“What were you going to say?” I asked.
“Uh, I was just thinking about your mom.” Will looked at me, waiting for a reaction.
I wasn’t even sure what reaction to give. “What about her?”
“I saw her the other day with President Randall,” Will said.
“Where?”
“They were doing home inspections,” Will said. “They were the ones who came to our home.”
“How did she look?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer.
Will shrugged. “She looked good, I guess. Happy.”
Well, that wasn’t the answer I wanted. She was happy without us. I had hoped she at least missed us, but that was probably far from the truth. Whit probably gave her everything she wanted.
I wondered how Mrs. Randall fit into the whole equation.
“Oh, I mean,” Will stammered. “I shouldn’t have told you that.” He pursed his lips together.
I touched his arm. “It’s okay, Will. It actually helps me.”
“How?” Will asked, scratching his head.
Sighing, I looked up at the sky. “It lets me know I need to give up hope of ever getting my mother back.”
“I’m sorry, Emmie,” Will said.
“Don’t be,” I said, turning back to him. “It’s not your fault. Everything she’s done has been her own choice.”
Will nodded. “I know, but no one should have to deal with stuff like that.”
Oh, I was dealing with a lot worse than an adulterous mom who didn’t want me. I reached up to touch my necklace, only to realize it was gone. I stopped in my tracks.
“What’s wrong?” Will asked.
“My necklace. It’s gone.” I must have lost it in the fight.
“What does it look like?” Will asked, scanning the ground around us.
I shook my head. “It wouldn’t be here. I think I lost it back near River Springs.”
Will’s gaze settled on my face. “It meant a lot to you, didn’t it?” He must have seen the sadness in my eyes. Not only was Eric gone, but the only possession that reminded me of him was also gone.
“Yes, it did,” I said.
As we started walking again, I looked back up at the gray sky. The threat of rain hung in the clouds. We walked at a brisk pace, which was good because it was cold. I was looking forward to spring in the next month or so.
I could feel someone watching me. Looking to my right, a girl I met in Recruitment glared at me, just like she had the first time she met me. I smiled at her and she let out a little huff. From the look in her eyes, she was debating whether she should come over and talk to me. She finally rolled her eyes and came over.
“It’s nice to see you again, Rachel.” I was glad I remembered to use her real name and not the nickname I gave her during Recruitment: Thunder Thighs. She was thick and muscular, and very intimidating. Not someone you’d want to cross.
Thunder Thighs grunted. “Yeah, I guess it’s nice to see you, too. Even though you look like crap.”
Will inhaled a sharp breath. He was a kind, considerate type of person, whereas Thunder Thighs was painfully blunt.
I laughed. “Yeah, I got into a little fight.”
“Well, they obviously won,” Thunder Thighs said.
I moaned. “Don’t remind me.”
“So, this place we’re going,” Thunder Thighs said. “Is it nice?”
“It is.” I wasn’t sure if Thunder Thighs would appreciate the beauty of it as I did.
Thunder Thighs cracked her knuckles. “As long as I get my own bed, I’ll be fine.” She gave me a weird look. It took me a moment to realize she was smiling. At least her version of a smile. She almost looked pained. “See you around, I guess.”
“See you,” I said.
She gave Will her version of a smile and left.
“That was weird,” Will said.
I looked over at Will, taking him in. He was a cute guy and extremely sweet. Dee came to my mind, making me smile.
Will shifted his eyes uncomfortably. "What?"
I gave a little laugh. "Nothing, there’s just someone I want you to meet when we get to New Haven."
Will raised his eyebrows. "Who?"
"A friend of mine," I said. "You'll like her."
Will started to say something, but we were interrupted.
“What happened to you?” Gideon asked, coming up to me.
“Amber,” I said.
“Amber Johnson?” Gideon asked.
“That would be the one,” I said.
“She always seemed a little …” Gideon didn’t finish his thought. He was too nice of a guy.
But I had no problem finishing it. “Bratty, selfish, conceited, arrogant, ugly, annoying …”
“You must be talking about Amber,” Tina said, falling into step next to us.
She’d been back talking with some old friends of hers from her previous precinct in River Springs. She was trying to get information about Luke and see how he was doing.
“I wish I could’ve met her,” Santiago said. I turned around to see him and Joshua walking behind us. “She sounds interesting.”
“Oh, trust me, you’ll get a chance to meet her by the end of all of this,” I said. “She can’t help but get herself involved in everything.”
Tina laughed. “So true.”
“I need some more training,” I said, touching a cut above my eye. “She’s a lot stronger than the last time we fought.”
“You’ve fought her before?” Joshua asked.
I looked at Tina and we both laughed.
“A few times actually,” I said.
“But fighting isn’t allowed in our city,” Gideon said. “I mean, our old city.”
“You couldn’t fight?” Santiago asked. “That sucks. We had fights everything Thursday night. It was awesome.”
“You had scheduled fights?” Tina asked Santiago.
Santiago stretched his arms. “Yeah. Well, it’s called boxing. It’s a sport.”
“I’m learning new things every day,” I said. “Fighting for fun. As a sport. Crazy.” I turned to Gideon. “I know we weren’t allowed to fight. But Amber took every opportunity to start something.”
“How did you not get in trouble?” Will asked.
“Her dad,” Tina and I said at the same time.
Amber never got in trouble because she was Dean Johnson’s daughter. And since Dean was President Randall’s personal advisor and head of Recruitment, apparently the rules didn’t apply to him or his family.
“She can get away with anything,” I said. “Plus, Dean was in on Whit’s plan to kill me. There was no point in disciplining us if I was going to be dead soon anyway.”
Joshua coughed. I couldn’t even imagine what he thought about all of this.
“Is that what you call him?” Joshua asked me.
I turned around. “What?”
“Whit. Is that what you call him?” Joshua asked.
I nodded. “Yes. Sorry if that bothers you.”
“It doesn’t,” Joshua said. “I’m just not sure what to call him myself. I don’t want to call him dad, but President Randall seems weird. So does Whit.”
“You’ll think of something.” I slowed my pace down, so I was walking next to Joshua. “Do you guys mind if I talk with Joshua alone?”
“Sure,” Tina said. “Hey, Santiago, tell me more about boxing.”
“You’ll love it, Tina,” Santiago said, walking up next to her. “I was thinking of starting it up in New Haven.”
“Oh, yeah?” Tina asked.
“Yeah,” Santiago said. “First fight, me and Dante. We’ll see for certain who’s tougher.”
“Well, that’s easy,” Tina said. “Dante for sure.”
Santiago raised his arms. “What? That guy has nothing on me.” He threw out some punches. “He can’t take down The Bone Crusher.”
Tina, Will, and Gideon laughed.
“The Bone Crusher?” Tina asked.
; “That’s who I am, baby,” Santiago said, flexing his muscles. “I’ll crush anyone with these guns.” He kissed his bicep.
I looked at Joshua. “Do you see what I have to deal with day in and day out? You sure you want to be a part of this?”
Joshua laughed loudly. “Trust me, this is way better than dealing with my family every day.”
I waited until we were out of hearing range of the others before I spoke with Joshua. “When I was talking with Austin earlier, he said something about giving you a lie detector test. What is that?”
“They put these patches on you that can detect your pulse,” Joshua said, tugging on his blue tie. “When they ask you a question, it tells them your heart rate so they can tell if you’re lying or not.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “For years and years, they hide all this technology from the city residents, not letting any of us know they have stuff capable of doing things like that.”
“When behind the scenes, they have way more than you can imagine,” Joshua said, his voice quiet.
“So not only are we outnumbered …”
He looked at me. “Your equipment doesn’t even compare to what they have.”
“Could we build our own lie detector test?”
Joshua smiled and patted the strap around his shoulder that held his bag. “I brought some things with me that I thought would be helpful. Lie detector included.”
“Thought we’d have a bunch of liars?” I asked, a small smile forming on my mouth.
“If I have learned anything from my … our … father … whatever, is that you never know who you can really trust. There are two types of people in this world: Those who are willing to do whatever it takes for the good of mankind, and those who are willing to do whatever it takes for the good of themselves.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think you know what type of person you are until you’re put in a situation that will prove it.”
I thought back to Recruitment and the challenge where I thought Tina and Eric were killed. Shivers ran through me, causing me to rub my arms. I still had nightmares about it.
“That’s what that challenge was for,” Joshua said.
Startled, I looked at him.
He gave me a small smile. “We all went through that challenge, Emmie. I figured that’s what you were thinking about.”
“Oh.”
“Austin and I looked back at the tapes of that challenge. We checked everyone who has left River Springs.” He loosened the tie around his neck and unbuttoned the top of his white button-down shirt.
“So, you know what type of person everyone is?”
He nodded. “Our best guess, anyway. I mean, some didn’t help their partners because they were scared. Some tried as long as they could, but then gave up at the last second.”
“Like Will,” I said.
He had stayed with me and Luke until the very last second. But once he realized he was about to be trapped himself, he got out.
“Yes. But some didn’t try and looked like they didn’t even want to try. Some just passed that room and didn’t look in.” His face twisted. “One even laughed when they saw their partner getting killed. They stayed to watch and then left.”
I scrunched my face. “Who?”
“Who do you think?”
“Amber,” I said. He nodded. And Dee was her partner. She watched Dee die and enjoyed it. Well, Dee didn’t actually die since it was all simulated, but still. “She’s so sick.”
“Tell me about it,” Joshua said, untucking his dress shirt. “I have no idea what Steven saw in her.”
“Wait, what?” I lost my footing and stumbled over some small rocks. Joshua reached out and grabbed my arm, steadying me. “Steven? As in my Recruitment leader, Steven?”
“Yup. Steven and Amber. I can’t tell you how many times I saw them kissing.” His body shook. “So gross.”
“And so wrong,” I said. “Ewwww!”
Joshua laughed. “That’s an understatement.”
A thought came to me. “Did you check to see how Steven did on that challenge?”
“He didn’t even look in the room. Just ran toward the exit and escaped.”
“Well, maybe he didn’t know they were in there,” I said. Half of our group walked past the door before I looked in. If I hadn’t stopped, we could’ve all just left.
“There’s always one who stops,” he said. “Like you. Someone stopped in Steven’s group, too, but he ignored them. They yelled to let him know his partner was trapped and could die, but Steven kept running.”
“I’ve wondered about him,” I said. He wasn’t in my dream about New Haven, but he was there with the original group that escaped River Springs. It had always worried me. “He’s worked for your dad before.”
“I know.” He patted his bag. “I think we should give him a lie detector test.”
“I agree. But I think we need to give everyone from River Springs a lie detector test.”
A look of surprise passed over his face. “Everyone?”
“Everyone. We need to be sure we can trust all these people. We can’t take any risks.” I turned to Joshua. “That means you have to take the test, too.”
“Of course. I have no problems with that. I think it’ll be a good thing. I want you to trust me, Emmie. I know I’m a Randall, but I’m not like him.”
I rubbed my arms. “That statement applies to me, too, you know.” The wind began to pick up and thunder rumbled in the distance.
“It’s crazy to think I have another sister.” He ran his fingers through his hair, loosening the gel holding it in place. He was slowly relaxing, getting comfortable with his surroundings. “I already like you better.”
“What’s Tami like?” I asked, thinking of his, well, our sister.
He mulled it over for a moment. “Think of Amber, take away the giddiness, and add our dad’s viciousness, and you have Tami.”
“Well, and she’s cuter.”
“Uh, I can’t comment on that,” Joshua said with his hands raised. “She’s my sister.”
I laughed. “Well, I’m sure every other guy would agree with me.”
“Except Steven.”
I shivered. “So gross.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “What did you do? In the challenge?”
“The same as you. I tried until those walls came crashing in on me.” He smirked at me. “Except I didn’t kiss anyone.”
Heat raged on my cheeks and neck. “How many people have watched that?”
“Not too many. But it’s the most replayed tape at Headquarters.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“That was quite the kiss, Emmie,” Joshua said with a huge smile. “All the security guys love to watch it. It was just so intense. Then add on top of that you had another guy you liked, and he liked another girl. Then add that it’s Luke. Everyone knows how strict his father is. Luke’s wound up just as tight as him.” He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Man, I can’t believe how loose Luke was with you. I’m sure if there was room to move, his hands would have …”
I held up my hand. “Enough. I get it.” Joshua was still laughing, so I punched him on the arm. “I thought I was about to die! I had just seen the guy I love, plus my partner die! Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same.”
“I was in there with another guy, so no, I wouldn’t have done the same.” He wiped some tears from the corner of his eye. “That moment made me respect you so much, though.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Making out with Luke made you respect me?”
He shook his head. “Not that part, although I did like that you seized the moment like that. But everything you yelled out before the walls came crashing in. And how hard you fought to save your friends. I knew at that moment that you were one to do whatever it takes to protect those around you. You were the last thing on your mind. Not many people are willing to risk their lives for others. Especially at your age.”
“I guess I’m not like most seven
teen-year-olds,” I said with a shrug.
“No, you’re not,” Joshua said. “Speaking of which, didn’t you just have a birthday?”
“No. Wait, January has passed already, hasn't it?”
He nodded. “It's the end of February. You forgot your birthday?”
“Birthdays have been the last thing on my mind. Plus, it’s not like they were celebrated back in River Springs.”
“True.” He smiled at me, rubbing a hand down his tie. “Well, Happy Birthday, Emmie.”
“Thanks. Eighteen,” I said. Glancing around at everyone walking, I thought about all the challenges that faced us ahead. We had a lot to overcome. “I can’t help but think this isn’t going to be a very good year.”
“Probably not, but it will all be worth it in the end. It will make all the upcoming years that much more special.”
“I hope.” In my heart, I hoped so desperately that Joshua was right. That it would be worth it. All the losses and heartache would be for good. For freedom. “You’re nineteen, right?”
“Yes.”
“And Tami’s twenty-one?” Thunder rolled through the sky just as the wind started to stir. Pulling my coat tighter around me, I glanced up at the sky right as a small raindrop landed on my cheek.
“Yeah.” Joshua held his folded arms close to his chest. “We're not too far apart in age.”
“Yes, but I’m sure adding another woman to the equation wasn’t foreshadowed.” I put my hands in my pockets. “I’m assuming your mom knows.”
“She does. Not much she can do about it, though.”
“Has she ever talked about it? I can’t imagine how that makes her feel.” A few more drops fell onto my face, so I wiped them off with my sleeve.
He looked at me. “My mom is just as conniving as our dad. She has her own affair on the side. Although, only I know about that one.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Whit doesn’t know? I would hate to be the guy if Whit ever finds out.” Whit would kill him.
“I think Dean could put up a pretty good fight,” Joshua said, keeping close to me as we walked.
“Dean Johnson? Amber’s dad? This keeps getting worse and worse.” I took one of my hands out of my pocket and patted my stomach. “We need to stop talking about this or I’m going to lose my appetite.”
Reckoning (New Haven Book 2) Page 6