Justice (16 page)

‘You never did play fair, did you?’ he asked. ‘I mean, that’s what I liked most about you, but it’s a tough pill to swallow when you’re not on my team. Now give me the box.’

But as Adam reached down, a hand clutched his shoulder from behind and whipped him around. A ferocious crack echoed across the silent city and Adam collapsed to his knees and then slouched backward onto the ground.

‘Maybe you didn’t hear what I told you back in Hamburg,’ snapped Cal as he stood over the unconscious criminal. ‘Remember?
If you mess with my friends again, I’ll personally knock your block off.’

CHAPTER 16

REGROUP

A bare bulb dusted off the darkness in the room, casting a grayish light on walls covered in graffiti. Adam Worth, Angel Villon, and Rex Sykes sat blank faced and bruised in the corner while Vivian stood guard. Outside of the impromptu prison cell, on the field of Strahov Stadium, Jules and M were nursing Merlyn back to health, insisting that he drink more water and eat some of the service food from the plane. They had less than an hour until sunrise, and even though the discarded Olympic stadium was a great overnight hiding place for the jet, the amount of ‘art’ on the walls was a virtual guarantee that this place was a haven for hooligans. And hooligans meant an unwanted audience.

Ben and Devon had stepped aside to report the night’s events back to base. They were tucked away behind bars in a room that must have been a concession stand at one time. It was some distance away from the janitor’s closet, where they were holding the Masters captive, but M still tried to interpret Ben’s and Devon’s body language. Their arms
would swing and their shoulders would shift up and down as they made eye contact with each other and then shook their heads as if they couldn’t believe the message coming from the other side of the line. Then they paced back and forth like lions in a cage.

‘You’re lucky you didn’t break this thing,’ said Keyshawn as he wrapped Cal’s right hand in a bandage. ‘You sure you hit his face and not a brick wall?’

‘Oh, I hit what I promised to hit,’ said Cal with a tired smile.

‘What do you think they’re talking about?’ asked M as she shifted her attention over to Keyshawn and Cal. ‘All that talking they’re doing with their bodies doesn’t make it seem like a happy conversation. You’d think we didn’t find the box and catch the bad guys.’

‘We achieved our primary objective, true, but it wasn’t a total victory,’ argued Keyshawn. ‘Our handlers are missing, your mother is still on the loose, and Lawless has agents back in the field and after whatever is in that box.’

He nodded over to the box, which sat on the dirty ground beside them. They hadn’t opened it. In fact, they had been given strict orders not to. The assignment had been to retrieve the box, retrieve M’s mother, and return to the academy. The Masters were never part of the plan. The Masters weren’t even supposed to be operating any longer. M had a bad feeling that Keyshawn was right: the return of the Masters almost certainly meant the Lawless School was still intact and back in the game.

‘We should open it,’ said Cal.

‘Negative,’ said Keyshawn. ‘That would deviate from
protocol. Now stop thinking with your muscles, Cal. You may not believe it, but you’re smarter than that.’

Cal unfixed his gaze on the box and flicked his eyes back at Keyshawn and M. It was true; he had a habit of acting on pure instinct, but Cal was very smart indeed. He always seemed to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. Catching M on the top of the climbing course, Magblasting Ben when he least expected it, pummeling Adam Worth … it didn’t seem like the pure luck of someone running on instinct alone.

‘You’re right,’ Cal agreed calmly. ‘It’s the adrenaline talking.’

Keyshawn nodded. ‘Good to hear you come to your senses. Now we wait to see if our handlers have reported back in.’

‘I’m sure he’s fine,’ added M. ‘From what I’ve seen of your father, he can handle himself.’

Cal gave her a half smile and let his shoulders relax. ‘Thanks.’

As M put her hand on his arm, Jules helped Merlyn up. He stood solidly but when he walked, he wobbled slightly, like a baby horse. Still, he looked better now than when Adam had jumped him back at the clock. Quietly M realized that this was her new family, flaws and all. Sure, Cal was acting cagey about the mysterious box and Merlyn was trying to put his head back on straight, but she was oddly happy to be on an adventure with them again.

The five of them waited silently as the late February air whistled through the empty bleachers above them. Finally Ben and Devon rejoined the group, bringing with them
an aura of heavy seriousness that sizzled in the Eastern European predawn.

‘Change of plans,’ said Ben. ‘The handlers are gone.’

‘Tell us something we don’t know,’ said Merlyn, speaking with newfound confidence and hard-earned annoyance.

‘We walked into a trap,’ admitted Devon. ‘While we tussled with your old pals, another party intercepted and detained Mr Fence, the driver, and the pilot. The academy hadn’t heard a peep from anyone until we broke radio silence.’

‘So what’s the next move?’ asked Jules. ‘Take these jokers back to base?’

‘No,’ said Ben. ‘Time is of the essence. Whatever intel we got from M’s mother, the Masters had it, too.’

‘That’s impossible,’ said Cal. ‘You guys had her under lock and key. There’s no way that information could have gotten to Lawless.’

‘Unless,’ continued Keyshawn, ‘there’s a leak in the academy.’

‘Okay, listen up,’ Ben interrupted, obviously wanting to keep Keyshawn’s words from sinking in, but it was too late. An idea, once said, can become a powerful thing. ‘Let’s not jump to conclusions. I’m not in the bloody mood, nor do we have time to hear conspiracy theories, so let’s focus on the facts. We have a box. We have the Masters. The Masters want the box, therefore this box is important. Now, as for our handlers, another Fulbright team is working diligently to find them. Our job is to keep this mission alive. We need to interrogate the Masters and find out what they know.’

‘I’ll do it,’ said M.

‘Not sure that’s the best approach,’ Ben said immediately. ‘Given your, ahem, history with them.’

‘That’s the point,’ said M. ‘That’s what gives me the upper hand. But I’ll need Devon in there, too.’

‘Me?’ asked Devon, shocked. ‘I’m the last person they want to confess anything to.’

‘She did dismantle everything they believed in,’ said Jules.

‘Exactly,’ said M. ‘Let’s ramp up their emotions, play off their anger and egos. That’s how we get them to talk.’

‘How do you know we can trust what they say?’ asked Merlyn.

‘We won’t,’ admitted M. ‘At least not at first. Not until they slip up. And I know I can get them to slip up. Then we grab that little bit of truth and squeeze it.’

‘Careful, Freeman,’ Ben laughed. ‘You’re starting to sound like a Fulbright.’

Ignoring his comment, she turned to Devon. ‘Shall we get to the interrogation?’

As the girls joined Vivian inside the small room, the Masters couldn’t hide their surprise at seeing M and Devon together. Rex sneered and rattled in his seat, while Angel and Adam patiently waited for M to make the first move.

‘I see you remember my new bestie, Devon Zoso,’ said M, hoping to capitalize on the Masters’ disarmed shock.

‘Gentlemen,’ said Devon with a wave. ‘Always a pleasure to meet fellow Lawless family.’

But Adam wasn’t ready to give them the upper hand yet. ‘Give us the box and we’ll let you live,’ he said, though his threat was undercut by a quick gasp brought on by the
obvious pain in his jaw. It was swollen, probably even broken, from the disjointed look of it.

‘You’re not in any position to make demands or threats,’ said Devon as she pulled up a chair and sat across from the three prisoners. Her voice sent waves of rage through the Masters; they visibly shook with anger at hearing it. ‘But I’d like to talk about the box. Why do you want it?’

‘Don’t know and don’t care,’ barked Rex.

‘But you don’t want us to have it,’ concluded M. ‘Which means you’re working for someone else. Since when do the Masters work for anyone else? I don’t know, Devonator; have you ever heard of that?’

‘It’s not their standard MO,’ answered Devon with a smile. ‘Masters are sworn to work within but without the Lawless School. It’s an independent study group for scoundrels.’ She tapped a finger against her chin. ‘But now that I think about it, the Masters have danced to someone else’s tune once before …’

‘Oh, that’s right,’ said M with mock surprise. ‘That was in Hamburg with Ms Watts, wasn’t it? Well, you should know how this ends, then. I would think you’d be smarter than to go on another wild goose chase for her.’

‘No way we’d work with her again,’ spat Angel. ‘She ditched us in a fire, let us take the fall for her scheme, and even dunked her own son in the drink.’

‘Not deep enough, if you ask me,’ mumbled Adam as he cut his eyes at Angel, a sign that confirmed Angel was telling the truth. Ms Watts definitely wasn’t behind the Masters’ ambush.

‘When we ran into you tonight, we were hoping
you
were Watts,’ said Rex with venom in his tone. ‘Wanted to say hello again for old times’ sake.’

‘Lawless, then,’ stated Devon. ‘You’re working for Fox Lawless, and this box is the key to his revenge on the Fulbrights.’

‘Freeman, you can’t tell us you trust Devon Zoso,’ said Adam. ‘She doused you in a deep freeze and built a black hole on our front yard. Want to know more? During her first year at the school, she sent fifteen people to the infirmary, and according to the Flynn twins, it would have been double that if they hadn’t intervened on many different occasions.’

‘Shut it, Adam,’ said Devon.

Fighting the pain in his jaw, he continued, ‘She tried to blind Professor Bandit. She broke kids’ bones in the Box. She took criminal plans and twisted them into something only a maniac would dream up. When the crime called for theft, she’d add a dash of assault every time. Looks like she’s got you wrapped around her finger, too. And do you actually believe she used all of the —’

‘I said,
enough
,’ interrupted Devon, kicking Adam’s chair out from underneath him. With his arms cuffed behind his back, he was unable to cushion his fall and landed face-first on the ground. A sickly smack reverberated against the concrete floor.

Rex, infuriated, shattered the back of his chair as if it were made of Popsicle sticks. He leapt to his feet and, arms still bound behind his back, rammed Devon at full speed, forcing her back and against the wall in a hysterical vertical body slam.

‘You’ll never get to London, Zoso!’ he screamed, driving
Devon harder into the unforgiving wall. ‘I don’t care if the others do. Your ride stops here!’

M stood frozen in the sudden chaos. Adam lay on the ground bleeding while Devon’s arms pawed at Rex’s back like she was pinned under a boulder. How had it gone so wrong so quickly? Apparently she had underestimated the Lawless students’ disdain for a traitor. Not to mention Devon’s ability to get under people’s skin.

Luckily Vivian took charge of the situation with quiet confidence, expertly striking Rex in the back of his neck. The big lug spasmed and toppled over. Devon sat down and cradled her arm against her chest.

‘Thanks for the help, Freeman!’ yelled Devon. ‘You good-for-nothing excuse for a soldier.’

‘Me? I wasn’t the one who kicked the chair out from under the handcuffed guy and engaged the Rex factor!’

While they argued, Vivian picked Adam up off his face and set him back in his seat. ‘You’re friends with a lot of hotheads, Freeman,’ she said.

‘Yeah, I don’t think any of us were ever really friends,’ M snapped.

Angel hadn’t moved. He’d sat watching the whole show with a satisfied look on his face. The cadets had shown their cards, proven that they weren’t working well as a team, and he had seen it all.

Vivian helped Devon out of the room. M smiled as they left, turning her attention back to the Masters. ‘This interview is over. There’ll be another Fulbright team here shortly to take you away.’ She paused to let her words settle among the dust kicked up in the standoff. ‘And if the Hamburg prison
didn’t meet your liking, I can guarantee that the Fulbright Academy is your worst nightmare. Enjoy the ride, boys.’

Vivian returned to resecure the Masters as M stepped out onto the grass. Keyshawn was bent over Devon, who lay on the ground, her breaths sounding shallow and sharp, like paper being torn in half. As he pressed gingerly around her stomach and shoulders, Devon’s eyes flared with an intense discomfort. He nodded to calm her, like a coach telling a player that her time in the game was up.

‘She’s broken a rib, maybe two, and she has a fractured collarbone,’ Keyshawn said to Ben.

‘Okay,’ he acknowledged quietly before turning to Devon. ‘Zoso, you are staying behind to watch over the prisoners until the second team arrives. ETA is thirty minutes. Stay true, soldier.’

Devon’s face fell at the order, but that was fine with M. She felt safer knowing that Devon would be miles away from the box and its contents. She waved good-bye to her, and Devon shot back a crooked smile. M swore she heard her say, in between strained breaths, ‘I’m not done yet.’

Ben retrieved Vivian and ordered everybody back on the jet. Light was glowing over the horizon, but the interior of the stadium was still shrouded in a shadowed canopy.

Once in the jet, Ben gave a surprising order. ‘First things first, open that box.’

‘What?’ M said, shocked to hear Ben, of all people, breaking protocol.

‘You heard me, Freeman,’ he said. ‘Those blokes in there tried to hang Zoso like a picture, our superiors were kidnapped, and the academy has gone barmy, giving us the
runaround for hours. I want to see what’s so important.’