“Clear?” I said, exasperated as Slide handed my phone back to me.
He handed me another anti-static bag. “Keep your phone off and store it in here.”
“What? Why?”
“You’ve been bugged,” Mr. Cruor said plainly. “Has your purse been with you this entire time?”
I clutched at my chest. Bugged? “Uh…” I thought of a time when my purse wasn’t with me. PE maybe? “I put it in my locker during PE.”
“And your phone?”
“It’s always with me.” I sucked in a deep breath. Did someone sneak in and bug me during the night?
“Donald, inform the team. We leave tonight.” Mr. Cruor walked to his desk and sat at his computer, typing something in. “This school is a security nightmare.”
“What are you doing?” I scooped up my things and put them in my bag, cringing at the hole Slide had made in the lining.
His eyebrow twitched. “I’m marking your attendance for the entire day to alleviate suspicion.”
“Why?”
“Everything has changed and we have to get you out of here now. We’ll leave tonight for New York. I have an apartment there that’s secure.”
I swallowed hard. New York?
He stopped typing and met my horrified stare. “It’s spacious, I promise you.”
I couldn’t catch my breath. “What? No, it’s not that. I’m not leaving. Not without my parents.”
“How much time do we have?” Nicholas asked.
“No time. With the break in, I’m suspecting the house was bugged in the process or maybe before. My men didn’t want me to come here today, but I had no other way to warn you.”
“I think you should listen to him,” Nicholas advised softly.
“I want to talk to my parents first.”
“I’ll have a car sent to pick them up.” Mr. Cruor looked at his phone. “Julia, you’re running out of options here.”
I blinked, my head woozy. I needed to sit down. Nothing made sense. “But they don’t have the formula, do they?”
Mr. Cruor looked up and paused. “What do you mean formula?”
“Whatever you did to make my blood work.”
His eyebrows pinched together. “We didn’t do anything. We didn’t need to. It’s pure just the way it is. Did you tell someone there was a formula?”
I gasped. I’d told Investigator Harry, indirectly.
“Hmmm… that might work to our advantage. But we have to get you out of here. Those things had GPS tracking on them. I’m surprised you survived the night, frankly.” He nodded to Donald who spoke softly into the microphone on his earpiece.
I stared for a second into Mr. Cruor’s nebulous eyes, trying to figure out the truth. Was Nicholas right all along? Did Mr. Cruor really care about my safety? Because if world domination was his goal, he could have just taken me without my permission and disappeared.
Nicholas took my shaking hand. “I’ll take her back to the motel so she can tell her parents.”
“I’ll send my men to pick them up, or you can give them the message, Nicholas, and meet at my house. I don’t want Julia leaving my side.” Mr. Cruor touched my arm. His fingers were oddly cool, or I was raging hot. “Anything you need, we’ll buy for you in New York.”
My heart pounded as a flash of what life was going to look like fluttered in my mind. Though I’d never been to New York, I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to go on a shopping spree or to sightsee. I’d be forever locked up in his apartment, shielded from whoever they were.
“Give me your phone.”
I stared hard at Mr. Cruor’s twitching hand, trying to clear my thoughts. Was this a trick? Had he just upped the game, and assumed we’d go with him?
“I need to talk to my parents before I do anything.” I stepped backward toward the door. “In person.”
“I don’t mind going, Julia,” Nicholas said.
“No… I think we should go together. They don’t need another scare after what happened.”
Mr. Cruor’s eyes tightened for a brief moment. Then he smiled. “That’s a good idea. I’ll have Donald drive you.”
He nodded to Slide who moved to hold open the door, but there was no way I’d let that Neanderthal drive us.
Ethan stood in the hall and gave me a look. “Ready for PE?”
“I… uh…” I wasn’t sure what to do, but I didn’t want Slide driving us.
The mob of students slowly pushed into us, moving us closer to the gym locker rooms instead of the front parking lot.
“Girlfriend,” Katie took up my free arm and flashed a smile with her ruby red lips. “If I would have known about all the dreamy guys that would be here today, I would have worn a shorter skirt.”
I rolled my eyes, but thankfully allowed her to lead me so I could think. If her skirt was any shorter, her undies would be exposed. “Of course that would be all you care about.”
“What else is there?”
Maybe my life? “What about Tyler?”
“It’s just a matter of the right motivation for him to realize he needs me.”
I laughed under my breath as we approached our lockers. Vampy wiles were the quivers before. I could just imagine what she’d planned this time. “Well, this is far more serious for me.”
“I heard. Sorry about your house. Did they catch who did it?”
“No.” I pulled a swig off my water bottle, keeping one eye on Slide, before collecting my gym bag and closing my locker. Steam was about to bust from his ears.
Katie leaned in. “Horace is dealing with the same thing. Good thing he needs a personal assistant in New York.”
I choked on my water and almost spit it out. “What?”
She waggled her eyebrows. “You didn’t hear? I figured with the secret meeting he’d spill. I’m going with you to New York. Isn’t that awesome?”
My jaw unhinged, and I panned to Nicholas and Ethan, who motioned we should keep moving, but in differing directions. I tried to, but my legs wouldn’t budge. How did she know about New York already? “And your mom is letting you go?”
“Why not? You’re going. And it’s a reward for my faithful service, Tyler’s and mine that is. We’re going to shop ‘til we drop.”
My gym bag slipped from my fingers. Nicholas scowled at Katie before he retrieved the bag and took my hand in one swift move.
“Let’s get to the gym,” he said as if reading my mind.
“Yes, lets.” Katie sauntered off ahead of me, waggling her hips as she pranced off in her high heels. A group of ex-vamp tramps pulled her off to the side.
Nicholas pulled me away from her, purposefully putting distance between us. Speechless, I didn’t know what to say.
Ethan took up Katie’s vacancy. “What does she mean New York?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you in a second.” Nicholas ticked his head to Slide just as we approached the gym doors.
Nicholas gave me a quick peck on my cheek and whispered, “See you in the gym in five minutes, okay?”
I gulped and nodded, unsure what to do or who to believe. Was this the proof? Had Nicholas finally seen Mr. Cruor for who he was—a liar? New York wasn’t a secret at all. Mr. Cruor had planned it all along and assumed I would be going.
All I knew was I needed time to think and ditching Slide in the hall allowed me to do just that.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I found a vacant stall and slid inside, locking the door behind me. My heart wouldn’t slow as I stared at my phone. Did I dare turn it on? Were they really tracking me or had Mr. Cruor set this all up to scare me? Just when I was about to trust him, something like this would happen. I didn’t know if I should hug Katie or hate her for clueing me in.
Footsteps neared the stall were I hid, and I pulled up my feet so no one would see me.
“Okay, so what’s this I hear about New York?” a girl asked.
“Well, since Mr. Cruor found the cure,” Katie started and my heart dropped at the sound of her voice, “he’s no lon
ger safe. That’s why all the cops are here today.”
“And aren’t they all gorgeous,” the girl answered.
“That doesn’t answer why you get to go to New York,” another said.
“Well, girls…” Katie’s voice rang with pride, and I wanted to throw up. “His life is in danger now, and he needs a personal assistant to take care of his needs.”
“Needs? How naughty.”
The other girl laughed, and then I heard a smack.
“Not like that!” Katie defended.
“I’m so jelly. Can’t we come? Don’t you need a personal assistant, too?”
Katie giggled. “Totally. That’s why Tyler is coming.”
“Oooh, girlfriend. I can’t believe you snagged the job.”
“Horace owes me.” Katie laughed a little louder than she should have and the others shushed her.
“Girls!” Coach yelled. “You’re late. Get in the gym.”
“Yes, Coach,” they said in unison.
I slowly lowered my feet to the ground, when three pairs of feet stopped in front of the stall. I held my breath.
“You can’t tell anyone the real reason,” Katie whispered. “If you break the pact, you-know-who won’t keep his promise. Understood?”
“Of course.”
“But what about Julia?” one of the faceless girls asked.
“Don’t worry about her. I thought she’d figured it out by now. Luckily she’s as clueless as a dingbat. Let’s go before Coach starts screaming again,” Katie said.
My fingers curled into a fist, and I let out my breath as their chatter and footfalls retreated away. I slowly turned the lock and tiptoed to the corner. Katie slipped through the door with two ex-vamp tramps following behind her.
My jaw set. This exposed everything Katie had been lying about, and whatever she knew, she was benefitting from me not knowing.
“She better hope Mr. Cruor has a good health plan, because the next conversation we have isn’t going to be pleasant,” I said under my breath as I cracked my knuckles.
I quickly put on my gym clothes and stuffed my gym bag into an empty locker.
“What are you doing?” Mr. Cruor’s bodyguard asked.
I jumped and swiveled around. “This is the girls’ locker room! What are you doing?”
“Enough stalling. Come on.” He latched onto my arm and pulled me toward the doors to the hallway.
“No!” I tried to yank away. He just gripped harder. “Let go of me, Slide!”
Slide’s grip loosened momentarily, then he yanked, putting my face inches from his. “What did you say?”
“Um…” Panic rose through me. Saying his former name clearly wasn’t a good idea. “You’re making me slide.”
He squinted his eyes for a long moment as if warring with himself on what to say next. But I knew what was mulling around in that thick head of his. He remembered, or at least saying something triggered a memory.
“Come on,” he finally said.
“Oh no you don’t.” Sam appeared behind Slide and spun her bag in the air, then wacked him in the temple. He fell to the floor, pulling me with him.
“Ooof.” I scrambled off of him, trying to process what had just happened. “Holy crap.”
“Come on, let’s go!” Sam whisper yelled. “We need to get out of here.”
I blinked at her, stunned. “What was in your bag?”
“My history book. Let’s go. Now!” she demanded. “Before they find us with him.”
Stepping over Slide, I followed Sam into the hall.
“Where’s your bodyguard?” she asked as she stood on her tippy toes to peer through the gym window in the door.
“Um… in there, I think.”
She signaled for someone to come out and turned to me. “Good.”
“Good? Slide came into the girls’ locker room.”
Sam puckered her lips. “Like that’s going to stop him. I meant good as in I don’t trust anyone anymore, not even your bodyguard.”
Phil popped through the double doors. “Why hello ladies. What’s up?”
“We’re leaving. Now.” Sam grabbed both of our arms and pulled us toward the exit doors leading to the back parking lot.
Phil stopped her. “Whoa, wait a minute. This place is crawling with cops. It’s not like we can just waltz through the doors like we own the place.”
“Then how are we going to get out of here?” she asked.
His eyes shifted from me to Sam and back again. “I have an idea. Here, put this on.” He handed me his hoodie. I slid my arms in the sleeves and zipped up the front. His amazing smell flooded over me the instant he put the hood over my head. “We’ll go through the field exit. You know where that is, right?”
Sam nodded.
“Isn’t the door locked?” I asked.
“Not always.” Phil’s eyes sparkled. “I just need to turn the blinds a tad first.”
My heart sped up. How was he going to do that? The hall between the locker rooms housed the coaches’ offices. Each office had windows on the hall side so they could see who came in or out from the field. They also had windows on the gym side. Anyone in the hall could see all the way through to the gym, and anyone in the gym could see the field exit. The blinds were never closed.
“How are you going to get in there?” Sam asked.
“I know where Coach keeps the keys.”
“What about the parking attendants?” I asked.
“Lookie here. I have a hall pass for my doctor’s appointment.” He smiled devilishly. “And luckily, I parked in the alley behind the gym. I’ll just put you two in the trunk until we get out of the parking lot.”
I shivered. The thought of being inside a trunk made my claustrophobic alarms ring, but the thought of staying at school scared me even more. Sam was right. We couldn’t trust anyone.
“Okay,” I said and pulled the hoodie tight around my face. “What about Nicholas?”
“What about him?” Before Phil could finish, the gym doors flew open and we disappeared inside the stairwell.
“Where is he?” I heard Nicholas say, as two sets of footfalls filed past.
I knew he was talking about Slide. My sweaty palms gripped my phone as I jerked forward toward the door. Phil put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. “He’s with that cop.”
I sighed and relented. How did he know Ethan was a cop?
More than anything, I wanted to tell Nicholas the new plan, but was afraid Mr. Cruor might be telling the truth about someone tracking my phone signal.
“Just text him,” he whispered.
“I can’t. My phone isn’t working.”
He scrunched up his face. “Fine, I’ll do it. After I get you two off campus first,” he said as he opened the door slowly. “It’s clear.”
We ran to the girl’s locker room when I heard a scream. Phil froze. “What’s that?”
I looked at Sam. “They must have found Slide.”
“Slide?”
“Yeah. I’ll explain later,” I said. “We need a plan B. Quick.”
“Come on.” Phil ran to the gym doors and looked through the glass. “They’re busy. Let’s go.”
We slipped through the doors and rush-walked across the slick gym floor toward the back exit. Half the girls were running toward the girl’s locker room and the rest were gossiping on the volleyball court oblivious to us. Both coaches were missing. The unplanned diversion was a success.
“Won’t it sound an alarm?” I asked as we neared the exit.
“Maybe. We’ll see in a second.” Phil pushed in the handle on the door, and I held my breath. There was a click and the door opened. Silence followed. “Go.”
I rushed past him into the crisp dewy air. Sam ran behind me. The gravel crunched under our feet as we sprinted the length of the gym outside.
“Keep going,” Phil said from behind us.
Anxious to keep from being seen, I ran the fastest and reached the corner first, spotting Phil’s car.<
br />
“Here it—oof.” I plowed directly into a wall of a man dressed in black. He turned to me angered, then just smiled.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” he said with a twinkle in his green eyes.
Off balance, I tried to back up. I knew he had to be a cop from his gear. Instead of helping me, he merely grabbed me with one beefy arm and put his gloved hand over my mouth. Then he carried me effortlessly toward a running van in the parking lot and shoved me inside.
I fell flat on my face onto the filthy carpeted floor. The door slid shut and blanketed me in darkness. A scream escaped my lips, then the floor jerked underneath me and the van rumbled to life. I tumbled sideways, rolling into something soft. No, someone.
A muffled voice came from the form. Terrified, I slid away from the person and held onto the wall as the van turned erratically from left to right.
Blinking, my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and I searched to see the source of the moan. Was it someone I knew? A sliver of light crossed over the person’s face.
I gasped at the dark head of hair. “Mr. Cruor?” Duct tape covered his mouth and his hands were behind his back.
He nodded and pressed his cheek against his shoulder, catching the loose corner on his sleeve. I reached over and pulled the strip away. He yelped in pain.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Julia? Is that you?” The terror in his voice broke beaded sweat over my skin. “Quick. Untie my hands.”
I reached around him and undid the ropes with shaky hands.
“Where’s Donald?” he asked, hopeful.
“Uh…” The fact a seventeen-year-old girl knocked him out with her history book wasn’t news I wanted to share. “I don’t know.”
“You were supposed to leave with him. Why didn’t you leave?” He sat up and rubbed at his wrists, frantic.
“We couldn’t,” I lied. Regret rolled through me as I began to question everything. Why didn’t I just leave with Nicholas like we’d planned? I shivered as the reality we’d been taken settled into my bones. What were they going to do to us? To me?
“Who are they?”
Mr. Cruor turned around and tried to peel the black paper off the back window. “I don’t know, and I can’t pry off the film.”
Blood Wars: Book 4 (The Talisman Series) Page 12