Sally Singletary's Curiosity (The Sally Singletary Book 1) (32 page)

The waiter came and brought their plates. They ate, her mother filling her in on all the exciting opportunities she was looking forward to in her new place. When they’d finished, her mother pressed her again.

“Are you ready now for your father’s present?”

Sally could tell her mom was excited. “Okay, Mom. What is it?”

Her mother smiled and produced a small purple box with a white ribbon tied around it. Sally gave it a cautious look, expecting some expensive jewelry inside. She’d already decided she wouldn’t take it.

Sally pulled on the ribbon and untied it. When she opened the box, inside she found a key fob with a BMW logo on it.

She stared wide-eyed at her mother. “Are you serious?”

Her mother put her hands on her mouth and smiled. “My baby’s all grown up.”

“I can’t take this, Mom,” she said finally.

“Nonsense! You’ve earned it! You’re one of the hardest working and dedicated teenagers I’ve ever known.”

A tear slipped from Sally’s eye as she stared at her mother. Sally had never seen her this happy in all the years they had lived in the city.

“Thank you, Mom.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank your father.”

SALLY KISSED HER MOTHER GOODBYE
and then closed the door to the cab. She’d offered to take her to the airport, but her mother insisted she needed to see a few friends before she left.

Sally watched the cab pull away, then turned toward the parking garage where her mother had left the car. She’d taken only a single step when she noticed Agent Dawkins standing nearby.

“What do you want? I sent you everything in the email.”

He smiled. “Yes, Miss Singletary. It was quite thorough, very impressive work. Actually, I’m here for another reason.”

“No, no… I’ve done my part. I’m done with you people.”

“Hear me out, okay?”

She crossed her arms.

“I’m here to offer you a job.”

Her mouth literally fell open. “I’m sorry…you what?”

“A job.” He seemed quite serious. “The division was impressed. We could use a good agent like you—someone on the inside.”

“You must be out of your mind!”

“It wouldn’t pay much at first, and it wouldn’t interfere with your education. We’d give you assignments as needed. Granted, you’d have to keep your work a secret. You couldn’t tell anyone.”

“I’m sorry, what part of ‘this is crazy’ did you not understand?”

He took off his glasses. It was the first time she’d seen his piercing blue eyes. If it were any other man, she’d actually have found him attractive.

“You’re passing up a substantial opportunity here, Miss Singletary. Think of all the insider information you’d have access to. All your questions answered—a smart girl like you? I think you’d figure out how to fit it into your life, somehow.”

He handed her a card. On the back was written the terms of the arrangement. She blinked to make sure the number wasn’t her imagination. “You’d pay me this much to work for you part time?”

“Look at it as an incentive to build a career with the division.”

She rolled her eyes and handed back the card. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Keep it. Just in case you change your mind.” He smiled. “And you will change your mind… in time.” He turned and walked away.

“Doubt it!” she shouted after him.

Was he crazy? She stared at the card in disbelief.

On her way to the car, she passed a trashcan, ready to discard it. Something inside her, however, made her place it into her pocket instead. Perhaps Agent Dawkins would come in handy, even if she’d drop dead before working for him.

A short time later, Sally’s auburn hair blew in the wind as she cruised down the highway with the top down and music blaring in her red BMW 3 Series convertible. As much as she hadn’t wanted to accept the gift, it didn’t stop her from enjoying it now.

She’d called Yasif from the Bluetooth connected car phone to let him know things were okay and explained what had happened with her mother. He was just as surprised as she’d been by the news. She told them to use the passage in Idric’s closet and she would meet them at the switching station.

She pulled her car around back and set the alarm, expecting the others to be celebrating, talking about the events that had taken place. When she walked in, however, she found the others crowded around the monitor in the computer room.

Stephanie came up and gave Sally a hug. “You okay?”

Sally nodded, pushing her hair behind her ear. “What’s going on?”

“More stuff with Van der Haak,” Jake explained. “The movement appears to be gaining traction. After the fire, they got so much attention for the work they did with the people affected that the group appears to be spreading around the country. More and more people are joining, saying they were inspired by the work they did.” Jake had a hand on his chin, examining the information coming in through TESSA.

“Not only that,” Yasif pointed out. “But we’re getting reports of small groups forming in communities that are banding together to create community ‘safe-havens,’ as they’re calling them.”

“It looks like the groups were an idea of Van der Haak to create safe places people could go in times of need for help,” Jake explained.

“I don’t get it. Why is he creating these groups?” Sally asked.

“Attracting new members would be my guess,” Lani answered. “People are drawn to a cause.”

“So, he’s what? Building a cult?”

“Possibly,” Lani said.

It didn’t make sense. They needed more to go on. “What about the book?”

“Already on it,” Yasif answered.

They followed him into the training room where a jackhammer lay on the floor beside a square hole in the concrete. Next to it lay an open metal box. The book was inside.

“You’re going to bury it?” Sally asked.

“What else can we do with it?” Yasif replied. “Idric can’t use it until he’s sixteen, and as far as we know, the shape-shifters have no idea about this place. We decided to bury it until we can use it. Then maybe we can find out what all this is about.”

“Or find a way to fight these things,” Lani added.

Sally watched as they mixed up a batch of concrete. Idric closed the metal box and sealed it with a spell before lowering it into the opening as though it were a deceased loved one. They filled the hole and smoothed out the top.

Yasif pointed. “Now don’t anyone go stepping on that until it’s dry.”

Sally placed a hand on her forehead. “What about the shape-shifters? Any news?”

Jake led them back into the control room and pulled up a few images from the school. “Mrs. Padilla’s gone, apparently. They’re saying she had a heart attack. They’ve brought in a new principal, a Mrs. Yatterly.”

“Principal?”

Jake shrugged.

“It seems they’re reorganizing a few things,” Yasif answered. “But that’s not the worst of it.”

Sally raised an eyebrow.

“Mrs. Conley is back,” Idric said. “She arrived yesterday. Word is Conley has been in the hospital from an injury.”

Sally smirked. “Yeah, one I gave her.”

Yasif chuckled.

“Oh, and they’ve started up a safe-haven group at the school,” Idric added.

Sally glanced up, shaking her head. “Seems like he’s got his fingers into everything. So if there’s a new headmistress—principal, or whatever—were we able to kill the bear-creature?”

“No way to know for certain,” Lani said. “But that’s a possibility. I’m keeping an eye on things at the station to see if anything suspicious comes through.”

“Is Conley going to be a problem?” Sally asked.

“I don’t think so,” Jake stated. “She knows we’ve got the footage from the gym. If she gives us any trouble, we can air it.”

“Why would they care?” Idric asked.

“The whole point of using shape-shifters is to hide,” Sally explained. “Whatever they’re up to, they don’t want it common knowledge. We air that tape, it’ll blow up on the Internet.”

“Speaking of blowing things up,” Lani interrupted. “The whole incident at the school is being blamed on a faulty gas pipe.”

Sally regarded her. “You’re joking.”

Lani shook her head. “Yatterly’s getting things cleaned up in a hurry.”

“She’s not one of them, is she?” Sally asked.

Idric shook his head. “I don’t think so. I was there when she arrived. I didn’t sense anything strange about her, not like I do when Conley’s around.”

It sounded as if the kid’s abilities were getting stronger. Sally leaned against a wall, closing her eyes, easing a sigh of exhaustion. “Well, at least we only need to make it to graduation.”

Yasif glanced at her, then looked away slowly.

“Yaz? What is it?”

He winced, holding out a letter. “It was taped to my door.”

Sally read it, her heart sinking with each passing word.

We regret to inform you that due to excessive absences, you are hereby no longer eligible to graduate pursuant to Georgia state state law HB 1190.

Sally felt her knees go weak. “Is this for real?”

Yasif nodded.

All her hopes and dreams were gone. Her acceptance to Northwestern would be rescinded and she’d have to spend another year at Hidden Lake.

Just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, Jake spoke. “I’m afraid there’s more.”

She wasn’t sure she could take any more bad news.

“TESSA is getting strange news reports from all over. This stuff is weird, but TESSA thinks there’s a connection.”

Sally motioned impatiently for him to continue.

Jake hesitated. “There’s a rash of kudzu in North Georgia killing crops, reports of vampires in Phoenix, and something about faceless people in Chicago.”

Sally laughed. “You’re trying to make me feel better, aren’t you?”

It took only a moment to realize he wasn’t.

“You can’t be serious. These are a bunch of hoaxes.”

“TESSA seems to think they’re all related to what’s happened here.” Jake looked uneasy as if afraid to tell her any more bad news.

Sally tried to hide her frustration. “And you think TESSA is right?”

Jake nodded, albeit uneasily. “Her program is chewing through mountains of data faster than I could’ve ever imagined. She’s making connections based on what she’s found. Whatever Daniel programmed her to do, she’s doing it well. The only way to know for sure if she’s right is to investigate what she’s found.”

Sally eyed him, one hand on her hip. She was far too tired to argue. “Fine, but we all need rest before we do anything.”

She made her way into what they’d come to know as the living room. In the corner she noticed a cage, the strange creature that had saved them sleeping inside.

Sally approached, staring at the thing. It was the first time she’d gotten a good look at it.

Yasif appeared behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“So we’re keeping it then?”

Yasif gave her shoulder a squeeze. “It saved our lives.”

Sally squinted. “What is it?”

Yasif shrugged.

Sally turned to him, drawing him close to her. “What have we gotten ourselves into?”

“I don’t know, but we’re going to find a way to get ourselves out.”

Sally pushed away and turned from him. “I’m not so sure. I have a feeling this thing is even bigger than we realize.”

“Don’t doubt yourself now.”

“It’s not me I doubt. If any of this is connected to Billy and the others, and there’s every reason to think it is, I think we’re in way over our heads. I mean, how are we supposed to continue investigating with Mrs. Conley watching at every turn? And let’s not even talk about Van der Haak. You saw what he can do. How can we fight against something that powerful? I don’t even know what it was that stopped him.”

Yasif looked at her with a puzzled expression. “You don’t?”

Sally shook her head.

“When he attacked, the blast hit some sort of shield wall. I’d assumed it was Idric, but he thinks it was more than that. When we stood against him, we created some sort of convergence that amplified his power. We repelled Van der Haak without even trying.”

Sally wished she shared his optimism. “Idric thinks that’s what happened?”

Yasif nodded.

“But he’s not sure?”

Yasif dropped an eyebrow.

It wasn’t like her to feel this way, but she couldn’t seem to shake off this feeling of impending doom. “Still, what have we accomplished? It sure doesn’t feel like a victory.”

“We stopped Van der Haak.”

“Stopped him from what? He got away! And if it weren’t for this thing, we’d all be dead, and we still don’t even know what this thing is.”

Yasif waited for her to look at him. “We faced him. We survived. Isn’t that enough?”

She shrugged, looking away.

“Look at it this way. This creature saved us. It’s here for a reason. Either someone sent it, or it chose to save us on its own, but it gave us the chance to stand against Van der Haak. We’re alive to fight him another day.”

Sally looked at the small animal, considering Yasif’s words. He had a point. It was reasonable to think the creature saved them for a purpose. She just wished she knew what it was.

A couple hours later, they decided it was time to return to the school. She dreaded going back. Feelings that were reinforced when she, Idric, and Yasif stepped through the portal.

Things had changed.

Extra guards patrolled the halls, students wore badges, and there were subtle, more conservative differences in their outfits. There were also fewer smiles, more nervous glances, and people didn’t seem interested in chatting between classes. The Hi-Li screens spewed forth reminders about expected behavior and schedules for upcoming safe-haven meetings.

Her session with Yatterly went as expected. The new principal was much different than Mrs. Padilla and offered not a bit of sympathy for Sally’s situation.

“You brought this on yourself,” she’d said. If Sally wanted any chance at college, she’d repeat her senior year.

Her saving grace came in the form of Mrs. Conley when she showed up for math.

As Sally sat in her chair and looked up, there was something strange in the woman’s expression. For the briefest of moments, her eyes went red, betraying the creature that lurked inside. Sally expected Conley to be condescending, to look upon her with the arrogance of someone who’d won the day.