Infinity Lost (13 page)

“He doesn’t know?”

“I don’t think so. You both would have been driving back from the airport when it happened.”

“Guess we’d better go tell him, then,” says Carlo and we both break into a jog toward the stables.

The Seven Acre Wood is always nice to run through. I cut through it often when I go running, but today it’s even better simply because Carlo is home. I fall back ever so slightly so I can watch him run. I know he’s only sixteen, but he doesn’t seem very much like a kid anymore. Even though I’m only a few months younger than him, I can’t help thinking that he still sees me as one. Maybe that’s why he pushed me away when I hugged him?
Or maybe you’re just reading a little too much into it, Finn.

We near the edge of the wood, and before long we’re jogging out into the sun, cutting across the edge of the polo field, and heading around the back of the grandstand toward the stables.

“Carlo! Hey! Good to see you, boy!” comes a voice from the other side of the courtyard. It’s old Ben, a retired jockey and one of the horse trainers. He’s been working here on and off for five or six years. He limps over and shakes Carlo’s hand enthusiastically.

“I didn’t know if we would see you this year,” Ben says with a gap-toothed grin.

“Yeah, I’m back for the summer.”

“Good, good,” Ben says, his wide smile crinkling the sides of his eyes. “Hello, Finn, look at you two. Both getting so tall! What are they feeding you at those fancy schools?” he says, checking us up and down.

“Have you seen my dad around, Ben?”

“Ah, yes. I saw him not long ago. Major Brogan rode over to see your father and arrived with some very sad news. Did you hear?”

Carlo and I both nod and I pretend to look sad.

Old Ben sighs. “Theresa was a gruff old bird, but it’s a shame all the same. Major Brogan and your dad went that way, I think. They might be on the other side, maybe in the office.”

“Thanks, Ben,” says Carlo and we head around to the far side of the stables. The office is in the old barn. The barn was gutted and renovated years ago and the upstairs loft was converted into an office for Carlo’s dad. It’s pretty cool up there. Apart from Carlo’s dad’s big oak desk and computer there are three leather couches, two big-screen TVs, and a full-sized pool table. Carlo and I used to play sometimes when he wasn’t helping with the horses. We walk through the downstairs front door of the barn and into the reception area. There’s a couch, two large armchairs, and a coffee table on a big, green-and-gold, Persian-style rug. Shelves of polo and racing trophies adorn the walls between pictures of horses that we’ve had over the years. My favorite is the one of Beauty. She looks so majestic with her shiny, pure-black coat, a stark contrast against her pure-white mane and tail. I remember I was so upset when she died. I didn’t ride for a long time after, and even now I’m hesitant to get to know any of the new horses too well.

Janis, the receptionist, is usually sitting at her desk in the corner by the window, but today it’s empty so we walk right through toward the staircase at the back that leads up to the office.

I hear muted voices coming from upstairs. Out of childhood habit, Carlo and I walk softly toward the bottom of the stairs. We were often scolded by his dad for running around and being too noisy when he was having a meeting. Carlo even holds one finger up to his lips as if to remind me to be quiet. It seems silly that we’re being quiet now that we’re not little kids anymore, but I guess old habits die hard.

We can hear Carlo’s dad talking upstairs. “This is the way life works, Jonah. Here, have a drink with me,” he says.

“It’s a little early in the day for that, isn’t it, Javier?”

“I think the circumstances kind of call for it, don’t you?”

There’s the sound of two glasses being filled.

“Theresa has done some great things in her life, Jonah. But trying to take control of the company from Richard was definitely not one of them.”

My ears perk up. Did I just hear that right? I stop in my tracks and grab Carlo’s arm. He looks back at me and it’s my turn to hold a finger to my lips.

“She didn’t just try,” says Jonah. “She had all but succeeded. She needed only half the board members to vote her in as head of the company, but every single one of them unanimously agreed to it. All that was left to do was sign the papers and Blackstone Tech would have been hers.”

“Well, then. Lucky for us that she keeled over before she could sign them then,” says Carlo’s dad.

“Luck? Is that what we’re calling it, Javier? I would use an entirely different word.” I hear a deep gulp followed by a glass thudding down on a table.

“Try not to feel too bad, Jonah. What’s done is done. She would have thrown us out of here; you know she would’ve. You, me, and Finn.”

“She would have thrown you and me out. I don’t even want to think about what she would’ve done to Finn,” Jonah says grimly.

“Then everything has worked out for the best. Yes? Now you’re going to be the big boss.”

“I suppose. Only on paper. I’ll still keep Richard informed of everything I do.”

“What did he have to say about all this? Have you spoken to him yet?”

“What? Sorry, no, not yet,” says Jonah.

“Still in self-imposed exile is he? It’s all very weird, if you ask me. I mean, I’ve heard of men going a bit loopy after their wives die, but he’s locked himself away for . . . I’ve lost track of how many years now. The only time anyone ever sees him is on TV, filmed in the comfort of that big glass fortress of his out in the middle of nowhere. It’s no wonder the board agreed to let Theresa take over.”

The glugging sound of the bottle being poured comes down from above again.

“Another tequila, Major?”

“No. I’m going in to sign the papers now. I’ll see you later, Captain Delgado.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Carlo’s dad says with a laugh in his voice.

I suddenly feel like we need to go, and fast. I tug at the back of Carlo’s jeans and we walk as quickly and quietly as we can back through the reception area and out the front door. As soon as we’re outside, I run to the other side of the stables, then around the path and out onto the polo field; Carlo quick-steps behind me all the way.

“Where are we going?” Carlo asks over my shoulder.

“Anywhere but here. Let’s head up to the main house.”

“What was that all about?”

“I don’t know,” I reply. “But somehow I don’t think we should’ve been listening.”

“Major Brogan called my dad ‘Captain Delgado.’ Do you think they were in the military together?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t even know your dad was a soldier.”

“Yeah, it’s a surprise to me, too,” says Carlo, a hint of unease in his voice.

“I think we should forget everything we heard, Carlo. That conversation wasn’t meant for us.”

“Yeah, it weirded me out, and when I get weirded out, I get hungry. Any chance your chef has made any of his legendary chocolate cake?”

“Let’s find out,” I say between breaths. “Race you to the other side of the maze.” I break into a sprint and head in the direction of the green grotto.

“Hey!” Carlo yells from behind me.

He may be a few months older than me, but it sure as hell doesn’t make him a faster runner.

I run like the wind across the polo field and beat him through the opening of the grotto by at least twelve yards. Even though the dense overhanging tunnels of trees in the grotto are like a maze, trying to lose Carlo in it is futile—he knows it just as well as I do. But I don’t have to lose him; I only have to beat him to the other side. I race down the wide, winding path, round one corner, then the next, then the next, and finally enter the final straight. The opening on the other side of the grotto is in my sights. Ten more strides and I burst through with my arms in the air, victorious.

“Yesss! Too slow, Delgado! That’s what they should call you from now on!” I spin around to rub my glorious win in Carlo’s beautiful face, but he’s not there. I stand there for a moment, hands on my hips, catching my breath, wondering where on earth he’s got to when I see him walk around the corner at the other end of the straight. He’s staring intently at his phone, smiling as he taps away on it with his thumb.

He looks up at me, tucks his phone in his back pocket, and jogs down the straight toward where I’m standing.

“Sorry, got a text. Wow, you run like a jackrabbit! I humbly bow to your freakishly superior running abilities, Miss Blackstone.”

“Who was the text from?”

“Oh, just a friend from school.”

“And would this friend of yours be a girl, by any chance?” A dagger stabs my stomach at the mere thought of it.

Carlo smiles and jogs past me. “C’mon, that cake isn’t gonna eat itself.”

I watch him go as he jogs up the rise toward the fence of the tennis court. Just like a boy to change the subject like that. I know that one little kiss when I was thirteen doesn’t give me the right to lay claim to Carlo, but if there’s something he’s not telling me, I’m gonna regret not punching him square in the nose when I had the chance.

I follow from a distance, contemplating the possibility that Carlo has a girlfriend and how it would turn this long-awaited summer vacation into a long, drawn-out, can’t-wait-till-it’s-over, awkward mess.

I round the tennis court, take the footpath through the gap in the hedge, and emerge on the edge of the circle driveway outside the front of the house.

“C’mon slowpoke!” Carlo calls from the steps of the entrance. With horrible images of some blonde teenage beauty queen fueling the fire of my jealousy, I trudge across the driveway toward him.

“Hey, you two! There you are!” It’s Jonah. Jonah is crazy tall for sure, but he’s also wide. He dwarfs the poor old quad bike he’s riding, its motor whining as it struggles over the crest of the hill. I stop and wait for him. Carlo jumps from the front steps and bounds over beside me.

“Hey, don’t mention anything about what we heard at the stables,” I whisper, jabbing him in the ribs with my elbow.

Carlo makes a zipper gesture across his lips and I smile for a second before remembering that he’s a secret-keeping jerk.

Jonah pulls up in front of us and cuts the engine. “Carlo, good to see you again.”

“Hi, Major Brogan.”

“I’m sure Finn has told you what happened this morning,” Jonah says, climbing off the creaking quad bike.

Carlo nods.

“I hope you’re not too disappointed about missing training today. Your dad has told me that you’ve really taken an interest in hand-to-hand combat techniques.”

“Yeah, my instructors are really good. They haven’t taught me half as much as you did that summer, though, sir. And none of their gyms is as cool as sublevel one.”

“Well, sublevel one is very cool,” says Jonah.

Carlo smiles and nods in agreement.

“But not as cool as sublevel two, though,” I butt in.

“There’s more?” Carlo says, unable to hide his sudden excitement.

“Sure is,” Jonah says, smiling at Carlo. “You’ll get to have a go on the obstacle course down there tomorrow. Finn can show you exactly how she’s been training here without you.”

“It’s wicked, Carlo. It’s made of this stuff called nano grains; all the walls and obstacles and things can totally change shape.”

“Awesome,” Carlo says with a big grin.

“If I’m not mistaken, kids, I think I hear my ride,” Jonah says, cocking his head.

There’s a quiet crunching of tires on gravel. It gets louder and louder, and soon one of our silver-and-black Bentleys slowly comes into view over the rise. “Ah, well done, Thomas. Perfect timing,” Jonah says. The car swings around the wide circle drive and stops right beside Jonah and the quad bike. Thomas, the chauffeur, gives me a little wink through the window.

“I have to go and attend to a few things in the city, so I’ll see you later. Why don’t you both go and see if the chef has anything good in the kitchen for lunch? I’m betting he does.” The back door of the car automatically slides open and Jonah gets in. He gives us one last smile, the door softly slides shut, and the windows instantly tint black.

Thomas gives us two short horn-beeps good-bye and the Bentley pulls away around the driveway, over the rise, and out of sight.

“Chocolate cake?” says Carlo.

“Yeah, in a second—there’s something I wanna ask you first,” I say, nerves growing in my belly.

“Go for it.”

“It’s not really any of my business Carlo, but I was kinda wondering . . .”

“Yeah?”

“That text you got before, from your school friend?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Was it from a girl?”

“Finn Blackstone,” Carlo cocks his head and throws me a wry smile. “Are you trying to ask me if I have a girlfriend?”

“I’m not doing the greatest job of it but, yeah, I guess I am.”

Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

“Her name is Tanya.”

My stomach drops. This is not funny. I glare at Carlo for two of the longest seconds in my life, then clench my fists tight and walk straight past that jackass and his stupid black mop of hair. Why the hell is it always falling in front of his hideous, snot-green eyes anyway? It’s not even that wavy, and those jeans are way too tight for his disgusting, ugly chicken legs!

“You’d really like her, Finn!” he calls out as I stride up the steps and through the front doors.

Don’t you dare tell me what I’d like, Carlo stupid idiot Delgado! I know what I’d like!
I’d like to kick him in his stupid face and snap her like a twig, that’s what I’d like! I bet she looks like a freaking stick insect! A creepy-crawly, knobbly, hideous stick insect! I bet she
is
blonde. A blonde stick insect! This sucks so incredibly much. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this sucks more monumentally than anything has ever sucked in the history of sucky things.

I hear him run in the front door after me, but I don’t look back even for a second. I stomp across the foyer and straight up the main stairs.

“Finn! Wait up! What’s the matter?!”

What’s the matter?!
Oh my god, why are boys so unbelievably stupid?! I wish I was a million miles from here right now. I’ll have to settle for shutting myself in my room for the rest of the summer. Fricking aaaawesome!