Vengeance (16 page)

“Oh, please. They’re probably just blocking you,” Taylor said, letting her hair tumble down around her shoulders again. “Any good hacker can get around that.”

I looked at Ivy and she sat up straight, pushing away from the wall. “Any good hacker?” I said. “Aren’t you a good hacker?”

“How?” Ivy asked Taylor. “We tried texting and calling from my phone—”

“And mine,” Noelle said.

“But they came back too.”

“You just have to set up a program to run the numbers,” Taylor said, lifting a palm as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “There’s no way this person blocked every sequence. We find the right sequence, reprogram one of our phones, and we’re in.”

Ivy’s jaw snapped shut and she brought her hand to her forehead.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” She shoved herself off the bed and grabbed her phone from on top of my dresser. “We’ll start with the most obscure area codes first.”

“Good call,” Taylor said.

Ivy started typing into her phone as Taylor leaned over her shoulder. Before long the two of them were whispering and pointing, debating and correcting. I glanced at Kiran and she shrugged in response.

“Got any good magazines?” she asked, dropping down next to me on my bed. “This could be a while.”

“Please. She gets
Shape
and
Fitness
and nothing else,” Noelle said, rising from her chair. “I’ll be right back.”

An hour later Kiran, Noelle, and I were noshing on Godiva and pawing through the latest issues of
Vogue, InStyle,
and
W,
while Ivy and Taylor sat on the floor bent over Ivy’s phone. It wasn’t exactly the party we had originally planned for the evening, but it was darn close, and they were all there with me, which was the best gift I could have asked for. The thunderstorm had passed and the rain had let up a bit, dulling itself to a persistent drizzle, the sound of which was far more comforting than the raging we’d endured earlier. Suddenly Ivy leaned back on her hands, a self-satisfied smile on her face.

“And . . . done!” she announced.

“Done?” I asked dropping the heavy
Vogue
issue aside. “You got through?”

“Yep,” Taylor said happily.

“Finally,” Kiran groused.

“What did you say?” I asked, getting up from the bed and wiping my palms on the back of my sweatpants.

“We wrote, ‘Enough with the mystery. I want to know what’s going on. We need to meet,’” Taylor replied.

“To the point,” Noelle conceded, tipping her head.

“Do you think he’ll write back?” Kiran asked, sipping bottled water through a straw.

I sighed. “We’ll just have to wait and—”

Ivy’s phone beeped. My heart dropped. We all froze.

“Is it MT?” I asked.

Ivy hit a button and nodded, as Taylor leaned in so close her hair fell over Ivy’s shoulder. “It says, ‘Come alone. One hour. Directions attached.’”

“Holy crap,” I said, a rush of excitement flooding my veins. “It worked.”

“Come alone. Yeah. Like that’s gonna happen,” Noelle said, lifting her thick hair over her shoulder.

“We’re going with her?” Kiran asked, a tad fretful.

“Of course we are,” Ivy snapped.

“Don’t worry, Kiran. MT has proven he . . . or she . . . is a friend,” I assured her.

“Then why does he want you to come alone?” Taylor asked. “What’s with the blocking the number and all the mystery?”

“Well, clearly he’s trying to protect himself,” Ivy replied. “Whoever’s after Reed means business if they’re going to try to kidnap her from a crowded event.”

Kiran bit her lip. “Yeah, but—”

“All right, enough,” Noelle snapped. “We’re all doing this together. There’s safety in numbers right? If we all go together, everything will be fine.”

The five of us looked around at one another and I felt this odd mixture of fear and hope. By the end of tonight, I might know who MT was, and I might even know everything he or she knew about this latest attack. But I also knew that ventures like this one didn’t always end up the way I expected. And sometimes they didn’t end well at all.

“I don’t like this,” Josh said, standing in the center of Ketlar Hall’s common room. All along the walls, guys were hunched over their computers at the study carrels, typing furiously or reading over papers and notes. The couches and chairs were laden with last-minute crammers, trying to get in every minute of good study time before tomorrow morning’s exams. Everyone had changed out of their suits and ties and into worn T-shirts and comfy shorts, and there were bags of junk food and cans of energy drinks and soda everywhere. Suddenly I felt very lucky to not have a final at 8
A.M
. tomorrow. “What happened to locking yourself in your room and not coming out?”

“I know,” I said. “But this texter person isn’t the enemy. Think about it. He warned me not to go tonight, and he was right. I shouldn’t have gone.”

“Okay, well, if he’s such a friend, then why are you bringing along Charlie’s Angels over there?” He lifted his chin toward the doorway, where Ivy and Noelle loitered, ignoring each other and waiting for me. They did look sort of spy-fabulous in dark jeans, heeled boots, and black jackets. A dripping and colorful Coach-logo umbrella dangled from Ivy’s wrist, while Noelle had propped her plain black version against the wall.

“Because they have nothing better to do?” I suggested, lifting one shoulder.

“I should come with you,” Josh said, reaching for my hand.

“No way. You have to ace AP bio tomorrow,” I reminded him, as if he needed reminding. “I’m not gonna let you screw up your entire future just to do this with me. Especially when I already have enough backup.”

“Backup? Sure.” He scoffed. “What are they going to do if you get jumped again, whip out a nail file?”

I leveled him with a glare. “Would you want to go up against Ivy and Noelle when they’re pissed off?” He sort of gulped and paled and I had my answer. “Besides, Kiran has a stun gun. She went back to her hotel to grab it and change her clothes.”

“She has a stun gun?” Josh asked, his eyebrows popping up.

“She said it’s just good sense when you’re a high-fashion model,” I replied. “Apparently, the guys in Italy are all about the groping.”

Josh was silent for a moment, pondering. Then he dropped my hand and groaned in frustration, plopping down on the nearest
leather couch. He blew out a sigh and looked up at me imploringly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to just go to the police with this?” Josh asked, extricating his phone from the pocket of his cargo shorts. I’d forwarded him the text with the attachment and he still had it up on his screen. “Give them the directions and let them figure it out?”

I sat down next to him and knocked the side of my knee against his. “How about this? If you don’t hear from me in two hours, send in the SWAT team, the dogs, the helicopters. Whatever.”

Josh knocked his fist against his mouth a few times but finally gave in. “Okay, fine. It’s a plan.”

I threw my one good arm around him and squeezed. And even though I hadn’t exactly come here for his permission, I whispered a quick “Thank you,” because it was important to me that he believed in me and wouldn’t be sitting here terrified the whole time I was gone. Then I kissed him and got up, my ponytail swinging behind me. Josh rose as well, turning to watch as I joined my friends at the door.

“Ready?” Noelle asked, glancing at her phone to check the time.

“Ready.”

“Hey, guys?” Josh called out in full voice, earning some annoyed glances from the studying hordes around him.

“Yeah?” Ivy said.

“Take care of her, okay?” Josh told them.

I wasn’t sure whether I should be offended that he thought I couldn’t handle myself, or pleased that he cared. But then, I supposed
I did have a broken bone and a track record for getting into trouble, so I kept my mouth shut.

Noelle, meanwhile, looped her arm over my shoulders and squeezed. “Always do.”

“Raccoon!” Taylor shouted, pointing toward the windshield from the center seat in the back of Kiran’s rented Escalade. Noelle slammed on the brakes and we were all flung forward for a second before the massive SUV came to a complete stop, its tires squealing on the wet pavement. My hand flew to my heart as the raccoon paused for a moment, gave us a withering stare, and continued loping across the road.

“Okay,
why
are you driving my car again?” Kiran demanded, glaring at Noelle from the front passenger seat.

“Because my car was too small and we all know your driving’s for shit,” Noelle replied, slowly rolling ahead again. The windshield wipers thwapped violently back and forth, sending sprays of water into the night with each giant arc.

“Yeah. And clearly you’re way better,” Kiran complained, resting her elbow against the top of her door and her head on her hand.

“Well, maybe if any of these damn streets had streetlights,” Noelle shot back.

“Guys. Can we stop sniping for a second and focus?” I asked, gripping the back of Kiran’s seat with my free hand. “Where are we?”

“We have to take the next left,” Ivy said, her phone aglow in her lap, casting a white light over her already pale features.

“Does anyone
see
a next left?” I asked, squinting into the night.

“There!” Kiran pointed at a street sign that was half hidden by a low-hanging tree branch. Noelle cut the wheel and we all screeched as the car skidded around the corner, veering into the far lane.

“Next time,
I
drive,” Ivy muttered, her hand braced against the window.

This road was even scrawnier than the last, and clouds of fog rose up from the pavement, gathering around the car as we cut through. I turned and gazed out the window to my right, trying to see anything in the dark—a house, a business, a barn, a gas station—but all I saw were trees, trees, and more trees. An ancient but well-maintained stone wall loomed into view, terminating at the base of a driveway with a tall iron gate. The house beyond wasn’t visible from the road, either because of the fog or because the driveway was so long, the house was hidden by trees.

Taylor glanced past me, then did a double take when she saw the gates. She leaned toward the window, crushing my cast, and I let out an involuntary gasp.

“Oh God! Sorry,” Taylor said, sitting up straight again. “But, you guys, do you realize where we are right now?”

“The middle of nowhere?” Kiran theorized.

“Trapped in some bad horror movie?” Ivy joked as the fog thickened.

“I think both,” Taylor said, looking skittish.

“What do you mean?” I asked, all the little hairs on my arms standing on end.

“It says to take the next right, just after the covered bridge,” Ivy announced. Then she looked up from the page. “Wait a second. The covered bridge?”

While her words still hung in the air, the structure appeared as if from nowhere, and the Escalade’s tires bumped and thumped over its old creaky boards. For a moment, we were eerily cut off from the outside world, the noise of the rain stopped, and all I could hear was the sound of our breathing and the squealing of the suddenly dry windshield wipers. I had this sinking sense of déjà vu as the car reemerged into the rain and Noelle slowed to make the turn.

Seconds later my throat went dry and Noelle hit the brakes. I held my breath. No one moved. Rising up out of the fog at the top of the hill were the uppermost floors of a house I knew all too well. A house I hadn’t stepped foot inside for more than a year. A house I had visited on one of the most horrific nights of my life.

Kiran clutched the door handle, as if ready to bolt. “Isn’t this—?”

“Yeah, it is,” Noelle confirmed. “It’s Cheyenne’s house.”

The very house my friends and I had partied and laughed and played dress up in on the night Ariana Osgood had attempted to kill me.

“Turn off the lights!” I whisper-shouted at Noelle.

“What?” she asked.

“Turn off the lights and pull over! Now!” I cried.

My chest constricted and I doubled over in my seat, gasping for air. Noelle shot me a disturbed look and did as she was told. I pressed my forehead into the back of Kiran’s leather seat and told myself to chill. Told myself to breathe. But I couldn’t seem to make it happen.

All I could see were flashes of blond hair. All I could hear was that evil snicker. Someone had been watching me this past week. I had felt it. I had
sensed
it. And now I knew exactly who that someone was.

“Reed? Are you okay?” Ivy asked.

I could hear myself gasping hoarsely. My throat and lungs burned. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my skull. I was going to pass out, and the very thought terrified me even more.

“I think she’s having a panic attack,” Taylor said, putting her hand on my back. “Roll down the windows.”

“But it’s pouring rain,” Kiran whined.

“She needs air!” Ivy shouted.

All four windows rolled down. The side of my face and my arm were peppered with cold, wet droplets of rain and cool air flooded my skin.

“Concentrate, Reed,” Taylor instructed, her voice soothing. “Try to breathe.”

I can’t!
my brain wailed.
Ican’tIcan’tIcan’t.

But I had to. I closed my eyes, clamped my mouth shut, and pulled in a breath through my nose, which made me cough. But still, it was something. I forced myself to concentrate and tried again. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth.

In and out. In and out. In and out.

Finally, I was able to sit up again.

“Are you okay?” Taylor asked.

“I think so.” I shot her a weak but grateful smile. “Thanks.”

“What the hell just happened?” Noelle asked, one hand still gripping the wheel. “Where did that come from?”

“It’s Ariana,” I said, my voice breaking. “She’s behind this. This is all one big game and she’s trying to lure me here so she can finish me off.”

“Reed, Ariana’s locked up. She doesn’t even have access to a cell phone,” Noelle reminded me.

I shook my head violently, desperation coursing through my veins, swelling my heart. “It’s her. I know it’s her. She’s gotten out somehow and she’s trying to kill me. I just know it.”