by J. A. White
“Benji Núñez!” she exclaimed. “If you stay here, we are no longer friends!”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Benji said, and got into the back seat of Laurel’s car. Kyle gunned the engine and the car blew past Cordelia and Agnes. Benji didn’t even look in their direction as he passed.
18
Dr. Roqueni’s Return
Cordelia lay on the basement sofa, staring into space. It was beginning to get dark out, but the light switch was all the way on the other side of the room, an insurmountable distance. Maybe when it was dark, she could fall asleep. At least that way she could forget about Benji for a little while.
She was just starting to close her eyes when her parents came downstairs and asked her what was wrong. Cordelia told them Benji was a jerk. Her parents exchanged a knowing look and told Cordelia they could get takeout from her favorite restaurant for dinner. Then they each kissed her on the cheek.
Mr. Liu turned on the lights as they left.
Cordelia was left alone with her thoughts. She knew she should be trying to figure out a way to help the ghosts of Shady Rest before Laurel turned them all into phantoms, but at this particular moment, she was having trouble caring. All she could think about was Benji. Maybe it had been too harsh of her to say they could no longer be friends. Cordelia’s family wasn’t rich by any stretch of the imagination, but both her parents were employed, and she had never lacked for anything she needed. What right did she have to judge Benji for doing something morally questionable in order to help his own family? If their situations were reversed, maybe she would do the same thing.
No, Cordelia thought. I wouldn’t.
That would make her no better than Laurel, who believed her cruel actions were excusable because she helped ghosts as well as hurt them. That wasn’t the way it worked. You did good things, or you did bad things. She understood that Benji loved his family, but that didn’t make what he was doing right.
I can never forgive him for this, she thought.
Sometime later, after it had gone full dark, Mrs. Liu came back downstairs. She was wearing her regular Saturday attire of black yoga pants and T-shirt. Her blond hair was tied in a ponytail.
“Benji’s at the door,” she said.
Cordelia shot up from the couch. “What?”
“I can tell him to get lost,” Mrs. Liu said in a tone that suggested doing so would give her a great deal of pleasure. “Did he start dating that other girl again? Is that what this is about?”
“No! For the last time, we’re just friends.”
Mrs. Liu didn’t look convinced. “I’ve seen the way you look at him. You will never be ‘just friends’ with that boy.”
“Mom. Can you just send him down? Please?”
“Let me check to make sure your dad hasn’t killed him first. If I don’t come right back, we’re hiding the body.”
While Mrs. Liu went to retrieve Benji, Cordelia hurriedly straightened the pillows on the couch so he couldn’t tell she’d been lying there like a pathetic mess. She started to finger-comb her hair, which was sticking up all over the place, then got annoyed at herself for bothering and messed it up again.
Benji came downstairs. There was a big smile on his face.
“Hey!” he said. “I texted you like a thousand times. Why didn’t you respond?”
Cordelia had expected Benji to be apologetic, and his cheery attitude annoyed her. “I turned off my phone. After everything that happened, I didn’t feel like—”
Before Cordelia could finish her sentence, Benji hugged her tight.
“You were amazing,” he said. “Laurel fell for it hook, line, and sinker. She totally thinks you’re mad at me, which just made her believe my story even more.”
Cordelia stared at him, trying to make sense of what was happening.
“Umm,” she managed. “What do you—”
“It was so cool that we didn’t need to even talk about it,” Benji said. He tapped his temple. “Great minds think alike! You knew exactly what I was trying to do and just went with it. If we’re going to stop Shady Rest, we need someone on the inside. Agnes isn’t an option because she can’t see the ghosts. And it can’t be you, because Laurel would never buy that. It has to be me. I didn’t like using my family as the reason for staying, but it worked like a charm.”
None of it was real, Cordelia thought. It was all an act!
“So your family is actually doing better, right?” she asked. “Like you said in the basement?”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re fine. So I know we should wait until we all get together before coming up with a plan, but I have a really good idea. . . .” He hesitated and narrowed his eyes. “You look completely stunned right now. It’s like you thought”—his face fell—“you didn’t think I wanted to keep working in that terrible place for real, did you?”
Cordelia didn’t know how to respond, so she kissed him instead. Benji was so stunned that he forgot all about his question. Judging from the dumbfounded look on his face, Cordelia wondered if he even remembered his name.
“You kissed me,” he said.
“Uh-huh,” Cordelia replied, a little shocked herself. “That’s okay, right?”
“Very okay.”
“Good. Great.”
Cordelia took a seat on the couch. Benji sat next to her. They were both a little dazed.
“This has been a very eventful day,” Cordelia said.
“It hasn’t been boring. Do you want to hear my idea now?”
Cordelia thought about it and shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about the ghosts. I just want to sit here for a little while.”
Benji took her hand.
“Finally,” he said.
Dr. Roqueni returned two weeks later.
They decorated Darius’s office with a Welcome Home banner and a few balloons. Agnes was too busy with another project to make brownies, so Cordelia and Benji baked chocolate-chip cookies together. They got a little distracted at one point and ended up burning a batch, but the rest of the cookies turned out surprisingly well.
Dr. Roqueni arrived just after school ended, wearing a chic blue dress with a foreign cut. She looked five years younger.
“I’ve missed you all so much,” she said, hugging them one at a time.
She had a tote bag full of souvenirs wrapped in brightly colored tissue paper. Agnes got a box of fancy chocolates from Switzerland, Benji a Real Madrid jersey, and Cordelia a keychain from the Château de Puymartin. Dr. Roqueni told her that it was a famous French castle haunted by a ghost known as the White Lady. Cordelia pretended that she hadn’t already known that.
“There’s a second part to your present,” the principal whispered to her when no one else was listening. “But that will have to wait for now.”
Once everyone had settled in, they spent a good hour looking at photos and listening to Dr. Roqueni’s stories. A lot of them involved Mr. Shadow. The guarded tones with which Dr. Roqueni usually spoke of her uncle had been replaced by genuine affection, making Cordelia believe that the rift between them had finally been mended. This should have been a cause for celebration, but it broke Cordelia’s heart. If Mr. Shadow had indeed betrayed them, the blow would now be twice as devastating to his poor niece. She might never trust anyone again.
Mr. Shadow had passed on the party so he could catch up on his sleep, which was a great relief. Cordelia wasn’t sure she could face him right now and pretend everything was okay. It also meant they could update the principal and Mr. Derleth without the risk of being spied upon.
“This is embarrassing,” Dr. Roqueni said after telling them a story about getting lost in Edinburgh. “I’ve been going on and on about myself. What’s new in your lives?”
Cordelia wasn’t going to get a better segue than that. She knew she couldn’t put it off any longer.
“Do you remember those two ghost catchers we met at Gideon’s Ark?” Cordelia asked. “The ones you specifically told us not to contact?”
�
�Yes,” Dr. Roqueni said.
“Well, we contacted them. Surprise! It turns out they run a business called Shady Rest. . . .”
They told them everything. Dr. Roqueni and Mr. Derleth listened silently for the most part, asking for clarification on only a few points. The kids took turns talking, but even when Benji or Agnes was taking the lead, Dr. Roqueni’s eyes kept returning to Cordelia. She blames me, Cordelia thought. And why not? This was all my idea from the start.
“How long has this been going on?” Mr. Derleth asked.
“Since January,” Benji said.
Mr. Derleth’s mouth froze in a big O, like a kid who had to open wide to take his medicine. “I had no idea.”
“How could you have known?” Dr. Roqueni asked. “They only went on Saturdays.”
“Cordelia hasn’t mentioned the ghosts once since you left! That should have been a huge clue something was wrong. I just figured she’d discovered boys or something.”
“Oh, she has!” Agnes exclaimed with delight. Cordelia smacked her on the arm while Benji blushed.
“I’m sure you’re super mad at us right now,” Cordelia said. “And we deserve it—me more than anyone. But for what it’s worth, we’re really sorry we didn’t listen to you.”
“I’m not mad,” the principal said. “I’m disappointed. I thought, by now, the three of you would realize that when I tell you not to do something, it’s because I have your best interests at heart. I care about you very much.”
Agnes lowered her head. “It would be better if you yelled at us.”
“I can yell at you,” Mr. Derleth suggested.
“We’re good,” said Benji.
“What’s done is done,” Dr. Roqueni said. “Right now we need to worry about what comes next. I know you want to help these ghosts—as do I—but this Laurel sounds dangerous. She’s given you the option of walking away. Perhaps you should take it.”
“No way,” Cordelia said. “What they’re doing to the poor ghosts is terrible enough, but I’m also worried about the living. Eventually, one of these phantoms is going to kill someone. We need to stop them before that happens.”
Cordelia expected Dr. Roqueni to argue with her, but instead the principal gave a reluctant nod. “I see your point. It’s unfortunate, but having the Sight does bestow a certain responsibility on you and Benji. That doesn’t mean we should be foolhardy, however. Benji—are you sure it’s a good idea to keep going back there on your own?”
“That’s the only way our plan will work. I’ve been taking what we need from the supply shed, a little at a time, and on the actual day of the—”
A grinding noise reverberated throughout the office; someone was opening the trapdoor. Cordelia shared a panicked look with her friends.
No! she thought. We were supposed to have more time to explain!
“Oh, good,” Dr. Roqueni said with a look of delight. “Uncle Darius is here! He’ll be so excited to see you. And I’m sure he’ll have some good ideas about what to do next.”
Cordelia had to act fast. In a moment or two, Mr. Shadow would walk into the office. They couldn’t risk trusting him. If he was working with Laurel, their entire plan would be ruined.
“Don’t tell Mr. Shadow about any of this,” she said, her eyes imploring Dr. Roqueni to trust her. “We think he might be part of it.”
“Impossible. My uncle would never—”
“You told us not to trust him,” Agnes said. “You were right.”
Darius Shadow entered the office. Like his niece, he looked rejuvenated by their time together.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, stifling a yawn. “When you get to be my age, jet lag is murder. What did I miss?”
“Dr. Roqueni was telling us some cool stories,” Benji said. “Sounds like you had a great time.”
“Greatest trip of my life.”
He smiled at Dr. Roqueni. She managed a smile in return, but Cordelia could read the uncertainty in her eyes. It had taken her a long time to trust her uncle again, and now they were asking her to throw it all away.
“You have any stories for us, Mr. Shadow?” Agnes asked.
“Oh, I’m sure I can come up with one or two,” Mr. Shadow said, taking a seat on the couch and crossing his legs. He bounced his fedora on one knee. “Let me see. There was this one time we got lost in Edinburgh—”
“I’ve already told them that one,” Dr. Roqueni said. “Besides, the children have a far more interesting story to tell. It seems the three of them joined the workforce while we were away. Helping ghosts, if you can believe it!”
The kids stared at the principal in disbelief.
Agnes said, “Umm . . . I’m sure Mr. Shadow is way too tired to hear about that right now.”
“I disagree,” Dr. Roqueni said. The uncertainty in her eyes had vanished. “This simply can’t wait, and I want to hear his opinion. I trust him. Totally and completely.”
Cordelia crossed over to the snack table and nervously ate three cookies while Dr. Roqueni gave a quick summary of what they had just told her. Mr. Shadow looked completely shocked, as though this was the first time he had ever heard of a place called Shady Rest.
Maybe we were wrong, Cordelia thought, willing it to be true. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he was at Mr. Knox’s funeral . . .
No.
Just because she wanted Mr. Shadow to be innocent didn’t make it true. The facts were the facts. Laurel had planted a phantom in Gideon’s Ark in order to draw Benji and Cordelia out. How else could she have known about them? It had to have been Mr. Shadow. He was the only connection between Shadow School and Shady Rest.
Cordelia’s brain found the logic difficult to deny—and yet her heart still resisted it.
She had to know for sure. After thinking about it for a moment (and eating one last cookie), Cordelia decided to try a test. She waited for an opportune moment in the conversation and said, “It sounds like things were a lot different when the original owner of Shady Rest was around, but he died last year.” She focused on Mr. Shadow so she could gauge his reaction to her next words. “His name was Leland Knox.”
Mr. Shadow’s mouth fell open.
“Leland’s mixed up in all this?”
Cordelia felt like cheering. If Mr. Shadow had wanted to keep his connection to Shady Rest a secret, he would have denied knowing Mr. Knox. Instead, he told the truth, which hopefully meant he had nothing to hide. Cordelia wasn’t quite ready to exonerate him completely, but it was a promising sign.
Benji and Agnes, clearly thinking along the same lines, looked eager to learn more.
“How do you know Mr. Knox?” Benji asked.
“We met years ago, before Aria was even born. Leland shared my ghost obsession. At one point we were inseparable, but we had a bit of a falling out. It was my fault. I was a different man back then, and I dragged Leland into some shady business. After that he wanted nothing to do with me. Years later, he became a very successful businessman and philanthropist—which didn’t surprise me one bit. Leland was the kind of guy who would have given a total stranger the shirt off his back.”
“He never told you about Shady Rest?” Cordelia asked.
“No. I can’t say I blame him. After what I did, I wouldn’t have trusted me either. Like I said, I was a different man. Besides, we hadn’t spoken in close to forty years—until last July, that is. Leland called me out of the blue and asked me to come to the hospital. He didn’t have much time left, but he wanted to tell me he forgave me so my heart would be at ease. Typical Leland, thinking of other people to the end. I know I shouldn’t have, but I told him about Shadow School. I thought hearing about Brights and what awaits a good man like him on the other side might ease his passing a little.”
“Did you mention me and Benji?” Cordelia asked.
“Not by name,” Mr. Shadow said. “I did say there were two students with the Sight, but I hoped there were more in the lower grades since you were graduating this year.” He tap
ped his chin with his index finger. “You know, Leland was just about to tell me something when his granddaughter ushered me out the door. I wonder if he was going to spill the beans about Shady Rest.”
“Could be,” Agnes said. “His granddaughter wouldn’t have wanted you to know that. She’s the one we’ve been talking about, by the way. Laurel.”
“The one causing all the trouble?” asked Mr. Shadow. He didn’t seem very surprised. “I didn’t care for her. I thought she might have been eavesdropping on our conversation.”
“Of course she was!” Cordelia exclaimed.
Suddenly, everything made sense. After listening to Mr. Shadow, Laurel knew there were two eighth graders at Shadow School who could see the ghosts. The timing was perfect. She desperately needed a replacement for Victor—and here were two of them, just waiting to be recruited! There was one problem, though. Mr. Shadow had never used their names, so she still needed to figure out their identities.
That’s why she planted Gideon in the ark, Cordelia thought.
The phantom would cause the two mystery students to reveal themselves. They would act differently than the others. Stick out. Laurel made sure she was at the ark so she could watch out for them. She hadn’t been hired to catch the phantom, and she certainly didn’t care about helping the kids. Her only objective was to identify her two new employees.
Cordelia felt horrible for doubting Mr. Shadow. In the end, all he had done was tell an old friend a story.
“If nobody objects,” Dr. Roqueni said. “I think it’s time we hear Benji’s mysterious idea. How are you planning to rescue all these ghosts without anyone stopping you?”
“Easy,” Benji said. “We’re going to steal them.”
19
Heist
It was Cordelia’s first time riding in the trunk of a car, and she was not enjoying the experience. Mr. Shadow liked to spend his weekends fishing in the summer, and even though he had removed all his equipment, the smell remained.
They hit a bump, and her sensitive stomach lurched in protest.