“Hope she wasn’t too disappointed with your taste in men,” Denver quipped.
“Jace is a stand-up guy,” Cloyd interjected. “I’m sure she recognized that.”
I looked over at Cloyd and smiled. “You’re right,” I replied. “She did.”
Cloyd smiled back. Our relationship had already improved by leaps and bounds since he had apologized. It was obvious that he cared enough about Jace to really try to fix things between the two of us, and I knew he had to push through a lot of personal pain in doing that. I respected Cloyd, and, for the first time that I could remember, I was glad to have him on the team.
“That’s awesome, Robin,” Jackie said. Then she changed gears, thrusting me back into the situation that I had been trying to avoid. “How did the meeting go?”
The group got quiet and all looked toward us, awaiting our response, and I looked back at them uncomfortably.
“They didn’t have any new information to share,” Jace said. “We just talked about possibilities for moving forward and were told we’d regroup.”
“What types of possibilities?” Abe asked.
“Corona asked us not to share until things start moving forward,” Jace replied. “Cited security concerns. But we’ll let you guys know something as soon as we’re cleared.”
The group went silent again. Jace had summed things up nicely, but I was feeling uncomfortable again as we waited for the team to respond. They hadn’t initially been very happy when we got called to the meeting alone to begin with.
“We understand,” Nelson said.
“Yeah, it’s better to have part of Team Hood in the meetings than to be totally shut out,” Jackie added. “We can wait for the information.”
“You guys can do the boring parts, and we’ll jump in when the action starts,” Ant said with a grin.
I smiled and exhaled, deeply relieved at this turn of events. I had been so worried about the rest of Team Hood feeling left out when I should’ve known that we were all in this together and that they knew that as well as I did.
“Well, since we can’t discuss the larger picture yet, why don’t we talk about our mole-hunting mission instead?” Abe suggested.
“Have you guys figured out how you want to start on that?” Jace asked.
“We’ve started putting together a list of suspects,” Nelson said.
My eyebrows shot up. So they had made some progress while we were gone. I was thrilled to see this list of potential traitors so that we could get started on our investigation, especially since the meeting this morning hadn’t given us any updates on the official investigation, which gave me the impression that Nathan and the base leaders hadn’t really gotten anywhere in their search.
And Team Hood doing its own inquiry meant that we could put a magnifying glass on Robert.
Nelson retreated to her tent briefly and then came back with her computer. She sat down on a log and fired it up, indicating that the rest of us should gather around her. I stood and moved to look over her right shoulder. She pulled up a document with bullet points. It was the list of names.
“Okay, so just to start: Robert,” Nelson said.
“That’s an obvious one,” I replied. “He’s a known liar and has a pretty clear disdain for most of us, and Piper seemed to be on to him over something back in Edgewood.”
I was already convinced. Who else could it be?
“I agree with your points,” Jackie said. “But, to play devil’s advocate, he did save all of the schoolchildren back in Edgewood. Which doesn’t seem like something a government agent would do.”
“Unless he was trying to throw us off the scent,” Jace replied.
“Yeah, and maybe he was able to save those kids because he anticipated the attack,” I said. “We need to talk to Rhea about it.”
Most of the younger schoolchildren seemed to be bunking with their families in Brightbirch, but Rhea had taken up residence in a section of tents with friends her age. She stopped by often to check in on Jace and the rest of us, but never stayed. We were going to need to find some time to speak to her in depth about what she saw from Robert during the attack.
“I think you guys are forgetting the main reason to suspect Robert,” Gabby suddenly said. “He’s a huge jerk.”
I smiled. That was a pretty good reason.
“Isn’t that the truth,” Ant replied, throwing a gangly arm around Gabby and pulling her in for a hug. “Anyone who’s mean to our friends is a traitor in my eyes!”
Gabby laughed and playfully pushed Ant off of her.
“So who’s next?” I asked.
“Well, since all we really know about the traitor is that they were able to turn off the projection from within Edgewood, that means the best place to start is with people on the surveillance team,” Nelson said. “But we don’t know who they are.”
“But didn’t the surveillance team . . .” I trailed off, unsure how to phrase what I was trying to say.
“Yeah, as far as we know there were no survivors. Maybe there was more than one person working with the government, or maybe the mole was a casualty of the attack,” Nelson replied. “It seems unlikely, but it should definitely be noted.”
I thought about the possibility that the mole had been lost in the attack. Nelson was right. There was definitely a chance of that. Otherwise the traitor would’ve had to find a way into the surveillance room to turn off the projection, and I had seen firsthand how difficult it would be to break into that place. Even tougher to get out with enough time to escape before the whole thing went wrong.
They could have put themselves in danger and sentenced themselves to death . . . but was the government so callous as to treat even their double agents as expendable? I knew they didn’t value human life much, but I thought they would’ve valued a set of eyes inside an organization that they had been fighting for years.
“Okay, who else?” Jace asked.
“Well,” Nelson replied in an uncertain tone, “that’s pretty much all we have for now.”
I sighed. It was far from an exhaustive list. But I understood why it was so short. We had been relatively new to Little John when Edgewood was attacked, and there were a lot of people there. And so far, with the little information that we had access to, we only had reason to suspect a few select people. And with so few leads, maybe an investigation wasn’t even a realistic task.
Although, if I was being completely honest with myself, there was at least one other person who should’ve been on that list.
“So unless you guys have anyone to recommend—” Nelson began.
“Henry,” I said softly.
The entire team turned together to look at me. I didn’t look back at any of them. Instead, I stared straight ahead at Nelson’s laptop screen.
“Henry,” I repeated.
Nelson was looking up at me over her shoulder, but I didn’t make eye contact with her. After a few seconds, she turned back to her laptop and slowly typed in his name.
“Are you sure?” Jace asked. “I know he’s your friend and that you two have a history.”
“I’m not sure,” I replied, still staring at Henry’s name on the screen. “But this is a list of possible suspects, and I know that it wouldn’t be complete without his name on it. I trust Henry, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask some hard questions about why he was where he was at the exact moment that we needed him.”
Jace reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll investigate everyone fairly,” he said. “But my money is still on Robert.”
I nodded. I felt the same way.
The fire was starting to burn down into coals now, and the first drops of rain had just started falling. Nelson closed her laptop.
“To start, I think we should designate tasks. Jace can ask Rhea about Robert at the school. Robin can talk to Henry. And I’ll try to figure out whether anyone else would’ve been in the surveillance building. But maybe we should start really looking at this after this storm,” she said, gl
ancing up at the clouds.
I looked up at the dark, cloudy sky. The storm was fast approaching.
“You’re right,” Cloyd said. “We’ll be soaked if we stay out here too much longer.”
As if on cue, the sky opened up and the rain started to pour down. The team quickly split up and dashed back to their tents to escape the onslaught. Jace and I managed to make it into our tent before we got completely drenched. Still, rain dripped off of us and onto the slick tarp flooring of our tent once we got inside.
The storm was fierce. It pounded the top of our tent with rain and lashed the sides with wind. I realized with displeasure that Team Hood probably wouldn’t be regrouping until the next day if the rain didn’t let up.
I shivered in the tent, my wet clothes pressing coldly against me. I looked over to see Jace staring at me with a grin.
“What?” I asked.
“How long are you going to suffer in those wet clothes?” Jace asked.
I blushed. “I guess you’re right,” I replied. “But I don’t have anything dry. And I feel like I’d be just as cold without them.”
Jace stepped toward me, so closely that I could feel his body heat radiating off of him, and placed a hand on my cheek.
“I’ll keep you warm,” he said softly.
Then time began to melt away as he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. He pulled the hem of my shirt up from my hips and over my navel as the rain beat ravenously against the tent.
I never did get cold.
* * *
I awoke in Jace’s arms sometime before sunrise. Jace was still snoozing peacefully beside me.
But for whatever reason, I had awoken instantly and was terribly restless. Maybe it was the excitement of the past few days, or the anxiety of remaining so still in Brightbirch. Either way, I knew that I wasn’t going to be getting any more sleep.
Rather than waiting in bed until the sun came up—even if Jace’s warm, bare chest was exceedingly comfortable—I made the choice to go for a solitary walk to clear my head. The rain had stopped, and I wanted to see and smell the early morning after a storm.
I dressed quietly and then set off outside, careful not to wake Jace. The smell of the wet grass instantly refreshed my senses, and I decided to journey to the stables to see if the yellow horse was out grazing again.
I walked slowly over the red brick to the stables, enjoying the cool wetness of the air. But as I approached the hospital, I began to feel anxious and on alert. It was dim outside, and the landscape was alive with the noises of songbirds and awakening animals, but I thought I heard another sound over the others: footsteps.
Before I got to the stables, my suspicions were confirmed. A dark figure was walking toward me, on the opposite side of the road, with their head down and hands in their pockets. It didn’t look like they had even noticed me.
But when we got within ten yards of each other, the other person suddenly looked up and locked eyes with me.
It was Robert.
17
His gaze looked tired, and, if I was seeing it accurately in the dim early morning light, also strangely despondent. But once he noticed me, his eyes narrowed in anger instead.
I became aware that we had both stopped walking once we noticed that we were no longer alone. It felt like a standoff. It was dark and still and quiet in Brightbirch, and we were standing just yards away from each other, with no one else around on the empty road. One of us would eventually have to make a first move.
I took the initiative.
“Good time for a walk,” I said, trying to sound as casual and friendly as I was able to.
Robert undoubtedly saw right through it.
“What are you doing out here?” he spat out, not moving from his position. “Are you following me?”
I guffawed out loud, unable to hide my dislike of the guy. At best, he was a lying jerk who had broken the heart of someone I cared deeply about. At worst, he was a traitor who had cost many people their lives.
“Why would I be following you?” I asked, trying to mask my disdain. Who did Robert think he was? Although, after I gave his accusation a brief moment of thought, I realized that following Robert might actually be part of the Team Hood mole investigation at some point. After all, he was the prime suspect so far. But Robert didn’t know that.
Or did he?
He didn’t respond, just remained perfectly still and continued to glower at me. I wasn’t intimidated by the likes of him. I had gone up against agents and enforcers and armed guards while under the employ of Little John. If Robert thought that I was scared of him, he was sorely mistaken.
“Then why are you out here?” he finally asked again.
“Same as you,” I replied knowingly. “Enjoying the weather. Enjoying the solitude.”
“I’m not here for the weather,” he said quickly and venomously.
“Then you’re just here for the solitude?” I asked. “You don’t get enough of that already?”
I couldn’t help myself. Everything in me was screaming that the person responsible for the attack—for poisoning Nathan’s trust, for killing innocent people in Edgewood, and for weakening our organization and mission against the government—was standing right in front of me. I was angry, I was confident, and I definitely wasn’t afraid. I wanted him to know that.
Robert didn’t speak. Instead he suddenly started forward toward me. I braced myself, wondering if I was about to be attacked. But he walked right past me, moving quickly, with his hands still in his pockets, obviously done with our conversation.
But I wasn’t done yet. I had no idea when, or if, I’d have the opportunity to speak to him alone again, so I needed to get him to talk as much as I could. Maybe, if I asked the right questions, I could get him to slip up and admit something. Then I could go to Nathan and Corona with evidence as opposed to just instinct and blind suspicion.
“Where are you going?” I asked as he passed me, pivoting in my place to keep him in my line of view.
“That’s none of your business,” he shot back.
“What is your problem?” I asked angrily.
I wasn’t doing a good job interrogating him. But I had no idea what to ask him or even what to say to keep him from storming off. And I was clouded by my personal dislike of him. I wanted to push down my own opinions and emotions to try to do some investigating for Team Hood, but I was having a hard time removing myself from the situation.
To my surprise, Robert stopped and turned back to look at me.
“My problem?” he repeated, his eyes glimmering furiously as the sun began to peek out over the horizon and light us with fiery orange light. “You want to know what my problem is, Robin?”
I stayed silent, struck dumb by his sudden fury but also not wanting to say anything that would keep him from continuing. Maybe he was about to say something that I could use against him.
“Okay, sure,” he went on angrily. “I’ll tell you my problem. My problem is that you and your friends are dead-set against me. My problem is that someone, and I think it was one of your team, is trying to convince Nathan that I’m a traitor. My problem is that I am now under the microscope for no reason other than the fact that you guys don’t like me. My problem is that you won’t just leave me alone. That’s my problem, Robin.”
My eyes went wide as he went off on his tirade against me and the rest of Team Hood. I didn’t know what to say next. Robert knew that I had aired my suspicions of him to Nathan. What was I supposed to say?
“What’s your evidence against me, Robin?” he went on.
The confidence I had felt just moments earlier had melted away. Suddenly I was second-guessing myself. What was my evidence?
“You lied about Pandora’s Box,” I said, trying to gather my thoughts. “You said it was your own software, but it wasn’t.”
“Yeah, I lied,” Robert replied. “I lied because I had a crush on a girl and I wanted to impress her. Would you have me executed for that?”
&nbs
p; “But you didn’t even like Gabby. You just used her! You said it yourself,” I replied. I hadn’t forgotten the hateful words that Robert had used against my friend at Edgewood’s formal dance. I could still see sweet Gabby crying in her evening gown.
“Gabby never once told me her age,” Robert replied. “She’s a child, Robin. And when I saw her in person and realized how young she is, I felt deceived. So I said some rude things. Is that why you think I’m a traitor? Because I didn’t want to date your friend?”
I shook my head. Robert was talking circles around me, and I could feel all of my “evidence” unraveling. My face started to feel hot as I struggled to think of things to say. Suddenly a lightbulb went off over my head.
“I heard you fighting with Piper in the Edgewood schoolhouse,” I said, my voice rising again as some of my confidence came back. Surely that was a good reason to doubt Robert’s intentions. “And now he’s dead. What did you do to make Piper so angry with you?”
“Your friend got promoted to an elite tech team despite the fact that I’m much better and have more experience. Gabby is just a girl. I’m an expert. So yeah, I went off on Nathan when he made that appointment and passed me over. Piper reprimanded me,” Robert said. He was talking quickly and angrily, and it was more than I had ever heard him say. “So you better have something else, Robin. Because so far, your evidence, and your whole reasoning for making me a pariah among my team members, is that I lied to impress a girl, I was rude to your friend, and I got in trouble once for talking back. Is that it?”
The silence after he finished speaking was deafening. It was morning now, and I knew that people would be waking up soon and heading out to do their team duties. I didn’t want to be spotted on the road, getting yelled at by Robert. And I also wasn’t feeling as sure in my convictions as I had been just minutes before.
Was I the bad guy here? Was my evidence against Robert really that weak?
The Child Thief 6: Zero Hour Page 13