Page 57 of Facade

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “I’ll think about it.”

The rest of the day seemed to speed by, probably because Clarke was dreading what came next. Lane had invited all the underage students to a movie night in the elemental dorm, with the goal of making Brandon and Paul more comfortable there. That gave her and Jace hours to enact their plan without needing to check on the boys.

By the time Jace met her at the powered dorm with a large duffel, Clarke was a ball of anxiety. Wordlessly, she let him in, and walked to her apartment.

“I know you’re stressing over this, but everything will be fine,” Jace said when they were in her unit with the door closed. Stressing was an understatement, but his calm confidence did help steady her.

They each took a drop of the DSV potion to disguise their voices. “Ok, what’s next?” Clarke asked, weirded out by how strange her voice sounded.

“The first part of the plan is simple. Once we have Heath contained, let me do the talking,” Jace said.

This could go totally sideways, but procrastinating wouldn’t change that. “All right. Let’s do this,” Clarke said.

They took her car to a public park west of the college, where a sleek, black and silver motorcycle waited. Jace lifted the duffel, and pointed to the bathroom. He handed her a padded motorcross jumpsuit, and a helmet with a tinted visor.

Clark put the jumpsuit on over her slacks and shirt with shaking fingers. It was a tight fit, but if necessary, they could shed the suits, and look completely different in seconds. She donned the helmet, and Jace tightened the strap, making sure it was secure.

She climbed onto the bike behind him, and the motor started with a throaty roar. Clarke hadn’t been on a motorcycle in years, because it was one of the few things her dad got stern about. Motorcycles were dangerous, and her dad feared the thought of her being in an accident.

Respecting that, Clarke avoided them for his sake. Under other circumstances, she would have reveled at the freedom of the wind in her hair as she held tight to Jace. However, she was too nervous to enjoy the ride.

A few minutes later, Jace turned onto a winding country road, and pulled into the drive of a nature preserve. They dismounted, and walked the bike along one of the paths until there was a break in the trees. Jace hid the motorcycle behind a couple of maples. Walking several yards from where the bike was stashed, Jace gestured for her to join him in the greenery where they would have a good view of the running trail.

“Now, we wait,” Jace said quietly.

Since his voice was already deep, the DSV potion just made him sound different, which was fine. It suited their purposes.

Clarke was starting to wonder if Heath was taking a different route when she heard footfalls on the path. Jace was alert, but calm as he waited for Heath to appear. Heath came into view looking straight ahead and wearing earbuds.

He was nearly past them when Jace pounced. In a blink, Jace had Heath’s wand arm behind his back, preventing him from casting. Clarke knew Jace had been trained, and taught others to safely disarm evolved citizens quickly.

But she was still impressed. She had barely seen him move. Jace marched the caster to the other side of the path, and behind a few saplings, watching for dog walkers or other joggers.

Clarke followed, trying to move silently, but she hadn’t been trained for stealth. At least with earbuds in, Heath wouldn’t be aware of her presence. Jace would prefer that it stay that way, but knew she’d want to be here for this.

Jace took the set of cuffs Clarke handed him, and secured Heath’s hands behind his back. Heath was calmer than Clarke thought he’d be, as if being marched into the woods and manacled by an unknown assailant was no big deal. Maybe he recognized the futility of struggling, or was brave to the point of stupidity.

“I don’t carry my wallet or any valuables when I run,” Heath commented.

Jace pulled the earbuds out of Heath’s ears. “Money doesn’t interest me. You have information I need.”

He had affected a terrible New York accent that anyone would know to be fake. Clarke hadn’t been to New York, but a lot of her students were addicted to a reality show filmed there.

Instead of sounding intimidated, Heath snorted. “If you’re trying to sound like those idiots on ‘Bad News in Brooklyn’, to throw me off, you’re failing miserably.”

“Just answer my questions, and you can go about your night with no more hassle from me,” Jace said, still with the horrible accent. “There have been disappearances over the summer, and you know something about it.”

Clarke wasn’t facing Heath to see his expression, but he suddenly stood at attention. “I don’t actually know anything,” he said. “But if you’re trying to determine what happened to the missing students from Mars and Venus, and where they are, I am too. Instead of all this strongarming, cloak-and-dagger shit, we should collaborate, and pool our information and resources.”

Missing students? Clarke hadn’t heard about students disappearing. Did that have anything to do with her dad? If they were connected, that might be why her first vision had led her here. This could also be much bigger, and more nefarious than she’d suspected.

She shared a long look with Jace. He hadn’t known about the missing students, either. “A potion maker also went missing,” Jace said. “But he graduated decades ago, and not from Mars. Do you know anything about that?”

Heath shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t, and would help you if I could.”

The only way to get more specific would be to mention her last name, which Heath would recognize. This was frustrating, but Clarke didn’t think they would learn anything else this way. She shook her head at Jace, pantomiming that they should let Heath go.

They had a lot to think about, and another mystery to solve. Perhaps trying to call a vision about the missing students would indirectly lead to her dad. It was worth a try.