Chasing Xaris (13 page)

I

shook my head. No way. I was
not
going back there. “You want to take us with you?” I asked.

“I don’t,” Gene said. He nodded to his brother. “Alex insists we do.”

Mr. Whit’s face twitched. “Gene, we don’t need to have this conversation again in front of my students.”

He turned to address us. “We
had planned to take only you, Chandler, but we’ve adapted. The three of you will remain under our watch until we’ve completed our tasks. Once we find what we’re looking for, you’ll be free to go.”             

“But we can’t go to
Aletheia Island,” I said. “That place is crazy dangerous.”

“We have a plan, Chandler,” Mr. Whit said, tucking the xaris back into the locket. He draped it around his long neck. “We aren’t going unprepared.”

“I don’t care how much you’ve prepared. They’ll kill you.”

Mr. Whit glanced at his brother.

“We knew there would be risks,” Gene said. “It’s worth it.”

“What’s worth it?” I asked him.

“The misos stone,” Gene replied. “That stone has the power to hide planes, ships, satellites, missiles, and so much more. What we’re offering our buyer is practically invaluable.”

“You’re selling the stone?” I asked.

“And the xaris you so generously gave us,” he replied, nodding toward the locket.

“To who?”

“My buyer is a private group.”

“But what are they going to do with it? They could start a war!”

Gene pressed his lips. “That’s not my concern.”

I felt the hot rush of anger. If the misos stone fell into the wrong hands, it could mean disaster, like on an international scale. My parents must have made that connection—that was why they had risked everything to protect Ari’s secret.

I breathed slowly to clear the anger. In and out. I had to keep calm and act carefully.

“Mr. Whit, don’t you realize what
will happen if you steal the stone?” I asked. “The shield that protects Aletheia Island will be gone. Their whole way of life will be destroyed. I thought you loved old civilizations.”

“Don’t listen to her, Alex,” Gene said. “R
emember your part of the deal. You get half the money, and you get to see your treasure.”

“What treasure?” I asked.

“You should know what I’m after,” Mr. Whit said. “Winifred even presented a report on it.” He nodded to Winnie, but she was watching Gene.

“
The Adelle
?” I asked. “A ship can’t crash on the island.”

“Ah, but it did,” Mr. Whit said. “Santiago’s family wrote about
The Adelle
finding her home on the isle. Your locket confirmed it all the more. That’s Adelle Ingram’s picture and her initials.”

“But even if you found it, what would you do?” I asked. “It’s not like you could take it off the island.”

“But I’ll be the first to see it since it crashed—besides the Aletheians,” Mr. Whit said. “That’s enough for me.”

“And we’re finding you some nice relic to take home,” Gene said.

Mr. Whit smiled. “
Sí
, I wouldn’t argue with that.”

“You guys don’t get it,” I said. “The
Aletheians won’t let you take anything. They kill trespassers. If you’re really lucky, they’ll let you live there. But you won’t come home.”

“You came home,” Gene countered.

“Because of Ari,” I said. “I had an insider’s help.”

“So do we,” Mr. Whit said. “I didn’t tell you everything in Santiago’s journal, Chandler. There are extensive maps detailing the Galanis House, including their treasury. I know right where the keys to the vault are held.”

“But the keys aren’t in the vault,” I said. Ari had told me that his father and Delphina’s mother wore the only keys.

“You’ve seen the keys?” Mr. Whit asked.

And I realized the one card I had to play. I’d been to the island and they hadn’t.

“Yes,” I said.

I couldn’t keep them from going, but I could still alter their plans. If I couldn’t manage an escape for Jordan and Winnie and we went to Aletheia Island with these psychopathic brothers, then we’d land on the west beach. That was way too close to the Galanis House.

“Where are the keys?” Mr. Whit asked.

“There was a fire a few years ago,” I said. “Everybody moved to the east side of the island.”

“To the Chronis House?”

“Yes,” I replied automatically. “They keep the keys to the vault in the treasury there.”

“Do you know where that house is?” Gene asked his brother.

“I think so,” Mr. Whit said.

“Do you?” Gene asked me.

“Yes,” I said.

“Then Chandler will lead us,” Gene said.

“Yes, but I don’t have a map for the inside of the Chronis House,” Mr. Whit said. “I don’t know where to find their treasury.”

“Do you?” Gene asked me.

I shook my head.

“No matter,” Gene said. “We’ll find it.”

“How?” Mr. Whit asked.

“It’s a house, Alex. There are only so many places to search.”

“What if we get lost? What if we wake the Aletheians?”

The muscles in Gene’s jaw flexed. “We have guns, Alex. We’ve talked about this.”

“It’s one thing to handle a couple of guards on duty,” Mr. Whit said, “but we can’t risk waking the entire house. Why do you think I insisted on silencers for the guns?”

“We won’t wake the house,” Gene said.

“Because they’d overpower us by sheer numbers.” Mr. Whit’s eyes flitted from Winnie to Jordan to me. “We should postpone our trip. We need time to adjust our plans.”

“Our buyer is set to purchase the stone in a week,” Gene said. “These aren’t the kind of people you want to upset, Alex. And what would we do with your little students?”

“We could take them back to our
casa
while we plan,” Mr. Whit said. “I’d only need a few days.”

Gene shook his head. “And deal with missing person reports while we’re still in the thick of this? Our buyer won’t like it, and neither do I. You’ll have to plan as we go.”

“That’s not how I operate, Gene, and you know it.”

“What more is there to plan? We have the coordinates. We have xaris. We have guns, and they have none.” His gaze shifted to me. “And who knows if the girl is even telling us the truth about the new treasury?”

“Why would I lie?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Gene said. “You co
uld be trying to pull something.”

“How?”

“I don’t know,” Gene said, louder. “But I’m done listening to you.”

He strode to me and slapped a fresh piece of duct tape across my mouth.
He turned to his brother.

“You’re never going to feel ready, Alex,” Gene said. “The girl might be lying, but no matter when we go, we’ve already done all we can.”

“We could bring more men,” Mr. Whit said.

Gene’s eyes flashed. “We’ve already discussed that. We’d have to split the money, which is perfectly unnecessary. Now, go get that rope we brought.”

“Why?”

“To tie them up,” Gene said, through his teeth. “Go. We’re taking too long.”

Mr. Whit sighed and went to the back door, disappearing into the garage.

“We’re preparing to travel,” Gene announced, to no one specifically. “There will be a gun on one of you at all times. Follow my orders and you all will remain unharmed. Stand up and form a line. Now,” he barked.

I started and rose. But I couldn’t walk with my feet bound together. I had to hop. So did Winnie and Jordan.

Gene watched us with a smile. We were entertaining him.

As I jumped to the middle of the room, my gaze met Jordan’s. Just seeing his green eyes made me want to cry. He was probably furious with me, and he had every right to be. But he just looked worried.

Jordan
raised his eyebrows, and I knew he was asking if I had a plan. I shook my head slightly, wishing I did. I raised my eyebrows in turn, but he only shrugged. His eyes crinkled around the edges. He was smiling, trying to reassure me.

I nodded and looked around him to Winnie. I tried to get her attention, but she was watching Mr. Whit with wide eyes.

He had returned with a long nylon rope and given it to Gene, who’d made three loops in it. Mr. Whit kept his gun trained on us while Gene cut the tape from our ankles, lowered a loop of rope around each of our necks, and secured the knots.

Gene left a few feet of slack between each of us and a long free-running end behind me. He grabbed that end.

“Head to the garage,” he said, as Mr. Whit straightened up the places where we had sat, picking up a scrap of duct tape and straightening every pillow.

Winnie obeyed Gene, and Jordan and I followed suit. I couldn’t stop swallowing. The rope was right against my throat, and I kept picturing it strangling me. A simple yank from Gene behind me, and I knew I’d fall to my feet.

I stepped down into the dark garage and saw Mr. Whit’s SUV parked beside my little Prius. The back doors of the SUV faced us, swung open. The back seats had been removed.

“Face down,” Gene said. His voice sounded impatient behind me. “In you go.”

“We’re going.” Mr. Whit guided Winnie as she lay along the right side of the car.

“We’re taking too long,” Gene said. “Go.” He shoved my back, and I stumbled into Jordan.

Jordan looked over his shoulder at me.

I nodded him forward. Gene was losing it, and Gene had a gun.

Jordan climbed into the SUV, lying down in the middle. I climbed in after him and began lowering myself into the spot on his left.

Gene shoved me down the rest of the way.

I fell onto stiff carpet. Pain smarted in my left shoulder. I yelped, but the sound was muffled behind my duct tape.

Jordan’s fingers found mine.

I turned my head to face him right as a loud thump sounded above us. The SUV went dark.

What was that?

I raised my head to see, smacking right into a board. I dropped my head back down in the dark.

The back doors banged shut and, seconds later, I heard the garage door open. The engine rumbled to life and the SUV pulled out of the garage.

My body began to tremble. Maybe it had already been trembling. We had to escape. That was the only option. We couldn’t go to Aletheia Island.

I leaned onto my left shoulder—the one that was throbbing—and felt along the side. There. I felt a handle. I started to pull it but stopped myself. If the door opened, we’d only have a second before Gene or Mr. Whit noticed. Winnie and Jordan would have to move fast
. I had to get their attention somehow.

I linked my ankle around Jordan’s leg and pressed. He leaned his shoulder against mine in response. One down.

Winnie would be harder, though. I couldn’t reach her with Jordan between us. I started humming the theme song from her favorite crime show. She softly joined in.

Okay, I had to act. I couldn’t wait.

I yanked on the handle, but the door didn’t budge. I yanked, again and again, but nothing gave. I thrashed from side to side, running into Jordan, the door, the board. I didn’t care. I couldn’t go back to that island—I’d die there. We all would.

Jordan’s fingers wrapped around mine and held tightly.

I stilled, feeling the hard ache in my chest. I had the sudden urge to just give into it—to stop trying and just sink. But Jordan’s touch reminded me that I wasn’t alone in the SUV. Whatever happened to me would happen to them, too.

I had to keep going. I had to think. Did I have my phone? I couldn’t remember if I’d put it in my pocket before I’d left my room. But I didn’t feel it.

Soon the SUV slowed down, and the engine was turned off. When the back door opened, the first sound I heard was waves.

“Climb on out, Winifred,” Mr. Whit said.

I heard grunting and the shifting of weight.

“And now you, Jordan,” Mr. Whit said. “Remember, it’s best for Chandler and Winnie if you cooperate.”

Jordan released my fingers and scooted out, triggering a tug to my neck.

I officially hated rope.

“Chandler,” Mr. Whit said.

“Quickly now,” Gene added.

I climbed out of the SUV and onto a gravel driveway. It led to the side garage of a red-paneled house.

“Our
casa
,” Mr. Whit said, following my gaze. He was wearing a backpack, which looked weird. Teachers weren’t supposed to wear backpacks.

“Walk,” Gene said. He wore a backpack, too, and held the rope and his gun in each hand.

“Head toward the water,” Mr. Whit said, leading Winnie forward.

Jordan and I followed her across a dark backyard. What time was it? Eight? Nine? I had no idea and somehow that made everything worse.