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“He could be trying to throw us off,” Victor said. “I mean, Volto was working with Muriel. He could be working with someone else, someone we don’t see.”
“We can’t eliminate any possibilities,” Mr. Blackbourne said, “but we can’t go with theories. Precautions are necessary. Mr. Hendricks has a plan. It requires me being absent. We’ll have to make counter-efforts, and hopefully figure out what he’s up to.”
“So no matter what happens,” Kota said, his face grim, “if it’s a fake bomb threat, or something that Volto does, if you are there, he could say the bomber is targeting you and you wouldn’t listen and threatened the kids anyway. If you don’t show up, he’ll blame you for not being there because you were put in charge of security.”
“And he could use it to show we’re incompetent,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Since we know the superintendent is on his side, we’ll have to be extra careful. Our contacts inside the school board can only do so much. If we are at fault for anything going on at the game, he’ll have found his way to get us out of the school.”
“What do we do?” I asked. Heads turned. I was surprised I voiced anything at all, but I was working out all the possibilities of a bomber, Volto, Mr. Hendricks, or anyone else that would scheme to hurt students, or cause problems that would get the boys kicked out. I couldn’t imagine going to school without them.
“The game is this Friday,” he said. “With the dance on Saturday, on Halloween.”
“There was a girl collecting money,” I said. “At the diner. She left a can for donations. Isn’t it too soon for it to be happening if they’re still collecting?”
“That money goes into the dance,” he said. “They have a goal of getting it all in by Wednesday. They don’t want to hold the dance at the school, so they’re raising money to rent out a venue. Mr. Hendricks might have had some influence there. They’re looking at Middleton Place.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
Kota held up his hand, pointing out beyond the door. “There’s an event hall on this old plantation. It’s got large gardens and plenty of room.”
“Plenty of places to hide a bomb,” North said. “Shouldn’t they have reserved this months ago? How are they getting it now?”
“It’s a special favor from the owners,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “I think they’ll probably donate the venue at whatever the girls manage to raise. This means more publicity.”
“I don’t like it,” North said. “It’d be bad enough if it was at the school, but now we’re looking at an outside venue. Do we have access to it now?”
“That’s our job right now,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Some of us need to check out the venue. The rest need to focus on the game.”
“Should we call in reinforcements?” Dr. Green asked. “This is more than just our assignment now. This is beyond the school.”
“We’ll do whatever we need to do,” Mr. Blackbourne said, “but I think we need to focus on the source, rather than protection.”
“What do you mean?” Dr. Green asked.
“So far, we’ve been reacting to what he’s done,” he said. “We’ve yet to find a source. More than likely, this person was nearby when things started to happen. We need to be on the lookout for who this is.”
“You’re going to let him do what he wants?” I asked.
“So far he hasn’t really hurt anyone,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “He’s left anonymous calls and boxes. Scare tactics. If he wanted to blow something up, he would have. He hasn’t gone that far. I think our job needs to be looking at who is reacting and how. I want these bomb threats finished by this weekend.”
“That’s a dangerous play,” Dr. Green said. “Normally I’d jump at it, but there’s a lot to consider here.”
“We’ve got too many threats as it is,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “And this is one we can’t ignore going forward. He’s distracting us from what we’re really here for. We need to find him before this ever escalates into something dangerous. Our job here depends on this.”
“If you let him do what he wants just to catch him, doesn’t that mean you’ll be kicked out?” I asked. I hadn’t meant to let the question slip. It was still a real issue. This was what Mr. Hendricks was waiting for.
“Let’s worry about that if and when it ever happens,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “But I don’t think we’ll be leaving any time soon.”
He seemed so sure, that I didn’t question it further. I had to trust. I knew that.
“So tomorrow morning, some of us will meet at Middleton,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Check in with Kota for a schedule. And if that’s all we’ve got today, we’ll wrap up. Is there anyone who needs to speak with me privately?”
Without hesitation, hands went up: Victor’s, Gabriel’s, North’s and Nathan’s.
The question and the immediate reaction surprised me. They seemed to share everything, so it was a surprise to see them needing to talk to each other in private. I glanced at Kota for an answer.
He caught my eyes and then leaned in to whisper in my ear. “It’s issues within the group that they don’t want the others to hear about. Some of it is Academy related. Try not to ask. We have to respect they don’t want to tell everyone right now what their issues are.”
I nodded slowly.
“I’ll meet with you individually in Mr. Griffin’s bedroom,” Mr. Blackbourne said. He pointed at them one at a time, giving them an order. When Gabriel was the first one selected, he used my leg to brace himself as he scrambled to get up. He followed Mr. Blackbourne into the bedroom and they closed the door.
With that, they broke up. It was short, to the point. A check in on daily life. I wondered if all Academy teams had to do this. It made sense. Everyone got a view of what was going on at once. Too bad Silas wasn’t here. Someone would have to catch him up.
What I wondered about was what each person needed to talk to Mr. Blackbourne about. The others talked, but my eyes kept going to the door, wondering about Gabriel. What was the secret? Would he tell me? Kota said not to pry, but I couldn’t help being a little worried about what it could be.
No one else seemed to have an issue with it. I tried to let it go.
Being part of this real family was so different from my old one. My parents wouldn’t have even asked.
North caught my eye, but he was looking toward the television. Now that Mr. Blackbourne had moved away, there was a clear shot of the news.
He stared hard, his mouth tightening, his eyes intense. He was usually very intense, but I sensed this was something more.
I glanced at the screen. There was a news report going on. There was a fire in a church parking lot, catching a shed on fire and damaging part of the main structure. There was an overhead shot from a helicopter, and on the ground was the fire department dealing with the flames. It had been done at night, and this was the recap, so most of the screen was simply glowing, and everyone else was caught in the orange light.
“Mr. Taylor,” said Mr. Blackbourne. I blinked, turning, noting Gabriel moving from the room, heading my way to sit beside me again, looking happier, relieved.
North continued to stare at the screen, caught up in the news. It was the same footage, and no flashing updates. Was he just dazed?
Mr. Blackbourne stepped out of the room further, opening his mouth for a moment, and then noticed the screen and stopped, his head tilting, eyes squinting, studying. Critical.
“Turn it up,” Kota said. He’d turned to the screen, too.
At this point, all of the boys were paying attention. Dr. Green fished out the remote, turning the sound back up.
“...enforcement says the arsonist struck at two in the morning. The church had been abandoned for thirteen years, and was scheduled for demolition later in the year. The fire department says while the fire is under control, they are requesting the city council to move up demolition deadlines to avoid further...”
My attention shifted to the guys, studying them. They were all so focused on the tele
vision. Serious expressions. I checked the screen again. I didn’t recognize the church. The news showed pictures of the church in the past when it was populated, and then a year ago, with boards over the windows, the grass overgrown, and a gaping hole in the roof. Why were they concerned with an abandoned building?
After years of watching the news, something my mother watched constantly, I’d seen reports of arson and other things from all over the country. Nothing about this one seemed out of the ordinary.
I glanced at Kota, who again shifted and caught my eyes. I questioned him silently: Why do you look so worried about this fire?
Kota’s lips pursed. He turned and addressed Mr. Blackbourne. “It could have been anyone,” he said.
Mr. Blackbourne focused on Kota, the steel in his eyes becoming sharp. “I want to know where he was last night.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask who, but then I clenched my teeth. The boys slowly reanimated, someone started talking about Mr. Hendricks.
North focused completely on the report of the fire, as if at any moment the news reporters would reveal something they hadn’t repeated in the last few minutes.
And the expression on his face scared me, because I thought for the first time I saw a fear in his eyes, and I couldn’t tell why.
The meeting broke up, and most of the guys left until it was just Nathan and North finishing cleaning. I retreated again to the bedroom at their request. I opened a school book, pretending to read but really, I was thinking of all the threats on the school, of the possibility that this whole thing was an elaborate trap.
Maybe that’s why Mr. Hendricks finally allowed the girls to have their homecoming dance. It wasn’t about letting them have fun. It’s because he saw a way to get rid of the Academy once and for all.
Nathan popped his head into the bedroom. “Peanut.”
I lifted my head. “Yeah?”
“North and I have to get going. There’s...Academy things.”
“Oh,” I said, and then sat up. “Should I...”
“Silas is heading over.”
“Silas?”
