Chapter 13

Aeron looked up to see Molly still looking through the scope—a rookie mistake: once target is hit, look away and leave. Aeron dropped the scope on the table and sprinted down the stairs, taking them two at a time and jumping the last five. Her ankle protested as she landed and Aeron quickly rolled out of the landing. She burst through the door and ran to the conference room, where Molly was sitting on the table.

“Molly, we have to go.”

Molly looked up, but didn’t move right away.

“C’mon Mols. You did an amazing hit, but there is a clean-up team heading here, its part of the test.”

Molly nodded and slowly got down from the table. “That woman…”

“Did you see her face?” Aeron asked suddenly.

“No, but she was so sad.”

Aeron didn’t want to point out the obvious—she would be, you just killed someone important to her. Instead, she hurried Molly along, helping her put the sniper rifle back in the bag and heading for the stairs—they had taken too long to use the elevators.

“The quickest way out is down these stairs,” Aeron said, as they descended the stairs by the elevator. “But if you had studied the blue prints for this building, what other exits are there?”

“There are four staircases and three elevators. One elevator only services floors 3 to 26,” Molly said, getting a grip on herself as the adrenaline coursed through her.

“Very good,” Aeron said, managing a smile. They were running at least two minutes behind schedule, which meant Molly could easily fail this mission. “Now, knowing which is the obvious exit, and we’re going to say that our pursuant does not have the knowledge of this buildings layout like you do, what is your best escape route?” They had reached the 35th floor.

“We should cut through the floor to one of the middle staircases closest to the middle elevator, and then continue until we reach the 26th floor and ride the elevator to the 3rd floor.”

She said it with such conviction that Aeron did not hesitate as she followed Molly’s lead. They had just reached the elevator when Aeron heard people on the stairs at the end of the hall. She was grateful to be able to lean, and take some pressure off her foot.

“Are you okay?” Molly asked.

Aeron nodded but didn’t say anything. She was hoping she hadn’t re-fractured any part of her ankle. They reached the third floor, and Aeron limped out of the elevator, still following Molly’s lead. Molly checked the stairwell.

“It’s clear. C’mon.” She offered to help Aeron down the last few floors, but Aeron smiled and waved her off. They made it to the back alley and down two side streets without being seen.

Aeron plopped down on a bus stop bench.

“Awesome job, Mols. Your Dad will be proud.”

“Thanks,” Molly said, sitting next to Aeron, and looking slightly defeated.

“What’s wrong?”

“I should have failed. If you weren’t there, I would have.” Molly’s shoulders slumped forward.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aeron said, bumping shoulders with her. “You were great. Besides, most missions you will have back up. Your classmates—your team—will have your back as you have theirs.” Molly smiled. “Let’s get you home so you can tell your Dad how awesome you were.”

“Thanks,” Molly said, looking more like the girl from the staircase.

Aeron called up Josh to give Molly a ride home. Once Molly was on her way, Aeron called Thomas hoping he wasn’t detained by everyone else. He was free, reached her in just ten minutes.

“I need you to get me to Central Park,” Aeron said, stopping Thomas from even coming around the car by hopping in and slamming the door. “Museum mile by the Metropolitan.”Thomas nodded and got back in, taking off.

She knew they would be gone by the time she reached the area, but if those boys were still milling around…how long had the Institute been taking out students from opposing schools?

And what was Figg doing meeting those three in the park? Questions kept chasing themselves around Aeron’s head, and she wasn’t disappointed to see the boys were not at the park; probably ran off, or were sent away by Figg.

“Miss Seward?” Thomas said from the driver’s seat.

Aeron took out her phone. It was 3 a.m. The party would be winding down by now, everyone heading back to the apartments.

“Take me home, Thomas,” Aeron said, closing her phone. This could wait until tomorrow.

Aeron was up early Sunday morning and had coffee and doughnuts waiting for the crew. She was too anxious to sleep in, and while she lay awake last night, almost everything fell into place.

“What are you doing up so early?” Lesley asked, coming out of the room.

“Couldn’t sleep. Here,” Aeron said, offering her a plate. “Have a doughnut.”

“Thanks,” Lesley said, also pouring some coffee. “So, what had you up?”

“I better wait for everyone to get up. How was the rest of the night?”

“It was, interesting. Did you know Perry was there?”

“Yeah, I bumped into him on my way out.”

“Well,” Lesley said, readjusting herself for a good story. “He knocked out Shannon’s date, Ivan.”

“What!” Aeron said, surprised.

“It was pretty bad. Decius brought him home. No idea how much damage was done.”

“Poor Ivan,” Aeron said, thinking about how much it would cost her to buy back his trust.

“What did Shannon do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Shannon said, coming out of her room. “It was a misunderstanding is all.”

“I’m sure Ivan saw it that way,” Lesley mumbled.

Shannon glared at Lesley. “So what big announcement do you have for us?” Shannon asked Aeron.

Aeron gave her a quizzical look.

“The coffee and doughnuts, it’s classic ‘Aeron has  ews’.”

“We’ll wait until everyone’s up,” Aeron said, trying to remember the last time she bought coffee and doughnuts—she couldn’t. “Why was my tech-guy knocked out last night?”

Shannon blushed. “Because Perry was jealous.”

“Jealous?” Aeron said, completely flabbergasted.

“We’ve been sort of seeing each other. Since the summer.”

“Then why—”

“Did I start dating Ivan? I needed someone to make Perry realize I was serious when I told him I wanted to either move forward or break up.”

“What?” Lesley said. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Yeah,” Aeron said, hurt and anger coursing through her. “And I told you not to mess with Ivan. There are a million guys in New York who would die to go out with you.”

“He was in on it. Do you really think I’m that heartless?” Shannon said, standing up.

Aeron stood up too and flinched—her ankle throbbing.

“Chill out!” Lesley yelled, jumping between the two friends. “What the hell is going on here?” Aeron and Shannon slowly sat down. “I’ll get you some ice for that ankle,” Lesley said.

“It looks terrible.”

“Thanks,” Aeron said, propping her foot up, and not looking at Shannon. Lesley brought back an ice-pack and a bottle of pain killers from the kitchen.

They sat in silence, Aeron glowering at Shannon; Shannon glancing at Aeron’s ankle, and trying hard not to go and look at it; and Lesley reading a magazine, knowing Shannon would call Aeron a bossy, pain in the ass, and Aeron would call Shannon a brown-nosing-know-it-all and get over their tiff in a few minutes, or beat the crap out of each other, and then get over it.

Their silence was broken by the front door opening, and Alicia walking in. “Morning all,” she said, still in her cowgirl costume from the night before.

“Alicia!” Lesley said, dropping the magazine and jumping up. “I thought you were in your room. You came home with us last night.”

“Yeah, but Ben called and wanted to get a bite to eat,” Alicia said, her face turning a deep crimson. Aeron was shocked—once again. Since when did Alicia go out with boys, and stay overnight?

“We having a meeting? Should I go wake the boys?” Alicia said, looking around at the doughnuts and coffee.

“Please,” Shannon said, looking right past Aeron. “I would like to get this over with.”

“Wait,” Aeron said, thinking over last night. “Bring them some breakfast and wake them, but tell them to meet us for lunch—at the bookstore. I need to pick up some reading material on insects.” Alicia’s eyes went wide and she left.

“You think that is necessary?” Shannon asked.

Aeron nodded, and busied herself with fixing and re-elevating her ankle, which looked like a tennis ball.

***

They were seated in a corner around three-pushed-together tables in Barnes and Nobles, munching on sandwiches and snacks. Aeron had her foot propped on Luke’s lap, and was too anxious to eat. She wanted to get right to the chase.

“I think I’ve figured out most of this Figg mess, and part of who broke into our apartment and why. But I’ve also come up with a ton of new questions.

“Last night, I wasn’t suppose to shadow Molly, Mason was. If they had known I was there, I don’t think they would have put Molly on this mark.”

“Why?” Decius asked, sipping a coffee.

“Because she took out the girl who broke into our apartment. The girl from McCarthy.”

This got the reaction Aeron had expected—food stopped halfway to the mouth. “And on top of

that, I’ll give you one guess who she was meeting.”

“Figg,” Justin said, shaking his head.

“Yup.”

“But why?” Lesley asked, resuming eating.

“No idea, but I can tell you she was broken-hearted when that girl was shot,” Aeron said.

“So we’ve got the girl who was breaking into our apartment dead, by one of our own—I wonder how long that’s has been going on,” Shannon said.

“We thought she had gone rouge. Perhaps the Institutes take care of problem students for each other,” Luke said. This didn’t sit well with Aeron—the image of her perfect school, the honor and pride, vanished.

“You all right?” Decius asked.

“Yeah. Fine,” Aeron said.

“So you think our place is bugged?” Alicia asked, and Aeron nodded.

“Aeron’s right. I’m beginning to think that the Institute is more involved in our lives than we realize,” Shannon said.

The reality of this statement hit the group hard, and the silence stretched on.

“But wouldn’t they have known you were shadowing Molly since Mason came by to ask?” Alicia pointed out.

“Not if they thought I was still incapacitated from my injury. The envelope was addressed to Mason, not me.”

“Have we figured out why the red-headed girl was told to break in?” Lesley asked.

“No,” Aeron said, and then the two snapped together. “Justin, did you ever come across

Figg’s first name in any documents?”

“No. Just her first initial: J.”

“Janet,” Luke said, shaking his head. “Why didn’t we realize this before?”

“We were a little preoccupied with Aeron’s injuries,” Shannon said. “Question is, why?

And what is the connection to Laura?”

“They were breaking into the girl’s room, so it has to be one of us,” Aeron said. “We know she hates me.”

“She hates everybody,” Lesley said.

“She hated Laura,” Justin piped in.

“Ok, so what does Laura and one of us have in  ommon?” Shannon asked.

“Mason,” Alicia said. Aeron gave her a strange look. “He’s your mentor, and Laura’s boyfriend.”

“No,” Decius said, shaking his head. “It doesn’t make sense. What if we’re looking at this all wrong. What if Mason is just collateral damage?”

“What if Mason and Laura were both collateral damage?” Luke said. “If Figg wanted to get to one of the girls, what better way than through her mentor?”

“You mean me?” Shannon asked, taken aback. “But what did I do?”

“It’s just a theory,” Luke said.

“A good theory,” Aeron chipped in. “It makes perfect sense. She knew who you were the first day. She had to ask for everyone’s name—except yours. I never thought anything of it until now.”

“So Figg comes to town to get Shannon,” Lesley said, playing with her food. “Glad we got that figured out. Now why?”

“I’ll figure it out. It’s probably a huge misunderstanding,” Shannon said.

“Right,” Decius said. “Because people usually kidnap, murder, trespass, and doctor files—over a misunderstanding.”

Shannon’s face flushed. “I said huge, misunderstanding.”

Lunch was finished with little talk, and the group quickly dispersed.

“Any plans for today?” Luke asked.

“No,” Aeron said, as they walked toward Central Park. Aeron was now less worried about Figg, and more worried about the possible betrayal of the Institute. Only problem was she had no proof. They walked in silence, not going anywhere in particular. She needed some practice walking in her walking-cast. Aeron suddenly stopped.

“Is your ankle hurting?” Luke asked, reaching out a hand to help steady her.

“This is the spot,” Aeron said softly. She looked at the grass by the tree—discolored.

“This is where Molly killed Figg’s niece.”

“C’mon. Let’s go home,” he said, pulling Aeron along. “There’s a bag of popcorn and a movie with our names on it.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Aeron and Luke were cuddling on the couch when the doorbell rang. Aeron looked around, wondering who it could be.

“How long ago did we order food?” she asked Luke. He checked his watch.

“Only fifteen minutes.” He got up to answer, but Alicia came out of her room.

“That’s probably mine,” she said with a yawn, and answered the door.

“Delivery for a Miss Spider.”

“Oh!” Lesley said running out of her room in a towel. “That’s mine. Thanks!” she said, paying for her food and returning to her room.

The doorbell rang three more times, each time with food for someone else—and once for Decius and Justin—before Aeron and Luke’s food arrived.

“About time,” Aeron mumbled, as Luke got up once again.

“Dinner is served,” Luke said, passing the cheese pizza to Aeron.

***

Monday morning, Aeron was glad to be back in the gymnasium. She couldn’t participate in Parkour, but being back made her ankle itch to be used. She sat on a bench, watching the class—but she didn’t see Terrance, the boy she had fought all those weeks ago.

“Molly did a great job,” she said, still scanning the room.

“She was really shaken up,” he said. “What happened up there?”

Aeron stopped scanning and looked at Mason, horrified. She hadn’t told him! “I’m sorry; I should have come to you, or called.” She relayed the night’s events to him, explaining about the break in at the beginning of the semester.

“Shannon’s going to handle this one, hopefully today. If it is a blood feud of some type, it’s her right.”

“You’ll have to wait,” Mason said. “She’s not here. Took an emergency leave of absence. They had asked me if I could get in touch with Laura.”

“No news on her yet?” Mason shook his head. “We’ll figure it out,” Aeron assured him, but feeling less than sure of this.

Mason nodded. “What are you looking for?”

“Where’s Terrance?” she asked.

“Oh, no one told you? He died, about two weeks ago.”

Somehow, Aeron wasn’t surprised. “A hit gone wrong? Or random street violence?”

Aeron asked, a sinking feeling in her gut saying it wasn’t an accident.

“Hit gone wrong,” Mason said. “I see where you’re going with this.” He seemed just as uncomfortable about the idea as Aeron did.

Shannon took over Figg’s classes, and it was three weeks before Figg made a reappearance.

“Have you talked to her?” Aeron asked, as they made their way to the fifth floor. They were heading to class early so Jason could okay Aeron removing her walking cast. She had already started on physical therapy with Shannon.

“No,” Shannon said. “I haven’t. And neither will you. I’ll deal with this in my own way.”

Aeron glared at the back of Shannon’s head, but said nothing. It wasn’t her fight—not that that had ever stopped her before.

“It looks good,” Jason said, giving Aeron the go-ahead to walk around. “How does it feel?

“Honestly?” Aeron said, trying to walk without a limp. “Weak.”

Jason laughed. “It is. You should be able to do everything you did before, just be ginger on it, and roll out of all your landings to be safe.

“Got it,” Aeron said, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet. “Thanks.”

“All part of the job.”

Aeron handed over an envelope. “See you in class.”

Jason smiled, and took the envelope.

“Final installment?” Shannon asked, as they headed to the classroom?

“No, a bonus,” Aeron replied. They were passing the emergency room when the sirens blared through the hallway, and Aeron and Shannon squished themselves against the wall.

Nurses flew by with a young boy—he could only be about six—crumpled in the middle of the huge stretcher, the blood pooling around his head.

“Miss Gale!” Figg called, as she limped by them. “I need your assistance.” Shannon followed her into the E.R. without question.

Class was obviously cancelled, so Aeron sat in the hallway outside the E.R. with the boy’s older sister—she was only ten.

“What happened?” Aeron asked, trying to keep the girl distracted.

“It’s all my fault. I didn’t know he was following me on the Parkour towers.”

Aeron nodded, not much needing to be said. They sat in silence until Shannon came out three hours later—her face grim.

“Jessica?” She asked the little girl. The girl nodded. “Would you like to come sit in the waiting area while we wait for your parents? Their flight from California is almost here.”

Jessica’s face fell and she blindly followed Shannon to the waiting area around the corner.

Aeron stood waiting for Shannon, but it was Figg she saw first, leaving the emergency room. She looked terrible. Her limp was more pronounced than the night of her niece’s murder, and the bags under eyes made her face look swollen. She paused when she saw Aeron.

“The boy’s sister?” she asked Aeron.

“With Shannon,” Aeron said, and Figg nodded. They stood there, in the hallway outside the E.R., Figg covered in blood, and Aeron pulled into the memory of her first medical class. “If Laura was here, he would have made it,” Aeron said shortly.

“I know,” Figg said, surprising Aeron. An uncomfortable silence followed that statement.

Aeron turned away first, getting on the elevator. She wanted to ask where Laura was, and why Figg had come to their school, but Shannon had just come around the corner.