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Silence loomed between us. I looked over at Nathan. He looked ahead at the rain, waiting.
“I don't know what happened tonight,” she said slowly. She twisted her hands against the wheel and then fished in her purse for her cell phone. She put the purse on the middle console, dialed on the phone with one hand and started the car. She switched to reverse and started backing out, holding the phone to her ear.
Nathan sat back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest. He gazed out the window, and then looked back at me through the rearview mirror.
We shared the same questions. What happened to you? How did you end up in this car? What in the world do we do now?
Something went terribly wrong for him, too. I could tell. He was supposed to be in a car with Luke. Where was Luke? Where was the car?
And where was Kota?
Erica spoke into her phone as she turned the car to leave the lot. “Kota? Where are you?” Pause. Her tone lowered. “Don't lie to me.” Pause. “Kota, she's sitting right here in my car. Don't tell me you're out with her.”
I closed my eyes, sat back, crossing my arms over my body and holding myself. This might be worse than her finding out about Nathan kissing me. There was no way to explain what was going on.
I had nothing to offer, nothing to help explain this. My cheeks were on fire. My body shook, not just from wet clothes, but from fear.
Suddenly, Erica reached back to me, handing me the phone. “He says he needs to talk to you.”
I took the phone and held it to my ear. “Hello?” I breathed into it.
“I'll fix this,” he said. “Try not to say anything until I get there.”
Did I need to tell him something else? Maybe I should warn him about Nathan? “Hey,” I said carefully and then considered what I could mentioned in front of Erica at this moment. “Yes, I think Luke has it?” I didn't know how else to tell him. I didn't want to mention where Luke was.
He paused on the phone. “Are you asking me about Luke? I don’t know yet but he’s okay. I need to find Nathan.”
“Yes,” I said. “That. I found it.”
“Really?” He blew out a breath hard into the phone. “Okay, okay. Is Nathan okay?”
“Yes.”
He paused. “Wait, is he in the car with you?”
“Yes.”
He grumbled. “Can nothing else today go wrong, please?”
“I know,” I said. There wasn't much else I could say. She picked us up from two different locations, found me shopping in a grocery store close to midnight. Some of our team was missing still. I wasn’t sure where Silas, Mr. Blackbourne and Gabriel were supposed to be, but after all this, I wanted to make sure everyone was okay. And where was North?
“Sang,” Erica said in a voice a little too kind for the craziness we were going through in the moment. “Sweetie, can you tell him to get home, and that we're all going to have a talk when he does?”
“I heard her,” Kota said. “I'm sorry about all this. I'll fix everything.”
“It's okay,” I told him. Without the ability to say it another way, I just needed him to know. “Just so you know, North left that thing in the back of the truck.”
“What?”
“Him,” I said.
He paused. “I'm on my way.”
He hung up. I only hoped he got my meaning, but I still needed to make sure to get word out clearer as soon as possible. I passed the cell phone back to Erica, and she tossed it into the cup holder.
“I don't understand anything going on tonight,” she said and then checked her rearview mirror, making adjustments. “Sang, were you the one throwing fireworks at the school?”
“What?” I asked. “What fireworks?”
She breathed out quickly from her lips. “I guess it wasn't you. But all of this is an odd coincidence. You walked all the way out here for groceries? Why didn't your parents drive you?”
The lies started on my tongue, but faded. There was no way I could ignore her questions completely. What Academy protocol was there for a situation like this? “My mom doesn't have a car,” I said.
“Sweetie, why didn't you tell me? Or why not wait for Kota?”
My voice cracked as I continued my lie. “I didn't think it was that far.”
She sighed and glanced over at Nathan. “You need a car, too.”
“I've been saying that,” Nathan said, still looking out the front window. “I need one. Sang needs one...”
Erica drove on but stopped on our street at Bob's Diner. “I'm picking up some dinner for all of us,” she said. “Are hamburgers okay with you two?”
“Yes,” we said at the same time.
“Stay here. Keep warm until I get back.” She went in, taking her purse with her but left the engine running.
The moment she was out of view, Nathan turned to me, reaching for my hand. “Holy shit, are you okay?”
I grabbed his hand to hold on to but blurted out. “North got in the truck. I had to go back to the Jeep, but...it's gone.”
He grumbled. “I know. I saw it.”
He told me what happened, up to the point where he got into the car with Erica. “Next thing I know, she's bringing you out.”
I told him what happened with me, too. “Could you call the others?”
“My phone’s in the lake.”
I gripped his hand. I couldn’t believe what happened to him. Victor’s car. The Jeep. All of it gone. “My phone is in the security trailer. If Victor’s still there.”
He sat up. “Victor...is he still...” He turned around and lunged at the door. “Stay here. We’re going to need that phone.”
“What if she comes back?”
“Tell her I went into the restroom.” He got out, shutting the door quickly.
I waited in the back, watching as he jogged across the parking lot in the rain and around the back.
I waited and then worried I was alone in the car with the engine running. I debated going inside with Erica just to be near someone.
Before I could, Nathan returned from around the corner, carrying with him my pink-encased iPhone. He got into the front seat and pulled it around to his face, breathing rapid. He pushed a green button on someone’s app and put it on speaker.
The phone rang a few times before it picked up. “Yell-ow?” Gabriel said although his voice was odd.
“What the hell are you doing, man?” Nathan asked.
“Hey! I found him!” He spoke more, but the next part was at a distance from the phone. “Hey! We got him.” He came back. “What the fuckery of hell...where did you go?”
“I chased Volto down the road after he threw that smoke bomb,” Nathan said.
“Yeah, we got that part. What happened?”
“He’s gone. He’s got the Jeep. Although he might have ditched it by now.”
“We can’t get a tracker on it. Or Vic’s car.”
“That’s because the BMW is in the lake.”
There was a pause. “Holy shit. What happened?”
“Long story.”
I interrupted. “Gabriel, North’s probably still in the truck.”
“Mr. Blackbourne followed it with Silas. The idiot. He’s going to get it now. He didn’t need to go in. And he’ll be pissed about his Jeep.”
“Where are you?” Nathan asked.
“I was in Dr. Green’s trunk. Now I’m in the front seat.” He paused again. “We’re still at the grocery store. We’re waiting on Luke. He’s still inside the school, but I don’t know if we can get him out. The place has cops all over. Did you know Wil works here now?”
“About him,” I said. I told them everything he said to me. It was a weird time to mention it, but I didn’t want to forget. “I know Mr. Toma wanted updates about him? Are we still doing that?”
