Edgewood Series: Books 1 - 3 (69 page)

“What else could I do?” Now it was his turn to get irate.

“Oh, I don’t know. How about trying to be a father?”

His fists curled up by his sides. “I want that more than anything, believe me, and I’m working on it.”

“Well, work a little harder.”

The room was silent for a minute and then he said, “So what’s Frank like?”

“Frank’s about the coolest kid I’ve ever met,” I said. “He likes to collect stuff. He has a lot of nervous energy, but we know it’s not ADD because he’s been tested. Sometimes he drives me nuts following me around and talking non-stop, but he’s so good-natured it’s hard to stay mad at him. He likes comic books and looking at the stars. When my mom has a headache, he can tell by the look on her face and he’ll go get her the bottle of Excedrin. He hates cleaning his room, but he’ll help my dad clean out the garage without complaining. Frank is a great kid. You’re really missing out.”

“I know that.” And then David Hofstetter began to cry. Real tears, the kind that would be embarrassing out in public. He sort of sniffed, but he wasn’t trying to hold back. I went into the bathroom and came back with a box of tissue. He pulled one out of the dispenser and wiped his eyes. “I have a plan,” he said, taking another tissue and blowing his nose. “A plan to retire from the Guard. I’ve already talked to my superior about it, and it’s been approved. Once that happens, I’ll move back to Edgewood and see if Carly will let me be part of Frank’s life.”

“And part of her life?”

“If she’ll have me.” He sat up straight. “Which I very much doubt. Carly is strong-minded and I’ve been gone a long time. Add in the deception and everything else, and I’m thinking it’s a long shot.”

I sat back down. “You’re probably right.”

“Well, you didn’t have to agree with me.”

“Sorry.” I asked, “So when is this retirement going to happen?”

“That would depend on you.”

Nadia

After Mallory had showered and been examined by the doctor, she seemed almost back to normal. When we finished eating and had put our trays out in the hallway, Mrs. Whitehouse said she was tired and climbed into bed, pulling a sleep mask over her eyes. Within minutes we heard snoring, interspersed with occasional snorts and whistles.

“Hey Nadia, you want to see something?” Mallory asked in a conspiratorial whisper. She pulled down her pajama bottoms to reveal her bare legs. “What do you think of this?” She pointed to a spot on the inside of her thigh.

“Your burn?” There was no way I was getting any closer to look.

“Not just my burn. Here.” She tapped with one finger. “Part of the burn is darker and it’s in the shape of a heart. Isn’t that something?”

“I guess.”

Mallory pulled the bottoms back up. “It’s like Russ marked me with his sign. You know what?” She leaned in and spoke quietly so Mrs. Whitehouse wouldn’t hear. “I’ve changed my mind about Russ. I didn’t see it before, but he’s really kind of manly. The way he saved me, picking me up and carrying me back. And then healing me when I was in horrible pain. I really felt a strong connection. I think I’m in love with him. Seriously.”

“No,” I said, crossing my arms. “No, I’m telling you right now. Russ is off limits. He’s mine.”

Mallory kept talking as if I hadn’t said a word. “When his hands moved over me I felt this rush like I can’t even describe. It’s like part of him is in me now.”

“Mallory, I know you’re my friend, but if you keep talking I’m going to hit you.” I felt my face flush red with anger. Normally this would mortify me because it made my scars even more noticeable, but I was beyond caring.

“I know you like him,” she said, crossing the room to sit on the bed. “And that’s great. Trust me, I won’t stand in the way of your friendship.”

“It’s not a friendship. I’m in love with him.”

“Oh, ho!” Her eyes widened in mock surprise. “When did this happen, this love of yours?”

“I told him I loved him.” Granted, he’d been in a complete daze and didn’t seem to register what I said, but it still took a lot for me to say it. I thought I should get credit. “You realize, of course, we were together overnight. It was very…intimate.”

She cocked her head to one side. “So you had sex?”

“Well, no.”

“And did he say he loved you back?”

“Not exactly, but I know he feels it too.”

“Oh Nadia, Nadia,” she said in a condescending way. “Guys are like that. It doesn’t always mean much. In fact, most of the time it doesn’t mean anything.” She said it like she was this big expert and I was the naïve, clueless little sister, unwise to the way of men. The insinuation rankled me.

I didn’t want to get into it with her. What Russ and I had was between us. Even though we dropped the subject after that, I knew Mallory and I knew she wasn’t going to let this go. She was determined to make Russ her own. Well, we’d see about that.

Once the lights were out and we’d each climbed into bed, I couldn’t resist pointing out one last thing. I spoke into the darkness. “By the way, Mallory, I’m the reason we turned around and went back for you when you were laying by the side of the road. Me. Russ didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Russ

That night in his room, I asked David how his retirement could depend on me. He said he’d have to swear me to secrecy first. “There will be a briefing for the others tomorrow, but what I’m about to tell you now stays between us,” he said. “Do you swear?”

I said, “Yes, I swear.”

“The Associates are planning their biggest disruption yet. If they succeed, they’ll have complete control of everything—the media, the government, technology.”

“Don’t they sort of already?”

“Not like this. I’m talking about widespread, worldwide control. People will suffer and starve, fighting will break out in all the major cities—”

“Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria!” I said.

His face turned grave. “This is not a joke. You think life is tough now? Wait until people all around you start dying and there’s nothing you can do about it. Have you seen photos of people starving during famines, of people being gunned down in the streets during military coups, of concentration camp victims? It all could happen again, if we don’t stop them.”

“I’m sorry for joking about it,” I said, hoping I sounded apologetic. Man, he was irate. “Go ahead.”

“We know what they have planned. We just don’t know how to stop them.”

“Why are you telling me this? So I’ll protect Carly and Frank?”

“I’m telling you this because you might be part of the solution. I’ve noticed that you and your friend Nadia have specialized skills that might prove useful to us. You can heal people?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“And also project electrical currents, and use mind control?”

“The mind control is a little iffy,” I said. “I’m better at the other stuff.”

“And Nadia can astral project?” He tapped his chin with his finger, thinking.

“Yes, and she can tell if people are lying. She reads them too. If she’s close by, she can tell what type of people they are.” I still remembered the first night she checked me out, running her hands up and down the length of my body without actually touching me, and then announcing to Mallory and Jameson that I was okay.

“Interesting. Useful talents all, but the astral projecting is the most valuable. Can you tell me, has she been successful every time she’s tried to do it?”

“I guess so.”

“Who knows she can do this?”

I ticked off on my fingers. “Just me, Mallory, Jameson, and now you.”

“So that adults on this trip don’t know?”

I shook my head. “We never told them.”

“Interesting,” he said, tapping his chin. “I’m going to recommend that the two of you be assigned to this next mission, the big one I mentioned.”

“The fate of the world rests on this mission,” I said, half joking.

“Exactly,” he agreed. “Are you willing?”

“Sure, why not,” I said. “And after that, then what?”

“If we’re successful I’ll retire to Edgewood,” he said with a grin. “If not, it really won’t make a difference. The whole world will have gone to hell.”

After that, he told me his theory about Mr. Specter. “I think,” he told me, “that this whole trip was about you and him and nothing else.”

“No, that’s not true,” I protested. “We came here looking for you, because of the map—”

He held up a hand to stop me. “That was a ruse. An excuse to get you here. I’ve checked with the head office of the Guard. He wasn’t sanctioned to take this trip. All of it was done of his own volition.”

“But he said the Praetorian Guard arranged for the plane tickets. And they made fake passports for us…” I said, sputtering. “It was all arranged by them.”

“No.” David leaned forward on the bed, shaking his head. “Think about everything you’ve told me, Russ. The death threat on the rock in the hotel, the bandits that held you up by the bus, and everything else. Why did all those things happen?”

I shrugged. “The Associates were after us?”

“No, I don’t think so.” He flashed a grin. “Specter came to Peru intending to fake his death, because once he did that, he could leave his old life and join the Associates. To do that, first he had to convince you there was danger. He planted the death threat with the rock himself. Don’t you think that as the person in charge, he had key cards for all of your rooms?”

“I guess.”

“He had the drinks delivered to your room, hoping you’d go down to the bar, and when you were gone, he put the rock in your room. Possible?”

“Yeah, it’s possible.”

“And then, the incident with the bandits was supposed to make him look like a hero, but also give all of you the idea that he was being targeted, so when he died later, it would look like he was murdered by the Associates.”

“And then we messed up his plan by fighting back?” I felt my stomach drop, thinking of the two dead men. Was it all just a ruse gone bad?

“Maybe. And, I’m guessing that the second part of his plan was to recruit you for the Associates. By himself, he’s not all that valuable to them, but if he could get you to join up, then he’d have some status in the organization. He did ask you to join, right?”

“Well, yeah, but he said I’d be a double agent.”

David raked his fingers through his hair. “That was just to get you on board, to see how agreeable you were to joining up with them. When you seemed reluctant, he knew he’d have to use the Deleo.”

I was confused. “But why wipe out everyone else’s memories if he only wanted me?”

“He wasn’t wiping them out, exactly; he was manipulating them to his advantage. Bringing them over to his side. Nadia, Jameson, and Mallory might be useful in the future, or if not, at least he doesn’t want them getting in the way.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I said slowly. “But coming all the way to Peru seems excessive.”

“It’s hard to fake a death in the United States. Usually the authorities want to see a body. And coming here gave him more control than he’d have back home. With no phone and no command of the language, you were isolated.”

“But how would he get me to join the Associates after he faked his own death? He’d be gone.”

David chuckled. “Dead people come back all the time in this business. Usually with new identities, but sometimes not. He had the Deleo, remember? He thought he could tell you anything and convince you of it.”

“I guess.” I needed time to mull this over. Too much had happened too fast. I didn’t know what to think.

“It’s just a theory,” David said. “The best I could come up with.”

I said, “If what you’re saying is true, then it’s ironic that he was killed during the explosion. Kind of a horrible coincidence.”

“Ironic and horrible,” David agreed. “True that. I wouldn’t have wished that on anyone. But you know, his motivations are anyone’s guess and this is just a theory. If you can come up with something better, I’m all ears.”

But I couldn’t come up with anything better.

He also told me I wasn’t to say anything to Carly about finding him. Lying to my sister wasn’t going to be easy.

At the briefing the next day, we heard how Mr. Specter’s death would be handled. Just as Kevin thought, the story was that he had a heart attack and died in Miami at the academic competition. We would take home his ashes. Jameson raised his hand and asked, “Do we know for sure that he’s dead? I mean, Mallory survived the explosion and we didn’t think that was possible.”

“Good question!” said one of the Guard officials. There were three of them, plus David Hofstetter. They’d said their names, but they also had said they weren’t their real names so I didn’t make a point to remember.

“I think I can take this question,” David said, stepping forward. “Those who were there, and that includes most of us in this room, know how unlikely it is that Samuel Specter survived that blast. Mallory only survived because he sent her back to the bus and thus she was farther from the impact. But we’ll assume nothing and will be investigating the site for evidence of his death or survival. For the time being, he is presumed dead.”

Kevin Adams said, under his breath, “Harsh, man.”

Mallory asked, “Why did they blow up the ruins?”

“The Associates weren’t interested in the ruins,” David said. “It was the research facility beneath it that they wanted to destroy.”

“How did they know it was there?” she asked. We all grew quiet, knowing the answer. It was because of us. We’d led them right there.

David said, “I don’t have a definite answer for you, Mallory. We’re still working on that.”

We then heard how the Praetorian Guard had arranged for all the paperwork: death certificate, etc. as well as the certificates showing that we took first place in the academic competition in Miami. If the world didn’t end it would look good on our college transcripts.

We were each questioned separately. They were especially interested in our powers and how much we knew about the Associates. They were fascinated to hear about my encounter with them when Frank was abducted and the Associates’ invitation to me to join their organization. Apparently Mr. Specter had not filled them in on anything that had happened in Edgewood. Still, they didn’t announce that he was a traitor, so Kevin was left with untarnished memories of his friend.