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I took the pocketknife and then got out of the car, popping the trunk. I dug around, looking in the trunk for clothes so I could get out of the dress. Bingo. I hoped Henry didn’t mind, but I borrowed a pair of slacks, a belt, and a T-shirt. I grabbed a long-sleeved dress shirt, too, to put on since it was cold. I changed in the parking lot, throwing the dress into the trunk. I had to stab a new hole in the belt to make the pants tight enough to fit around my waist, and then rolled up the lower hem until it was around my ankles. I’d have to make do with the heels since there weren’t any shoes in
the trunk. I looked ridiculous but I felt better being in pants.
The last thing I needed was for Blake to see me in a dress.
As I was waiting, I checked the contents of Ethan’s cell phone, which was filled with text messages: happy wishes on the guy’s marriage. He belonged to a local church and had plenty of people who cared about him. It made me wonder about this cell phone and the service it was on. Maybe he kept his secret cell phone somewhere else? Did I steal the wrong one? It seemed silly to own a cell phone service and use a public service. If he had two, wouldn’t he still hang onto the second one?
My head was spinning with questions. Sitting in the car, it became difficult to stay awake, so I spent a lot of time walking around outside the car. I was worried about Brandon, and wondered if Axel and Marc were okay.
How could I have lost Brandon again so easily?
Eventually, I heard Avery talking into the cell phone. “We’re almost there,” he said. “You’re still at the pier?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m in the town car.”
Avery pulled up, also in a town car, obviously borrowed from North as it appeared to be the same kind of car North had driven earlier. And North was so young. How did he own so many cars? Or was that his job for the Academy? And why were they all town cars?
Blake, wearing jeans, a silver button up shirt and barefoot, hopped out of the driver’s side even before the car had fully stopped. Avery yanked the emergency brake, forcing the car to a halt.
Blake marched around the car toward me. “For the love of God,” he said. His tousled blond hair was messy and the shadows under his eyes were darker than I’d seen before. His face was thickly unshaven, like it’d been a couple of weeks. It threw me off seeing him like this. Was he sick? I was surprised to see he didn’t even have shoes. He’d hopped into the car without even grabbing a pair. The gold flecks of his eyes were there amid the hazel, but even those seemed not right somehow.
“Someone just tell me what the hell is going on?”
“I told you, she was kidnapped,” Avery said. “And we should call the police.”
“Not you,” Blake said. He sliced his hand through the air at him and then pointed at me. He approached me slowly. “No, I want to hear from you. What’s this about kidnapping?”
I talked as fast as I could about getting kidnapped with Brandon, my escape, learning about the core, Marc and Axel getting kidnapped and Brandon’s escape, and then Alice and the party and Brandon being gone again. I kept the Academy part out of it since Avery was there.
“Good,” Blake said. “They get you into this mess, they should be the ones getting kidnapped. They should be able to get themselves out of it.”
“They’re going to get killed,” I said.
Blake Coaltar’s lips thinned and I got the feeling he was holding back saying what he was really thinking. He pressed a fingertip to his forehead. “So a girl named Alice tells you that Axel and Marc are poisoned, that Brandon left, and she wants you to get access to a secret underground cell phone network, of which the supposed owner she just married? Is that the gist?”
“Yup,” I said.
“And you’ve got no proof she actually does have Axel or Marc? Or where Brandon is?”
“...No.”
“And you’re going on pure faith that if you manage to figure out how to get her access to it, that she’s got the ability to deliver them?”
I couldn’t answer him. I’d been too afraid of the alternative, knowing Alice was manipulating me.
My brain was tired. I couldn't even remember how long I’d been running. My body ached from the adrenaline rushes and crashes, being so tense for so long. Being kidnapped, having my life threatened... I hadn’t had time to even think about my brother, who was still out there somewhere. I’d been trying to make sure the guys were safe, and so far I’d lost three of them. I didn’t want to lose more. I was terrified of making a mistake and if one of them ended up dead like the Randall guy...and over something as stupid as his cell phone.
Instead, I stared at Blake, silently begging for his help, because I didn’t have a course of action left. I just needed an outside view on how to approach this. Just one direction to go in. Tell me something so I don’t make another mistake.
I might have pouted a little. It wasn’t on purpose. I was just exhausted.
Blake’s face contorted. He pushed his palms into his eyes, and then reached up, tugging at his wild hair. “I’ve got to be the sorriest...” He sighed and then tossed the keys at Avery. “I guess you want to go now,” he said.
Avery caught the keys. “Maybe I should stick around this time,” he said. “I could help.”
“Thanks, Avery,” I said, looking at him as he stood by his car, wearing another Hawaiian shirt, shifting from foot to foot. He was probably worried about getting kidnapped or killed or the police getting called in. “You don’t have to. It’s probably better if you don’t, actually. I may need to call on you again.”
He nodded. “Sure. If you need to. I guess that makes sense.” He waited another moment, like he was hoping I’d change my mind. When I didn’t say anything else, he went around his car toward the driver’s side.
“Here,” Blake said, stepping forward. He drew his wallet from his back pocket. “Hang on a second. Take this.”
Avery started to wave him off. “No, I don’t need to be paid.”
Blake shook his head and instead handed him a card. “Tomorrow morning, call this number. Tell her I asked you to.”
“Why?” Avery asked, taking the card and looking at it. “It’s just a phone number. Who am I calling?”
“Just do it,” he said. “You’ll see.”
Avery looked at me. I shrugged. Not my deal. He could call the number if he was curious enough.
Blake and I waited until Avery got into his car and drove off. I stood silently, well after Avery’s tail lights had started to fade in the distance, afraid to look at Blake.
Blake, however, wasn’t going to give me the luxury of getting out of being yelled at. He grabbed my arm and then pointed out toward the one road that led out of Folly Beach. “Okay, darling,” he said, his tone deeper. “Nice trick with calling the taxi to get me out here, but why are we here at Folly and why didn’t you come to me yourself? Did you think I’d shoot you or something?”
“Maybe,” I said.
Blake’s eyes narrowed and then he dropped my arm. “If I wanted to get revenge by shooting you, you’d have a bullet hole way sooner than now.” He leaned in closer this time, his nose a breath away from mine. “But I am not your doormat to lay out your problems on and then vanish without a word.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Two weeks,” he said. He stayed close to me as the gold in his eyes burned. “Two weeks of no calls, nothing. Sure. I can understand that. After that catastrophe in Florida, you needed the break. But now you call me out of the blue, and is it a thank you? Asking how my day is? How about going to a movie like normal people? No. It’s to come save your life, and those guys you hang out with. And it’s their mess in the first place. Again.”
I cringed, afraid to step back because I thought the car was right behind me. “This wasn’t their fault. We all got dragged into it. I didn’t mean to...”
“I know you didn’t mean to. That’s my point. Don’t you see?” He gestured again to the road. “You run around with those guys, and they’re asking you to do crazy things. Now it isn’t just them you could possibly get hurt by, it’s some gang, or even two. What happens next time when it’s a bomb that goes off downtown? Or an airplane crash with their fingerprints all over it?”
“Or drugs dumping into wells?” I asked him, anger welling up in me. “That first time was with you...”
“And you were out minding your own business before when they got you to chase after me, not even knowing all the information. Don’t you see? You’re getting your nose into things that have nothing to do with you. Dangerous things.”
“Is
n’t that why you stole the drugs in the first place?” I asked, raising my voice to match his. “Sticking your nose...”
“I’m just yelling to yell,” he said. He backed off then, taking a few steps into the parking lot and turning away. “I don’t like surprises. And it’s been a rough week.”
“What have you been up to?” I asked in a quieter tone. “Are you sick? You look...” I didn’t want to say it, but he did look awful.
“Nothing,” he said. He raised his head, sucked in a breath, held it and then looked at me as he breathed out again. “But if I help you this time, you’re coming with me after.”
Huh. “Going where?”
“Wherever I want,” he said. “Don’t you trust me?”
I squinted at him, unsure. As tired as I was, it was easier to just agree. “You think you can help me get Axel, Marc and Brandon back?”
“I know I can,” he said. “I’m pretty sure. I just want to get you away from them for a while. Make you see that you’re headed to a place you may not want to be. The Academy is deeper than I ever imagined. It’s convoluted and whether you meant to be or not, you’re in the middle. They took you on a trip to save a kidnapped girl before and you’re not even trained.” He approached me, slowly this time, talking as he moved, until he was up next to me again. “If you want to do good for other people, there’s another way. If that’s what drives you. If it’s what you want. You don’t have to jump in blindly. I can show you. Give me a few weeks. Let me show you what I can do.”
Why did it sound reasonable? I studied him for an ulterior motive, of which I was sure there was one. His hazel eyes with the gold flecks shimmered with something alive, and full of promises. I’d believed him before, but I couldn’t go on completely blind trust now. “What do you want me to do exactly? Spell it out. I’m not making some weird promise, to find out you want to turn me into one of your sex slaves for a week.”
“I’m never so vulgar,” he said, looking shocked. “You’d be my only sex slave…”
“Nope,” I said. I started to turn and he grabbed onto my arm.
