The Other Side of Envy: The Ghost Bird Series: #8 (The Academy) (28 page)

“We should...” North started to say.

Kota shook his head. He held a finger to his lips. He wanted to talk. Not here.

I stood up and while the boys started walking away, I was wondering who I needed to go with, until Kota flexed his finger at me, encouraging me to follow him.

North glanced at Kota, his eyebrows shifting and his mouth opened to say something. One look from Kota and he closed it promptly and walked off toward his Jeep.

WHAT KOTA WANTS

I followed Kota to his old green sedan parked at the far edge of the lot. He opened up the door for me and I slid in, unlocking his door for him.

Kota got in and started the car. I settled into my seat, willing my heart to slow down.

“Hang in there, Sang,” Kota said gently. When he was stopped at a red light, he reached out for my hand, squeezing it.

I stared at his hand. It felt like a long time since I’d last touched him. I hadn’t been alone with him for a while. I squeezed back to assure him I’d be okay.

He released me to continue driving. Kota kept both hands on the wheel and always wore his seatbelt. He was normal, in a way. I imagined he was thinking up ways to circumvent McCoy’s plans.

What would he think of Lily and that whole idea? My nerves rattled. It was different with Dr. Green and North and the others, people who already knew. I’d taken a chance on Dr. Green. Who didn’t know now? I thought about it, and Kota was the only one left who wasn’t at least aware. Maybe Nathan?

The thought of Nathan made me question if it would really work. I couldn’t see Nathan being okay with what Lily had. He’d mentioned running off with me already.

But there were other important issues surrounding us, making me feel guilty worrying about the boys and what I’d learned from Lily. McCoy was hunting me. No matter what, we had to get out from under the current threat. Safety above everything else.

Although, the boys seemed to be creating a plan to end it and get info on Hendricks.

I couldn’t help but daydream a bit. What would it be like if I took up Victor’s idea on running away from it until it all settled down? This latest information told me if I wasn’t here, they would have one less person to worry about and they could focus.

I couldn’t talk myself into it. The others would have to stay behind to deal with the mess. I was in the middle of it now. Dropping out meant I’d be running away and leaving them to deal with it alone. Not to mention if my father found out, or the police. They’d have to answer to it, while Victor and I were off safe somewhere else.

Too bad we all couldn’t go.

I fiddled with the folds of the hoodie I was wearing. The problems piled up around us. Kota wasn’t aware of some of them. It might be better if he was left in the dark. Maybe I shouldn’t have followed Gabriel and Luke to Lily’s. Not knowing right now might be better. How could I have known?

“Something on your mind?” Kota asked.

“Hm?” I said, not meaning to. It was hard to pull myself out of my deep thoughts. My heart picked up, my pulse quickening. I hoped he couldn’t read my mind somehow and know what I was thinking.

“If you’re worried about McCoy,” Kota said, “you shouldn’t. Maybe he’s simply calling the others, seeing where you’re not, and then using the process of elimination to figure out where you might be. Mr. Morris is right, you can only be in so many spots around us, either at home, the diner or school.”

This was the problem I needed to get out of the way. I couldn’t work on the other until this was finished. I sat up, looking out of the car at the city surrounding us. “Mr. Morris said I should go off on my own if I wanted to surprise him.”

“No,” Kota said. “Not that. If you had a cell phone, he could still be tracing it. If you don’t carry one, you’ve got no ability to communicate and no backup. Going without anyone isn’t an option, either, phone or not.” He sighed. “Going with someone else, someone not in our group, that might be a possibility.”

I gritted my teeth. “Someone else in the Academy?” I asked.

“Maybe,” he said quietly.

Did he know what that meant? What if it was one of the girls? “I don’t really want to.”

“Let’s find out if they can trace you tonight,” he said. He glanced into his side mirror. “Right now, I’ve got people following me.”

I looked back, spotting several cars. I couldn’t figure out which one he was talking about. “We do?”

“He had other people watching him at the coffee shop. It’s no surprise he had backup. So whoever was following him, they have people following us.”

“Why did you give him the address?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Would you rather them chase us or watch a building?”

I wasn’t sure there was a right answer. It felt wrong to give up anything that belonged to the Academy. “Maybe they’ll do both.”

“Maybe,” he said. “But he can only stretch his people so far. And he can only bring in so many would-be spies before someone starts to notice. The more people behind a conspiracy, the more people will talk. People are the weakest link.”

“Is that the plan? Give them a lot of false leads to chase?”

“We’re doing everything we can to see where Hendricks slips up. We’ll pull people off his team. Distract the superintendent.”

“You mentioned another job to Mr. Morris.”

“If Mr. Morris is being hounded by Hendricks about something and money was that big of a deal, he should find a nice surprise when he looks up a CPR instructor job either in the newspaper or on the Internet.” Kota grinned. “Something he’s already had training for, and for which he actually qualifies, given his background.”

My mouth opened. “You knew?”

“Yup,” he said. He looked at me, his green eye flashing as he smiled. “Sang, we don’t do dangerous work all the time. Sometime it’s just a little bit of research, and giving the right push to get people to go where they are better suited. If he does look for a CPR job, he’ll find one is open, and his application will get put on the top of a list. Once he’s out of the picture, Mr. Hendricks will have to find someone else. He won’t be able to keep up as we pull his team members out. He’ll become unstable. Unstable means mistakes.”

I sat back, considering. “It doesn’t stop Mr. Hendricks from doing whatever he’s doing.”

“We’re close, Sang,” he said. “But it may take the rest of the year for it to work. We’ve got our eyes and ears out, though. Our only goal now is to not use up too many resources to finish the job.”

“Like calling in other people to stay by me?” I asked quietly.

He fell silent.

Kota drove through different neighborhoods, backtracking. He was trying to lose our tail. We passed the same house three times before he spoke again.

“We’re close,” he said finally, “but we aren’t done yet. And until then, we’ll be followed. I wish we didn’t have to let McCoy run around looking for you, but he’s our best loose cannon right now. He’s not aware he’s being watched; he’s so busy hunting us. If we’re careful, if we stay with other people, move how we should, he’ll mess up somewhere. He’ll get frustrated, take it out on Hendricks, and then Hendricks might panic and make a move. A move we’ll be watching.”

“So, we just lure him around until then?”

He nodded. “The moment this is over, the Academy will swoop in and take care of McCoy.”

“They’ll call the police?” I asked.

Kota clenched the wheel a little tighter. “That’s what should happen, but...to be honest, it might not.”

My eyes widened. “What will happen?”

He glanced over at me. “We’re trying to keep you out of the police system. You know that, right?”

I nodded.

“Part of that reason is for the Academy.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I know you’re interested in joining.”

I sat up, eager. He might not know about Lily’s plan, but maybe I could at least convince him about joining the Academy. We could work on the other part later. “Yes, I know I could—”

“Sang,” he said quickly. “I know you do, but it’s more complicated than you probably think it is. I’m not even allowed to say.”

We’d started this conversation before. He’d said it wasn’t because of other girls. He’d mentioned it was dangerous. “I know it’s dangerous, but you said not everything is dangerous.”

“Girls are used more, and called out to help in more dangerous situations. You wouldn’t say no.” He sighed. “And also, because you’re a girl, you’d get called out more often.”

“Huh?” I asked.

“There’s so much you don’t know,” he said. He tilted his head and looked at me. “Sang, if you join the Academy, the Academy will have you working so much because there’s such a shortage of girls. If you think you’re busy now, wait until you’re in the Academy. If you’re with me or not, they’ll ask you out on unusual missions only a girl can do. Especially you.”

“Why me?” I asked. “Just because I’m a girl?”

“Because of certain things about you.” He pressed his lips together. “I can’t tell you. But you’re special in different ways, in ways they are particularly interested in. You’d be very valuable to them. Plus you’ve just got this big heart...” He sighed. “It’s complicated. And this is coming from someone who reads physics books for fun.”

I started to smile. Kota was almost making a joke about himself. “I heard there’s the risk that if I join, I’d more than likely be asked to join another team.”

Kota’s lips pursed. Silence filled the car. I waited, but he didn’t want to talk about it.

I thought about what to say and tried to put it as delicately as I could without giving away what I knew. Mr. Blackbourne and the others were right. We had to consider our actions and who we told when very carefully. “Kota,” I said quietly. “I want you to know, no matter what, I want to be in the team, and I want to keep the team together.”

“Sang,” he said.

I reached out and held his arm. He was driving, but I wanted him to hear me out. “I’m serious,” I said. “And if that means that I’m always...like I am now. If it means I can’t join the Academy at all, I’d rather not join than be in it and be broken up.”

His eyes widened. He tore his eyes from the road, slowing his driving. “You want to join, though?”

“I want to join because you’re there,” I said. “I want to be part of the group. But if joining means splitting the team up, that I’d be away from you, I don’t want to join.” I meant it. I was interested, but not at the expense of being away from all of them. Every time I thought of joining another team, the feeling was simply despair at being away from them. It made me think joining another team would be the wrong choice. “I know it’s dangerous. I know you worry. I’d still join. But if the best way to stay with you is to
not
join the Academy, I’ll do my best to remain on the outside of it. I mean if I can help in any way, I’ll try like I do now, but if that’s as far as I can go, then I’ll have to accept that.”

Kota sighed. His lips tightened, his eyes gazing out, watching the road, thinking.

Finally, he spoke. “I was thinking,” he said. “After this year, if you’re interested, maybe you’d take an advanced test, graduating early from high school. I could help you get into college, if you wanted. Or maybe you’d want to do something like an internship. It’s how we do it at the Academy. I don’t know what sort of job...but you don’t really need to have one if you want. I... I’d help. We could find a house you liked. Something small. I don’t know why, I guess I just pictured you’d like a quaint little house. I’d take care of most of it.”

The more he spoke, the more animated he got, like he was getting more excited about his ideas.

My cheeks radiated with heat. “Live together?” I asked. He hadn’t said it out loud, but I got he was hinting at that. I breathed slowly, absorbing this. Somehow, it felt like he’d been thinking of this for a while. To test this, I tried another question from a different angle. “Do you like small houses?”

His lips lifted into a smile. “I was reading on these compact homes. Some they built out of shipping containers. Very practical about space. They’re small spaces. I was thinking it’d be nice with a small yard. Cozy. You like cozy areas, I’ve noticed.”

My mouth opened up. I couldn’t express the words. I had no idea what type of house I liked, because I hadn’t thought of having one before. I was just trying to survive high school. Kota had been thinking of buying a house for me at the end of the year.

We hadn’t even really kissed yet.

It made a little sense, though. He was thinking ahead. Where would I live once I was out of high school? Maybe it wasn’t possible to live in Nathan’s house forever. He’d eventually move out of his mom’s house. He was thinking of things I hadn’t considered yet.

My heart melted a lot. Excitement zipped through me as I imagined his vision. It wasn’t what I’d pictured. Then I realized I’d been picturing Lily’s house and situation, and in essence, I had been thinking along the same lines. Even though I hadn’t kissed him yet, I still included him in the scenario. My daydreams involved who would be there, not what the house looked like. Again, testing his thoughts, I went on, “If we got something a little out of the way, maybe in the woods, maybe away from other people...”

“That could happen,” Kota said, sitting up more in the driver’s seat. His face lifted. “You’d like a cabin?”

“I was just thinking, if we had a plot of land and filled it with small homes...”

“We could rent them out?” he asked.

“We could...” I said, smiling at his drifting thoughts. “Or maybe even, if you’re okay with it, have some of the others living nearby. Like Nathan and Luke and...”

He blinked repeatedly. “Oh?”

Maybe that wasn’t what he’d pictured. I tried, delicately, to fix it. “I mean, you’ll still be part of the family, right?”

“Yeah,” he said slowly.

“I don’t know,” I said, letting it sound like a passing thought. “I guess I’m used to the others being close by. Wouldn’t it be easier—if you’re still working with them in the Academy—to have them close enough so you could walk over? Or they can come over whenever?” That sounded better. Like he was living with me, and they were just neighbors. For now.