Jennifer beamed. “I usually keep it all under wraps. I’m glad to have someone appreciate my work.”
“We have a lot in common,” Brendan said.
“No, we don’t.” She made the slightest gesture with her hand and mouthed a silent word. The curtain of droplets came forward. Brendan pointed his weapon at her and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Then he saw the gun’s barrel was moist and clumped with a wad of clear jelly. The LED power indicator had gone black. He shook the gun but the clump remained stuck.
Jennifer had a Lucille-worthy grin on her face. Brendan grabbed Poser and had just decided to rush towards her when she presented both her hands. Two small clouds of droplets took to the air, rising from her sleeves. In another moment the curtain would be on them from behind. Brendan leaped for the wall and pulled down on a fire alarm switch. Loud whooping sounds blasted the corridor. Both the curtain of droplets and the clouds around Jennifer faltered as she winced and put her hands to her ears. Brendan grabbed for the fire extinguisher box, opened it, and got the extinguisher out. He pulled the pin.
“Get ready to run,” he said to Poser.
He blasted a jet of white foam at the curtain. A clear path opened before him and he pulled Poser along. They pushed through the doors to the outside, picked a direction and then sprinted away into the night, the sound of the alarms echoing after them.
18. Escalation
Getting back to their school took longer than expected. Poser didn’t want to go anywhere near the hyperloop station, convinced the Cathedral Valley students would have it staked out. Brendan had never seen him so skittish. So they hitchhiked north to Victorville, where they caught their pods at the station and made it back to Dutchman Springs.
“Think the feds will have the local PD looking for us?” Poser asked.
Brendan was checking his arms and legs again. Every slight itch started a new search for any trace of Jennifer’s evil flying liquid, but it had all subsided since leaving the school. “I have no idea what to expect.” He had a fresh batch of red welts where his right hand had been assaulted. He wondered if the substance had a maximum range or if, perhaps, they had been clinging to him since the game and had only reactivated once they had returned to the school.
Security spotted them as soon as they set foot on academy grounds. They were escorted to their rooms. The guard contacted their dorm monitor and respective counselors but said little else.
“What do we do?” Poser asked as he opened the door to his room. The guard and their monitor waited nearby as if expecting them to make a break for it.
“We get some sleep,” Brendan said.
Brendan shut his own door behind him and lay down. Every sound made him think the stinging cloud was at his window or door. He didn’t sleep.
***
A security guard stood in the student restaurant and watched Brendan eat breakfast. There was no subtlety about it. Poser came in and sat across from Brendan.
“Any news?” Poser asked.
“I can’t get Mr. Childes to tell me anything. He said he’d talk to me later. Security’s the same. They wouldn’t even let me go to the other dorm to see Vlad and wouldn’t tell me if he’s back. I haven’t seen our chaperone to ask him what happened after we left. Why are you smiling?”
Poser tried to suppress his grin. “Because I’m freaked out and scared and excited all at the same time.”
Brendan had nothing to add. He picked at the top of his oatmeal muffin. The crowd of students was sparse for a Saturday morning. He tasted the coffee. It was an unconfirmed rumor that the school served decaf. Everything else in the restaurant was always excellent, but the coffee tasted like melted brown crayons.
Tyler came limping in and loaded a tray of food. He wore no cast. Whatever harm he had suffered during the game must have been minor. Lucille followed and nudged him in the direction of their table. By his expression, Tyler appeared sleepy, angry, and depressed all at once. He even looked like he was miffed at Lucille when she told him to sit.
“Did we win?” Poser asked.
“What do you think?” Tyler grumbled. He began to shovel food into his face.
Brendan glared at Lucille. She arranged her chai tea and a cup of plain yogurt in front of her, setting a small spoon down on top of a folded napkin.
“You left us stranded,” Brendan said.
Lucille cocked her head, her eyes never leaving her breakfast. “That stuff was outside the car and I didn’t want to let it in.” She sipped her tea. “Too hot. Get me some ice.”
Tyler looked at her for a moment. Then he got up and fetched a cup of ice cubes. She placed a single cube in the tea and tapped at it with her spoon. When it was mostly melted, she sipped again and set the cup down. Then she opened her clutch and handed Brendan his phone.
“This was dropped off at my door this morning,” she said.
Brendan took it and unlocked the screen. He scrolled past all the text messages from Mr. Childes, their chaperone Chuck, and his dorm monitor. At the bottom of it all was a bookmarked photo. When Brendan opened the picture, his chest tightened.
Vlad was seated on a sturdy wooden chair in the middle of a plain room. He had a handcuff around one wrist attached to the chair arm. His eyes were droopy and he was staring at the floor. Brendan didn’t see any injuries.
“Lucille, what is this? Why are you just now giving this to me?”
She looked up at him, and he could see her eyes were glassy again. He wasn’t sure if the question registered. Poser reached over and turned the phone screen in his direction.
“The Cathedral Valley students kidnapped him?” Poser asked.
“We don’t know who,” she said. “Maybe it’s the feds. It was sent this morning after we were already back.”
“But if it’s the feds, why send you a picture? They could just come here and arrest us. This is nuts.”
“How’s everybody feeling this morning?” It was the security guard. Brendan turned the phone screen off.
“Fine,” Brendan said. “Any word on Vlad Behram? He was caught out late last night at the football game, and you haven’t let me go see him.”
The guard’s pleasant, bland expression never faltered. “I’m afraid you’ll have to discuss that with your counselor. I’m not at liberty to talk about other students.”
The guard left them and resumed his post near the door to the patio.
“You have your phone now,” Lucille said. “I’m done with this.” She took one more sip of tea and began to get up.
“Wait,” Brendan said. “You’re just as involved as we are. Our friend’s been kidnapped. You can’t just go.”
“That guard there is interested in you, not me. The kids from the other school are out to get you, not me. I didn’t get mixed up in any fight last night. And those agents only wanted information about your dad. Besides, I have a headache and I’m going to go lie down.”
“You also escaped FBI custody. Aren’t you worried about that? And the Cathedral Valley kids know who you are. This Jennifer mentioned you by name. If they had grabbed you, wouldn’t you want us to do something about it?”
“It’s a good thing it’s not me,” Lucille said as she left their table. When Tyler didn’t follow, she stopped. “Coming?” she said from a few tables away.
Tyler looked at Brendan. “Are you going to talk to the cops or go up against the Cat Valley kids again?”
“I’m not talking to the cops,” Brendan said.
“Tyler!” Lucille yelled.
Tyler got up from the table. “Then I’m in. Text me.”
Brendan and Poser watched them leave.
“I guess someone wants payback for losing last night,” Poser said. “Lucille’s not happy about it.”
“I hate to say it, but maybe she’s the smart one.”
“You’re seriously not talking to the cops?”
“We never have before,” Brendan said. “Why start now?”
19. Custody Battle
Brendan pored over Vlad’s photo to see if he was missing anything. There was little to be learned from the setting. It could have been any back shed or cabin. Brendan felt helpless frustration at how miserable his friend looked.
“There’s gotta be something to go on,” Poser said.
“Too many eyes and ears in here,” Brendan said to Poser. “Come on.”
They left the student restaurant and tried to go to the Bean, but the security guard followed them out the door and told them to stay on campus. He then followed them to the electronics lab, but the lab was still sealed. With the guard watching, breaking in again was out of the question. They settled in on a bench in the science building’s front lobby.
Brendan examined the phone’s GPS record. It didn’t reveal anything, as it had only tracked his movements between Dutchman Springs and Cathedral Valley with no detours. The picture of Vlad could have been sent to his phone a dozen different ways. He didn’t see any texts or emails. Then he noticed his file sharing app had been left open. His teachers used the app in class for anyone requesting additional reading material or research not yet uploaded to the school database. But the app was free and publicly available, so if someone had shared the photo and saved it on his phone, and then deleted the history, it could have been anyone. It told him nothing. And perhaps he was being paranoid and had left the app open himself. Brendan also considered that his phone might be compromised and that it was being used as a way to spy on him.
“We’re being rational about this, right?” Poser asked.
“What do you think?” Brendan said curtly. He felt a mounting sense of frustration. The list of their assets was short. He had no drones, Vlad’s gun was broken, and they had no further clues as to where Vlad might be. Tina was away, and the only reason Vlad was involved was because Brendan had persuaded him to help cheat at a football game. None of them had even cared about the school winning. He had Poser, who was still eager to fight, but even he was realistic enough to know their efforts going forward would be futile. At any moment the FBI might arrive and arrest them. The notion that Tyler might help didn’t exactly tip the scales in their favor.
He took out Agent Walters’s card and called the mobile number.
“Brendan, what are you doing?” Poser asked.
“It’s our only play. I got Vlad into this. I’m getting him out. Whatever Walters wants, I’ll give it to him. I’m not willing to let Vlad get hurt over this.”
“How do you even know it’s Walters? What if it’s someone else?”
“It’s Walters.”
Poser started to say something, then clenched his jaw and nodded.
Agent Walters’s voicemail picked up. “This is Brendan Garza. I’m at Dutchman Springs Academy, and I’m waiting for you here. I’m at the science building now but I’ll be in front of the dorms in a few minutes. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. Leaving custody last night was a mistake and it’s my fault. Call me or meet me at the dorm. I have my tablet with me with all the drone programming on it. I’ll tell you everything.”
He ended the call.
“So I’m just supposed to let you get renditioned and thrown into some black box somewhere?”
“Don’t be melodramatic. Walters first and foremost wants the drone program. If I can get Vlad to give me the encryption key, that will make Walters happy. He’ll have to let us go.”
Poser sighed and nodded. “You’re just going to go quietly.”
“Brian, there’s no other way. I was stupid to get you all involved. This is what needs to happen.”
Poser nodded but appeared distracted. He was looking over at the security guard, who stood nearby with his face down in his phone. Then Poser jumped and fell backwards into a potted plant. He threw his pack into the air and screamed.
“Brendan, don’t hit me!” Poser shouted.
Brendan just stared. Poser had landed on a large fern and was holding his hands up protectively across his face. The guard came running over.
“He hit me! He hit me!” Poser screamed.
The guard looked at Brendan, then at Poser. He helped Poser out of the planter. “What are you doing?” the guard asked.
Brendan was about to ask the same question when Poser said, “He struck me. That means assault. You have to bring us both to security and call our counselors and get our statements.”
Brendan thought the guard would laugh it off, as it was so obviously staged. But a few faculty and students were nearby watching, and those were the rules.
The guard sighed. “Okay, boys. Let’s go.” He gestured for them to head outside.
“This is stupid,” Brendan said.
“Don’t talk to me except through my lawyer,” Poser replied.
***
Brendan listened to Poser embellish the assault story. Now that it was on its second complete telling, it was something closer to a supers duel than a single fictional blow that had knocked him into the fern. The two security guards manning the office kept neutral expressions. One took notes.
Mr. Childes arrived and stood at the desk where Brendan was seated. “I understand there’s been trouble.”
Brendan sighed. “Brian is making up a story to keep the FBI from taking me.”
“Is that so?”
Mr. Childes went over to the guards. Poser paused, looking irritated by the interruption. The guard showed the notes to him, and after reading for a moment Mr. Childes nodded.
“That’s enough of this,” he said to Poser. “You’ll enjoy the rest of your Saturday morning in your room. I’ll see that your counselor comes to visit once she’s arrived on campus.”
Poser protested as one of the guards escorted him out. Mr. Childes sat down at the desk across from Brendan.
“Please tell me what’s happening,” Mr. Childes said. “You made a phone call to Agent Walters?”
Brendan studied his counselor. Mr. Childes’s entire focus was on Brendan. The man’s narrow face and measured gaze revealed nothing to indicate his mind was on anything but Brendan’s well-being. “I’ve decided to reveal some information to the FBI that might get me in trouble, but I feel it’s time to come clean and get this matter behind me, even if it means facing some kind of criminal charge.”
Mr. Childes took out his phone. “Then I will proceed to call the school’s lawyer and have him come here immediately.”
Brendan shook his head. “No, don’t. It could be nothing. It could just mean more questions. It all has to do with my dad and what the FBI wants from him. A lawyer would just drag this out.”
“I’m afraid I have to overrule your wishes, Mr. Garza. As your counselor, I’m entrusted by your mother to act as your guardian while you’re here at school. As a minor, you can’t make this kind of judgment call, and it would be negligent for me to allow you to go forward without legal representation. Speaking to Agent Walters alone is out of the question.”
“Mr. Childes…please.” Brendan looked up and saw the second guard was listening. “Can we speak in private?”
Mr. Childes nodded to the guard. The woman said, “I’ll be right outside.”
Once she left, Mr. Childes took his glasses off and cleaned them with a pocket square. “I’ll be frank. This agent is quite aggressive. A case like your father’s…well, I imagine it’s something a young agent like Walters could make a career-winning move out of. He pressed me quite hard, and I don’t like him. So I can’t in good conscience allow him to take you into custody without giving you every measure of protection possible.”
“I appreciate that. I really do. I’m just convinced that someone is going to get hurt if I don’t go along with him. It’s bigger than my dad. If I don’t do this, it could go on and on and make trouble for others here at the school.”
“I understand your concern. Your situation is unique, I grant you. But this isn’t your decision. I’m going to do everything in my power to protect you, and you’ll have to trust that the school can handle anything an upstart agent might bring to b
ear.”
As if on cue, Agent Walters entered the security office, with the female guard following close behind. He had a large dark bruise on his eye and small angry red scrapes along his jawline. His hair was no longer neatly combed and he wasn’t smiling.
Mr. Childes rose to intercept the agent, who was heading straight for Brendan.
“He’s coming with me,” Agent Walters said.
“I don’t think so,” Mr. Childes said. “Nothing has changed since we last spoke. If you have questions, they will be asked in my presence. If you’re placing him under arrest, I demand to hear the charges and we will then wait for our attorney to arrive before an exchange of custody can be arranged.”
The smile returned to Agent Walters’s face. He struck Mr. Childes, doubling him over. Mr. Childes grunted and dropped. Agent Walters had produced some kind of small club, and he swung back and caught the security guard in the face. The guard stumbled back. She tried to grab at a small can of pepper spray on her belt but the agent was faster. He delivered two more blows in quick succession and she went down. Mr. Childes was struggling to get up, gasping for breath.
“Don’t…” he managed. Agent Walters kicked him squarely in the gut. Mr. Childes collapsed to the floor.
Brendan was momentarily too shocked to move. There was nothing nearby with which to defend himself. He pushed himself up out of his chair and backed against the wall.
Agent Walters was panting from the exertion. “This has been more trouble than I would ever have imagined,” he said. “Judging by your voicemail, you got my message. Now if you’ll please join me? We have some business to attend to.”
20. Dual Agency
“You’re not really an FBI agent,” Brendan said.
“I’m the real deal, I assure you,” Agent Walters said. “Sometimes you just have to get creative. You’re not going to be trouble, are you?”
The Dark Academy (Supervillain High Book 4) Page 12