Night School - Endgame (11 page)

A
llie ran
from Isabelle’s office to the girls’ bathroom down the hallway. Crashing through the doors of the first cubicle, she threw herself down on the cool tile floor, her stomach heaving.

When she’d finished vomiting, she didn’t get up. She just stayed where she was, her forehead resting on her crossed arms on the toilet seat. She kept seeing Carter in chains. It had been dark, and the picture was grainy but there was no question. It was him.

She wanted to weep but she had no tears left. This day had finished her.

First Nathaniel, then Sylvain. Now Carter.

She’d never felt more defeated.

She just wanted it to stop.

She didn’t know how long she’d been there when the bathroom door opened with a faint creak. ‘Allie? Are you in here?’

It was Isabelle.

Vaguely, Allie considered saying nothing. Maybe she’d just go away.

But she knew that wouldn’t work. The headmistress would search every cubicle.

Still, it took all of her strength to respond. ‘I’m here.’

There was a pause. ‘Are you OK?’

Allie didn’t want to talk to her. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. But she couldn’t hide forever.

With slow reluctance, she dragged herself to her feet and opened the cubicle door.

‘I’m fine.’

Isabelle ignored the lie. Her golden brown eyes scanned Allie’s face.

‘We’ve been monitoring Carter for nearly an hour now,’ she said gently. ‘He has water. He doesn’t look starved or drugged. We had the doctor take a look at the footage and she sees no signs of dehydration or catastrophic injury…’

‘He’s in chains, Isabelle.’ Allie cut her off. ‘He’s been there for days.’ Saying those words made it all real again. Her hands trembled. She crossed her arms tightly to hide the shaking. ‘He’s tied up like an… an animal…’

‘I know.’ Isabelle pulled her into a tight hug. Only when she felt the warmth of her body did Allie realise how cold she was.

‘We’re going to figure this out,’ the headmistress vowed, still holding her close. ‘We’ll get him back. I promise.’

Allie didn’t want promises now. She wanted facts. And the truth.

She extricated herself from Isabelle’s arms.

‘How though? We don’t even know where he is. And Dom’s tried and tried.’

Isabelle studied her thoughtfully for a moment. Then she turned the water on and soaked a hand towel in the stream.

‘Here’s the thing.’ Turning back to Allie, she dabbed the warm, damp cloth against her cheeks and forehead. ‘Nathaniel just made one huge error. Until now all we had was his comms system. He just gave Dom a poorly protected computer system and an open web cam. She can use it to track his location.’ She leaned forward, holding Allie’s gaze; excitement glittered in her golden eyes.

‘We’re going to get him back.’

The next morning, Dom’s office was packed. Rachel, Dom, Zoe and Shak were at the table with Allie, all working furiously. Across the room, Nicole, Eloise, and several security guards milled around maps and photos of enormous rural houses. Isabelle and Zelazny hovered around Dom’s desk in a tight cluster.

Outside, rain tapped a staccato beat against the windows. Inside, the room buzzed with energy. Everyone believed they had a chance now. They had the information they needed to beat Nathaniel, and he didn’t even know he’d handed it to them.

He’d be undone by his own arrogance.

The mood was contagious, and Allie could buy into it now and then, for a few minutes. Until her eyes fell on the wall-mounted screen.

And there was Carter, chains fixed to his wrists and ankles.

He wore a grey, ill-fitting t-shirt and oversized trousers. His hair was a mess. He didn’t look like he’d been beaten. Mostly he just looked bored. And furious.

Nathaniel had left the feed live for hours now – a boon to Dom, but excruciating at the same time.

‘He thinks he’s torturing us,’ Isabelle had told her earlier. ‘But he’s giving us the weapon we need to kill him.’

To Allie, though, it just felt like torture.

There was a clock on the bottom of the screen. She’d missed it last night in her panic, but she was very familiar with it now. The red, digital numbers glowed like dragons’ eyes: 72:45:50

The last number was going down.

49, 48, 47, 46… 

Those numbers were all the time they had left. Seventy-two hours, forty-five minutes.

Three days.

If they weren’t out of the school by then, Nathaniel swore Carter would die. The returned prisoners had explained it all, in tones of regret and muted outrage.

It was Nathaniel’s ‘little flourish’, Isabelle said bitterly. ‘He’s trying to scare us.’

The only problem was, it worked.

Allie couldn’t keep her eyes off the numbers. Her gaze strayed to them, over and over again. Their inexorable decline fuelled a constant sense of borderline panic. Her heart never stopped racing.

Faster, she kept thinking. We have to be faster.

She was exhausted. Isabelle had thrown her out of Dom’s office at four in the morning – ordering her not to come back until she’d rested. But her attempts to sleep had been plagued by nightmares of bombs with clocks on them, ticking down, down, down…

She’d been back in the office at seven.

She wasn’t alone. Dom, Shak and Zoe were working to hack into Nathaniel’s computer systems. Raj and his guards were out systematically identifying and searching mansions owned by Nathaniel’s supporters – looking for signs that Carter was being held there.

With one last, long look at Carter, she slid the headphones back on her head. All she could do was listen to Nathaniel’s guards.

And hope they made a mistake.

‘Another day in the salt mines, eh Five?’

Nine sounds tired today, Allie thought. She sat at the table, her feet propped on a nearby chair, munching on a granola bar. The headphones blocked all sounds except the guards’ voices; she kept forgetting anyone else was in the room.

‘It’s the glamorous life,’ Five replied, his voice thick with irony.

‘Isn’t it just?’ Nine replied. ‘How’s the boss today? He’s been in a good mood ever since the last excursion.’ He paused. ‘Gives me the creeps.’

‘Christ, Nine.’ Allie could almost hear Five rolling his eyes. ‘Does anything ever make you happy?’

‘Shagging your wife cheers me right up,’ Nine replied without missing a beat.

Five responded with a creative string of expletives.

‘You’re a company man, Five,’ Nine said when Five’s enraged sputtering ended. ‘You don’t see the truth because you don’t want to. Our boss is a nutter. And we’re all looking at ten years if he loses this thing. Hard time.’

Allie nodded in agreement.

‘Don’t be so wet, Nine.’ Five scoffed. ‘He’ll win. And if he doesn’t… So what? You get three squares a day at Her Majesty’s pleasure. I’d be happy with that.’

‘You would, too.’ Nine didn’t sound like he thought it was funny. ‘I bloody well wouldn’t.’

They exchanged insults for a while. Allie was reaching for a cup of tea when Nine said, ‘You see that girl, last night? At the school? The one in the uniform?’

She froze, the mug halfway to her mouth.

‘Yeah,’ Five said, dismissal in his tone. ‘So what?’

‘It ain’t right,’ Nine said. ‘That’s all I’m saying.’

‘What ain’t right?’ Five’s tone was not encouraging. Like he only half-wanted to know. Or like he wanted Nine to shut up.

Even though he must have got that, Nine kept going.

‘What he’s doing… She’s just a kid. My own kid’ll be that age in a few years. It’s one thing when he’s fighting with his sister. But that kid, or the one upstairs… It ain’t right.’

There was a pause. Then: ‘You should mind your own business, Nine,’ Five warned him. ‘Keep your nose out of this.’

For a second Nine didn’t reply. When he spoke again, all he said was, ‘I don’t like what I don’t like.’

Elation flared in Allie’s chest.

For the ten thousandth time, she thought of that one little gesture. The hand pressing back at the air. The warning in his eyes.

She was certain now it had been him. That was Nine. He’d saved her.

Now she just had to figure out how to reach him.

F
or the rest
of the day Allie stayed glued to the headphones, hoping Nine would say something more. But he was quiet after that. When he did speak, he seemed subdued. She was still at the table, male voices filling her head, when Eloise tapped her on the arm. Allie pulled off her headphones and glanced up at her.

‘Isabelle wants you downstairs.’ The librarian held out her hand for the earpieces. ‘I’ll take over. You need a break anyway.’

It didn’t feel like Allie had been sitting all that long but when she stood, her muscles protested. She glanced at her watch, surprised to discover it was already four o’clock in the afternoon. She’d been here for hours.

As she left the room, Allie glanced up at Carter. He sat in a wooden chair, looking down at his hands. It was hard to tell if he was awake or asleep.

The clock in the corner of the screen glowed red: 64:12:31.

The numbers were falling so fast.

The school was quiet – all the activity was in Dom’s office or outside in the school grounds. Allie was mostly alone in the wide hallway. When she reached Isabelle’s office, the door was closed.

She could hear the low rumble of quiet voices inside.

She knocked lightly.

‘Come in,’ Isabelle said.

Isabelle was at her desk. Two men in expensive looking grey suits sat in the leather chairs facing her; both had turned so they could see Allie standing uncertainly in the doorway.

‘Oh good, Allie,’ Isabelle said brightly. ‘We’ve been waiting for you. Please shut the door.’

A chair had been set next to Isabelle, and the headmistress gestured at it. ‘Have a seat.’

The men didn’t hide their curiosity. They were both middle aged, one was a little younger than the other, with sandy brown hair and designer glasses. The other had greying hair and kind blue eyes. He smiled when their eyes met.

It was a fatherly smile but Allie looked away quickly.

‘Allie, these gentlemen worked for your grandmother,’ Isabelle explained. ‘They’ve come here to talk to you about her will.’

Allie stared. ‘Her… will?’

Until that moment she’d entirely forgotten the conversation with her parents at Lucinda’s wake. Her father’s words came back to her now: Lucinda’s lawyers have been in touch.

‘Yes.’ Isabelle was using her most pleasant voice, and it made Allie anxious. ‘Lucinda included you in her will. And these men are here to explain this to you.’

Now Allie noticed the briefcases at their feet – the stack of documents the older one held.

‘My name is Thomas Granville-Smith,’ he said. ‘This is Will Ainsworth. We work for a firm of attorneys employed by Lucinda Meldrum.’ He glanced at Isabelle. ‘Is it fine if I just explain the situation?’

Isabelle inclined her head.

He turned his attention back to Allie. ‘Your grandmother left strict instructions for what should happen in the unfortunate event of her death.’ He paused. ‘And, if it would not be untoward of me, I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you how sorry we are for your loss.’ His eyes darkened with what looked to Allie like genuine emotion. ‘I worked closely with Lucinda for many years. I cannot conceive of this world without her in it.’

Allie, who’d found it hard to accept sympathy from even her closest friends was, for some reason, touched by this.

‘Thank you,’ she said, meaning it.

Clearing his throat, the man glanced down at his papers for a moment before continuing.

‘Now, as she was quite specific, I think the best thing to do would be to read what your grandmother wrote.’ He pulled a pair of glasses from his breast pocket and put them on, then held up the documents.

‘I, Lucinda St John Meldrum, being of sound mind, do hereby bequeath and bestow upon my granddaughter, Lady Alyson Elizabeth Sheridan, all my worldly goods and possessions. All companies in their entirety, all bank accounts as listed herein, my houses in London, Scotland and St Barts, detailed below. Other entitlements and holdings, without restriction.’

He held up the thick stack of paper. ‘There’s a complete list here for you of the properties, both corporate and domestic.’

Allie just stared at him, her lips parted in surprise. The words were simple but she couldn’t seem to process them. Her grandmother had been one of the most successful businesswomen in the country.

If she’d left her everything…

She couldn’t even conceive
 
of what that would mean.

I don’t even know where St Barts is. And I’ve got a house there? 

She turned to Isabelle as if she might be able to make sense of it, but her attention was focused on the attorneys.

‘Tom. Please read her the section we discussed. I think it’s important she should hear this, as it impacts her directly.’

‘Of course.’ He flipped a page and searched until he found the passage in question. ‘Here we go.’

‘To my stepson, Nathaniel Ptolemy St John, I leave neither money nor possessions. Instead I leave a word of warning that is more valuable than either. Nathaniel, your place within this world is not to sit atop it. That location belongs only to God. Your role is to walk among men as an equal. Do that, and you will find all you seek.’

He took off his glasses and put them away. For a moment no one spoke.

‘I don’t understand.’ Allie turned to the headmistress. ‘Isabelle, how is this possible? I’m only seventeen years old. I can’t own companies.’

‘That’s a good question.’ The headmistress turned to the two men. ‘I suppose this is the time to discuss trusts and holding corporations.’

‘That’s where I come in.’ The younger man cast a deferential glance to Tom, who nodded. ‘I specialise in financial planning at the firm, Miss Sheridan. And I’m here to explain your options.’

He pulled a very thick binder from his briefcase.

Allie’s heart sank.

‘Oh good,’ she said weakly.

‘So, wait.’ Rachel stared at Allie. ‘She left you everything?’

‘Everything. I have a house in St Barts.’ Allie paused. ‘Where’s St Barts?’

‘Someplace very pretty.’ Rachel’s tone was light, but Allie could see the stunned surprise in her expression.

Dinner had just ended and the two were in the empty library. Allie had kept the secret of Lucinda’s will as long as she could. She could hardly bear to be away from Dom’s office – from Carter – but she had to tell someone.

The second the meal ended, she’d dragged Rachel away from Nicole.

For more than an hour in Isabelle’s office, Will Ainsworth had explained trusts and inheritance tax, handing Allie sheets of papers with enormously long numbers on them, and others with endless lists of corporations.

Allie wasn’t completely certain what any of it meant.

‘Lucinda owns Nabisco?’

‘Uh… No.’ Will’s smile had become fixed. ‘She owned stock. That is your list of stock derivatives.’

‘Oh,’ Allie had replied without comprehension. ‘Derivatives.’

Now she and Rachel were sitting on the floor in the Ancient Greek section, talking quietly. The library was mostly empty – just a few students were at tables in the front – too far away to overhear them.

For a while, they tried to amuse each other by calculating how long it would take Allie to spend all of Lucinda’s money if she started spending a million pounds a day. They gave up when they reached a hundred years.

‘This is bonkers, Allie,’ Rachel said. ‘Lucinda had more money than the Queen. What are you going to do?’

‘I don’t know. It doesn’t seem real. She owned everything. I thought for a second I owned Weetabix. But it turns out she was just on the board. Whatever that means.’ She leaned back against a row of leather-bound books with a sigh. ‘Help, Rach. How can I be on a board when I don’t know what a board is?’

Rachel shook her head. ‘I guess you’ll have to learn what a board is.’

‘The bosses?’ Allie guessed.

‘Kind of… I think they’re like extra bosses.’

‘Extra bosses?’ Allie was baffled. ‘I’m an extra boss?’

‘I think you get paid for nothing, if that helps?’

Allie held up her hands. ‘Oh, I don’t know, Rach. Lucinda must have thought it would help me but it just seems like crazy responsibility. It’s all going into some trust until I’m twenty-one, and Isabelle’s going to help but… she says I have to understand it all.’ She pulled a string from the binding of one of the books. ‘I’m not ready for any of this.’

‘At least you’re rich,’ Rachel said. ‘Which is nice.’

‘Beyond my wildest dreams.’ But Allie’s tone said what she thought of that.

Rachel stretched out her legs until the soles of her shoes pressed against the book shelves across from her.

‘My dad always says there’s nothing like being rich and powerful to make you hate wealth and power.’

Allie blinked. ‘He says that?’

She couldn’t imagine the always circumspect Raj Patel saying something even mildly rebellious.

‘He says lots of things.’ Rachel changed the subject. ‘Will it be weird for you? Being so rich, I mean?’

Allie considered that. ‘Will it be weird for you?’

‘No.’ Rachel’s reply came without hesitation, and Allie cocked her head.

‘Really? You don’t have any doubts?’

Rachel’s face grew serious. ‘Allie, after everything we’ve been through, I’ll always be your friend. If you had no money and lived in a cardboard hut or you had all the money and bought Buckingham Palace… it doesn’t matter to me. I’m your friend for life.’ She grinned crookedly. ‘I hope you like me. Because you’re stuck with me.’

There was no way she could have known how much that meant to Allie. It was just what she needed to hear.

Allie launched herself at her, pulling her into a rough hug.

‘You old softie,’ she said. ‘I thought you hated me.’

‘I do secretly.’

As they laughed at that, at the end of the row of towering bookcases where they were hidden, two students approached chatting.

For a horrible second, Allie thought one of them was Sylvain.

She hadn’t spoken to him since the break-up. He hadn’t been at the debrief, after the meeting with Nathaniel. He’d avoided all meals in the dining hall. He’d just disappeared.

She wasn’t ready to see him yet.

Releasing Rachel abruptly, she crawled to the end of the row and peered out to see if it really was him.

It wasn’t. It was one of the junior exchange students – not Sylvain at all.

It took a second or two for her heart rate to return to normal. Her cheeks felt hot.

When she looked up, Rachel was watching her quizzically. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘Nothing…’ Allie lied. ‘I just… thought it might be Sylvain.’

Rachel’s eyebrows winged up. ‘And that totally freaked you out because…?’

Allie hesitated. She hadn’t had a chance to tell Rachel what had happened. Everything had been too crazy since last night.

‘Because… we broke up. And I don’t want to see him.’

‘What?’ Rachel stared at her. ‘When did this happen?’

‘Last night.’

‘So, that’s why you looked like you’d been crying.’ Rachel reached for her hand. ‘Oh, bollocks, Allie. I’m sorry. I should have asked what was going on but with Carter and Nathaniel…’

Allie waved her apology away. ‘I didn’t want to talk about it anyway.’

‘What happened?’ Rachel studied her face. ‘Was it rough?’

Allie thought of the look on Sylvain’s face when he saw the teardrop on his own fingertip.

The memory made her heart ache.

‘It was hard,’ she admitted. ‘Really hard.’

Haltingly, she told Rachel what had happened in London. The night with Carter. Her sudden realisation that he was the one she wanted.

Rachel knew better than to interrupt. She just let her talk until she’d told her everything.

When Allie was finished Rachel leaned back. ‘Wow,’ she said. ‘Everything makes sense now. I knew something was up but I just didn’t know what it was. And you’ve been carrying all that around by yourself for days?’

Allie nodded. ‘I kept waiting for a time to tell you about it…’

‘But it’s hard to share personal stuff around here lately.’ Rachel finished the thought for her. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t mind that you didn’t tell me. I’m just worried about you. How are you dealing with all of this?’

‘Badly,’ Allie confessed. ‘The thing is, this is all my fault. I made everything so much worse by not making up my mind earlier. That made Sylvain believe I’d chosen him. So when I told him the truth… it really hurt him.’ She blew out a breath. ‘I wouldn’t blame him if he hated me now.’

‘Hey, don’t do that.’ Rachel’s voice was passionate. ‘It’s not like you meant to fall in love with Carter. You tried with Sylvain. I watched you try. You can’t help who you love. No one can.’

‘Yeah, but… I could have made it easier.’

Rachel shook her head. ‘Come on. You can’t blame yourself for this and I won’t let you. You did the best you could.’ She must have seen Allie wasn’t convinced, though, because she leaned forward, reaching for her hand. ‘We’re young. This is the age when we’re supposed to make mistakes. You have to let yourself learn. We’re still figuring out what we want. Who we are. All of us are.’

The intensity with which she said those last words caught Allie’s attention. She frowned, suddenly aware that Rachel might be hiding secrets of her own.

‘Hey. Is something going on with you, too, Rach?’

Rachel dropped her hand. She didn’t answer for a long time. Colour rose to her cheeks.

‘Actually,’ she said when the silence had stretched on too long, ‘there’s something —’

‘Allie! Rachel! Are you in here?’ Zoe’s high-pitched voice floated across the library, cutting Rachel off.

‘Back here.’ Allie shot Rachel an apologetic look but, to her surprise, Rachel appeared almost relieved.

‘You’re late for Night School.’ Zoe appeared at the end of the row, already in her black training gear, hopping from one foot to another.

Allie glanced at her watch – it was five past eight. They’d been here much longer than she’d thought. Only now did she notice how quiet the library had become.

‘Shit,’ she muttered. ‘We’re screwed.’

Zoe nodded so hard her ponytail flew. ‘Zelazny says to get your arses in motion or he’ll put you in detention until you don’t know any other way of living.’