“I see,” she said. “So he still might be available for a closed adoption. I’ll keep it in mind when holding another meeting.” She gave a knowing nod, then went quiet for a moment, studying the files. She touched briefly at each page, and traced her fingers over the words with a caring touch. It was an odd thing to see this, like she was already concerned for our welfare when she only had a piece of paper and Axel’s word to rely upon. Somehow my ideas about the Academy and her didn’t fit together: spies, secret police. This lady, with graying hair and wrinkles, and a grandmother’s smile should have been retired. “How much does she know?” she asked quietly.
“A lot more than I’d like to admit,” Axel said.
She nodded, a gentle one, like she knew the entire story. “How long did it take for her to figure it out?”
“A few hours, give or take. On her own.”
The lady turned her head, blinking several times. This wasn’t part of the pretty picture she must have been painting. “You’re kidding.”
“She’s cunning,” he said. “A little time in our apartment, and she pegged us. One of the best I’ve seen. Her morals are a little on the border.”
“Do you think she’d take it over the edge?”
“I think we caught her just in time,” he said. His shoulders rolled back a bit, and his smile widened. I focused on him now, since I’d been studying her since it started. He looked almost proud now, like he was happy at this result. “If she’d not met us, I don’t think she’d be here to talk about now. She’d probably end up in jail.”
The lady nodded. “I understand. Then it’s a good thing we did get involved. I like the sound of that. As long as there’s no more wild accidents like what I’ve heard happened yesterday with the yacht crash, I think this will work.” She collected the files, closing them and drawing them into her lap. “I’ll see to the adoption. There should be a nice family reunion in a couple of days. Is the closed adoption for this new bird approved by your whole team?”
“All approved. I am willing, and my team will incur.” His smile broadened.
“Fine. I’ll put out a notice. No other Academy teams will approach her from here on out, but I think the council will be interested to hear of her progress.”
“Don’t let them hold their breaths. This will take a while. She’s feisty.”
“They always start that way.” She patted the folders. “By the way, speaking of money income, there’s an open assignment if you’d like to take it.”
Axel cocked an eyebrow and his lips tightened, almost a pained expression. It reminded me of an elderly lady asking assistance crossing the street, opposite where you are going, but you felt obliged to help anyway. “I’m listening.”
“Another member’s grandmother became involved in one of those online Ponzi schemes. Talked into it by one of her other grandchildren. She’s put nearly all of her savings into it.”
“Who is it?”
“Mrs. Gunther. She lives in Florida, in the St. Augustine area. We can get you some specifics but this one will require visiting for research. It would probably be best to talk to her, and hopefully we can regain what was invested. Talk her into getting her money back before it becomes lost. The reward will be fifteen percent of whatever is recovered. From what I hear, it’s around two hundred thousand dollars.”
My breath escaped me, and I did a quick bit of math. The reward was thirty thousand dollars.
There was a long pause. Axel’s rocking foot stopped. His face was unreadable for a moment. Slowly, he reanimated, nodding. “All right. That sounds like something we can do.”
“I had a feeling Corey could handle it easily enough. We can’t bring down the scammers, but we can help her, I think. She’ll be happy to get her savings back. By the way, that grandchild didn’t know any better. He meant well. He wanted to improve her retirement because she’d been worried about it. No need to pursue that one.”
“They all think they’re being helpful.” Axel sighed. “Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of. Let me know when you manage to track this other Winchester down. Poor dear. Hope he comes back.”
“We will let you know.”
I watched in silence as they continued with some small talk about the weather. She got up and they moved out of my field of view toward the door. Axel offered to walk her back to her car, and locked the door behind him.
I waited as long as I could, and then opened the door quietly, checking the space. Empty. The files were gone. She’d taken them with her. I was hoping to check out the material.
A mix of emotions rolled over me, and I had no idea what to do. Prospect. Adoption.
What was this Academy?
They had files on Wil and me. While I’d been riled up seeing them with the files, nothing in their conversation sounded malicious. They wanted to include us. Somehow. They set up a closed adoption for me because they considered me a prospect. They would adopt Wil, but what did it mean, exactly? He was on some secret group list? Protection?
If that was the case, what did we need protection from? People like Coaltar? People who could come after them because they were nosy and didn’t mind their own business?
The gnawing sensation I’d felt since I joined this group suddenly became very clear. This Academy was a secret, and I didn’t like not knowing.
Jack, who I’d known since forever, kept secrets.
Wil had his own secrets.
I had my own, too. The only difference was that now the guys seemed to know most of mine. They knew the ones I hadn’t even told Jack or Wil, about the pickpocketing.
As much as the Academy guys had helped me, the truth was, their motives were still unclear. I remembered the other day and visiting the gun range with Axel and Raven. They were training teenagers to shoot guns. Was I okay with that? Was that something I wanted to be a part of?
I clenched my fists. They should have asked me first if I wanted this. They should have talked to me before they involved Wil at all, or even thought to adopt him. Whatever that meant.
This changed everything. I needed to find out what this Academy was. I needed to know who I was up against. What if I was diving deeper into something that could get me arrested? If they had such secrets, worked in secret, didn’t that mean they were hiding something? Could anyone start up a private spy group? I supposed anyone could, but this seemed so organized and resourceful.
I needed to know everything before I found Wil. That was clear. If this was a dangerous group, there was no way I was going to let anyone adopt Wil, or even let them get near him. I needed to get those files back. I didn’t feel like they were evil, they didn’t seem to be, but I had to be absolutely sure. I wanted names. I wanted an address. I wanted to know who was in charge, where he worked, how he earned his money, who he voted for. All groups had a motive, and they couldn’t simply be a goody-two-shoes group willing to help anyone and everyone, like this grandmother in Florida. They earned money for it. I heard them talk about it.
I listened to the quiet. I had a few minutes alone before Axel got back. I closed the door again to give myself some cover.
My brain and my heart buzzed to life, filled with a new purpose and my whole body was wired to get started. I needed the truth. The full story. I couldn’t get close to Brandon, to Marc, to any of them without knowing what this was.
If I didn’t like what I found, I would have to contact Wil and tell him to stay hidden, to run, assuming I could find him first.
Maybe I could tell them to back off somehow. If he ran away, he didn’t want to be here. I’d have to stay behind with the Academy, to find those files, erase us from their group. If they were really bad, I may even need to stop them.
This was my fault. I had to fix it.
I scanned Corey’s bedroom. If I needed to know about the Academy, there should be evidence of it right here. It was a starting point. It felt wrong to snoop on Corey, but I pushed away that feeling. They had files on us, after all. Digging arou
nd in his underwear drawer for some dirt was fair game.
What did I really know about Corey Henshaw? I stared at the math on the wall. So he did fancy equations. He called it geographic profiling, using math formulas to track people down. People like me. Who else was he tracking? What was this math on the board for now?
Since I couldn’t figure out the math, I started with his side table drawer, opening it, checking the contents. An old cell phone that wouldn’t turn on, Xbox controllers, a TV remote, a bottle of aspirin, and a pocket knife. I slid some of the stuff aside and heard a thunk. There was a gun inside: a .38. The safety was on.
I lifted it, checking. Loaded. Even Corey had a gun. I’d been sleeping next to this?
I closed the drawer back. It was interesting, but still, it said nothing about this Academy. Half the boys in Charleston probably had a gun in their nightstand. In the South it was pretty standard. Corey didn’t seem like the type, but knowing someone like Raven and the training he’d had, I couldn’t be too surprised.
Corey’s laptop wasn’t here. Wherever he was, he must have taken it with him. I tried the closet, checking the contents.
It was decently organized. That was odd to me since most boys I knew were slobs. Not Corey. What wasn’t hung up was folded on shelves built into the closet. The majority was what I would expect: T-shirts and jeans, comic book references on nearly every shirt. Then, on the outer edges, there were clothes that didn’t fit his style at all: tuxedos, polo shirts, hipster, redneck, sophisticated. Costumes.
Spy clothes? If you had to blend in, best to look the part, like how they’d given me a dress before.
Okay, so they were spies. Got that. How do I get to know their purpose? There’s got to be a leader. It clearly wasn’t Axel, because he reported to Mrs. Bernard. What about that doctor ... Dr. Roberts? I’d tried to steal his wallet and he’d brought me to the guys. Maybe he was the boss, but still, from what I could remember, he didn’t seem like the boss.
I didn’t expect a history report about the Academy to be lying around, but maybe another one of those files, an address, a paycheck stub of some sort, anything.
I swayed on my footing, staring into the closet, trying to figure out how much time I had to go through the boxes at the top. Some were marked as “comic books” and “DVDs” but I wondered if Academy paperwork or spy stuff had been mixed in with it. Maybe there was tax info. Would he hide more photos and files in those boxes?
I went on tiptoe, trying to reach the top box on a stack. I barely caught the corner, and tried pulling slowly. It was heavy for its size.
The sound of the door opening startled me and I pulled down on the box. It fell over, and hit me on the shoulder as I tumbled backward. The box flew open, and comics slid out. I jerked my body to try to stop it and landed on my butt.
Corey stood in the doorway. He blinked down at me for a moment, his head tilting as his eyes went to the closet, the open box, spilled comic books all over the place, and me on the floor.
Busted.
He smirked, and closed the door behind himself. “Looking for something to read?”
“Sorry,” I said. “It said comics, and I got curious. I was only going to peek.”
“Didn’t know you liked comics,” he said. He got on his knees on the floor, and started picking up. “You okay?”
“I didn’t mean to snoop,” I said. “I just...”
“Don’t worry,” he said. He stacked the books up, dropping them back into the box. His smile lifted, reaching his eyes, lighting them up until they nearly glowed. “Go through whatever you want. Nothing to hide here.”
“You’re not weirded out?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve got a brother, not to mention the other guys, and then there’s Raven. You’ve got to get used to your things being pawed through around them. But next time, if you need help getting a box down, ask me. I’ll help.”
Nothing secret in his closet, then. I studied him as he continued to clean up the comics, checking for dents and folds. His happy disposition never faded. It was difficult to think of him as a spy when I first found out, but I knew his computer skills now and I saw what he could do when we had taken on Coaltar together.
Maybe if I wanted to get to know the Academy, I had to get to know them. I had to get them to trust me and tell me about it. If it was a secret group, they seemed to want to include me in it. Didn’t Axel say he wasn’t sure how interested I would be?
If I proved to be interested, and showed a desire, would they tell me all about it?
Would I be sinking deeper into their world? If I didn’t want in, would they kill me?
Corey didn’t look like a killer.
But he did have gun.
I scooped up the box, trying to lift it and put it back. “So what’s going on?” I asked. “I got up and no one was here.”
“Well,” he said. He walked up behind me, until I could feel his chest at my back. He helped with the box, putting it into the closet. The flexing of his arms so close distracted me so it was mostly him putting it back. “I’m on my way out of town. There’s a job I’ve got to do in Florida. I think you’re supposed to—”
“Can I go?” I asked, hoping. This had to be the secret job in Florida, the one Axel took. I’d gotten a glimpse once at an Academy job with Coaltar, but I fumbled it by taking the lead, crashing his boat, and shooting Coaltar in the leg. If I wanted to know about the Academy, I could find out how they worked by working alongside them on their jobs. They’d let me in on one. I could join them on others. I’d just have to keep my mouth shut and let them take the lead so I could learn more.
This one sounded good, because it came directly from one of their higher-ups. Corey was such a sweetheart. I could go with him and he may even answer my questions. This would be the perfect excuse to get him alone and talk.
Corey looked at me, his smile brightening. “You want to? It’ll be boring. Sounds like a simple enough job. Most of this is going to be drive time.”
I hesitated. There was Wil, after all. He was still missing to me. However, I reminded myself, I couldn’t let them find Wil, either, until I was sure they weren’t going to drag him into something neither of us wanted. “It won’t take too long?”
Corey’s eyes shifted as he thought, calculating. “It’s a four hour drive. If we start now, we could possibly be back by tomorrow morning. If it really doesn’t take too long, we’d sleep there a few hours and head back. If we get caught short, we can just drive overnight. I think we’d be back in time to meet Wil at school in the morning.”
“Sounds good to me. Just you and me?”
The corner of his mouth lifted higher, and then his lip dipped a little in a small pout. “Raven’s coming along.”
A long car ride with Raven? I guess Corey needed another driver, plus he was good security. Could I get information from Corey with Raven around? I’d have to take a chance. “Where’s the other guys?” I asked.
“At jobs. Marc’s doing his own thing. Axel’s going to be taking care of his animals and he’s got other stuff planned. Brandon’s at the shop.”
I wanted to ask more about Brandon’s shop and what Marc’s thing was but passed it off. It was a tough decision, trying to pick which one to stick with, but Corey was an easy target. I could get close to him without worrying about any relationship complications, and I wanted to avoid Brandon and Marc right now. “And it’s okay if I go?”
“Sure,” he said. “Grab some clothes, just in case. Just some overnight stuff. I don’t expect it to take that long but helps to come somewhat prepared.”
I scurried to the living room, spotting my bags near the sofa. I dragged them back to Corey’s room, plopping them on the bed. I picked up Marc’s boots again to wear.
Corey was going through his clean basket of clothes and the closet. He brought out a small stack of jeans and T-shirts, and then a dressier pair of slacks and clean button-up shirt, and then got out an overnight bag. He glanced over at me as he sorted throu
gh what he had. His eyes went to the book bags as I plopped them onto the bed. “Moving in with me?”
“Erm, actually, I don’t know. I don’t really have...” What could I say? I didn’t want to unpack just in case I found something I didn’t like and needed to run. I didn’t want to say no in case things weren’t that bad, plus I didn’t have anywhere to go, and didn’t know how long it would actually take to find out the truth about the Academy. Limbo sucked.
Corey’s eyes brightened. “It’s not a problem.” He went to the closet, sliding over the doors further. He rearranged his clothes, pulling a couple of stacks of folded items and placing them on top of boxes on the higher shelf. He dug out some empty hangers deeper in the closet and made room closer to the front, leaving the empty hangers closer to the middle. He stood back and pointed to what he’d done. “There’s some space if you want it. And borrow whatever clothes you need.”
Sure, buddy, I’ll move right in. He really was way too nice. “I did,” I said, motioning to the clothes I was wearing that I’d borrowed from him last night.
He smiled, and he studied me in the boxers and T-shirt. “Looks better on you.”
My lips moved, wanting to say something, a compliment, a thank you, a joke. I couldn’t think of anything, and a flurry of good feelings buzzed through me. I was crushing on him so hard, and he was being such a sweetheart.
Please don’t be a bad guy.
He pulled out another overnight bag, handing it over to me. I used the bathroom quickly to freshen up and to put on underwear and a bra. I wore my own clothes: shorts and a tank top. When I returned, I packed another shirt and shorts into the overnight bag, and threw in a T-shirt of his and boxers to sleep in. I threw in makeup samples I still had, and one of the hotel shampoos I’d collected.
The cell phone fell out of the pocket of one of the book bags. For a moment, I held up the cell phone, debating. “Corey?”
“Hm?” he fiddled with his own bag, tucking in his laptop and then a 3DS.
“Do I keep this phone?” I asked, and showed it to him. I’d only used it once to call them when Wil was missing. Since it belonged to them, it didn’t feel right to hang onto it since I was here with them.