Drop of Doubt (23 page)

“You're not safe here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You have to get away from them.”

“Them?” I asked, being coy. I just wanted him to keep talking.

“The Academy isn’t for you.”

My skin prickled. “How do you know?”

“How do you think I knew you were at the Academy hospital?”

Academy hospital? I had suspected it but how would he know? “It’s just a normal hospital.”

“That wing was taken over by the Academy years ago. Anyone within the wing is an Academy member or an Academy guest.” He hit the cruise control and sat back, his shoulders dipping into a relaxed state. “It’s why you were dropped off there. There’s not a fly that enters Academy doors that goes unnoticed.”

I leaned forward. My heart was thundering inside of me. I was being kidnapped by someone who manipulated me, pretending to be Mr. Blackbourne, which meant I was in danger, but he hadn’t threatened me yet, and I couldn’t help my curious nature. He was warning me, which meant something. Dr. Green had said we should figure out what he wanted and get to know him. “Are you from the Academy?”

“That doesn’t matter,” he said. He shook his head, but the mask stayed focused on the road. “You should never join. They do horrible things and you need to get out from under them.”

“What horrible things?”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed your limping. Your bruises. I know what they do to you.”

I recoiled. “No, you’ve got it wrong. It wasn’t them.”

“No. Not directly.” He half turned his head for a second as if he wanted to look at me, but stopped short, looking back at the road. But I’d caught it: the eyes of the mask were covered over in blackness so I couldn’t see his eyes at all. How he was able to see the road, as the sun set and darkness descended, I wasn’t sure. “But that’s always the case with them, isn’t it?”

“I don’t understand,” I said. “If you know they aren’t hurting me, then why are you here?”

“They put you in danger, Sang. I know. They’ll put you in the line of fire if it means getting what they want.”

“They’ve been working hard to get me out of danger,” I said. “From people like you who would kidnap me.”

“Who ran into whose car last night?” The masked man spit back.

“That’s because you ...”

“Because I was asking you to come talk to me? No. They wouldn’t let you because they didn’t want you to know. So instead of approaching the car themselves, they tried to run me over. They didn’t ask. They didn’t check to see who was in the car. They grabbed you and hit me. If I hadn’t taken off, I might not be here right now.”

“They were trying to make sure I was safe.”

“They didn’t see who I was,” he said. “They didn’t even care.”

“They fall back before they figure out the details.”

“But you were already falling back with the big guy before he hit my car.”

“Maybe it’s because you had to manipulate us.”

“I do what I have to do,” he said. “And I don’t have to do this at all. I could leave you with them but I’d hate to see you go down with them when they do. You don’t know what they’re doing.”

My spine stiffened. The threat was clear. “What do you mean?”

“What did they tell you, Sang? Family first? That they do good when they can?”

I blushed, knowing as much as that. What I didn’t understand was how
he
knew. Was he from the Academy? But what did that mean? Something tickled the back of my mind, and I found myself repeating something similar to what Mr. Hendricks had once told me. “If it has to be a secret, it must be something bad they’re hiding?”

The masked face nodded, but continued to stare off at the road. “You’re not an idiot Sang, but you’re not like them, either.”

“What do you mean?”

“They manipulate little kids. They catch them when they’re young. They train them, trying to get them to trust in what they do. Then when they have you by the balls, they ask you to do things. Sometimes bad things.”

I shook my head, toying with the phone in my hand. Was someone else hearing this? “That’s not true,” I said. I remembered something Luke had told me once. “It’s a choice. You choose what you do and who you are with.”

“Don’t you find it funny that the Academy picks out a group of boys who were neck deep in trouble with their own families? They need dysfunctional kids, Sang. They need people like you.”

“Like me?”

“People who can disappear,” he said. “If you left your family, would they come look for you? No. If you get picked, it might be for no other reason than you can disappear and no one will bother to report you missing. Your parents don’t want you, so they think you’re a good match.”

“How do you know about my family?’

“I don’t have to know much to understand why the Academy is interested in you. I don’t know the details. Did they abuse you?”

I blushed, unable to hide the truth. How could I trust him? But what he was saying had all been true. Didn’t Kota tell me they were all like me once? I wanted to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want to let him know any more secrets, but what I did want was to learn everything he knew. “My mother was sick ... she is sick.”

“But she’s not there now.”

“No. She’s in the hospital.”

“Which hospital?”

“I don’t know.”

“They took her?”

“She was ... I ... The guys...” How could I relay what had happened to me? He didn’t understand.

“Yeah. That’s how they get everyone. She was hurting you, so they did you a big favor and removed the problem. When someone is in the way, they take them out. That’s how they work. They’ll be good to you until you’re a problem. You don’t have to tell me.”

“What do you mean they remove the problem?”

He changed lanes, passing up a couple of cars. The signs stated we were getting close to Summerville, but he didn’t change speeds or turn off the cruise control. “Why do you think they’re so scared all the time? Why do you think they’re so quiet? They’re a bunch of teenagers. Have you ever seen teenagers work so hard? Doing what they’re told all the time? Keeping secrets like this?”

I didn’t know how to explain it. “I mean, they swore. They love what they do. They love the Academy.”

“They’re boys. Guys that age should be dating girls, and playing video games and sleeping in on Saturday and thinking about college. It’s healthy teenager stuff. Not eliminating people. Not dealing in what they’re dealing with. Not kidnapping your mother.”

This couldn’t be true. It seemed impossible. The guys were nice, protective. They saved me. He had the wrong idea. “Wait, you said—”

“Let me ask you something, Sang,” he said. He passed the Summerville exit. Part of me thought he was going to stop there, but now that we were beyond the exit, I had no idea where we were going. In a panic, my heart threatened to take over, to pump against my eardrums so hard, I couldn’t hear his words. He changed lanes again. “Was there anyone else you haven’t seen lately?”

“What?”

“Someone who was threatening you. Did they suddenly disappear?”

Part of me was thinking of my father for a moment, since we had been talking about my mother. He had gone away, but I didn’t think that was what he was talking about. “Do you mean Mr. McCoy?”

“Did he hurt you?” the masked man asked. “Did he try to?”

I nodded slowly. “He cornered me in the girls’ locker room.”

“And you haven’t seen him since?”

“No. They said—”

“Not to worry about it.”

I stopped talking, suddenly afraid to know any more. My fingers smoothed over the top of the phone. I was tempted to put it down, to stop Mr. Blackbourne if he was listening. Part of me didn’t want to sever the connection either. I didn’t know what to do. “Yes,” I said quietly.

“The reason they don’t want to tell you anything is because it would be a lie, and they’re pretty good at manipulating facts enough to make themselves believe what they’re saying is true.”

I thought of Mr. Blackbourne and what he had told me. It took years to learn how to lie well enough to become undetectable. Instead, he taught me how to change the truth enough and how to think so when I spoke, even if I was unsure, it would sound like the truth. “What are you saying they did to Mr. McCoy?”

“Just don’t be surprised if you never hear from him again.”

“What?”

“He’s either dead, or they have him locked up somewhere, probably the same place they took your mother.”

My heart sank. “They didn’t ... they don’t do that.”

“Oh you don’t think so?”

“My mother’s ill,” I protested. “She’s under heavy medication. She has cancer.”

“I’m sure she does, but she was a risk to you, and right now they see you as an asset. So they’ll eliminate anything that stands in their way. They do it to win you over. When you’ve sold your soul to them, that’s when they let you know.”

“I don’t understand. What is the Academy?”

“It’s a private school,” he said.

I twisted my lips. That’s what they told me at first, but now I knew it was more than that. I wasn’t clear on what.

“Yeah,” he said. His head nodded. “You know better. You’ve seen a lot, right? How they operate? But if you ask any member what it is, they’ll say the same thing.”

“Why?”

“Who cares about some preppy private school? Parents they don’t eliminate are all too grateful to ‘enroll’ their kids into what looks like an elite school, and they get more excited when they learn tuition is free because their kid is being sponsored. Anyone that cares thinks it is a good opportunity, but most parents of the kids they enlist are abusive and are happy to get rid of their kids whenever possible. Then all a kid has to do is say, ‘I’m going to the Academy’ and parents don’t ask, don’t want to know. And the kids getting in are fed the lies and promises and are too grateful from being saved to look closer at what they are signing up for.”

It didn’t fit. The boys loved the Academy. Victor told me so. They all did. “But the Academy helps people. They’re at my school to help.”

“Believe me, if they are anywhere, it isn’t because they’re there to help. There’s something they want and you’re helping them if you work with them.”

I shook my head. “I can’t believe it.”

“I’m not here because of my own health. I don’t have to be here to warn you. You were hard enough to get away from them. And it won’t be long before they catch up to us.”

“What?”

“You’ve had that phone on and called Mr. Blackbourne, didn’t you?”

My fingers shook so bad, I dropped the phone. It slid to the floor at my feet. The screen was on. Mr. Blackbourne’s number had been dialed. I bent over for it.

“Don’t pick it up,” the man said, in a threatening voice now on top of the strange mechanical sounds. “Don’t touch it.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked. “Where are you taking me?”

“I’m taking you as far as I can. I know they’re coming for you. I just wanted you to hear me out.”

“So you’re telling me to run away? I can’t do that. I’ve got a sister. And ... I can’t.”

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave right now and not come back. Your sister isn’t interesting to them. You are. There’s a reason for that.” He sighed, shaking his head. “But you’re not going to listen to me. You’ll go back.”

“How do you know?”

“They suck you in. I know. And if you’re Academy material, you’re clever. And you don’t back down.” He half twisted his head again toward me. “Isn’t that what they tell you?”

I started to shake my head, wanting to deny everything, but I stopped short. I wasn’t very good at lying.

“You’re a smart girl, Sang. So I know you’re not going to listen to me when I tell you to run. You’re going to keep snooping around until you see proof of what I’m telling you.”

“You can’t expect me to trust you after kidnapping me.”

“I told you I do what I have to.”

“Why wear a mask?”

“I don’t trust you that much yet.”

“And you expect me to trust you?”

He shook his head. “No. That’s what I said. You don’t now. You won’t trust what I’ve said. But you will.” He punched the button to turn off the cruise control. He pulled into the right lane, passing signs for a rest area a couple of miles ahead. “You’ll go back and you’re going to look for the signs.”

“What signs?”

“Be more demanding,” he said. “Ask to see your mother. Say you won’t do anything else with them until you see her.”

“They’re smart Academy guys. I’m sure they can figure out how you can look in on your mother without her knowing if what you say is true. If she’s still around.” He pulled onto the exit for the rest area. “I hate to leave you here, but they’re probably really close now.”

“How do you know?”

“I know how they operate.” He parked, grabbed the keys and pulled them out of the ignition. “Plus Mr. Blackbourne really loves this car.”

My mouth was hanging open as he heaved himself out. For a while, I wondered if he just managed to get a good replica. No wonder I recognized the car. He stole it from Mr. Blackbourne.

I unbuckled and shoved open the passenger side door. “Who are you?” I asked over the top of the car. “What do you want me to do?”

“Keep your eyes open. Find out for yourself if I’m telling the truth.” The white mask caught the light of passing cars, causing the material to shimmer like plastic. “I’ll be watching,” he said. He tossed the keys over the top of the car and at me.

I caught them. “How do I reach you?”

“You don’t.” He turned around, and in a flash he was running toward a truck with an empty bed. He ran at top speed, launched himself, and caught the end of the truck bed and heaved himself on. The truck rolled out of the rest area and headed up the highway.

––––––––

M
y heart was still racing, and I was pondering what to do. I had keys. I had a car. I had no idea how to drive. I understood the phone was in the car but something had me hesitating, wondering about the man in the white mask. He was protecting me, or thought he was. He was once in the Academy. Or was he? Otherwise, how would he have known all those things?

Didn’t Mr. Blackbourne take over Mr. McCoy’s job? Mr. McCoy had attacked me, true, but could any of us had predicted it? Would he have taken the vice principal’s job in another way if he hadn’t?