Fake

  That telescope in particular was across the room, and I moved to it, wanting to check out behind the walled off section, hoping the core was behind it.

  Nothing. More couches. More low lamps. More glass windows. Did he have this core in the sofas?

  I checked out the telescope and I got an eyeful of church towers sticking out of the trees in the distance. It was funny to me to see the trees with little crosses sticking up out from among them, like a strange graveyard. Since it was darker now, lights were shining up on the crosses, giving them a weird spectral appearance.

  “Ethan,” I said carefully. I was taking a chance here, but I had to. “I like this observatory, but I was wondering why the top floor has a security pad.”

  “It’s so no one can break in through the glass and come into the house,” he said quietly. “Glass is vulnerable. It’s hard to secure. It was easier to simply secure the door to protect the family than it was to somehow secure the glass. Insurance makes me secure everything. They really hate this room. I told them they were being ridiculous. It’s the third floor. Who would climb up here just to break into the glass?”

  Made sense. That also meant we were chasing a false lead. The core isn’t here. Despite what Doyle said, this was just some rich man’s home.

  But his name was Murdock. Frustration bubbled inside me; we’d lost a whole lot of time, and Alice was playing games, expecting us to access something we couldn’t even locate. We needed to do something, to call her and tell her to show us proof that Axel and Marc were missing.

  Maybe Avery was right and we needed to call the police in to help.

  I pulled away from the telescope, finding Ethan standing close to one of the windows and smiling out into the distance. The lord looking over the land. It was hard not to be jealous of his obliviousness to a dire situation happening around him. I envied his ignorance.

  “The church towers are pretty,” I said. “It’s a nice view, but I guess I can’t keep you here. There’s a party downstairs.” I’d played this game long enough. Time to find Brandon. And I wanted out of this dress.

  Ethan smiled politely and then bowed his head a little. “Of course, I should let you go.” He gestured to the doorway. “Janet should be downstairs, right? We’ll have to go find her.”

  “I’m sure I’ll see her somewhere,” I said, waving it off.

  “Nonsense!” he said. “I’d love to say hello. I’ve not seen her in a while, either. Years.”

  “You’re right,” I said, inching again toward the door. Maybe he’d follow me downstairs, but after that, I’d split. I needed to find Brandon and get out of here. I was going to kill Doyle if he lied to us.

  Ethan led the way downstairs. He rambled on about the family I didn’t know. Once we got to the lower stairs, he walked right past the guards, which I now thought were just extra attendants looking out for guests and directing them to where they needed to go, simply containing the party to the first floor.

  The band seemed a bit louder now, a little more enthusiastic. Ethan talked louder, but I couldn’t hear him over the music and through others talking around us. I heard something about Janet, and then shrugged, wondering if he meant he was looking for her and couldn’t find her.

  He kept talking as I looked for Brandon and an opportunity to leave. Most of it was lost to me, but then I caught “...have you met my new wife, Alice?”

  I jolted upright, which made my ankles lock and my heels clack hard against the wood floor. My first thought: coincidence. Had to be.

  When I caught Ethan’s questioning eyes, and then followed his gesturing hand to the woman who was approaching, I nearly fell over.

  Malice eyes, cold blue. Red hair. She wore a white dress, similar to a wedding gown, but simplified and shorter for a reception. A brand new wedding band gleamed on her ring finger.

  Alice approached with a cool smile, and anyone else looking at her might simply see a new bride... approaching her husband.

  Could it really be the same Alice I saw before? That was just this morning. Threatening my life and Axel’s on her wedding day? Maybe I was just going crazy.

  But it was her. The lifting corner of her lip told me she recognized me immediately, and found it amusing.

  And I was pretending to be a cousin.

  “Sweetheart,” Ethan said to Alice as she came close. “Did I ever tell you about my little cousin Angela?”

  I tried to smile, biting my tongue. Was I wrong about Ethan? Maybe I’d been in more danger than I realized.

  Or maybe Ethan was, and he didn’t realize.

  Alice’s face transformed into a mask of warmth that didn’t reach her cold eyes. “I have not,” she said, very precisely. It made me wonder if English wasn’t her first language. “I wasn’t aware you had a cousin.”

  “From my Aunt Janet. Surely I’ve talked about her.”

  “Didn’t she say she was in Georgia, had to work and couldn’t make it? Or did I hear incorrectly?”

  I stiffened, easing back a half step. Saying something now to contradict her could be critical. Alice was having fun with me. My mind was in a tizzy, trying to figure out why she was here. She married Ethan. Supposedly, according to Doyle, the signal was from here. She married someone she thought owned the core? Then why try to find someone to gain access to it? And why kill people and threaten lives?

  “They must have been able to make it,” Ethan said with a happy note, completely missing Alice’s attempt to make him suspicious. “And who wouldn’t try to attend? I always said I’d be a bachelor forever. Everyone’s here witnessing the impossible. You’re the one that changed my mind.”

  “I told you I would, darling,” she cooed, all the while keeping her eyes on me. “I always do get what I want.”

  “So, how long have you known each other?” I asked Ethan. It seemed like a simple enough question, and it was one I was dying to know the answer to.

  “Only...what? A couple of months?” Ethan checked in with Alice, who only smiled in reply before Ethan turned back to me. “Sounds ridiculous, but I just love her and we knew. What else can you do?”

  “Oh I agree,” I said, although alarms were going through my head. A couple of months and he was already married. She had access to money beyond imagining now. Ethan was clearly very rich. Why was Alice bothering looking for this core? And why threaten Axel and Marc and anyone else to get it? At any rate, I needed to get out of here. I’d have to get Brandon out. We’d get the police called on this property. Maybe stage a robbery, have them investigate Alice...I was making up scenarios in my head, but I couldn’t think of a plan B now. Maybe if I got away and snooped around some more, I’d find Axel and Marc locked up in a closet. “I should get going. I need to...”

  “Find your boyfriend?” Alice asked. She said it sweetly, with a cocky smile. “I thought I saw you with someone, even if I didn’t know who you were. I met him earlier. Corey, right? I think I saw him go outside and get in a car. I hope he didn’t leave.”

  My heart stopped. She thought Brandon was Corey. He wouldn’t leave without me. There was the widening of her eyes. The satisfying smirk. It all told me that if Corey... Brandon did leave, it wasn’t because he wanted to.

  “Boyfriend?” Ethan asked. He turned and then gave me a quick side hug. “Wow. I keep forgetting you’re a young lady, not just a little girl any more. I still see you as a six year old and times like when I kept stealing Easter eggs out of your basket.”

  It was clear he missed the part about my boyfriend supposedly leaving me behind.

  “I could still see her as a young girl,” Alice said, the ice covered cleverly behind her back-handed compliments. “She does seem so innocent, doesn’t she? Naïve and playing little childish games.” She turned her attention on her new husband. “Shall we go cut the cake?”

  “I think it’s about time. And then maybe sneak away for our honeymoon?”

  “If you don’t get too drunk and pass out first,” Alice said. She slipped her arm delicately into
his and turned him to walk into the crowd.

  Was he drunk? I didn’t smell alcohol on him, and I knew the smell well enough. Maybe that’s why he mistook me for his cousin so easily.

  I didn’t trust Alice saying Brandon was gone. I scoured the crowds looking for him. My chest tightened with every step. What an idiot I’d been. I should never have let Brandon separate from me. I made the same mistake with Axel and Marc. This whole thing was a nightmare and I just wanted to wake up already. How could she have married the Ethan Murdock that possibly owned this core? How did we not know?

  We’d been running to catch up with all this information, though. Alice had always been miles ahead. She was already neck-deep with the guy who we’d just learned about hours ago.

  So where was the core? Maybe in an office downtown. Maybe his cell phone was part of...

  His cell phone!

  I rushed back into the crowd, catching up with Ethan. “Ethan!” I called to him.

  He turned. I did my best to look casual, to hide my wild thoughts and last minute plan from Alice. She stood by, an amused quirk to her lips, gazing at me curiously.

  Ethan stared, waiting and oblivious.

  “I forgot to congratulate you and give you...a hug,” I said. Could I do this? Yes. His suit jacket was long. It’d be easy. From the angle, even I could tell he carried a cell phone in his back rear pocket, and a wallet on the other side. The bulges were different. The wallet...would it be useful? I wasn’t sure, and it was a risk to take both.

  Ethan brightened immensely. Poor guy. I’d never do this in a million years to someone like him. Why did he have to be wrapped up in this? “Of course!” he said. “Come here, cousin.”

  I approached him, using one hand to wrap around him, squeezing tight around the back, obvious. The other I slipped down, out of Alice’s sight. I grabbed the cell first. First a pat low on his back.

  Reached in.

  Lifted.

  I used the shadow of his body and his jacket to hide it from Alice and pulling it around. I hid both items in the folds of the dress and then behind my back in one hand. I turned him toward Alice, egging him on. “Now go,” I said. “And have a good honeymoon.”

  Ethan had turned then, and was facing Alice when I went for the wallet. A small lift, as his pant pockets were loose. And then I had both behind my back. Simple. Alice might have had a husband, but I had his wallet and phone. I called it a small victory.

  I could only hope Ethan wouldn’t notice until much later, hopefully not until tomorrow. I needed to hurry. I needed to get this phone to someone who could help.

  I needed to find Brandon, too.

  I came up with a plan. Part of my mistake from the beginning was getting the Academy boys involved, and exposing more of them. I needed to do this my way. It was something unexpected, and Alice wouldn’t see it coming. If she thought she had Corey now, she’d try to find a way to get him to work for her.

  She didn’t know me that well, or she wouldn’t have let me get this close to her new husband. She wouldn’t be able to know that part of me, because I was just the new girlfriend of Corey’s. She would never know I could pick a pocket in a heartbeat, because I’d never been caught. Well, not by anyone outside of the Academy at least.

  And if she didn’t know I could pull wallets, she didn’t know other things about me. Like that I knew Doyle.

  Like I knew a playboy millionaire who could possibly be the only one left that could help save these Academy guys before they were done in.

  I needed to do this my way. I had to keep Corey safe before any more people got hurt. Raven needed to stay with Corey to protect him. I had a limited amount of time. I couldn’t play fair or safe anymore.

  I’d leave now, but I’d be back with someone willing to break the rules and help me get the guys back safe.

  HELP FROM UNEXPECTED FRIENDS

  I did a wide sweep of the party just in case I’d missed Brandon somewhere, and then left for the rendezvous point down the road, close to the gift shop. I took a side door, and stuck to the shadows, finding a path to the beach, carrying my shoes, the wallet and cell phone. Once I was out of sight, I pulled out the phone bill as well.

  At the parking lot was a dark town car similar to the one that had brought us here. The door opened and a man stepped out. He was the same height as North, with dark hair, and at first I wondered if North had come back. As I got closer, I realized he was older, mature with graying sideburns.

  He waved shortly to me. I didn’t know how he recognized me, but then I thought of the files the Academy had on me and my brother. There were probably a few pictures of us floating around. Still, I kept a distance.

  “How’d it go?” he asked. Worry lines creased his forehead. “Is Brandon all right? Is he coming?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, frowning. It was odd trusting this complete stranger. All I had going for me was that Brandon possibly knew him, which meant he was probably with the Academy. How did Brandon and Marc and any of the others trust these people? Did they know all of them? Still, he was the only one left, and if the Academy was going to take action, they needed to do so now.

  He seemed to understand my hesitation, especially since I was alone. He held his hands up. “You were with Brandon Henshaw. North Taylor drove you here. We belong to the Academy.”

  I had to assume Alice still didn’t know about the Academy. “Did you hear about Alice?” I asked. “Do you know about her?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I got a partial report, at least. She’s the one who claims she has Axel and Marc?”

  “Yes,” I said. “And she’s here now. She’s inside that house we were supposed to scout. She married the man that owns the house. Ethan Murdock, possibly the one who owns the core we’re looking for. I was talking to him and she intercepted and now I can’t find Brandon at all. He may still be at the house or she may have taken him. She implied she did, but I don’t know and I can’t confirm.”

  He frowned. “This isn’t good.”

  “No,” I said. “I need you to stay here, and to possibly call in some backup. Someone needs to keep an eye out for Brandon, and someone else should follow Alice. Carefully, though. I don’t know how she’s managed to get Brandon when he’s been careful and knows what she looks like. Obviously, I can’t go back.” It felt odd giving instructions to an older guy who probably knew more than I did.

  He gave no indication he thought it was strange. He only nodded. “What are you going to do?” he asked.

  “I’ve got a cell phone that might be the key to all this,” I said. “I should take it to Corey.”

  “Good idea,” he said. “I should probably drive you.”

  “We don’t have time. If you can follow Alice, we might find Axel and the others. She won’t recognize you as part of their team, right?”

  “She shouldn’t,” he said. “I’m not exactly connected to their group.” He stepped forward and then closed the door. He went to the trunk and then opened it. “Can you drive?”

  I nodded. “Of course.” Technically.

  “Take the car,” he said. He dug into the trunk, putting on a formal jacket. “I’ll call for backup and keep an eye on the house. You said she married the man inside?”

  “Yes,” I said. My heart rose. While I wasn’t going to go to Corey, I was glad this guy had jumped up to help. He showed a lot of trust in someone he’d just met two seconds ago. “She was with Ethan, her new husband. Just be very careful. We can’t let anyone know you’re helping us.”

  “I’ll be careful,” he said. He buttoned up the jacket and then smoothed out his hair. He closed the trunk. “Keys are in the ignition,” he said. “Drive to the hospital. Don’t stop until you get there. Don’t worry about Brandon. I’ve been watching the road. All the cars going by have been identified. Either he’s still here, or he can be tracked in whatever car has left. So we’ll find him. Hopefully we’ll find Axel and Marc, too.”

  That was a good sign. “Thank you,” I said.
>
  “Just stay safe,” he said. He moved around the car, and opened the driver’s side door for me.

  I got in. “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Henry Anderson,” he said. He reached out, taking my hand. I shook it. He released me, pulled a card from his back pocket and then gave it to me. “If you ever need anything, my team isn’t far. Call any of us. Tell them I sent you.”

  I took the card, checking it. It was plain, with his name on it, and a title: CFO of a non-profit charity. I had a small thought of Brandon and Corey, younger, and donating to charities with stolen money. Like a couple of Robin Hood twins. I wondered if Henry’s was one of the charities they’d donated to, unwittingly.

  “Thank you,” I said. “Be careful. Really.”

  “I will,” he said. He closed my door for me. Before I could turn the car on, he’d already crossed the parking lot, heading back the way I’d come.

  I hoped he’d keep his word. Enough of the Academy boys were missing now. Hopefully Henry could help.

  I adjusted myself inside the car, and then drove slowly out of the lot, feeling awkward, like I was abandoning Henry for one, Brandon two, and thirdly, I was driving someone else’s car.

  Ignoring the niggling sensation in the back of my mind, I focused on the road and then on the cell phone I’d claimed. I needed to reach Blake Coaltar. He was probably the only one who could really help me now. I didn’t have much of a plan. I just needed another pair of eyes on this. And someone who could convince Doyle to possibly get out here and help me figure out this core.

  Should I use the cell phone I had? Why not? At worst, Ethan Murdock might check the records if it was his public phone. And if it was connected to the core, it was supposedly on an underground service. Untraceable. That was why we were trying to break into it, wasn’t it?

  Ethan was busy with his wedding, anyway.

  I didn’t know Blake’s number though. I also didn’t want to drive directly to his house.

  As I drove, I had an uncomfortable feeling like I was being followed.

  I hated to do it, but I called Avery as I pulled off of Kiawah Island and onto the road that lead to John’s Island.