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Nathan sat alone. Luke had gone inside the school to hide somewhere near the cafeteria to get a closer view of what was going on. He had Luke’s phone with him, and his own, plus one emergency phone. Luke ended up with an emergency flip phone. But he could still text out to Nathan using the emergency phone. Silence was necessary when it came to Luke’s job. He could text Nathan to come in or warn Nathan about what was going on inside.
For a good half hour, monitoring the school and Ms. Johnson’s arrival was uneventful. Most often, he was looking at his phone. Occasionally he pressed his fingertip to the button to get the screen light up, checking even though there was no sign of a message or call.
Eventually, his phone buzzed with a message.
Victor: What area is nicer, do you think? Beaches or more north like Mt. Pleasant?
Nathan squinted at the phone. He kept his eyes on Ms. Johnson and then typed back.
Nathan: For what?
Victor: For a house. For us.
He didn’t want to answer. Not that he expected much just yet from Ms. Johnson, but he was jumping ahead. They hadn’t decided yet, had they?
But...if Sang got a house, then he wouldn’t have to worry about Erica knowing she was over to see him.
The thought urged a response, and he type out a message.
Nathan: You want an area where it’d be unlikely for Erica to pop in, or anyone else. And very unlikely we’d run into them at a grocery store perhaps. We’d want to be unnoticed by neighbors.
Victor: Good point. This is complicated.
No kidding. For more than several reasons.
He put the phone down once again as a large truck far off to his right and down the road appeared. It was an unmarked box truck. It stopped at the bus lot drive, taking the turn into it. Ms. Johnson didn't move from her spot. The truck disappeared from Nathan's view.
Why watch this student lot if there was activity going on near the cafeteria? And why her and not someone who got asked to do normal security at night around the building?
Nathan waited. He needed to keep his position so Luke could return once this whole thing was over, and also to see if anyone else approached Ms. Johnson during that time. He wondered if anyone would bother approaching the lot at this hour.
Nathan’s gaze, however, went from the car to his phone in the cup holder. He anticipated a message at any moment.
Kota was going to see Lily tonight. He was on his way in his sedan. He probably wasn't even there yet, but Nathan kept checking his phone. He promised to let Nathan know what she said.
He was the only one not here for this, but technically, he was supposed to be laying low with his mom and sister. He'd gone over the strategies they'd take tonight with Mr. Blackbourne, knew where they would be, and could operate every communication from his cell phone.
But he wasn't really home. He was on his way out of town. And it was probably good he got to do it now while the rest of the team was distracted.
Nathan was parked inside a small lane between trees across the street from the lot, so he was well covered. The street between him and the school went on to his left. The road went down a hill. It led to several suburban neighborhoods, pockets of mazes that ended in cul-de-sacs. On occasion, cars passed in front of him, driving past the student lot, and moved on toward those neighborhoods.
He couldn't see Ms. Johnson without the binoculars, but she didn't seem particularly interested in any of the cars passing by.
Nathan waited, anticipating one of the cars to actually turn into the lot, but it was another five minutes before it arrived.
Dr. Green's car was easily recognizable to him. The doctor pulled slowly into the lot, parking nose to trunk next to Ms. Johnson's car and completing the blocking of the lot.
Ms. Johnson got out, clearly animated, waving to the car to move along. When Dr. Green got out, Ms. Johnson stopped, lowered her hands but still spoke to him.
Dr. Green put his hands up a little, showing he wasn't carrying anything, but also approached her. She was clearly surprised to see him there.
Nathan leaned forward, unable to read lips but trying to catch what was going on. He knew the plan was to convince Ms. Johnson Dr. Green was on her side, and to get her to give up this guarding of the school and go home and get some rest. Having an eyewitness who was willing to speak up against Mr. Hendricks would be key later on.
The likelihood this was a trap was there, but they were ready for that, too.
A text message came in from Luke. It was only one word.
Luke: Exchange.
Exchange? This wasn't just a delivery? What were they exchanging?
He'd have to wait for an answer. Luke might not be in a position to divulge much else in the moment. Whatever was happening, it was going on now.
Nathan dropped his phone into the cup holder. He drummed his fingers against the wheel of the BMW, and then smoothed his palms over the leather and polished wood. Minutes ticked by, but every second made him eager for this to be over. He wanted to go home, shower and wait for word from Kota.
Maybe he’d get Sang to spend the night again. He wasn’t totally sure where she’d end up tonight, but he doubted she’d return to the Lee house.
He'd checked his own house's cameras earlier. The girls weren't there. Which was good. The last thing he needed was them snooping around and finding anything they shouldn't. His dad was easier to fool when he had Academy equipment around. There were places Nathan could hide such things and his father never noticed.
One of the cars that was passing by in front of him sped up. It turned into the lot, and parked in front of Dr. Green's and Ms. Johnson's car. Another one that had followed pulled around over the grass on the other side of the lane and parked a few feet on the opposite side.
Yup. Trap.
Nathan sat up, picking up binoculars to get a good look.
The only one that stepped out was the one in a brown car in front: Mr. McCoy.
Shit.
But okay. No problem. He wasn’t expecting him exactly, but now they knew he was involved still at the school. He was sure they’d get a report later from a tracking team, letting them know he was here. He was usually trying to monitor the fake Academy school to catch out who else worked there and what was going on with it.
The other car stayed in position, but no one came out. He wondered if it was Mr. Hendricks or someone else. He fished out his phone, snapped a pic of everything, catching the one plate he could get.
Whatever this was, it wasn't good.
Dr. Green held his hands up but stepped protectively in front of Ms. Johnson. Mr. McCoy moved forward, wearing sweatpants and a camo shirt. His mustached lips moved as he barked something at Dr. Green. Dr. Green didn't budge, keeping himself between Ms. Johnson and Mr. McCoy.
Nathan waited, watching, ready to go help Dr. Green, but when Dr. Green didn't give a signal he needed help, Nathan was forced to stay where he was. No need to give his position up.
Ms. Johnson might have been set up for just this. Somehow, Hendricks and McCoy knew she was talking to Dr. Green, but that would be easy to figure out.
Was Ms. Johnson actually in on that, though?
For what purpose, he wasn't sure, but it didn't matter just yet. He just needed to get Luke out when it was time and to make sure nothing happened to Dr. Green. Let McCoy or Hendricks know they were watching and listening. It wasn’t like they’d call the cops, not when they were manipulating people in the school.
He waited, with his hand on the door handle, ready to run out. Just in case. McCoy was hotheaded. If he needed to, he'd leave the car hidden and go on foot. Luke would need someplace to retreat to once he left his secret position inside the school.
At first, he kept his attention on McCoy, trying to figure out what he was telling Dr. Green and Ms. Johnson. Then he refocused his effort into figuring out who was in the other car. With the way it was positioned though, he wasn't going to get a good look without moving.
His ability t
o see was blacked out shortly by a vehicle going by, but as it slowed down and continued to block his view of Dr. Green, he lowered the binoculars. They were drawing attention.
That was when he recognized the Jeep. Or so he thought. Was it...
The Jeep stopped in the middle of the street. Something flew out from it beyond the other cars in the lot. The car waited.
Another teacher? Was he throwing something at them?
Suddenly the area on the other side of the Jeep was being taken over by fog.
“What the hell?” Nathan said and then peered in at the driver of the Jeep with the binoculars.
A mask. A white one.
Volto.
“Oh shit,” Nathan said.
The Jeep started up again, pulling away. Once Volto drove further down the road, Nathan caught the license plate.
It was North's Jeep.
“Shit, shit, shit...” Nathan said. He dropped the binoculars and started the engine, keeping the lights off. He hated to leave Dr. Green, but he sent a quick message to Luke using voice to text and pulled out behind the Jeep.
“Be careful getting out,” Nathan said to his phone to send the message. “Dr. Green and his meeting got interrupted. Volto has North’s Jeep. Following it. Get instructions from Doc or someone else before moving on.”
He gave a voice command to send the message as he drove. He wasn't sure what else to say, but he kept his phone ready to take another message.
He slowed his pursuit when the Jeep slowed to just a few miles over the speed limit. After a while, it was pretty clear to Nathan that Volto would recognize Victor's car and know he was following, especially when he pulled into a cul-de-sac neighborhood and made a few obvious turns.
Did it matter? Unless Volto was willing to race through the streets, it was unlikely Nathan would lose him.
And like hell if he'd stop chasing him.
