Prank Wars (37 page)

For what? I laughed nervously. “We’ll talk who pays after we get this door open.” I was proud of my noncommittal answer, but I think it only encouraged him. His arm rested on the door behind me, his blue sleeve tightened over his bicep. He seemed very big all of a sudden. I twisted the knob behind me, but it was locked. I felt claustrophobic. “Don’t you have the keys?” I asked. “We should go inside.”

“That might give us a little more privacy.”

Wait. No! The femme fatale act just wasn’t working for me. “Look, I really don’t have time right now. If you could just get this door open ...”

“Oh, I think I’m missing my keys,” he said in a lazy voice. “You don’t happen to have an extra set, do you?” Well, I had the ones that belonged to Thanh, but that hardly counted. I studied his amused face. He had no intention of letting me in, did he? Was this his idea of cute? Well, it was annoying.

“Ah lovely. I see you’re in good hands.” I recognized that low sarcastic tone—and the faint accent. I peered over Eric’s arm. Byron was breathing hard like he had run a far distance to get here. He didn’t look like a spy, just a regular college student in white tee and jeans, so why was my pulse reacting this way? He was supposed to be with Sandra. He was probably really dangerous. Not probably—he
was
, so he needed to stop affecting me like this. “Having some trouble?” he asked. Now that he had us in sight, Byron slowed, coming towards us like the most relaxed guy in the world.

After one glance at Eric’s dark expression, I kinda wished Byron would hurry. “Yeah, my purse is in the lab. Eric was going to let me in, but he f
orgot
his keys.”

“Hmm.” Byron leaned over the both of us, which made things a little crowded. “Do you mind?”

Much to my relief, Eric jerked away from me. Super arch-villain or not, Byron was my knight in shining armor. I tried not to show how glad I was to see him. He would probably kill me along with Eric once he got what he wanted—though looking at his familiar face, I couldn’t bring myself to believe it.

Eric glared at Byron, not happy with the third wheel. I couldn’t explain myself, so I avoided talking. Byron studied the number lock to the side of us. Before I could suggest some possible number combinations to break the code, he ripped the number pad open and found a key behind it. My eyes almost jolted out of their sockets. “How did you know that was there?” I asked.

“Janitorial job. These things are all over the place.”

Yeah, right! I didn’t question him though. Byron was getting me inside and away from Eric and for now that was all I cared about. He unlocked the door and let us in. Strangely enough, Eric wasn’t making a fuss. I saw the confusion on his face. He wasn’t the only one. Byron was helping me, so what was the catch? We wandered inside Eric’s lab while I tried to figure out where and how to start. The room was stifling hot. Eric planted his feet firmly in the doorway. “Do you see your purse, Madeleine?”

Byron turned to me with a knowing look. “This is about Thanh, isn’t it?”

I shrugged. Of course it was. “Why the interest, Byron? You wouldn’t happen to know where she is?”

“Not really.” He didn’t bother to bring up my lies about seeing her earlier. “She didn’t show up to our study group today. That’s not like her.”

“When did you have a study group?” I had been tracking him all day. There had been no pit stop at the school.

“Early.”

“What time?” I checked under a stack of papers and opened the filing cabinet. Byron hesitated then smiled. Now he knew I was onto him. I stuck my ear next to the wall, listening. “You’re dating Sandra again, I see.”

“Yeah, about that.” He leaned his fist against the desk. “Should I be concerned? Kali is stuck in your car right now. She hasn’t left it for a while.”

Eric’s fingers dug into the door handle. “What’s going on?”

“Byron’s an idiot,” I explained.

Byron didn’t look insulted. “Never listen to Mad, she’s a consummate liar.” I brushed past him, trying to find what I was looking for. I landed on the ground, searching under the desk. Byron didn’t bother to help. He glanced over at
Eric. “Where’s
your
research?”

“Top secret,” Eric reminded him with an arrogant lift of his shoulders.

Byron smirked. I popped away from the desk, trying to imagine what those bad guys wanted. What did Thanh have that they didn’t? I lifted up a
Book of Mormon
from the shelf. No, nice thought though.

Byron passed me and tapped me on the forehead. “Hurry up. We’re on a tight schedule.” I scowled in response.

“Are you sure it’s in here?” Eric complained.

I waved at my flushed face. “It’s getting hot,” I muttered.

Byron laughed. “Would you like me to leave?”

“Yeah,” I said, “…and get a fan while you’re at it! Why don’t you help me instead of just standing around?”

“Help you find what?”

“Her purse,” Eric answered in a hard voice.

I wandered back to the desk. “Maybe your lab partners thought the purse belonged to Thanh,” I mumbled out an excuse for such a thorough search, “—and they put it in
here
.” I opened the drawers, but there was nothing that looked like it needed to be opened with a key. No fake bottoms or backs to the drawers either.

“Are you sure about this?” Eric asked.

Even though I was terrified of him moments before, I was beginning to feel sorry for him. Watching me run around his lab like a rat had to make him nervous. “Oh, it’s in here,” I said. “That’s what Thanh said.”

“Before she was taken.” Byron was clearly enjoying this.

“Taken?” Eric seemed surprised. “What?”

I glared at Byron. My hands rested on the safe sealed to the wall. It was the same one Byron had discovered the last time we were here. Now it held new meaning. I searched for the lock. “That’s an amazing hiding place for a purse,” Byron said with a caustic grin.

“Actually, Thanh asked me to pick something up for her while I was here, and I’m just…” My fingers wrapped around a wire coming from the box.

“What? No!” Eric tried to stop me. “You’ll set off an alarm.”

“That’s very unlikely.”

An alarm went off above us. Loud and whining. It echoed through the hall. Eric stepped back, anger making his arms stiff. “Wow,” Byron muttered, “what were the odds of that?”

I wrestled with my backpack, pulling out Thanh’s keys. This had to be what we were looking for. I fumbled through the ring, picking out the most elaborate key. It was one of those electromagnetic keys, so no amount of picking would ever get it open. I found the lock and shoved it in. The alarm cut off and the door to the safe swung open. Byron whistled.

Eric watched me with a new respect. “How did you know that would work?”

“Um, Thanh told me to use the keys to get her stuff for her,” I re-explained. No one seemed to be listening. They were studying what was in the safe. It looked like a control box of sorts, lots of buttons, and gauges that I’d never be able to figure out. I knew so little about it that I felt like a caveman, but it would save Thanh. The drop-off was tonight and now I had something to bargain with…unless Byron tried to wrestle the box from me. I wasn’t sure how to get it past him.

“What’s that?” Eric asked.

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” I reached for it.

“No, no, no,” Eric warned. “What are you doing? You don’t even know what that is.”

Byron watched him carefully. “Do you?”

Eric didn’t answer. That meant he didn’t. He would be safe from Byron for now. I took a deep breath. Whatever this thing was, I’d have to take a chance to get it out of here. “Thanh trusts me with it, so…”

Eric narrowed a look at me. “Are you sure?”

“When have I ever lied to you?”
Plenty of times.
It was just a rhetorical question really. I carefully pulled out the control box. It was pretty light, considering. If my backpack could handle my physics and Shakespeare books together, it could handle this. I wrapped my gym clothes around it as padding and gently placed it into my backpack, zipping it shut. I closed the safe, hoping no one would discover what I had done until Thanh was home. I took a deep breath, and stood up. Byron didn’t move from my path. If he wanted to play the concerned card, I’d make him play it, especially since Eric was here and could stop him from stealing it from me. “It’s evidence,” I whispered to him. “Now we can call the cops.”

“I barely believe you,” he said under his breath. “You need more evidence before taking…”

I stared at him. He believed me? Well, if he was behind all this, he should, but if he wasn’t? I was touched. Eric cleared his throat. “You can’t leave until I clear this. I’m sorry, Madeleine.” Eric slid Thanh’s backpack off my shoulder.

It was all I could do not to rip it from him and make my escape, but Byron’s presence put the odds against me. I had been so close. “Clear it?” I asked Eric.

“With Thanh.”

I exchanged glances with Byron. He didn’t seem worried. “Let him make the call. It’s better this way.”

I abandoned Byron to follow Eric into the other room, but I couldn’t get between him and the backpack. Aggression emanated from him. I had never seen Eric this way—then again; I had never pushed him this hard either. Eric ripped Thanh’s number off the wall and set the backpack on a hard-backed chair a little too hard. There didn’t seem to be any other way out of this room besides the door we’d come through. I couldn’t think how to outsmart Eric either. Pleading wouldn’t do any good. Eric’s cold eyes told me that. As for the truth, who would believe it? Eric dialed Thanh’s number and I cringed, realizing her cell phone was in my backpack. The pocket was about to go off. I waited a moment, but it didn’t ring. The thing had finally died. It was my last shred of luck.

“Madeleine?” Byron called me from the other room.

I poked my head past the door. Byron leaned against the desk, not looking concerned at all. It was all a game to him. He waved me over. I deserted Eric in the back, feeling strangely relieved as I distanced myself from his righteous indignation. “What’s your problem?” Byron whispered. “It’s just like any other prank. What would you normally do to get what you want?”

“I’m not playing this game, Byron.”

“I’m looking at your options right now and I don’t think you have a choice. Now let’s work together and get this thing out of here.” I tried to wrap my brain around working together. If Byron was behind this, he could very well be the key to getting Thanh back. “I’ll do the intercept. You be the distraction, Madeleine.” He looked intently into my eyes. “You have to trust me.”

If I didn’t cooperate, I’d never get Thanh back. I could form a temporary alliance and figure out a way to
distract
Byron later. I held my breath, studying the room. He wanted a distraction. But how? I studied the room, my gaze latching onto the safe. Byron met my eyes, seeming to read my mind. He put his hand up to stall me, ticking the seconds off on his fingers. Then he nodded.

I tugged on the wire that wrapped around the safe and the alarm went off again. Eric barreled out of the room and I held up my keys. “Don’t worry. I’m on it!” I put the key into the lock and the alarm stopped. Byron disappeared into the back room. Immediately, I stepped in front of Eric, blocking him. “Did you get a hold of Thanh?”

Eric shook his head just as Byron emerged from the back with my backpack on his broad shoulder. He widened his eyes at me and tilted his chin at Eric, and I got the hint, stumbling into Eric’s arms. Eric caught me just like any gentleman should, though his arms were a little rougher. I tripped him, making us both fall flat to the ground. “Madeleine!” Eric tried to wriggle away from me.

Byron stuffed something into the safe. “Madeleine, you can’t take it. If Thanh wants it, she can get it herself.” He slammed it shut as if returning the control box. I knew better. It was the old bait and switch.

Before Eric could react, two security guards poked their heads into the doorway. They looked way too young to be protecting the world from us. Their hair was in disarray and their uniforms drowned them. Their eyes widened when they saw the pile of Eric and me on the floor. “What’s going on?”

“Uh.” Eric was still trying to get up, but my leg kept tangling through his. Byron had me in an instant. He dragged me to my feet, sliding my backpack over my shoulder in one expert motion. I barely even noticed it, except for his warm hand and the sudden heavy weight. The control box was safely inside. Byron let Eric find his own way to his shaky feet. As soon as Eric did, his eyes rushed suspiciously to us. The security guards looked on expectantly.

“Hold on,” Eric snapped at them. He went into the back room then came out, this time with a smirk. I didn’t get it. His eyes ran over me with a knowing look. My face got red. That had better not have anything to do with our little entanglement. Whatever this new smug attitude was about, I didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. Maybe I didn’t have a heart—or maybe? Maybe my heart felt taken. My eyes avoided Byron’s.

Eric handed the security guards the badge he picked up from the back. “Thanks officers, I work here. Sorry for all the commotion. I think we’ve got it figured out now.”

The security guards nodded and retreated. “We were just leaving too,” Byron said. Before I could react, he had my elbow and led me out with the men in black.