Camille held the baggie in front of her face. "You want me to stick this tiny thing in my ear? What if it gets lost in my ear canal? How do we get it out when we're done with it?"
Brenna let out a loud sigh. "I'll use a magnet to get it out. And if we don't have one handy, there's always the Ninja Princess." She gestured for Camille to turn around. "This is the transmitter. I'm going to hook it to the tag of your shirt. No one will think to look there." She waited as Brenna clipped it on. "Ok, done." Camille spun around. Brenna held out a tiny nose ring similar to the tiny silver ball Camille already wore in her nose. "Replace the stud you're wearing with this one."
Now it was Camille's turn to sigh. "Do I have to? It hurts to change it out. Why do you think I always wear the same one?"
"Don't be a baby." Brenna smirked. "This is your wireless microphone."
Camille inhaled and reluctantly reached up for her nose ring. Clenching her jaw, she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled. The stud had a ball on both ends. One for decoration and the other to keep it from slipping out of her nose. She'd thought it a genius idea until she'd worn it for about a year and decided to change it out. The hole had healed to the size of the post, much smaller than the size of the ball on the ends. Pulling it out was similar to experiencing a kidney stone stuck in your urethra. Tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes as she pulled it through the hole. Her hands grew slick, her skin warm. She nearly had it out when her fingers slipped and it returned to where it had started.
She opened her leaking eyes to glare at a cringing Brenna. "For the love of Saint frickin' Pete, you're sure I have to do this?"
The other girl swallowed and nodded. "No one will ever suspect you have a microphone there. You paid good money so that I could have this specially commissioned for you."
She continued to glare at the other Shine while taking deep breaths to ready herself for continued torture. "Once it's in, I'm never taking it out again."
Brenna cleared her throat and looked away from Camille. "Well, um," she picked at a piece of lint on her shirt. "It has to be charged."
Camille closed her eyes. "Razor."
She sucked in a breath and pulled. Passing a kidney stone was too tame a description for the burning pain she experienced as the little ball moved through the hole in her nose and popped free at last. The neck of her shirt was soaked with her sweat. She realized she'd been holding her breath the entire time when she became light headed.
Gulping in air, she opened her damp eyes and glared at her so-called friend again. "You're permanently on my sewer list."
Brenna gave her a sick smile and handed her the new stud. "At least this one has a fastener on the end instead of the little ball."
Camille's eyes widened at the size of the “fastener”. "Oh my Ghandi. Are you for real? It's going to feel like I've got an epic booger stuck in my nose."
Brenna moved quickly toward the closed door. "It's the smallest battery we could find that would hold enough life for what we need. I'm going to get a mirror so you can see to put it on."
Camille's nose throbbed as she twisted the back off the stud. Gah, the thing was huge. Thankfully, it was relatively flat and wouldn't be able to be seen, but oh she'd feel it. She shook her head, wondering how she got herself into these things. She studied the ball of the stud and realized it did look like the head of a tiny microphone. Now that the pain had decreased, she could appreciate Brenna's ingenuity. No one would ever suspect her nose ring, or that the transmitter was attached to her tag. And the earpiece would be completely undetectable deep in her ear canal.
Brenna came back in with the small mirror on its stand that she used to put on her makeup. "Give me your glasses and I'll synch the transmitter to them while you put that in."
Camille pulled the glasses out of her pocket. "Will I be able to use them while this thing is hooked up?"
Brenna slid the glasses on her face and pushed a button on the transmitter. "Yes. It uses the Google Glasses like a personal hotspot. Everything else will function like it's supposed to."
Camille slid the stud into her nose and struggled to screw the back onto it while Brenna messed with the glasses. After a half dozen attempts, the thing finally went on. Just as she suspected, it felt like she needed to blow her nose really bad. Rock. And. Razor. She sniffed and squeezed her nose. The feeling wasn't going away. The faster she could get done with the evening's activities, the sooner she could remove it from her nose.
She picked up the baggie with the earpiece and handed it to Brenna. "Get this thing in my ear. It's time to go."
Brenna pulled out two Q-tips and handed one to her. "Clean your ear really well. It needs to rest against your eardrum for the best sound."
Camille rolled her eyes and did as she was told. Then Brenna moved close to her and tilted her head to the side. "Going in." Camille felt the little piece of metal fall into her ear with a thump, then Brenna was pushing it deeper with the second Q-tip. "I'm going to gently push it as deep as I can. Stop me when you feel it hit your eardrum."
The Q-tip moved slowly deeper until she felt pressure deep in her ear. She put her hand on Brenna's wrist. "It's in."
Brenna nodded and stepped back. Camille straightened her head and lightly shook it to see if the ear piece would fall out. It didn't. A faint buzzing sounded from the device.
"I suppose the buzzing means it's working?"
Brenna nodded and slipped her much more visible headset on. "If you don't hear the buzzing, then I can't hear you."
Camille turned and left the office. In the living room Rachel sat up on the couch while Sophia remained on her stomach in the floor.
She paused by Sophia. "Don't let Magneto here terrorize Bren too much while I'm gone."
A screech sounded from the library then Brenna's voice screamed in her ear. "You're leaving me here with her Royal Highness?"
Camille slapped her hands over her ears. "The watch battery works. Turn down the ever loving volume before you bust my eardrum, for Ghandi's sake."
Brenna's screeching quieted. "Sorry, but you could have warned me of my eminent torture."
"Sewer list, remember." Camille shot Rachel a “be good” look, then stepped out the front door to see the others waiting by the car. "Consider this the first punishment for the torture I'm going to endure each time I change out this nose ring."
Brenna snorted and Camille bit back a grin as she approached the group of women waiting in the car. V still wasn't comfortable enough with the others to stay behind, something they'd have to work on with the extremely shy Shine.
The drive to the Grahams’ street passed in silence, each Shine occupied by her own thoughts. Camille parked in the church parking lot and they walked to the Graham's house concealed by Camille's Shine. Two cars sat in the driveway, one silver and one black with dark tinted windows. Camille raised her hand and everyone stopped.
"The Grahams have guests. Texas license plate SH1N4K and New Mexico license plate DRB551. Send them both to Michael," Camille said softly.
"Done," Brenna said in her ear.
Camille glanced over her shoulder. "We'll go in quiet until we ascertain if the guests are a threat, ladies."
They climbed the fence and soon stood before the bushes that hid the entrance to the Grahams’ secret room. Camille reached under the bushes and pulled out the glasses Annie had given her. Before putting them on, she moved to the back door. Mrs. Graham was in the kitchen preparing dinner and talking to a man and woman who sat at the breakfast bar while Annie set the table, presumably for their arrival. Mr. Graham was curiously absent.
Camille placed the glasses on her head and scrolled through the menu until she found Annie's name. Annie set down the stack of plates she'd been holding and reached up to the glasses sitting on her face.
"Hello, Camille. Are you and the others almost here?" Annie asked as she walked out of the living room toward the spare bedroom and the entrance to the secret room.
"We didn't expect there to be other guests."
Camille could hear the smile in the other girl's voice. "We thought you'd feel more comfortable turning your Shines over to us if you met the people they'll be going with tonight."
Camille mentally rolled her eyes at herself. Apparently, even the Grahams had picked up on her paranoia. She shrugged away her lingering unease. These people helped Shines. If it were up to her instincts, she'd never trust anyone. Sighing at her own ridiculousness, she turned and moved back toward where the others waited.
"We're here."
"I'm on my way to let you in," Annie said.
She'd just pulled the glasses from her head when the bushes were pulled aside by Annie, who waved them inside.
"Not everyone came?" the teen asked, brow wrinkled.
Camille shrugged. "We don't all fit in the car. They opted to stay back and finish getting our stuff put away at the new place."
Annie frowned. "My dad really wanted to meet all of those responsible for my rescue."
Camille's unease increased. Mentally telling herself to chill out, she gave the younger girl an apologetic smile as she entered the small, hidden sitting room. "I'll pass on that they were missed."
Annie pushed the opening closed and led the way through the spare bedroom, down the hall, and into the family room.
Mrs. Graham smiled and rounded the breakfast bar. "Welcome back, girls. I'm so glad you could join us for dinner." The older woman frowned. "Annie, didn't you say there were more than this?"
Annie shrugged. "The other three couldn't come."
The older woman glanced toward the hallway, worry crowding her eyes. She noticed Camille watching her and forced a smile. "Oh, well, I'll send them each a plate with you when you leave, Camille."
"Thank you, ma'am. I'm sure they'll appreciate that," Camille smiled back and turned toward the unknown guests.
Mrs. Graham gestured toward the couple. "Camille, this is Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton. They drove down from Albuquerque, New Mexico, so that you could meet them. They are the next stop for anyone we help."
Mrs. Hamilton came forward, a warm smile on her kind face. "Hello, Camille. Please call me Jane."
"Why are you helping people like us?" Camille asked, her voice cool.
Sadness filled the older woman's soft brown eyes as she met Camille's gaze. "My daughter is a Shine. She was taken from us last year after being blamed for a flood that killed a little boy. She didn't cause the flood, but enough people had seen her emotions affect the weather that we couldn't prove she hadn't caused it. We haven't seen her since."
The man and woman's eyes both glistened with tears. Camille's instincts told her these two really did want to help. So why did she still feel uneasy? Mrs. Graham introduced the other girls to the couple, then excused herself and walked toward the hall that led to her husband's office, a worried frown on her face. "Annie, get everyone seated with drinks. I'll go tell your father and our other guest that dinner is ready."
Camille's unease escalated to alarm. There were two cars in the driveway. She followed Mrs. Graham with her eyes as Annie led the others to the dinner table. She wanted to hear more about the Hamiltons, but she also wanted to know who was in the office with Annie's father.
Making up her mind, she caught Annie's gaze. "Can you point me in the direction of the ladies room, please?"
Annie pointed toward the hall Mrs. Graham had disappeared down. "It'll be the second door on the right."
She nodded and made her way down the hall. Reaching the correct door, she opened it, flipped on the light switch, then closed it again without going in. Listening as the conversation around the table resumed, she turned and made her way silently toward the glass door that she'd noticed when they'd first arrived. It was slightly ajar.
"Three of them didn't come," Mrs. Graham said.
"What? I thought you said they were all coming," Mr. Graham's voice shot out like a whip. "At least tell me the one with the voice came."
Camille pressed back against the wall, the unease she'd felt all evening insisting she grab her girls and get out.
Mrs. Graham's timid voice broke through her panic. "She's here, though she plans to leave with the one in charge, Camille."
A soft male voice interrupted the tense conversation between the husband and wife making the hair stand up on the back of Camille's neck. "That won't be a problem, I'll just take them both." He paused. "If you're sure the girl is worth the effort."
"She's a full-figured Amazon, which will appeal to a certain type of client, but it's her voice that'll bring the value." Mr. Graham assured the other man. "But you know I won't give you more than one, Sam. I wouldn't give you any if I didn't need the money.”
Camille fought to breathe. He was selling Shines? To who? A burning anger filled her chest. She'd kill him. How dare he pretend to want to help only to sell them out.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered, hoping the mic could pick up the voices in the other room.
Brenna answered immediately. "Rachel and Sophia are on their way."
Camille squeezed her eyes shut. "Karen and the twins need to leave with the Hamiltons before we make our move. I want you to access my contacts. Pull up Jeremy Walker and contact the number listed there. Tell him where we're at and everything we just heard. Tell him if he ever wants me to believe him, he'll make sure Mr. Graham is never able to sell another Shine."
"Got it. And Camille?" Brenna paused. "Be careful."
"That's my middle name, remember?"
"Camille?" Veronica's seductive voice whispered, sending a shiver down her spine.
Camille whirled around and rushed down the hall. She opened the door of the bathroom and pulled the other Shine in with her.
Veronica looked at her in alarm. "What's wrong?"
Camille sat on the edge of the tub and pressed her fisted hands to her forehead. "I thought he was just interested in a fling with you. I'm so stupid."
"What're you talking about?" V asked, kneeling in front of her.
"He plans to sell you for money," Camille whispered harshly.
Veronica surged to her feet. "What? We’re leaving now, while no one is looking."
Camille fought the compulsion in V's voice that insisted she wanted nothing more than to make the other Shine happy. Her mind screamed as her body stood and took a step toward the door. Fighting for control, she met Veronica's startled gaze, sweat beading on her forehead as she fought to keep her feet from obeying the other Shine's command. Veronica's eyes widened as she realized what she'd done and slapped her hands over her mouth.
With a strangled gasp, she whispered, "Stop. Do as you wish."
Camille stumbled back and sagged onto the edge of the tub as her body stopped fighting her mind. She inhaled a shaking breath, avoiding Veronica's stricken gaze. Veronica sobbed an apology and Camille raised her hand. Remaining silent, she stood and turned on the water. She held her trembling hands under the cold spray, and motioned toward the toilet. "Flush that."
She splashed water on her face then looked in the mirror and met Veronica's wide panicked gaze. "You would leave the others here to be sold in your place?"
Veronica flushed and looked away. "Of course not."
Camille pinched her pale cheeks and forced the tense muscles of her face to relax into a smile. "Pretend everything is fine. Eat the nice meal Mrs. Graham has prepared for us. We'll watch Karen and the twins leave with the Hamiltons, then we'll do whatever we have to in order to escape ourselves." She grabbed Veronica's shaking hands and met her panicked gaze. "We will get out of this."
Veronica nodded and inhaled loudly. "I trust you, Camille."
Her stomach clenched. All the ways this evening could go wrong paraded through her racing mind. Closing her eyes, she inhaled. She opened her eyes and pulled back her shoulders. She wouldn't fail to save another friend.
15
Camille stopped listening to the conversation around her as Mr. Graham came into the room followed by a handsome man in an expensive suit. His thick dark hair was
parted on the side and he had a thin mustache reminding her of the villain from an old Shirley Temple movie.
Mr. Graham cleared his throat. "Ladies, meet Percy Lochmier. He contributes toward our efforts to help those like you here in Amarillo. I'll let each of you introduce yourselves." He gestured for Karen to go first.
Thankful she'd had time to warn the other Shines about Mr. Graham's guest, Camille stepped forward. "Why?" Everyone's attention focused on her. She ignored them to glare defiantly at the stranger. "Why do you care what happens to us?"
Mr. Graham's face flushed red. Mr. Lochmier smiled and waved Mr. Graham back. Hard, pale green eyes met her gaze and Camille struggled to hide a shudder. He had the coldest eyes she'd ever seen. This man cared nothing for Shines or anyone else for that matter.
He stepped toward her and looked down into her defiant face. "You must be the fearless leader I've heard so much about. I commend you on your rescue of beautiful Annie," he smiled toward the younger girl, who blushed at the compliment from such a good-looking man. "Your ability to keep such a large group of Shines out of the hands of the authorities is a difficult feat."
Camille fought the urge to step back and forced herself to push up onto her toes and whisper in his ear. "I care nothing for your compliments, Mr. Lochmier." She lowered her heels back to the ground and gestured at herself and the other Shines. "I simply want to know why you care about what happens to us?"
The man's smile widened, his eyes filling with something Camille couldn't decipher. Admiration? Desire? She suppressed a tremor of unease.
He picked up a lock of her straight brown hair and rubbed it between his fingers. He lifted the lock to his nose and inhaled, his voice soft as he closed his eyes and answered her question. "It's politics, my dear. If we let the government simply take the rights of Shines without a protest, what's to keep them from deciding to do the same with another group of us for some perceived threat in the future? Nor can I, in good conscience, allow beautiful young women with so much potential to disappear into some government facility, never to be seen again."
Shine: Season One (Shine Season Book 1) Page 95