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He stood quickly. Dad was standing in the middle of the cafeteria, looking up toward the hole in the ceiling, face pale. Smoke and Ice lay unconscious in their metal prison. Trey, Aysha, Jo, and Miles were helping stragglers who hadn’t been able to escape, kids who looked scared as they stared at Nick and his friends, including Megan, who looked shaky but able to stand on her own. Bob was sitting in a chair, Martha above him, fussing over a cut on his forehead.
Gone. She was gone. She was—
Trying to mix in with the kids leaving with Jo and Miles.
“Stop!” Nick shouted and took off running. He heard the others call after him, but he ignored them. He jumped over broken chairs and tables, his muscles protesting. Right before she walked through the doors and out into the hall, he reached her, grabbing her by the arm and spinning her around.
“Let mego,” Rebecca Firestone snarled, her sunglasses missing a lens, a bright eye glaring murderously at Nick.
“You knew,” Nicks spat. “Youknewwhat was going to happen, and you did nothing to stop it.”
“Nick?” Miles asked. “What’s going on?”
“Rebecca Firestone,” Nick snapped. “She was here before the attack. She was filming everything. She knew this was going to happen. How? Burke? Are you working with Simon Burke? Holy shit, you are theworst.”
She smiled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. And even if I did, you have no proof.” Her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward. “I knew it. About you. Iknewyou were like them. Like Pyro Storm. Like Owen. You may have everyone else fooled, but once they see the footage I took, you won’t be able to escape. The life you had isover. Unless—”
“Unless?”
She stood upright. “Interview. Exclusive. You, me. All on the table. Any questions I want to ask.”
“And if I refuse?” Nick asked.
Her smile widened, flashing teeth. A shark’s grin. “Then it’ll be my word against yours. Who do you think people will believe? You’ll never know peace again. Do you really want to do that to your father? It’s over, Nick. Everything you’ve kept secret will be dragged into the light. I can help you. I can make it better. Why would you—Get your handsoffme!”
“Huh,” Jo said, tearing Rebecca Firestone’s purse from her shoulder. She overturned it, spilling the contents on the ground as the reporter struggled against Nick’s hold. A wallet, eight lip balms, makeup, a package of tissue, a tin of mints, Tylenol, and a camera. The same camera she’d used to record everything.
Nick let Rebecca Firestone go and picked up the camera, testing its weight in his hands. Such a little thing. “What’s the school’s Wi-Fi password?”
Rebecca Firestone snarled, “How should I know? I don’t go to this stupid school.”
Nick grinned at her. “So you weren’t able to upload the footage to a cloud. Which means this is all the leverage you have.”
Her face twisted. “I will end you if you—” She screamed as Nick pivoted on his heels, cocking his arm back and letting the camera fly. It smashed against the wall, shattering into pieces.
“I’ll kill you!” Rebecca Firestone cried, her sunglasses falling to the floor, eyes narrowed into slits. “You hear me? You’redead. You’re—”
“Are you threatening a minor?” Trey asked, taking a step forward.
She laughed, a choked sound that grated against Nick’s nerves. “You’re damn right I am. This little shit broke my camera!”
“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Aysha said with a frown. “In fact, all I saw was Nick picking it up for you after Jo accidentally dropped it.”
“I’m so clumsy,” Jo said airily. “Always have been.”
“It’s one of the things I love most about her,” Miles said, winking at his wife. “And Nick here has the same tendencies. It slipped, isn’t that right, Nicky?”
“Yep,” Nick said, grateful for these people in his life. “Slipped right against the wall.”
“So you see,” Trey said, “Nick has witnesses. You don’t. Maybe you’ll try to spin this some way, but trust me when I say hell hath no fury like a pissed-off parent. You come for Nick—you come foranyof our kids—and I’ll make sure everyone knows the part you played here. I’m sure your viewers would love to hear how you didn’t lift a finger to help any of the kids at this school while they were being attacked.”
“You won’t get away with this,” she snarled. She turned her fiery gaze to Nick. “I’ve seen it for myself. Everyone will know; I’ll make sure of it. You hear me?Everyone will know.” And with that, she shoved her way through them, heading for the exit.
Strangely, Nick almost felt sorry for her. He didn’t know why; she didn’t deserve his sympathy. Everything she’d done had put the people he loved in danger. Which was why he was surprised when he called after her. “Hey, Firestone!”
She stopped but didn’t turn around.
Nick took a step toward her as the parents stood at his back. “I don’t know what he promised you,” Nick said, and she stiffened. “But I do know that while I despise everything you are, you’re not stupid, at least not completely. Burke is only in this for himself.Once you’ve served your purpose, he’ll toss you aside because you meannothingto him. And I think some part of you knows that.”
