The Reckoning

Thirty-three

DEREK HAD MORE QUESTIONS for Andrew. He asked about that night at Andrew’s cottage. Andrew admitted he’d been part of the plan to stage his kidnapping and impersonate the Edison Group. The whole thing had been a setup-even giving us the opportunity to snatch a radio so we could hear about his “escape.” They’d set themselves up as our rescuers, so they could take us into protective custody.

Simon came racing in and threw down a length of rope. “His cell phone. We can call Dad. Check his pockets.”

“It’s in the nightstand by my bed,” Andrew said. “And it’s useless. Reception has been cutting in and out and it’s been out all night. I think someone’s using a blocker on the house.”

“I’m not taking your word for it,” Simon said.

“I don’t expect you to.”

Sure enough, we couldn’t get reception. Even sneaking onto the roof didn’t help.

So Andrew was telling the truth about that. But what about the rest of it? Were his people really out there, waiting and watching? Or was this just another lie to keep us from running?

We bound and gagged Andrew and put him in the basement. Then we talked.

Not surprisingly, Tori wanted to make a break for it. Simon agreed. Neither wanted to be stuck here a moment longer than necessary. We should run and, if caught, as Tori said, “What are they going to do? Shoot us?” Problem was, that might be exactly what they’d do.

We didn’t think Russell had acted alone. Had it been him and Gwen? Or more? How many people in this group secretly would be happy to see us dead-a convenient solution to the dilemma of our inconvenient existence.

Even if they didn’t want us dead, if all four of us were caught sneaking through the woods with our backpacks, there’d be no question of what we were doing. We’d lose our chance to get away.

So, one of us should go. But who? Derek was the most likely to be killed if caught. Tori might roll her eyes at the suggestion we were in mortal danger, but she wasn’t volunteering either. And Derek wouldn’t entertain the idea of either Simon or me going.

We argued. Then we split up, Derek and Simon going downstairs to try to get more information from Andrew, and Tori deciding to keep searching Andrew’s laptop, to see if there was anything there that we’d missed, something that might support or refute his claims.

As she searched, I knelt and tried to summon Liz. She’d be the perfect solution to this problem-she could zip out unnoticed and see if anyone was guarding the house. I was careful to picture her clearly and call her name, so I wouldn’t accidentally summon Royce or Dr. Banks. There was someone else I’d love to contact-my mom-but I couldn’t think about that. Even if I got her, I doubted I could hold her here long enough to search for us.

So I called Liz. And called and called, and didn’t feel so much as a twitch.

“Derek with you guys?”

I jumped. Simon walked in. I got to my feet.

“I thought he was with you,” I said.

“Nah. He made me test my blood sugar, and I grabbed a snack, but when I came back, Andrew was alone.”

“I’ll help you look.”

I found Derek on the roof, looking, listening, and sniffing for signs of anyone guarding the house.

“Oh, this is a great idea,” I said. “The guy they’re most likely to shoot is standing on the roof, giving them a perfect target.”

“They won’t see me up here.”

When I gave him a look, he sighed, like I was making a huge deal out of nothing, then sat and said, “Okay?”

“I don’t think it’s safe for you to be up here.”

“Just a few more minutes.” He took off his coat and held it out beside him. “Sit down here, between me and the chimney. It’s safe.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“I’m fine.”

“How do you know that? They could have night vision goggles, sniper rifles…”

The corners of his mouth twitched and I braced myself for “You watch too many movies.” He didn’t say it, but I knew he was thinking it.

“You’re not coming inside, are you?”

“I will. Just sit down. I want to talk to you.”

“And I want you to come in. We can talk there.”

“I don’t smell anyone out here. I think Andrew’s lying.”

“Please, Derek? Come inside?”

“In a minute.”

I turned and walked away.

“Chloe…”

I hoped he’d follow. I knew he wouldn’t. He didn’t.

“Found him,” I said, meeting Simon in the upstairs hall. “On the roof.”

“The roof? I suppose you told him he’s an idiot.”

“I asked him to come down. He won’t.”

“Because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. The right thing for everyone else, that is. One day he’s going to get himself-” Simon ran his hands through his hair. “I can talk to him. I can yell at him. It just doesn’t get through. He’s not suicidal. It’s not that he doesn’t care if he lives or dies. It’s just-”

“Not a priority.”

“Not if it interferes with protecting us. He can argue that’s the wolf, but those two werewolves you met weren’t throwing themselves in the line of fire to save each other, were they?”

“No.”

He exhaled. “I might know a way to get him down. But don’t hold your breath.”

“I won’t.”

After Simon left, I knew what had to be done. There were only a few hours until daylight and we were sitting around like headlight-stunned deer, waiting for the car to hit us. We needed to know if there was really someone guarding the property, and there was only one way to do that properly.