Besides, I wanted to know all the things Jack wouldn’t tell me.
Seth flashed the card around his neck in front of a scanner and opened a door. “My office. After you.” He gestured with his hand for me to enter.
“You work here?” It all made sense. His mom had said he worked shifts. And he knew so much about Gram and her condition. He was a doctor.
“I’m a neurologist.”
His office was small, his mahogany desk cluttered with paper and medical magazines. Very few personal items.
He removed his white lab coat and hung it on a hook on the back of the door. “Have a seat, Lexi.”
I sat on the very edge of a leather chair. My right leg shook. “Who’s Addison?”
“Addison is the reason Jack finally joined The Program. Addison is the reason he came looking for you.”
I sucked in an audible breath. “I don’t understand.”
“Addison is Anita’s eight-year-old daughter.”
“Anita? Jack’s housekeeper?”
He nodded. “A year-and-a-half ago, Addison and Jack were riding. Something spooked her horse. She was thrown.”
“What happened?”
“She broke her collar bone. Suffered some other minor injuries, but she couldn’t move. Jack didn’t get to her in time. After the horse threw her, it backed up and stepped on her head.”
“Oh, God.” I covered my mouth with my hand. “Did Jack try to heal her injuries?”
“Of course. And he did. Everything but the brain damage from the horse’s misstep. He almost died. Put himself in the hospital—he became dehydrated from throwing up so much after he healed her collar bone and broken ribs.”
I picked a speck of lint on the floor and stared at it. My mind raced. Jack had made himself so sick. “Why hasn’t he told me?” I said mostly to myself.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“I guess not. Not to me anyway.”
“Because he loves you, Lexi, and he’s scared. He’s scared of losing you. He’s scared of what the consequences might be if you were to use your power the way it was meant to be used.”
“What do you think the consequences will be?” I asked. Was I seriously wondering if I could use my mind to heal someone’s brain? Gram? The little girl lying in that bed for the past year-and-a-half?
Healing either of them went against everything I believed in. It just seemed that using supernatural abilities to heal went against God’s plan for the universe—that these abilities were not created by God, but by arrogant scientists. Maybe that was why the consequences existed.
“We won’t know until you try. But Jack says you have pretty bad nose bleeds when you use a small part of your power.”
“He told you that?”
“He told me that you could bend minds in your favor.” Seth grinned. “That must be quite a useful tool.”
I nodded.
“Something in your nervousness just now tells me, though, that this mind bending power extends further than I’m aware.”
“No,” I disagreed. “You make me nervous in general.”
He leaned forward against his desk and clasped his hands. “I’m going to be honest with you. You will become a part of The Program sooner or later. Jack convinced me to give you time to come based on your own choice, but eventually, you won’t have a choice.”
“Are you threatening me?”
His lips curved into a grin. “No, I’m not. I’m finally giving you all of the facts. Eventually, the people who killed your father will be coming for you. Or you’ll find the journals that explain everything. Then you’ll be begging to be part of The Program.”
~~~~
I had three texts and four missed calls when I got back in the car. The three texts and two of the calls were from Jack. The other two calls were from Wellington’s main line.
“I’m sorry, Kyle. I hope I didn’t get you in trouble.”
He shrugged. “I knew what I was getting into. You needed a ride, right?”
I stared out the window. Trees whizzed by on the back road that led to school. What would I tell Jack? That I knew about Addison?
No. I couldn’t. Not yet.
“You hungry?” Kyle asked.
“What?” How could he think about food right now? We were going to be in so much trouble when we returned to school.
“Well, there’s no way we’ll make it back for dinner. I’m stopping for a protein bar and an energy drink.” He turned into a gas station with a small country store and parked near to the doors. “Want anything?”
I shook my head.
Kyle shut the door and disappeared into the mini-mart. Something flickered out of the corner of my eye. Kyle’s cell phone lay in the seat beside me. A new text lit the screen. I craned my neck to see any signs of Kyle returning. When I didn’t, I grabbed his phone and began punching buttons and scrolling through texts.
He had been texting someone by the name of R.W. I scrolled through the texts.
Kyle: We r at UK Hosp. She’s not talking. Should I say something?
R.W: Don’t do or say anything!! Keep ears open. Get her to talk about who she visited. Any mention of journals?
Kyle: No journal talk. Picking her up now.
R.W: Just get back to school.
I darkened the phone’s screen just as Kyle turned away from the checkout counter. He pushed through the door with an armful of snacks and a couple of drinks. I struggled to get a couple of deep breaths in before he opened the door and let some of the snacks fall into the seat on top of his phone.
“I got you something anyway.”
I took a drink and some of the food from him, giving my hands something to do before Kyle noticed how badly they shook.
After watching the fence line sail past me along the country road for twenty minutes, Kyle finally said, “Who was this friend of your father’s that you visited? Someone he worked with?”
“Uh, yeah. A colleague from a long time ago.” Too many questions. I wanted to cry.
Kyle’s phone sounded. He reached behind his back. He looked at the text, and then over at me.
I stared out the window, counting the light poles. Think, Lexi. Think. Who was R.W.? How did Kyle and this R.W. know about the journals?
“How the hell did he get my cell phone number?” Kyle held his phone up so that he could see it and the road at the same time.
“Who?” I shrugged.
“Jack.”
“Text?”
“Yeah. He says that if you’re with me, to call him. ‘Now!’ There’s lots of exclamation points.”
I scrolled through the names on my phone. What would I say to Jack? Especially with Kyle in the car. Finally, I jabbed at Jack’s name and brought the phone to my ear.
“I don’t have much time,” he said when he picked up. “Father’s here. And he’s pissed you’re not.”
“What do you want me to do about it?” I asked. Kyle was back to thumping his hand on the steering wheel. “I have an idea.”
“You better think of something, because security was instructed to search Kyle’s car as soon as he enters the main gate.”
“What, like I’m some sort of fugitive?” This was ridiculous. Why was Jack allowed to leave campus, and I wasn’t?
“No, but like I thought your coach made clear earlier, the school takes their lock-downs very seriously. Especially when a student’s legal guardian shows up looking for the person he’s responsible for and she’s not there.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kyle pulled along the side of the road at the very back of Wellington’s property. I jumped out with my backpack. “Go.”
“Are you sure about this? I don’t care about getting into a little bit of trouble.”
“I’m fine. Now go.”
I darted toward the shrubbery and searched for the hole Kyle, Danielle, Briana, and I had carved out when we were freshman. We thought it would be a brilliant idea to sneak out of Wellington and go to a party with friends fro
m the public school near Wellington. We’ve used it a few times since, but the hedges filled back in nicely. Too well, actually.
I followed the path beside the overgrown shrubs, and fearing snakes and ticks, I pushed through the dense greenery.
“Ouch.” A branch sliced my shin. Blood stained the area around a tear in my jeans.
A bird fluttered on a branch in front of me, mocking me, I was certain. I ducked under a tree limb and faced yet another obstacle. A tall chain-link fence that appeared electrical.
Fantastic. When did they put this here? And why?
I looked around for something to throw at it. That’s what they did in Jurassic Park. Did that only work in the movies? Bending over, I found a small branch and tossed it at the fence.
Nothing.
Next, I stepped closer. My heart pumped fast and hard. I raised my hand. Like a cobra poised to attack, I darted it forward, slapped the metal, and drew back.
Nothing.
Finally, I curled my fingers around the metal of the fence and counted my blessings that I wasn’t electrocuted. I leaned my head backwards, studying the height of it, and then I looked down at the flip-flops on my feet.
This was going to hurt. I massaged my right shoulder—the one hurt in the car accident last week. The one Jack had mostly healed. With a deep breath, I climbed.
The climb up wasn’t a problem, but my stomach churned acid when I looked down to the other side.
I tossed my bag to the ground, hurled the first leg over the top, then the other.
I moved one foot at a time. A foot slipped, causing me to grasp tighter with my hands. Halfway down, both feet slipped, and I was left dangling, the wire cutting into my palms. I started to turn my head to see how far off the ground I was when two hands eased around my waist.
My body tensed.
“I’ve got you.” Jack sounded irritated, just like I imagined my knight in shining armor should. “Let go.”
I did and slid down into his hold. I turned and threw my arms around his neck. “He knows, Jack. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Who knows what? What are you talking about?” He smoothed out my hair.
“The journals. Kyle knows.” I told Jack about the texts between Kyle and R.W. It seemed everyone was now looking for journals I didn’t even know existed until recently. “Do you think my father was killed because of these journals?”
“I don’t know.”
“Thank you for coming to rescue me, by the way.”
“Yeah. Speaking of…” His tone changed from kind to chastising. “You should thank me for not blowing your cover to the dean and my father.” He removed my arms and stepped back. “There’s a house arrest cuff with your name on it in Coach Williams’ desk drawer.”
I winced.
“You told me you wouldn’t leave campus again.”
“No, I didn’t. You asked me not to, but I never said I wouldn’t. Where were you? I looked for you when I decided to leave. You were nowhere to be found.”
Jack cocked his head, considered me. “I told you I’d take you to see you grandmother tomorrow.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie if he avoided the question all together.
I brushed dirt off my jeans. “Well, I’m fine. Back safe and sound.” I glanced down at my leg. “Mostly sound.”
“Don’t you get it, Lexi? You’re reckless. Someone is trying to kill you, and you go off wild and out of control.”
“Reckless? I am far from reckless. And I’m completely in control.” I tossed my backpack on my good shoulder and started walking away. I made it all of five steps before he grabbed my arm and spun me around. I stared straight into his eyes. They were passionate. Daring and inviting. All I could see, though, was the image of him bowed at that little girl’s bedside. My heart shrunk at the thought that I might be capable of helping that defenseless girl. “Don’t be mad. Please.”
He brushed hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear. “What am I going to do with you?” He stood so close that a light breeze would slam him into me. The intensity of his blue eyes slowly stripped away the bricks of defense I managed to cement around me.
I slipped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his chest. I could feel the muscles in his arms relax. How could I tell him that I knew why he wanted me, needed my power? If I didn’t have the power to heal that innocent little girl, would he still love me? “There’s just so much going on. I miss my dad.” I needed Dad here to guide me.
I shivered.
“I know you do. I’m sorry.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. His lips were soft, his touch gentle.
“I think he was trying to tell me everything when he was killed. From a young age, he used to talk to me in riddles. See if I could figure things out. He’d send me coded emails. I’d have to break the code before I could read them. Sometimes, I’d have to go on a scavenger hunt across the internet to find out what my Christmas gift was. And he sent me the most amazing gifts—like these puzzle boxes.” I looked up at Jack who had gone silent.
“Puzzle boxes?”
“Yeah, you know. You have to figure out the right piece of wood to move, or remove, in order to get the box to open. The first one he ever sent me had a pewter starfish on top of it.” And the last one he sent me was in the shape of a starfish. “With the first one, you had to remove one of the arms before another section could be moved to reveal a key hole.” I smiled at the memory. Dad was always so proud when I figured out some of the early boxes.
Some of them even had more than one compartment. That always threw me. “Oh, my gosh!” I gazed up at Jack. “I gotta go.” I stood on my tippy toes and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for coming to my rescue, but—”
Jack wrapped his fingers around my arm just above my elbow. “Oh, no you don’t.”
“I think I figured something out!” I pulled on my arm, but he didn’t loosen his grip.
“Figured what out?”
“The last puzzle box that Dad sent me. I only found one compartment. The one with the starfish necklace and key. There had to be another.” There had to be another clue hidden in what he had sent me.
“Lexi, my parents are waiting in Dean Fisher’s office. I told them you were in a study group. We have to go straight there.”
~~~~
Cathy DeWeese’s back was to us when we entered Dean Fisher’s office. “Seth sponsored the entire cost of the art show for tomorrow night?” she asked the dean.
Dr. DeWeese glanced from me to his son. He raised a finger to his lip, silencing his wife.
Cathy turned. “Oh.” She opened her arms and walked toward me. “Oh, you poor dear.”
I stepped hesitantly into her outstretched arms and turned my head in time to see Jack’s eyes roll heavenward. Her bangle bracelets knocked against my shoulder when she released me, holding me at arm’s length. “How are you feeling? Still a little shaky?”
Shaky? From the accident? “Um… my shoulder still hurts a little, I guess.” I glanced at Jack again. He rubbed a hand over his lips. Is this woman for real?
Well, now you know she and I are not related by blood. But she did raise me. He shrugged.
“Have a seat, kids.” Dean Fisher gestured toward the chairs on the other side of his desk. “John and I have talked…”
Dr. DeWeese leaned against the desk and faced us. “Neither of you are to leave this campus unless it’s with one of us.” He pointed back and forth between his wife and himself.
Jack stood. “What? You can’t do that.”
“We thought you might say that,” Cathy said. “But it’s been decided.” She stared at her son, not blinking once. “You decided to come to this school against my wishes. You get to obey school rules.”
“You don’t get to make rules for me. I’m already eighteen.”
“You’re partially right, son,” Dr. DeWeese said, his voice calm. “You are eighteen. If you don’t want to abide by lame school rules, you can come back home and study there until
it’s time to leave for college next fall.” I think it hurt Dr. DeWeese to utter the word ‘lame.’ Still, he pulled it off okay.
Cathy’s cheeks lifted, like she’d won some small battle. “Son, what’s it going to be? Stay at Wellington? Or return home?”
I suddenly felt I was intruding on a family conversation. Jack stood close to his mother, his expression alternating between irritated and humiliated. He turned his head to me.
I lifted a brow. Don’t look at me. If you need to leave Wellington, by all means…
“I do have a bit of bad news, though, son.”
“What bad news?” Jack asked.
“If you’ll excuse me…” Dean Fisher held his phone up like he had just received a message. “Unless you need me, I need to check on an issue with preparations for tomorrow night’s show.”
Without another word, the dean breezed from the room. I turned back to the tension mounting between Jack and his mom.
“It’s about Addison, darling. I’m afraid the situation is dire.”
I sat up straighter. Dr. DeWeese frowned, and even Cathy’s eyes filled with tears.
Jack cast a nervous look at me. “Lexi, can you give me a moment alone with my mother and father?” Then he added, I’m sorry.
So much for trust. He didn’t want me to hear about Addison. Why was he keeping her from me? Especially if he thought I could heal her.
I stood. “Sure. I need to go… do that thing—”
I am sorry. Meet me at the stables in one hour.
It’ll be past curfew. I thought for a second. Could I get out and across campus without being noticed? Would he tell me about Addison then? I’ll be there. I started toward the door, straining to hear what Cathy said to her son. But heard nothing.
“I’ll walk you out dear.” Dr. DeWeese followed me.
I exited the dean’s office and stood at his secretary’s desk. It was late in the evening. The offices were empty except for us.
He clicked the door shut behind us. “How are you really doing, Lexi?”
I shrugged. I missed Dad. “Fine, I guess?” No, that was a lie. “Actually, Dr. DeWeese—”
Mindspeak Page 23