“It may not,” Kota said and then replaced the envelope on the seat. “I’ll go get mine.”
As Kota left, Victor thought that maybe they should rethink their appointment today. They could still fit into their old suits. Time was limited right now. Maybe they should call in another team to look in on Sang. But as that thought occurred to him, he dismissed it. He didn’t want to bring in more strangers. With Sang’s shy nature, it might make things more difficult if they called in more people. They wouldn’t want to scare her into running off, or causing her to retreat into an abusive situation.
After Kota returned with the envelope, they drove into Sang’s driveway to wait for her. They compared the letters: the same.
“We should decline,” Victor said. He nodded toward the gray house. “We’ve got something else now.”
“I’ve got something else,” Kota said, folding the pages of each letter separately, and then into one envelope.
“Too late,” Victor said. “I’m already involved. What makes you think I’m just going to forget? You should never jump into something alone, right?” He shouldn’t have to say it. Kota recited the same stuff every time they tried to do a job on their own or handle problems themselves.
Kota frowned and then looked toward the house.
The house was two stories, with an attached, two-car garage, and a big shed at the end of the drive. The yard was rather big, too. The front was big enough to host a football game. The back butted up against the woods, like many of the homes on the street. What made him uneasy looking at it? The garage doors were open. No cars.
What about her mom? Had she gone to work, unconcerned for her daughter?
Was there no one else there? It seemed like a pretty big house. She didn’t want him and Kota to go and ask, so what was she hiding?
A thousand questions whirled around in his brain. He knew little of Kota’s neighbors; as far as Victor knew, none of them had been of any real interest, until now.
Silence fell between them as they waited. Victor wondered if she’d ever come back. Maybe she got caught for being out all night and was in trouble. They had no way of knowing. Maybe they shouldn’t have driven over.
“Don’t let on to Silas,” Kota said, finally. “Just let him think she’s a friend coming along. And don’t tell Mr. Blackbourne. Not yet.”
“Why not?” That certainly wasn’t like Kota. He normally told Mr. Blackbourne everything. It was what made the whole team work; if they had no secrets, no one could hold anything against them.
Kota shook his head again.
Sang appeared, and when she spotted the car, she glanced over her shoulder and then raced toward it.
Escaping.
The moment she was in sight, Kota’s eyes were focused on her. “Just not yet,” he said quietly, and got out of the car, holding open the door for her.
Victor sighed, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
“What did you say to them?” Kota asked as Sang slipped into the car.
“Nothing,” she said and sat back in the seat as Kota got in the back seat behind her.
Victor bit the inside of his cheek. He was going to get arrested today. They were going to call the police on them for taking her.
He noticed her feet, the sandals. She wasn’t barefoot, at least. He stole glances at her so he wouldn’t get caught staring, and looking at her now, she looked almost normal. Beautiful. Her green eyes had a lightness to them. Her hair seemed to change from a sandy blond to a light brunette color, depending on how she tilted her head in the sunlight coming through the window.
She wouldn’t look at him, only out the window. She seemed nervous.
Victor put the car in reverse, driving out of the neighborhood.
He tried to catch Kota’s eyes in the rearview mirror, but it was hard to express what he was thinking. Whoever was inside that house had Sang worried about getting in a car with someone, yet she’d risk it just to get away.
He’d try it Kota’s way. Get her used to him to gain some trust, then ask her.
The car was silent, and it bugged Victor. He said something to Kota about the weather, still stealing glances at her to see if she’d respond.
She seemed lost, her eyes following the trees zipping by, at cars in front of them, and on the side mirror. The farther they got from her home, the more she sat up, and just looked at everything.
Did she not get out much?
Kota said he’d call Silas and let him know they were on their way. Silas sometimes got caught up in things at home and needed some notice.
Kota had his phone to his face, but Victor could hear the buzzing of the phone ringing.
“Is he answering?” Victor asked after the third ring. Usually, he picked up pretty quickly. What was taking him so long?
“Hey, you ready?” Kota asked. “We’re almost there.”
“Who are we getting?” came a quiet voice from the seat beside him.
Victor’s heart almost leaped out of his chest. Her voice was so sweet, melodic.
When he glanced over at her, she looked right at his face. Those eyes made his heart take another small leap. “An ax murderer,” he said and grinned, but then silently cursed to himself. He’d meant it as a joke, but quickly realized you can’t tell a girl that sort of thing. She didn’t know him from anyone else.
He was about to try to explain what he’d said when he noticed wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. Ugh. How did Kota not get on her? Kota fussed at all of them when they forgot their seatbelts. Where was his brain today? What if they’d gotten into a wreck? “Will you please buckle in? It’s bad enough we kidnapped you.”
The words were out before he could stop himself or come up with a way to say it more politely. Now he was fussing over her, and she was going to think he was mean when he was just trying to keep her safe.
She said nothing but smiled and turned her head away like she was hiding it.
The death of me. He gripped the wheel and was going to say something else, but she put her belt on and looked back out the window.
Kota had hung up by then. The car fell back into silence. For the sake of just something to listen to, Victor started going through the radio, seeking out something she might be interested in. Country? No reaction. Pop? She was still staring out the window.
Slowly, her eyes turned to his hand as he poked at the radio, and she waited in silence. He watched out of the corner of his eye while twisting the radio knob, splitting his attention with that and the road.
“That’s good,” Kota said at one station.
Sang didn’t react, though; he assumed no interest. What did she like? He tried the next one.
“That’s fine, too,” Kota said.
Kota could be so dense, sometimes. They were trying to get her to trust them, build a rapport. Why didn’t he ask her what music she likes?
Kota didn’t say anything. If he wanted to get her to relax so he could get to know her, he was doing a bad job. Victor was about to ask her himself when he flipped to another station; this time, it was just an orchestra piece, heavy on the violin.
Maybe he’d start with that. He turned the volume up to be able to hear over the air conditioning, as the violin started to pick up the tempo. “Will this put you to sleep?” he asked. He expected her to say it was fine, or maybe just shrug. He’d put it on whatever she liked if she’d just say something.
Those green eyes met his. “I love Vivaldi,” she said.
She knew Vivaldi.
He lost it. His mouth hung open despite trying to gain some control. His hands stiffened, and the wheel seemed to slip through his hands.
“What did you say?” There was no way he heard her right.
Her eyes went to his hands, and he realized he’d let go of the wheel, and took control of it again. God, he was turning into a mess around her already. He could sense Kota laughing at him.
“I said I like Vivaldi,” she said. “Summer is okay.” She made a small motion with her hand to
the radio. Summer was the piece playing. “I like Winter best, though.”
Victor forced his lips shut just to stop his mouth from hanging open.
She liked his music.
Well, no, she liked Vivaldi. It was the type of music he played at performances, although he wasn’t sure he’d ever played Winter before. Not a lot of girls knew about classical music, and most of them couldn’t tell composers apart.
He was helpless to get his heart to stop pounding so hard in his chest, but that she liked music, his music, felt like a revelation.
God, don’t let there be anything wrong with her. Something wrong might mean they’d need to call in someone for help.
He looked in the rearview mirror, suddenly realizing why Kota wasn’t eager to talk to Mr. Blackbourne.
Because Mr. Blackbourne or the others might suggest calling in for help. Bringing in help could mean they’d take her if she was in an unsafe environment.
I told you, Kota seemed to say as they shared a look in the mirror. Help me help her.
Victor couldn’t get himself to speak after that. He needed to collect his thoughts. He hoped nothing was wrong. If that was the case and she was just a little strange, that wasn’t bad, right? They wouldn’t need to call in for help.
Maybe after this, he’d visit Kota more often. Unless Kota really was interested in more than just helping her. He’d never want to step on Kota’s toes like that.
Victor clenched his jaw as he stared out at the road. What if she liked Kota, too? What would she see in Victor? His money, his minor celebrity status? She didn’t know him from anyone else. But even if she found out, was that really how he would want to win her over? With money and stardom, when the one thing he wanted to be, was normal, not someone defined by their wealth and celebrity?
Would she ever consider him over Kota without it?
What was he thinking? He shook the thoughts from his brain. Too much. Too fast. Too soon. It was wrong to try to think of winning her affection. He’d just met her that morning. So what if she was into the same music? That didn’t mean they were meant for each other.
All too soon, he was pulling off the interstate and on the way to Silas’s apartment complex.
He wished he had more time to think. He needed to get himself together. He wasn’t sure he could with her around.
As they pulled into the apartment complex, she leaned over toward the side window, her body pulling at the seatbelt, nearly pressing her nose to the window, looking at the empty swimming pool, the tennis courts, and the buildings.
If he had to hit the brakes, she was going to smash her face. “Will you stop being cute?” he asked, hoping flattery will lighten what he needed to say. “Your nose is smudging the window. My god, you’re worse than a puppy.”
Okay, he could have said it nicely. What was wrong with him?
Her cheeks turned red, and she turned to face him, looking a little worried.
He smiled, trying to let her know he was teasing her, but he felt like he came off idiotic and goofy.
“Sorry,” she said.
Ugh. He shouldn’t have teased her so soon. He just wanted to lighten things up and had said it wrong. She had him in knots.
“She’s new,” Kota said. “She’s going to be interested in stuff.”
A flare of anger surged through Victor, and he gripped the wheel tighter. “I got that, Sherlock, thank you,” he said. He shot Kota a look in the mirror. You’re not helping.
Kota lifted a shoulder in a small shrug. He didn’t really understand.
Victor’s heart raced hard in his chest. He was sweating already, and it was still morning. Maybe getting Silas would help. Silas could distract Kota in the back seat, and Sang could stay in the front. With how tall Silas was, he’d be a little cramped in the back, but the mall they were going to wasn’t that far.
If Victor could only get her alone, maybe he’d stop saying stupid things around her and could get to know her.
Maybe she would learn to trust him, want to know him. Not just the rich piano prodigy, but him, Victor Morgan. Maybe he could show her what it meant to him that she liked Vivaldi.
Maybe he could even take her out. But before that, he’d have to make sure he could keep her safe. He needed to figure her out, like a delicate puzzle, knowing each move, if incorrect, could break her.
He clenched his teeth, determined. He’d figure this out.
♥♥♥
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Also by C. L. Stone
Meeting Sang - The Academy Ghost Bird Series
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Victor
Silas
North Shore
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Ghost Bird: The Academy Omnibus Part 2
The Academy - Bonus Materials
The Academy - Touch of Mischief
The Academy - Sound of Snowfall
The Ghost Bird Series
The Academy - Introductions
The Academy - First Days
The Academy - Friends vs. Family
The Academy - Forgiveness and Permission
The Academy - Drop of Doubt
The Academy - Push and Shove
The Academy - House of Korba
The Academy - The Other Side of Envy
The Academy - The Healing Power of Sugar
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The Academy - Black and Green
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The Scarab Beetle Series
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The Academy - Liar
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The Academy - Accessory
The Academy - Hoax
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(Series: The Academy # 1.20)
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