Secret of the Sevens (24 page)

Forty-three

The next morning, everyone's camped in the kitchen when I slink in before school. For once, they're not gawking at me.

They're staring at Mom Shanahan, who's standing in the phone closet screaming into the receiver as Dad props the door open to listen. Laney catches my eye and lifts her eyebrows.

“It's not true!” Mom yells. “The truth will come out, and then I hope he sues for libel. I've known Matthew Boyle for over twenty years. He's a good, decent man and an excellent headmaster.”

Now
I'm
staring. I nudge between Chris and Mike to hear better, but Mom slams the phone down. She ricochets around us in a dash for the family room and switches on a news channel.

“What's going on?”

“Shhh,” she says, holding up a finger.

She turns the volume up as the anchorman says, “The headmaster at Singer School was arrested last night on suspicion of sexual relations with a minor, police reported this morning. Matthew Boyle is being held in the Galesburg Jail in lieu of $265,000 bail. Boyle was taken into custody last night in a wooded area near the 500 block of Rucker Road along with an unnamed seventeen-year-old student, according to Galesburg Police Sergeant Paul Lynch.”

Mom inhales sharply. “Well, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation.”

The screen switches to Officer Lynch standing beside Stephen Kane outside the police station. Lynch reads from an index card, talking into a mound of microphones shoved in his face. “Police and Child Protective Agencies learned of the relationship yesterday afternoon when two students reported witnessing a romantic encounter between Boyle and a female student. One of the students confronted the girl, who allegedly boasted of sexual relations with the suspect. Investigators staked the property and found the student and Mr. Boyle in the woods at 1:18 in the morning. Both Mr. Boyle and the minor deny the allegations, but have refused to make any further statements. Mr. Boyle is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Glendale Municipal Court on felony charges of sexual misconduct with a minor.”

Officer Lynch steps back and Stephen Kane takes center stage. His name appears underneath the caption
Spokesman for Singer School. “
As a proud alumni of Singer School, the idea that a trusted authority figure would abuse his position to take advantage of a vulnerable child is shocking and disturbing. We commend the students who came forward, as well as Sergeant Lynch and the county's Child Protective Services Agency, who took immediate and appropriate action as soon as the allegations surfaced. Mr. Boyle has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of this investigation.”

I desperately want to talk to Laney, but Marcus is giving me the evil eye. While my housebrothers debate Mom Shanahan over the likelihood of Boyle's innocence, I hightail it to school to find Jose and Emily.

At first, I think Jose must have read my mind. He's leaning against a locker when I turn down the empty hallway. “So you heard?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Heard what? I'm waiting for Emily. She was supposed to meet me here fifteen minutes ago.”

“Dude, Headmaster Boyle was arrested last night for having sex with a minor. It was all over the news this morning.”

“What? Who was the student?”

“They're not releasing that.”

“No way.” Confusion spreads across his face. “Not Boyle. Do you think Kane set him up?”

“Of course! I don't have any proof yet, but it's got to be Kane. He had a huge fight with Boyle in the office yesterday. I heard the whole thing. It's pretty clear he thinks that Boyle is getting in the way of his plans.”

“Shhhh,” Jose says, eyeing something behind me.

When I turn, Cameron and Zack are strutting our way. Cameron snickers and my fists twitch at the sight. “I had a feeling I'd find you here with some of your
gang
,” he says.

“What are you talking about?” I say.

“You and Emily both hanging with Jose all the time? I hardly think that's a coincidence.”

I turn my back to him. “Get lost, stalker.”

“Why so rude?” he says. “And here I was trying to be nice. I wanted to say how sorry I was to hear about your sweetheart.”

I'm lost until Zack says, “God, how embarrassing to find out that your girlfriend's been hooking up with the headmaster.”

Jose jerks his head around. “Are you talking about Emily?”

“Kayla and Nick caught them pawing each other.” Cameron's smirk makes me want to puke.

“Sure they did,” Jose says.

“Pillars never lie,” Cameron says. “Emily admitted it to Kayla, too. She even bragged that they were meeting last night in the woods. Fortunately, Kayla told the police so DCFS could catch them before it happened again.”

“Son of a—”

I grab Jose before he can strangle Cameron.

“Smart move, Michaels,” Cameron whispers. “You can't afford to have another Seven in trouble without the headmaster around to protect you anymore. Now that Mr. Kane is taking over the school, your lucky breaks are over.”

“Kane is taking over? Who told you that?”

“Kane told us Pillars to spread the word that he's cleaning house around here. He's moving into the headmaster's residence as we speak.”

My head is already exploding when Zack goads me more. “Damn. If I knew a hottie like Emily Dombrose was desperate enough to hook up with losers like you and Boyle, I would have done her a favor and given her a ride myself. It's too bad she was sent home before I got a turn.”

Jose lunges for Zack. I pull him back with everything I've got, but I barely keep them apart. I'd love to watch Zack get crushed, but Cameron's right. It's just Laney, Jose, and me now. We don't need to make it any easier for Kane by getting expelled for fighting.

“No, Jose!” I spin him aside. “We know it's BS. The police will figure out it's a lie. You don't want to get busted over this.”

“Good thing you got a friend like Michaels,” Zack says. “Or maybe not. A lot of his friends seem to be experiencing bad luck these days.”

Cameron moves closer. “You know, Mr. Kane would be happy to help your friends if you'd only provide a certain document. In fact, he'd make it
well
worth your cooperation.”

“The only way I'd give him that TPD was if it was covered in anthrax,” I say.

“Shame. 'Cause he's running out of patience, and you're running out of time.” Cam turns and saunters away, with Zack trailing behind.

Students start trickling to their lockers, staring at us.

Jose whispers, “Meet me at the secret room after school. Make sure you aren't followed.” He adds, “I'll tell Laney too.”

Forty-four

That afternoon, I cut around campus the long way just to make sure I'm not trailed on my way to the mausoleum. Jose is already in the hidden room waiting for me.

“Let's take the tunnels and see if we can learn anything by spying at Boyle's house,” he says, lifting the staircase.

I hold it still. “Wait … isn't Laney coming?”

“I never had a chance to talk to her.” He crawls inside. “She was surrounded all day by people asking about Kollin.”

We navigate the tunnels to the headmaster's house in silence. It's broken by the sound of voices as we climb the rungs to the room behind the fireplace. Jose holds a finger to his mouth and I nod. We creep up behind the one-way mirror.

Kane strolls in front of the fireplace, talking to a familiar-looking redhead. She's sitting on the sofa, tapping a pen against a notepad on her lap. There are papers and a laptop spread out next to her.

“But why frame him?” she says. “You agreed we needed his support at the board meeting.”

“I did, but Boyle's become more of a nuisance than a help. He's interfered with everything we've set up so far. We can do this without him.”

“How do you figure?” the woman says, twisting her pearl necklace in her fingers.

I realize now where I saw her before—she was the woman onstage with Kane at the Pillar assembly.

Kane loosens his silk tie and collapses in a chair opposite her. “With Boyle's arrest and the recent ‘crime wave' on campus, it'll be easy. I'll convince the Board that change is necessary to restore the levels of excellence William Singer intended for his school. Even the most stubborn board members will be grateful I intervened; this is clearly a crisis.”

“What if the headmaster tells the Board how you bribed him to get his support?”

“Do you really think anyone would trust anything Boyle says at this point?”

“True.” The woman nods, then smiles slightly. “So how the hell did you get the headmaster to meet that girl in the woods at 1:00 in the morning?”

Kane leans back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Cameron called Boyle and said he needed to confess something about the vandalism but was scared. He asked him to meet him confidentially in the woods after midnight.”

“And the girl?”

“Zack forged a note with Talan Michael's signature and left it in her locker, telling her to sneak out to the woods at 1:00 a.m. for Sevens' business. Michaels is notorious for his “night crawling,” so she bought it. The Galesburg police were staked out and waiting.”

With a glint in this eye, Kane adds, “It worked perfectly. There were records already of Boyle meeting privately with Emily over the past few days. With all that, the police were able to get a warrant.”

I want to punch the grin off his face.

“They did all the leg work for us,” he finishes. “And the Pillars look like heroes. Brilliant, huh?”

“Quite.” She sets the pen and notepad aside, walks over to the bar cart, and pours two drinks.

“And that's also six hundred thousand more for us,” Kane says. “Not to mention that getting rid of Matthew allows us to scour this house looking for the TPD … and the hidden cash.”

She hands a glass to Kane. “You really think there's money hidden here?”

“It's possible. When the detectives investigated Singer's murder, they learned there'd been regularly scheduled armored car deliveries from his personal vault to his home for almost a year. But they couldn't find a safe here, or any evidence of large purchases.”

She sits back down with her drink, crossing one long leg over the other. “So maybe Singer gave it away. Or like the police suspected, maybe the Sevens stole it.”

Kane jiggles the ice in his glass. “The Sevens were never aware of it.”

“How would you know that?”

“I overheard a conversation once between Singer and Caesar Solomon. Singer was explaining how he'd selected some students to protect his school in case anything happened to him. He said that down the road, he planned on surprising them with a fortune for their loyalty.”

“So why did the police think the Sevens took it?”

“Because I never told them about that. They based their theory on my eyewitness account of the fire—where I said I heard Singer screaming that the Sevens were trying to rob and kill him.”

“So you lied?”

“I took some license with the truth, but that's not germane to this conversation. Right now, we need to focus on securing that TPD. The money will be a nice bonus if we find it.”

“You're a remarkable man, Stephen.” The woman stands up and casually strolls around the room. “Cunning,” she says, “and successful at getting what you want. It's too bad Mr. Singer didn't realize what was in front of him. If you'd been chosen as a Seven, things would have turned out differently.”

She stops at the far wall to study a portrait of William and Mary.

“That's exactly what I told him. When I found out Singer was forming a secret society, I volunteered my services.”

“And he refused?”

“He said he already selected his pledges. He was an ass to me and furious at Solomon.” Kane stares at his glass, then chugs down the rest of his drink.

“Why?” she asks. “Because he thought Solomon told you about the Sevens?”

“That, and other things.” Kane sets his glass on the table next to him and rubs his forehead. “Needless to say, Singer chose the wrong Sevens. Naive and stupid, every one of them. William Singer was a fool to the end.”

The doorbell rings. “Would you mind, Katherine?” Kane says.

She carries her drink to the door and opens it. “You're late.”

The six Pillars traipse behind her into the living room. “We got here as soon as we could,” Cameron says.

Kane rises to address them. “I want each of you to take a room upstairs and search it for that TPD. Katherine already took apart the downstairs after police left this morning. Look through bookshelves, behind cabinets, anywhere Mr. Singer might have hidden papers. And use these.” He tosses them a box and Zack pulls out a pair of latex gloves.

As they each slide on a pair, Kane turns to Cameron. “Were you able to plant the evidence in their lockers?”

“No.” With a wicked smile, Cameron adds, “We figured out something even better. Zack overheard the football coaches talking. With the season canceled, they decided to collect the gear and uniforms for next year. They had the custodian empty the football bags from the players' lockers so they could inventory the equipment tonight. All the bags were lying there in a stack. We figured out which were Marcus' and Jake's and stuffed the evidence inside them. That's why we're late, actually.”

“Great work!” Kane slaps his hand on Cameron's back. “This couldn't be more perfect. The coaches will stumble on it and call the authorities for us. Excellent plan, Cam!”

Kane continues giving the Pillars directions, but I'm done listening. I take off down the rungs and back through the tunnels.

“Talan!” Jose whisper-yells behind me.

My heart's pumping like a jackhammer, drenching my brain with dizzying thoughts. Back at the mausoleum stairs, I wait long enough for Jose to catch up.

“Those are my best friends,” I pant. “I have to get whatever the Pillars planted before the coaches find it.”

Jose grabs hold of my arm. “You'll get caught. Maybe we should focus on the TPD. We're running out of time.”

“I won't be able to concentrate knowing my friends will be expelled. Kane has hurt enough people on account of me. You stay here and spy, and I'll get back as soon as I can.”

I run up the stairs with Jose a step behind me. “I'm coming with. You heard what Boyle said. We need to stick together.”

We sneak out of the mausoleum, but motor once we hit the woods. The fieldhouse is a few blocks away. We've got to make it before they close the school for the day.

The rear entrance is still unlocked. Jose peeks through the wired window on the door, straining his neck to one side. “The bags are piled up against the back wall.”

“Is anyone in there?”

“No.”

I swing the door open, rush to the rancid-smelling pile, and start sorting through the player bags.

“How do we know which are Marcus' and Jake's?”

“They're labeled with the jersey numbers. Marcus is eleven, and Jake is thirty-five, no … thirty-six.”

We tear through the bags in search of those numbers and haul them out. Jose weeds through Jake's equipment and pulls out black clothes splattered with red paint stains. I find the same in Marcus' bag, along with an empty can of spray paint. Jose stands up, juggling everything in one arm while he bends to zip the bag closed.

“Freeze right there!” a voice booms.

Busted.