The Reckoning

Twenty-nine

TORI KEPT SEARCHING. THERE wasn’t much more-just enough to confirm what we’d already figured out. Andrew had been part of the plot to turn Derek over to the Pack. And he hadn’t been anyone’s hostage.

“So Andrew is part of the Edison Group?” Tori said. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“No, it doesn’t.” I pushed the laptop back and sat on the desk. “You were with me at the laboratory. Between the two of us, we saw a lot of staff members. Did you recognize any of them that night at Andrew’s?”

“That was a security team. We never got a chance to see them before.”

“Sure we did. Simon, Derek, and I did on the night we escaped Lyle House. You and I did after we escaped the Edison Group. What we saw, both times, was mainly staff with only a couple of guards. If they had some high-powered security team, wouldn’t they have called them in for that?”

“Maybe it was the staff and the guards. How would we know? They were wearing…” She looked at me. “They were wearing things on their hats, covering their faces. They didn’t do that at the warehouse when they were chasing us.”

“Or the night Derek and I escaped Lyle House. Why hide their faces when we’d already seen them?” I thought back to that night. “You weren’t the only one who got away too easily.”

“Andrew, you mean.”

“Not just him. I was hiding up in a tree. One of the women found me. I dropped on top of her. Stupid thing to do, but it worked-she was knocked out cold. Or so I thought.”

“See, we’re both just that good.”

“Apparently not.”

We tried to exchange a smile.

“The Edison Group didn’t track us to Andrew’s,” I said. “That’s what my mom was trying to tell me.”

“If you guys are going to talk about that, you might want to go up on the roof,” Derek rumbled from the doorway. “Or be a little quieter. I could hear you from down the hall.”

“Because you’ve got bionic hearing,” Tori said.

I started to say something, but Derek beat me to it.

“Simon had to go talk to Andrew. I thought maybe you…” He glanced at Tori, annoyed, like she was eavesdropping. “I thought there might be old files in the attic. You want to come up and see? Maybe get some more info on Dr. Banks?”

I had to stifle the urge to say “Sure!” So what if we’d just discovered that the people giving us refuge were the same ones who tried to kill us three nights ago? Finding out whether Derek liked me was so much more important.

“I can’t,” I said. “We-”

“That’s okay,” he cut in, starting to retreat.

I stepped forward to stop him. “I would. But-”

“But Chloe can’t come out to play right now,” Tori said. “She’s in the middle of helping me unravel a conspiracy, a matter of life or death. Our life or death.”

“The Edison Group didn’t attack us at Andrew’s place,” I said. “He did. Andrew and the others.”

I told Derek what we’d found. For once, I hoped he’d say I was wrong, that my logic was flawed and there was a perfectly reasonable alternate explanation.

But when I finished, he swore. Then he paced, swearing some more, until he stopped and shoved his hair back.

“We’re wrong, aren’t we?” I said. “We misinterpreted the data.”

“No, you didn’t.”

It was my turn to swear then, making Tori arch her brows.

“I’m just mad at myself,” Derek said. “I saw the possibility. I wondered whether we all got away too easily that night at Andrew’s. I wondered why they shot at us when they used darts before. I wondered why they covered their faces. I just never thought it could have anything to do with Andrew. I did think he might be behind the kidnapping attempt last night, though.”

“But you said-”

“That I trusted Andrew. I did. But he thinks I’d be better off with my own kind, so I wanted to see his reaction. That told me he wasn’t involved. Or so I thought.”

“He seemed genuinely surprised,” I said. “Furious, even.”

“Guess he’s a good actor,” Tori said. “Okay, so am I the only one who’s wondering why they went through the trouble of that fake Edison Group attack when we were already going to Andrew’s place?”

“Going doesn’t mean staying,” Derek said.

“Huh?”

“We might not stay with Andrew,” I said. “If things didn’t quite go our way. We’ve already run away twice.”

“So if they convinced us the Edison Group had tracked us down and was lurking out there, prepared to shoot to kill…”

“That would trap us better than guard dogs and barbed wire.”

I quickly looked at the door. “You said Simon was with-”

Derek swore. “Right. He’s with Andrew. I’m sure whatever’s going on here, hurting Simon isn’t part of the plan, but I’ll go get him. I’ll remind him it’s past his snack time. He needs to have morning and afternoon snacks for his blood sugar, so that won’t sound suspicious.”

I nodded. “We need to be careful.”

“Screw caution,” Tori said. “I’m outta here.”

We looked at her.

“Well, I am. As long as someone comes with me.”

We kept looking at her.

She sighed. “Fine, but when everything goes to hell, just remember, I get to blame you guys, because I wanted to leave right away.”

“We are leaving right away,” Derek said, “just as soon as we know as much as possible about their plans. You said that was Margaret’s laptop, not Andrew’s, right?”

I nodded. “But I know a way to get Andrew’s, if you want Tori to search it.”

“Good. Do that. I want to know exactly what they have in mind.”