I lost her at “Miles’ room.” My mind reels—his injured foot, the extended visit, the overall sullenness…Why didn’t I see it earlier? Now everything makes perfect sense.
My dad is trying to kill Miles.
Covering my mouth to hide a sudden sob, I take a few steps back from the body. Poor Noelle, yet another victim of Dad’s twisted plots. There’s only one thing that could be more important to my father than Radiasure, and that’s making sure no one can challenge his power. Of course he wouldn’t let Miles live now that he can replicate the mind controlling scent. Just how many times has he tried to kill my brother? My gut says this isn’t the first.
“Fiona?” Spud’s voice floats into my mind. “You can go inside if this is making you sick. My people will be here to clean up in a couple minutes.”
“Your people?”
She nods. “They don’t know who I am, but they pretty much worship me and would do anything to be associated with me. May as well take advantage.”
Our front door slams, and soon Mom and Miles appear in the driveway. Mom must have heard my call before I hung up. Spud stands and takes off her head mask. Her black hair tumbles out and brushes at her shoulders, and her big smile is beyond stunning. She waves excitedly at my brother. “Hey, baby!”
Miles does not seem to share her enthusiasm. His eyes are filled with horror as he takes her in. “Lee Seol…what’re you doing here?”
She pouts, pointing to the body. “She went off grid. Excuse me for making sure you didn’t die tonight.”
“What?” Mom says in a high-pitched tone.
Miles pinches the bridge of his nose, and then Spud—who apparently has an actual name—puts her hands on her hips. “Oh for serious? You didn’t tell them yet? You said you would!”
“I couldn’t find the right time!” Miles cringes at the body still in the road. “Maybe we should go inside before you keep yelling at me?”
“Fine.” Spud tromps to the door like she owns the place, and I get the sense that this kind of confidence is normal for her. Just as I’m about to go inside, a black van breaks in front of our house. A group of masked men get out, put the body in the back, and clean the street. I wish I could do more for Noelle—give her a proper funeral—but I can’t, so I shut the door.
“…Could you not tell us? We’re supposed to stick together. We can’t do that if you’re keeping assassination attempts a secret!” Mom already tears into Miles, while Spud taps her foot furiously.
“I wanted you and Fiona to have a normal life for once,” Miles says quietly, like he knows he can’t escape the lecture. “Is that so horrible?”
Mom grabs him by the shoulders. “Yes. You dying is horrible. I don’t want normal if you’re dead.”
“Me neither,” I say.
Spud gives him a steely look. “Told you.”
He sighs. “Graham and I were doing fine for a long time—it’s only gotten bad recently.”
This doesn’t quell Mom’s anger. “Graham knew?”
“Ugh,” I say. “That’s why you took him back to Tucson with you so easily. He was your backup. You guys expected this to happen!” Stupid brothers. I should smack them both.
“So they’ve been after you since you left?” Mom asks.
“Pretty much.” Spud sits on the couch, typing again. “And after that hack I did for the Radiasure info, the O’Connell syndicate has gone crazy old school. No cell phones. Hardly a blip of computer use. I’ve had to hack security cameras, radios, and other peripheral devices just to get anything on these chicks. It’s pissing me off. Why does it have to be so hard to keep my boyfriend alive?”
So that’s what she’s been busy with. Not running from my dad herself, but watching out for Miles.
“I’m sorry, okay? I honestly did think I could handle it.” Miles sits next to Spud, scoops her up and kisses her even though now is so not the time. I figure I should cut him some slack, since they rarely see each other.
“When did it get bad?” Mom asks, not seeming to mind the sight of them together.
“About three weeks ago.” Miles doesn’t take his eyes off Spud, as if he can’t believe she’s in the same room as him. “Lee Seol has a real database of syndicate-affiliated people: their pictures, names, abilities, what type of illegal work they do most. But that’s not the best part—she’s made a program that can identify their faces on any camera she can hack into.”
She smiles mischievously. “I made that when I was like ten. Comes in handy when everyone’s out to get you. Literally.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re way too proud of that. Anyway, the program sends her warnings when questionable people are spotted in places within a certain radius of her…or anyone else she decides to watch out for.”
“Like my annoyingly self-sacrificing boyfriend.” She snuggles into him, and I have to resist the urge to ask how in the world they got together. Because it’s way too late already and I have a big day tomorrow. After what I just saw, sleeping is the closest I can get to blacking out and forgetting.
“So your program flagged people in Tucson?” Mom asks.
“Further than that—I have visuals in every airport in the U.S. I’d catch them flying into Phoenix at first. It was easy to scare them off with enough time to prepare…” Spud scowls, and it’s kind of scary how such a tiny girl can look so mean. “But then they changed tactics, going by road, and I’d catch them at gas stations. They started getting into Tucson, and I’d have to warn Miles each time.”
“Graham and I were usually able to shake them off,” Miles continues. “But then Lee Seol was sending warnings every day, then every hour—they were closing in on us, so we had to leave. We hoped they wouldn’t follow us here, but looks like Dad’s broken the deal entirely now.”
“Well that didn’t take long.” I collapse onto the floor, unable to maintain an upright position with all this information pounding me. “What’re we supposed to do about this?”
The front door unlocking makes us all jump after what just happened. Spud looks at her device, which must be some kind of custom smartphone. “It’s Graham. Good.”
Sure enough, Graham floats through the door. He looks confused as he takes us in, but then he seems to put the pieces together. “This must be the infamous Spud, which means something bad happened tonight and everyone finally knows what’s up.”
“Yup.” Miles eyes Graham. “And where the hell were you for so long?”
“With Allie. She came to visit me, got a hotel room in Saguro for the weekend since there’s not much room here.”
Miles raises an eyebrow. “And you didn’t stay the night with her?”
“I came back to get a few things.” He glances at Spud, then back to Miles. “Or do you want me to stay in the guest room with you? Do you need an extra guard?”
Miles shakes his head rapidly. “Nope! We’re good.”
I groan, not wanting to think of my brothers and their girlfriends and—gross. “Please stop now.”
“Yes.” Mom seems as squirmy as I am. “If we’re safe for now, I think we should all get some rest before the sun comes up.”
“Safe as far as I can see,” Spud says as she looks at her screen. “Of course, I can’t account for Juan’s dudes in the area, but the O’Connell syndicate isn’t here.”
“Good enough for me.” I pull myself off the floor, ready for bed. But when I get there, my mind won’t shut off like my body has. Because if Graham knew about Dad going after Miles and helped protect him, how can I possibly believe he’s spying on us for the syndicate? Which means there’s only one person I suspect, and if I’m right I don’t know how Seth will handle it.
Chapter 24
I wake up sore and grouchy and wishing I could get the images of Noelle’s dead body out of my head. That’s why, when I drag myself out of bed, I determine to do something I haven’t done in years. Because I need to feel real and capable and maybe this will help. Mom’s downstairs messing around in the kitchen, so I sne
ak to her bathroom and scoop up an armful of her makeup. Then I run to my room and lock the door.
Staring at the foundation, blush, mascara, and more doesn’t have the effect I want. All I can remember is the last time I put this stuff on, and how awful Graham made me feel about it.
I was twelve, and when everyone went out on Friday nights they’d keep me locked in the penthouse where I was “safe.” So I did what any girl would have done—I turned on musicals, ate whatever I wanted, dressed up in my mother’s fancy clothes, and slathered my face in makeup.
It never lasted long, fading as my skin absorbed the color. And it looked weird because I still didn’t have hair or eyes. But for a girl who doesn’t know what she looks like, it was just enough to keep me going.
One night, Graham and Miles came home early from some party and found me dressed up. Graham burst out laughing. “You think you look like a person in that stuff? Don’t kid yourself—you look like an invisible girl trying to be something she isn’t.”
Tears ran down my face as I rushed to my room, filled with shame. When I looked in my mirror, I saw Graham was right. My tears had streaked the fading makeup, turning me into a pretty disturbing ghost-like creature. It was then that I realized makeup wouldn’t show me my face, not really. So I never put it on again.
My hand shakes as I reach for the foundation. Screw Graham—I want to see myself today, and this is the best I have. Opening the cap, I pour the creamy color into my palm, where it seems to float in the air. I dip my fingers into it and begin spreading it over my face. It makes my heart race, seeing my features come into view bit by bit. A soft jawline, cheekbones, my button nose. I even put it on my lips so I can see how full they are.
I stand there, staring at this person I don’t know in the mirror. This face doesn’t look like the one I had at twelve. It has more angles and less round cheek. I try to see what Seth sees when he looks at me—imagining my golden hair and hazel eyes to go with this muddy mask in front of me.
Don’t see it.
Grabbing the lipstick, I use it generously in hopes that maybe it’ll make this flat image more realistic. It does a decent job, so I add blush and eye shadow and pretend this is enough.
But it’s not.
I head to my closet in hopes of covering all the still-invisible parts of me. I put on a long sleeve shirt, gloves, tight pants, and sunglasses to hide my hollow eyes. As I stuff the beanie on my head, I look in my long mirror.
The makeup is already fading, but I try to take myself in. Maybe I do look like Mom. Maybe Seth isn’t over exaggerating when he says I’m beautiful. Or maybe this is all stupid. It does feel fake, even without Graham here laughing at me. I pull the hat off and throw it on the ground. Then the gloves and shirt and—
Someone knocks on my door.
“Fiona?” Seth’s voice is muffled through the wood.
My face burns. He better not be looking through. “One sec! I’m not dressed!”
“Sorry for just showing up—you didn’t answer your phone. I was worried something happened,” he says as I run for my bathroom to scrub my skin. I don’t even want to know what he’d say to seeing me with makeup on.
“It’s okay!” I call, though I do find it slightly annoying. After I throw on a dress, I open the door with a smile. “Good morning.”
He gives me a suspicious look. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He comes in, and I shut the door behind him.
“That smile was the fakest thing I’ve ever seen your face do.”
He might be right, but I still find this statement offensive. “Do I have to tell you everything?”
This was clearly not the right thing to say, because Seth now looks like a wounded puppy. “Don’t you want to tell me everything? I like that I can tell you anything.”
I look away, unsure about whether I should feel bad or not. “Every time I tell you about wanting to see myself, you don’t understand. So why bother?”
Seth purses his lips, but says nothing.
Wrapping my arms around my stomach, I try to keep it together. This fighting thing is getting out of control, but I can’t seem to reel it back in. “That’s not important right now anyway…”
“It isn’t?” His voice cracks, and I know I’ve done something really wrong.
I can’t deal with this on top of everything else. “My dad is trying to have Miles murdered, and it would’ve happened last night if Spud didn’t show up.”
He tries not to be interested, but he is. “So that girl downstairs…Miles said her name was Lee Seol, but that’s Spud?”
I nod.
“Whoa.”
“Don’t tell anyone. Not even Brady. Miles will probably be pissed I even told you.”
“Of course I won’t.” He scratches his head, the information seeming to quell whatever issues we have. “So does this mean she’s, like, going to help us now?”
“I have no idea.” I grab my checkerboard bag from its peg and sling it over my shoulder. “I wanted to ask her at first, but she’s already working so hard to keep Miles safe. How can I demand more than that?”
He nods. “Good point.”
“So are we looking into your dad today?” I ask, since we’re finally on to business. Business is so much easier. “If so, I figure we should check his office.”
Seth gives me the smallest smirk. “You read my mind.”
The Mitchell Construction office is in an old strip mall that also houses a laundromat, tax place, and the one dentist in Madison. Pretty much the worst combo of businesses ever. But though I know where it is, I’ve never actually been inside. For some reason I was picturing something a lot nicer than the one room filled to the brim with files and blueprints.
“Wow,” I say as I take in the mess.
“I know.” Seth goes to a desk buried in paper. “And this is actually pretty clean. My dad is supposed to keep up with the finances, but Alejandro usually gets slammed with it all. He should probably own the place.”
“Are they out on a job?” I can’t help but notice that Alejandro’s desk is the one organized spot in the whole room.
“Yeah. They only come here for scheduled consultations, paperwork, or designing.” Seth is already digging through the files, organizing like this isn’t his first time.
“So what are we looking for?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I’ve come here plenty of times, and I know the numbers better than my dad. So I guess I don’t really know. Something that seems off?”
“Okay…” I help him go through the papers, which all seem to be money related: supply orders, estimates for customers, final payments needed, etc. A few hours go by in this mind-numbing boredom. I get us some vending machine candy from the laundromat. We start scouring the computer files.
A little past two, Seth finally leans back, clearly frustrated. “There’s nothing! I’ve seen these accounts a million times and they’re the same as ever.”
“Hmm.” I start reading the spines of binders on the shelves, all of which are labeled with years going back to before I was born. All the way back to the 1940s, in fact. This sparks my curiosity. I pull out the oldest one, labeled 1945. “Your family has been building houses around here since before Radiasure?”
He nods. “My great grandfather started the company when he got back from the war. Why?”
“So did they help build Radison before it was blown to bits?” My heart pounds at the thought. Maybe Seth’s father does know more than he lets on.
Seth pauses, the gears turning in his head. “I…don’t know. My grandpa died before we were born, and you know how my dad is about the past. It’s not something I ever thought to ask, but it makes sense that they would have, right? At least if he lived in this area at the time.”
“Miles said Madison didn’t even exist until after the drug wars, so yeah.” I open the binder, suddenly curious to see what the Mitchells were building in 1945. “There’s nothing here.”
“What?” Seth comes to get
a closer look, as if I can’t tell the few yellowed papers are blank. “I never thought to look at these. I was always looking for money that didn’t belong. And of course hiding places for drugs, which I always find. Why do you always show me answers I’ve missed for years?”
“No clue.” I go for the next year and the next. Those are empty, too. Something about seeing nothing in these binders makes me uneasy. “Seth, if there was nothing to put in these binders, then why have them?”
He nods slowly. “I know where you’re going with this. The information has been removed, which is suspicious. But the most logical answer is that it was confiscated after Radison was destroyed…”
“What?” I don’t like the angry expression he’s giving off.
“Think, Fi—who would have taken these? Would they have destroyed them or would they have kept them?”
It clicks. “Ohhh, shit, you think the Army…?”
He drops the empty binder on the desk and puts his head in his hands. “I don’t know what I’m thinking, but it sure seems like Major Norton has had me targeted from day one. Maybe there’s no coincidence at all—maybe he’s worried we know stuff about the old city.”
I can’t seem to get enough air. It’s not impossible. The Army clearly has some kind of intel about the factory. For years no one ever thought to dig it up, and that’s the first thing they started to do. They must have known. Maybe they even have the blueprints. “You think your family helped with the factory?”
“No idea.” He leans on the desk, wincing at what I’m sure is another headache from his glitching vision. I want to reach out to him, comfort him, but I still have no idea where we stand. “But this doesn’t make my dad look innocent by any means. For all I know, he could be selling info to whoever wants to pay.”
“Maybe…but then where’s the money?”
“In his veins.” Seth’s voice is cold.
“He couldn’t have spent that much on drugs. That kind of info would come with a huge payoff. He’d have to have a whole room full of painkillers.” I purse my lips, the wheels turning but getting nowhere. “Something is beyond fishy.”
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