“That was fun!” exclaimed Lucy as she wrung water out of her hair. Her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks were pink with the exercise. “I hadn’t swum in a long time.”
Reed looked up and stared at her incredulously. Fun?
Elijah caught her eye and grinned back. “Yeah, that was pretty great! We left a nice trail for them to follow all night.” His blue eyes were fairly dancing as the water ran over his face from the hair that hung in dripping spikes on his forehead.
“What I want to know,” said Gabe quietly, “is how they knew where we were.”
The others fell silent. He turned his dark stare upon Reed. “You wouldn’t happen to have any idea, would you?” The tone in his voice and the flicker in his eyes left no doubt about his meaning. It was an accusation.
“Gabe!” flashed Sarah. “We are not going to blame anyone! For all we know, one of us could have slipped up!”
But even as she spoke, Reed saw doubt in her face. She would not meet his eyes.
“Whatever happened, we can be sure it was unintentional,” added Wilson. Reed searched his face, but he looked down uncertainly.
“We need to move into the trees,” Alec urged them. “We’ll have to leave one at a time toward the south, and we can’t let them see us waiting when they get here.”
Reed, crushed as he felt, realized their plan. When the trackers arrived at the lake after following a dozen confusing trails for hours, they would reason that their quarry was hiding on the island. To reach them, they would need a boat, which would take even more time and a great deal of trouble. While the police were busy with that, the young people would slip away to the shore and make their way to the city, leaving trails easily confused with their previous tracks.
They all moved into the cover of the trees near the center of the island. One by one, over the next hour, they slipped silently away through the darkness.
* * *
Reed felt awful. Even though he knew he hadn’t done what Gabe accused him of, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was somehow responsible. He hadn’t defended himself. What could he say? Besides, he just wanted to get away, to hide.
As he trudged up the road toward the city, leaving the woods and the lake behind, he brooded over it all. He couldn’t be the one! He had taken the utmost care to make sure no one saw him leave the Dorms. All his tracks were covered. What had gone wrong? Could… could there be a spy involved?
Reed’s mind jumped back to the first shakedown, set off by the mysterious ringer. Gabe. That night, Reed had first suspected and even doubted. But now… now…
Could it be that Gabe had turned them all in himself and was trying to shift the blame to Reed? That might explain his agitation over the past week and all his inside knowledge. He hadn’t wanted Reed to be there, either; it might have thrown some sort of kink in his plans. It was a possibility—dark, but still a possibility.
Reed finally arrived back at the Hill. His clothes, which he had wrung out in the woods, were wrinkled but dry from the long walk. Hopefully, no one would suspect where he had been.
Not a soul was in sight. It must be later than he thought, perhaps even past curfew. He neared his dorm and reached into his pocket for his ID card. It was gone.
With growing alarm, he searched his pockets. It wasn’t in any of them. Now that he thought about it, it had not been on him when he squeezed out his clothes in the woods. He must have lost it in the lake. He tried the door in desperation. Locked, as expected. The new card reader flashed at him tauntingly from the door frame. Now what?
He turned his back on the door and glanced around. His eyes fell on the spruce tree growing close by the wall. He was at the dorm’s back entrance. The night of the first shakedown leaped out of his memory, and he suddenly remembered Alec describing a way to climb up to the roof of the building. This tree was where he could begin. He looked up at the dark spire towering into the night sky. It appeared to be his only option.
Quickly, he pulled himself into the lower branches and clambered up through the limbs until he reached the maintenance ladder. This was where it got tricky. He licked his lips. With a hair-raising jump, he threw himself against the flat brick wall and barely caught the left side of the ladder. He swung for a moment, trying not to look down. Then, pulling his feet under him onto the bottom rung, he climbed up to the roof.
It was flat, as Alec had said, and easy to walk on. Reed crept along the edge until he saw the tree that stood outside his window, the young leaves and slender branches a shadowy tangle in the darkness. Reed stopped. Now for the worst part. He gritted his teeth. Slowly, he turned around and lowered himself off the edge into the dizzying black space. Down, down he went until he was almost out of arm length. He shut his eyes and felt desperately with his feet. There, he found the brick edging around the window. With a rush of relief, he dropped onto it. The light was on, but the room was empty.
Reed got his fingers into the corners of the window frame and pushed to open it. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. The window was locked. Reed cursed his luck and would have stamped his foot if he hadn’t been so narrowly balanced. Of all the nights for Reagan to shut the always-open window! Now what?
He turned himself around slowly on the narrow edging and looked down. Past his feet, the Square yawned up at him over thirty feet below. He gulped and lifted his eyes quickly. A branch stabbed his cheek. He pushed it aside and then stopped. Right in front of him, he could see the dim trunk of the tree that shaded the window. Alec had said it was possible to jump to that tree from this window. Reed licked his lips again. There was nothing else to do. He couldn’t make it back up onto the roof tonight. Gathering all the nerve he had (and a little more), he hurled himself from the window into the branches.
He found the trunk more easily than expected, perhaps too easily and a little harder on his face than he would have liked, but he was safe. Sliding down the tree, he dropped to the ground and dusted off his hands.
A sound caught his ear. He froze. Someone was coming. He slipped into the shadow of the tree and waited. A figure appeared out of the darkness. It was Alec, who was supposed to have left the island directly after Reed. He was cutting across the Square toward his dorm, passing very near the tree where Reed flattened himself.
Hope flashed upon him. Alec had promised Reed could come to him anytime for anything. Maybe he would remember that now. But then again, maybe he wouldn’t. Reed had just been labeled a traitor. It was still worth a try.
“Psst!” he hissed, stepping out of the shadows. Alec tensed and spun on him in a stance that would have made the late gunner tremble in recollection.
“Whoa!” Reed held up his hands. “It’s me. I lost my key and can’t get in.”
Alec relaxed. “Oh, sorry. Did you try the window?”
Reed nodded. “Locked.”
“Shoot. Well, my card’s kinda wet, but it might work on your dorm. Let’s try it.”
Relief washed over Reed. Alec was going to help him. They moved to the entrance of the dorm, and Alec inserted his key. The light turned green. The door swung open without a noise. It was too easy.
Reed stepped inside. “Thanks, Lick,” he whispered gratefully, using Alec’s nickname in the group. “I won’t forget this.”
“No problem,” said Alec, turning to leave. “Just returning the favor. Oh, and Reed, about what Gabe said: forget it. I don’t believe it for a second.”
Reed’s gratitude overflowed. “Thanks a lot. It wasn’t me, I promise!”
Alec nodded. “I believe you. G’night.”
As he climbed the stairs, Reed felt lighter than he had the entire trip back. Alec believed him. Never had three words meant so much.
Chapter 28
“You lost it?” Reagan stared over the screen of his computer. “You lost your ID card? How on earth did you manage that?”
“It wasn’t too hard,” said Reed lightly, beginning to wish he hadn’t said anything about it. “I didn’t even have to try really.�
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Reagan had asked no questions the night before when he had come in from his shower to find Reed back in the room. But the next day, between applying for a new key and washing his wrinkled clothes, Reed had been forced to do some explaining. “It’s not like it’s that serious,” he continued, shaking out a shirt. “Michael was awesome about it, and I’m supposed to get my new one sometime tonight.”
“Michael’s always awesome,” retorted Reagan. “I just hope nobody finds your old one and steals your identity.”
Reed agreed and focused busily on his shelf space. He was busy rearranging his closet, putting his winter coats and jackets into storage to make room for warm-weather clothes. “I’ll keep the blue Henley out for now,” he murmured to himself, “And the green…”
“Have you seen Allie lately?” Reagan asked abruptly.
Reed stopped in his sorting, the blue Henley half-folded in his hands. “What?”
“I said, have you seen Allie lately.”
“Umm… yeah, around,” Reed said. “Enough to know she’s all right. What brought that up?” He resumed his folding.
“Nothing.” Reagan shrugged, leaning back in his chair to watch Reed. “It’s kinda my hobby to know about these things. I was just wondering. Why haven’t you?”
Reed really didn’t want to talk about it. He shook out the shirt in his hand, forgetting it was the same one he had just folded. “Everything’s been so mixed up and crazy lately I just haven’t had… well, and she’s kinda busy and... you know.”
“No, I don’t,” said Reagan, crossing his arms. “Did you break up?”
“No,” Reed said quickly. “I’ve just been unsure about things and… thinking.” He avoided Reagan’s stare in the silence that followed.
“You’ve been talking to Elijah, haven’t you?”
Reed almost dropped his load of clothes. “What? Why would you say that?”
“Come on, bro, I lived with him for months. Trust me, we had a lot of… chats. This has his fingerprints all over it. Hot girl digs you, starts making moves, and you suddenly get cold feet. There’s only one explanation.” Reagan leaned forward and put his folded arms on the desk. “He’s trying to talk you out of it, isn’t he? He probably gave you the whole spiel.”
“Umm… which one?”
“The whole ‘save it and be careful’ one, of course! I heard that one a lot right before he left.”
“You mean he preached at you?” Reed could hardly imagine that coming from Elijah. He righted the tumbled stack of laundry.
“Well, he didn’t do all the talking. When you live the way I do and he lives the way he does, it’s bound to come up.”
“So you don’t agree with him.”
Reagan snorted. “Of course not! We couldn’t be more opposite. Let me guess: he told you that what you were doing wouldn’t satisfy you and you would eventually end up unhappy, looking for more?”
Reed nodded, a half-folded pair of jeans in his hands.
Reagan sat back and threw out his arms. “There’s your problem! He’s got the wrong idea about happiness because he thinks it’s secondary. He says you shouldn’t do things that make you happy just because they’re not the ‘best’ thing, but he’s got it backward. Everybody knows what’s best for you is whatever makes you happy. But he doesn’t get that, probably because of his background. He doesn’t understand it like we do.”
Reed stopped his sorting and focused all his attention on Reagan. “You mean…”
“I mean what we’ve seen—our families. Elijah’s the type that had a perfect home growing up, sees the world as sunshine and roses, and thinks we’ll all live happily ever after if we act like it’s the 1950s. But that’s not how life works, is it, Reed?”
Reed looked away and said nothing.
“That’s what I thought.” Reagan leaned back in his chair. “Elijah can preach all he wants, but me and you know life isn’t a fairy tale with a perfect princess and a happy ending. We have to take what we can get when we can get it because that’s all there is. There’s no pie in the sky at the end of the day, so date whoever the frick you want to, Reed. If a girl makes you happy, do it.”
The door opened without warning, and Michael stepped in. “Hey, guys,” he said cheerfully. “How’re the Rockin’ Rs today?”
“Rocking, as usual,” answered Reagan, suddenly occupied with his computer. “Did we do something?”
“Nope, I just came to drop off the new ID card. Here you go.” The RD tossed the card to Reed. “It should be just like your old one. Try to take care of it. Director Connors was not happy about making a new one.”
Reed gulped and nodded. “Sure. Thanks a lot.”
The door opened again. This time it was Riley, the damp towel around his waist proclaiming him to be fresh from the shower. He wasn’t expecting to see Michael.
“Umm… hi.”
“I was just leaving.” Michael grinned and eyed the towel as he moved toward the door. “I stopped in to give Reed his new ID card. You guys make sure he doesn’t lose it again.” He paused at the doorway. “Oh, and Riley, the Director doesn’t allow spending the night in other dorms, even if it’s with another male. I’ve let it go, but he caught wind of it and was not happy. He said it’s a warning this time, but it might be worse later. Let’s not find out.” And he was gone.
Riley hurled his towel against the bed in disgust. “Connors! That’s none of his business! Why can’t people just let me do my own thing?” He scowled as he began to jerk on his clothes. “I hate judgmental people.”
“You and me both,” smirked Reagan. “They don’t seem to leave us alone. If he knew what you were doing over there, Connors might’ve had something else to say.”
“That’s none of his business either,” Riley retorted, slipping on his shirt. “If he ever brings that up, I’ll get…”
“You need to get your mind off it,” Reagan said easily. “Speaking of judgmental, we were having an interesting chat before Michael came in. I bet you remember all those long talks we used to have with ’Lijah, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Riley answered, dropping onto his bed, “and my view hasn’t changed any.”
“You didn’t agree with him either?” queried Reed.
“Heck, no! He had a bunch of old-fashioned, judgmental ideas and thought everybody had to be like him or they were wrong.” Riley pushed himself up onto one elbow. “It was the absolute worst. He thought people should deny who they are and what they want just to meet his standards, like his were better than anybody else’s. He said it was more important to do what was ‘right’ than what made you happy, but everybody knows what’s really best for you is whatever makes you happy.”
Reagan nodded sagely. “That sounds like something a wise man would say.”
“Thanks, I try,” Riley returned, dropping back onto his pillow. “But what brought all this up again?”
“’Lijah’s trying to talk Reed out of dating Allie.”
“Not exactly,” countered Reed as Riley’s eyebrows shot up. “He made me think.”
“Well, now you’ve got something to make him think next time you see him,” Reagan said. “Maybe he’ll take it better from you than from us.”
Reed turned back to his neglected sorting. Last night had changed a lot of things. Alec believed in him, but he was only one out of a dozen. “I don’t know if I’ll be seeing him again anytime soon,” he said quietly.
Maybe never again.
Chapter 29
Reed didn’t see anyone from the group for a while. Their paths didn’t cross around the Dorms, and he made no effort to seek them out. Nathan, whom he would have seen around the belt at the factory, had been promoted and had left the packing room. Lucy was still the receptionist, but Reed came and went only when the crowd was thickest. He couldn’t hide the truth, even from himself. He was avoiding them.
Reed, like anyone, had pride. It stung to be suspected, and it would be even worse if he went back as if nothing had happe
ned. He wouldn’t plead his innocence like a naughty child, and he certainly wouldn’t live under the stain of their accusation.
But there was something else wrong, too. To be suspected by friends, to have trust broken, was a painful thing. It hurt that they would even consider him that dishonorable, as if he was capable of betrayal. What’s worse, the knife cut both ways. They had opened their circle to him, taken him in, welcomed him as a friend and, as far as they were concerned, he had stabbed them in the back.
With this on his conscience, Reed threw himself into the swirl of Dorm life like never before. Nothing was too wild or overdone. Even Reagan commented on the new Reed. “Dude, you’ve never been so much fun! I might have to try to keep up with you!”
Reed laughed and said that wouldn’t take much since Reagan had taught him everything he knew; but inside, his laughter rang hollow.
For the rest of the Hill, however, life had never looked so good. Despite all the delays, the eagerly awaited rec center finally opened. The building was everything it had been made out to be. The highest quality volleyball, basketball, and racquetball courts; enormous weight rooms with top-of-the-line equipment; the highest climbing wall in the state; an arcade and lounge; an indoor track; a four-screen cinema; a production stage and auditorium; a full food court; and even a huge indoor swimming pool were only some of the delights it offered. For the first few days, most of the teens wandered through the maze of rooms, open-mouthed. But, as the awe wore off, it turned into a popular part of everyday life. As soon as each workday ended, the complex filled with eager teenagers who stayed late, often until curfew and the RDs pushed them out.
Reed fell in love with the new building. He discovered that he liked bowling, he was a good ice-skater, and he could outshoot anybody on his hall in Eight Ball. The center became a haven for him when he needed to get out of his room or away from his thoughts. But, even in the colossal building, he couldn’t completely escape his troubles. They had a way of popping up again when he least expected them.
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