it take?”
The hotel room door rattled and then opened. Raven returned with only a collection of dry erase markers, a couple of Sharpies, and an eraser. “Use the bathroom mirror.”
Corey smirked. “You’re going to have me mark up private property?”
Raven shrugged and held up the dry erase marker. “Erasable.” He sat at another chair around the table, and took a hotel notepad off the table He started trying out the dry erase markers, checking to make sure they still had ink.
Corey glanced at me once, winked and then checked on his computer again. Our talk was put on pause for now. If he wanted to keep it from the other guys, we’d have to find time alone later to continue.
I fell back on the bed, breathing in slowly and staring at a painting of a beach scene on the wall. With the excitement fading, reality was setting in. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was asking when it came to joining.
I hoped I wasn’t getting in over my head.
REASON AND DOUBT
Corey was absorbed in his computer work. Raven was tucked over the notebook, doodling. Every once in a while, Corey got up to go to the bathroom to scrawl out equations and data. I started to follow and ask questions, but Raven intervened.
“Let him work,” Raven said. “Takes him longer if you interrupt. He needs to focus.”
I sat on the bed, following Raven’s lead by doing something quiet. He drew on paper. I stared at the walls, trying and failing at not thinking about the Academy, Wil, and making plans for after we returned to Charleston.
Maybe I should let them help me find Wil as soon as possible, and then…
The phone I’d placed on a side table start
ed vibrating. On the second vibration, I sat up quickly and picked it up. Text messages were coming through.
Raven picked up his head. “What’s that?”
“I…” I stared at the phone, trying to figure out an excuse. “I logged into my email with it, so now it’s notifying me of incoming emails.”
“I hate that,” Raven said. “Always junk mail.”
“There should be a way to turn that off in the settings,” Corey said, still focused on the computer.
I got up to go to the bathroom, motioning to Raven that I was going to fix it in there where I wasn’t going to distract Corey. When I locked the door behind me, I looked down at the screen.
Blake: Meet me outside.
My heart leapt into my throat. Blake was here. If I didn’t go meet him, would he storm the hotel looking for me? I’d warned him to back off. Now wasn’t the time.
I was so close, though. When we went back to Charleston, Corey said, he’d get me into the Academy quick and then I’d know everything. Did I need Blake now? I may not be getting the answers I wanted right this second, but after everything I’d learned and seen today, I doubted my initial distrust. I still didn’t like them having access to my brother’s information without permission, but the more I played over the scene in my head, Axel didn’t seem malicious.
I stood in front of the mirror, debating. The longer I waited, I risked Blake coming to find me. That wouldn’t be good. If he came to the door, I wasn’t sure how I could explain it to Corey. He wouldn’t trust me after that.
Time to nut up.
After that pep talk, I tucked the phone into the waistband of my shorts and opened the bathroom door.
My heart thundered because this was going to be a risky move. I stood just outside the door, smoothing out my tank top and contemplating a lie. Raven was still doodling with markers. Corey was typing, his eyes intent on his work.
I walked over to the bed, looking for my flip-flops, trying to look bored. “I’m going to walk around the hotel,” I said.
“Going to the beach?” Corey asked.
