The Determining (14 page)

“I’ve missed you.” She almost lost his whispered voice in the din of conversations around them. He laid a hand over hers, his thumb running back and forth across her knuckles.

How dare he say he missed her when he did the leaving? Yes, she’d hurt him but he never gave her the chance to explain. Now there would be no hiding or sugarcoating what Richard told her. She wanted Drew to know, she wanted him to understand the pain and betrayal she felt.

“I’ve been busy trying to get out of my wedding.” She pulled her hand away, tucking it in her lap. “You know my father found out about our test?”

He blanched. “What did he say?”

“He told me he fixed the test. We were Compatible, but he changed our results.” Silence followed her declaration. She watched him, frozen as he processed her revelation.

“Why … how?” His face crumbled, making Charlie realize the significance this had for him.The chip and the security it promised was a lie. He knew it now
.
In a matter of seconds, she’d shattered his whole belief system

“That doesn’t matter,” she snapped, pushing aside the sympathy threatening to undo her. “It’s too late for us. Right now, I’m focused on finding a way out of this mess.”

His hands circled the coffee cup before him, turning it round and round. “Have you come up with anything yet?”

“The only idea I’ve come up with is to fake my death and remove my chip.” Charlie shook her head. “We both know how practical that is.”

Drew thought for a moment. “What about getting another chip? They sell them on the black market, don’t they?”

“It would take too much time to set that up. I need a quick fix. Anyway, my father will be watching my chip more closely now than ever. Even if I do come up with a plan, I’ll have to be careful.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “The closer I get to the announcement, the more I think I’m trapped with no hope of getting out.”

His tone filled with sympathy. “Don’t give up. There has to be an answer. It’s just that no one has thought of it yet.”

“Yeah, and no one will.” It hit her then like a ton of bricks. A smile spread across her face. She reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a tight squeeze. “Drew, you’re amazing. No one!”

“I don’t get it. What did I do?” he asked in bewilderment.

“You gave me an idea.” Charlie grabbed her bag, tearing through it in search of a pen and paper. It took her a minute, but she managed to find a scrap of paper though she couldn’t find a pen. “Do you have something to write with?”

Drew reached into his bag. After shuffling around he found an uncapped pen. “I don’t even know if it will write.”

Charlie grabbed the pen and tried it. After a second of scribbling, black ink appeared. “It works!” She exclaimed with triumph.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sending a message.” The pen flew across the paper, leaving her desperate words in its wake.

“To who?”

Charlie looked up with a bright smile. “No one.”

“What the hell happened at the party?” Drayton leaned forward in his chair, his eyes blazing.

The Leaders sat at the table, shooting Nemo questioning looks.

Nemo sat taller, trying to project his authority. “Everything went according to plan.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Slater, the Leader from the Province of Illinois, pushed his glasses higher on his nose. “I was under the impression you were taking a hands-off approach with Miss Grey.”

“She wasn’t harmed,” Nemo said, his hackles rising.

“That’s beside the point,” Samar accused with a scowl. “You didn’t follow the plan we agreed on.”

Nemo’s jaw clenched. “She was in no danger.”

“That aside, you shouldn’t have had a conversation with her.” Samar grumbled angrily. “She’s in the perfect position to expose you to the Council. Placing you on her radar at all was a mistake.” She leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. “You should have found another way to gain entry to the party.”

“It was the best course of action and Miss Grey knows nothing. She didn’t see me,” Nemo snapped.

“It wasn’t the best plan, but it worked,” Nelia, the Leader from the New York province, piped up, addressing the table. “Charlotte doesn’t know anything more than Nemo’s name and the sound of his voice.” She turned her attention to Nemo. “You can’t meet with her again. We can’t risk her learning your identity and jeopardizing our safety.”

Drayton cut in. “When you presented the plan, I assumed you had all the pieces in place. We shouldn’t continue until we know exactly what we’re doing.”

“It’s too late for that.” Samar shook her head. “Things are already in motion.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Drayton barked.

Samar sighed, rubbing her temples. “We trusted Nemo with the plan, now we need to trust that he’ll do everything he can to see it to fruition.” The Leaders nodded, all except Drayton, who crossed his arms in a huff.

“Just make sure you don’t do anything that could expose us,” Slater commanded with a stern look through his glasses.

Nemo stood. “Now that we’ve settled this, I have pressing matters I need to see to.” He exited the room before they could continue haranguing him.

His jaw hurt from clenching it and his shoulders were wound tight. He rubbed his tired eyes as he headed to his office, but stopped when the sound of excited voices reached his ears. Curious, he followed the sound down the stairs.

Down one level, he spotted a group of about ten boys surrounding Viveca. The scent of cinnamon, sugar, and butter wafted through the air. The delicious smell came from a bag Viveca held high above her head.

“Can’t we have some, Viv?”

“Yeah, Viv.”

“Please?”

“I told you already, you have to wait until after dinner.” Her voice was stern, allowing no argument, but her eyes held a soft affection for each boy.

“You heard the lady. No sweets until after dinner.”

The boys whipped around at the sound of Nemo’s voice. Before he knew it, they had him surrounded. Each clambered for his attention, creating a cacophony of youthful voices.

“Mr. Nemo, Mr. Nemo—”

“…I saw a giant—”

“…booger in my nose and so I—”

“…beat Henry at—”

“…raced and then—”

“Whoa.” Nemo said, holding his hands up. “One at a time.”

For the next few minutes, he listened to the boys recount stories about the day. They shared everything, pleased to have a grownup take a moment to listen to them, especially one as important as Nemo. Eventually, they ran out of things to tell him and wandered off one by one until only a single boy still stood in front of him.

Owen teased him about his pension for “collecting” orphans. Nemo ignored the playful jibes, knowing full well that half the boys living in the cathedral were there because Owen had rescued them. Poor parents unable to provide for their children left them in the streets to beg, steal, or starve. Neither he nor Owen could stand to watch the children suffer. Not when they had plenty of room in the cathedral and enough connections in the black market to feed them.

Nemo smiled at their newest charge. “How was your day, Lucas?”

The boy had adjusted well to life in the cathedral, but Nemo still liked to check in with him.

“I got to play a lot and we had oranges at breakfast. I really like oranges.” Lucas stared at him, almost searching his face for something. “How was your day, Mr. Nemo?”

The question took him aback. He smiled. “Well, I didn’t get to play very much, but I did have an orange, so I guess it was a good day.”

Lucas nodded thoughtfully before looking over Nemo’s shoulder. “I think Viv wants to talk to ya.”

Sure enough, Viveca stood waiting for him to finish with the boy. Her hair was pulled back into her customary ponytail, and spots of coffee stained her white shirt. Dark circles under her eyes attested to a long, hard shift at the coffee shop.

“Why don’t you go find the others?” Nemo suggested. Lucas smiled and scampered off. “Should we go to my office?” Nemo asked.

Viveca nodded. She lowered her voice as they walked up the stairs. “The next time I bring home leftovers, I need to sneak in through the back door. I barely made it inside alive.” She laughed softly.

“You spoil them.” He smiled at her over his shoulder.

“The shop was throwing the cinnamon buns out.” She shrugged. “No point in wasting good food.”

“You keep it up and you’re liable to have a gaggle of little boys pining for you.”

Viv smiled.

Office
was a loose term they used to describe the room. It had a desk, but that was the only thing that could qualify it as an office. A bed sat nestled in the corner, and the shelves were covered with personal effects rather than books. A single window provided the room’s only natural light.

Nemo took a seat behind the desk, motioning for Viv to sit in the chair across from him. “What did you want to see me about?”

A troubled look crossed her face. “Charlotte came to the coffee shop today.”

His stomach dropped. “What happened?” Viv wouldn’t have made the long trek from the shop unless it was something important.

“She came in alone but a man joined her—”

“Did you recognize him?” he interrupted.

Viv shook her head. “He had blond hair and thick glasses.”

“That’s her boyfriend.”

“They didn’t look very close. She seemed upset with him,” Viv observed.

“So, what brought you here?” Nemo leaned back in the chair, anticipating her answer.

“I watched them. I think they were fighting. But then he said something that got her excited. She came through the line and gave me this.” Viv reached into her pocket, fishing out a piece of lined paper. “She said it was for you. I didn’t read it.”

He leaned forward, eyeing the paper before taking it. “Did she say anything else?”

“No. She and the man left after she gave it to me.”

“Thanks.” He smiled at her, but his fingers itched to open the note. “I know it’s a long trip for you after a shift. I don’t want you traveling back to your apartment tonight. Spend the night here. You can take one of the free beds.”

Viv nodded. “Let me know if there is anything else you need.”

The second she left the room he tore the note open and read:

Novack Enterprises and Grey Technology plan to align their companies through my marriage to Mason Novack. I have one week. Put a stop to it. You owe me.

-Miss Grey

His pulse quickened and his mind started churning. He tossed the note on the desk. Getting to his feet, he paced the length of the room.

It wasn’t a surprise that Grey and Novack wanted to form an alliance. In fact, he’d been anticipating such a merger for years. He wasn’t even surprised that the two men planned to use their children to seal the arrangement. He’d expected to have to deal with this union at some point. What surprised him was how fast they were moving.

A marriage to Novack would deter all the hard work he’d invested in Charlotte. He couldn’t let that happen. She was the cornerstone to all his plans. He had to fix the situation; the problem was how.

He paced the room long into the night. He had an idea, but it wasn’t solid. There were already so many variables in the situation; he didn’t want to add one more thing that could go wrong. Not to mention the ire he’d incur from the other Council members.

When he was too tired to pace any more, he came to a decision. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the only plan that could work. And maybe, in the end, this would prove to be better than the original plan.

Now it all balanced on Charlotte’s desperation.

“I read your papers.” The professor rubbed his temples. He stood at the front of the lecture hall, leaning against his desk as if their papers made him ill and only the desk could keep him from collapsing.

“Being in an accelerated program, I hoped most of you would be prepared for the class’ rigorous pace. But it’s obvious that very few of you are ready.” He glanced up at the theater of students, leveling them with an exasperated look. “Since we cannot proceed any further until you grasp the basics of our country’s recent history, we’ll spend the remainder of the week relearning what you should already know.” He began pacing in front of his desk, keeping his eyes glued on his audience. “The ninety percent of you who failed this first assignment should apologize to the ten percent who didn’t. Because of you, the class is being subjected to a remedial history lesson. I suggest the failures pay close attention. You know who you are.”

Charlie had passed the assignment. Rather than take notes on something she already knew, she reached for her phone, staring despondently at the empty inbox. She’d sent the note to Nemo two days ago and had yet to hear from him. Patience was not a virtue she possessed and his silence grated on her.

For the thousandth time in forty-eight hours, she mentally reviewed the message she’d penned in the coffee shop.

Charlie’s anxiety had her squirming in her seat. A pretty girl taking notes next to her shot Charlie a dirty look. Charlie smiled apologetically, forcing her legs to stop bouncing. Focusing on the professor, she fought to push Nemo to the back of her mind.

“Let’s start with a basic overview before we get into the details.” The professor grabbed a tablet and a stylus, prepared to write notes. “According to your papers, all of you know that we used to be a part of the United States of America and, at some point, transitioned into the Confederation of America. I also gathered that most of you don’t realize how this change took place. Can anyone give me some idea of what caused this change?” Silence met his question. Charlie understood his look of frustration. She was sure she wore a similar expression whenever she checked her inbox. “Anyone?”

“A corrupt government system?” asked a timid voice from the back of the room.

The professor nodded. “That’s rather broad, but essentially, yes.” A large screen behind him displayed the words as he wrote the answer on the tablet.

When he finished, the professor continued. “Over the years, corruption tore the country apart. Politicians overtaxed the people to line their own pockets. They protected their own interests above those of the common man.” His voice rose as the subject started to excite him. “Compounded by extreme poverty and economic depression, the people began to grow restless. Can anyone tell me the exact reasons why the people came together to form the revolution?”