Raise the Stakes

by Megan Atwood

  It was up to the four of them to make sure that plan failed.

  *****

  Colin went to the bathroom in the library, where he figured the Benefactor’s spies couldn’t see him. Carefully, he opened the envelope for James. What he read was almost as chilling as his own tasks.

  James was supposed to break into SolarStar—into the office of Jennifer McKnight—and steal a file called EarthWatch Project Proposal. That was probably the same proposal Colin had heard Jennifer McKnight talking about on Monday afternoon. We only have one printout of the proposal, she’d said. Should I just keep it in my file cabinet? Colin wondered if the bug he’d had in his pocket had picked up those words. If so, he’d been more useful to the Benefactor than he’d realized.

  They were also in a lot more trouble than he’d realized. James was about to steal something, and they were all going to get framed for it. Of course, they were also all going to be dead.

  We’ll see about that. Gritting his teeth, Colin put the letter back in the envelope.

  He went back out to the computer terminals and emailed Maiv to tell her about his last three tasks. He ended the message by saying, I agree that we have to play along until the last possible minute. But once we’re all together in the van, I think we should go rogue. Drive somewhere far away from the river, give the Benefactor the slip, and then come up with a plan to take them down.

  He sent Ana a shorter email, giving her the same gist. By the time he’d grabbed some lunch from a nearby coffee shop and returned to the computers again, Maiv had responded. My thoughts exactly.

  CHAPTER 16

  Back at the motel, Colin found his mom sitting on the bed, staring off into space. Danni was pacing and frowning at her phone. Then she looked up and aimed the frown at Colin. “Decided to join us for a while?”

  Colin fought back the urge to tell them everything. He couldn’t. It would only put them in more danger. For all he knew, the Benefactor had bugged this motel room somehow. Instead he’d say the words he’d been turning over in his head all day.

  He walked over to the bed and sat down next to his mom.

  “I’m really sorry about the way I keep disappearing. I promise, I don’t like it any more than you do. But things are going to be . . . weird for a while. I’m doing my best to work it out.”

  His mom kept staring off into space.

  Danni crossed her arms. “Something serious is going on with you, brother, isn’t it? You’ve got to level with us here.”

  “I just did.”

  “Yeah, like that little speech was supposed to make us less worried?”

  Colin looked at Danni—at the healing black eye and the determined, defiantly honest face behind it. “I love you, Danni.”

  Danni threw up her hands in disgust. “Well, that didn’t help at all. Now I’m terrified.”

  She stormed over to the door. “I’m going out for groceries, Mom. Back in twenty.” Colin closed his eyes and hoped it wouldn’t be the last time he saw his sister.

  *****

  Colin went into the bathroom and took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Leaving his mom right now, leaving Danni, when their business was about to go under, when he’d let them down in so many ways . . . But he had no choice.

  He tore a few pages out of Maiv’s tiny notebook and started writing. He had to finish this up. It was his fault the business had burned. It was up to him to fix it. He put the letter under the towels that sat above the toilet. That way no one would see it right away.

  Coming out of the bathroom, he said, “I’m going out again for a while, Mom.” She smiled at him—a faraway, sad smile. “OK, honey.”

  With one last look at her, he left.

  He’d be back. And they would rebuild the store. And he’d make sure Danni could have the surgery. And they’d forgive him, once they knew the whole story. They’d understand.

  Tears streamed down his face as he walked down the motel hallway.

  CHAPTER 17

  Downtown was eerie in the middle of the night. Colin walked toward James, who was standing in front of SolarStar’s building, looking nervous. Colin desperately wanted to say something to him. But he couldn’t risk it. The Benefactor might have cameras or spies nearby. Instead he brushed past James, bumping into him slightly, and slipped the enveloped into James’s pocket. “Sorry,” he muttered and kept walking.

  He circled the block and came back around to the van to wait for the others. He got into the driver’s seat and leaned back.

  Suddenly, the passenger door flew open. Colin screamed.

  It was Maiv.

  And she was trying hard not to laugh.

  Colin started laughing too. “I mean, can you blame me for being a little jumpy?”

  Maiv climbed in and stowed her backpack under the front seat. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Maiv.” She looked at Colin with big eyes, and he understood. The van was probably bugged. The Benefactor couldn’t find out that they’d met already.

  He cleared his throat. “Colin.”

  Then Ana’s face appeared in the passenger window. Maiv flinched in surprise, which made Colin want to smile. He wasn’t the only one on edge.

  Maiv opened the door and put her finger to her lips. Ana nodded knowingly. “Is this the van I’m supposed to get in?”

  “Yes,” said Colin. “I’m supposed to pick up three people.”

  Maiv stepped out of the van. “I need to stretch my legs.”

  Brilliant. “Me too,” said Colin.

  The three of them walked about ten feet away from the van. Then Ana whispered to Maiv, “So you know who the Benefactor is?”

  Colin did a double-take. Maiv had figured it out? And she hadn’t told him?

  “I suspect I know,” said Maiv. “But I need to see how everything plays out tonight. And then we have to find proof.”

  “Yeah,” said Ana. “Do either of you know what James is doing in there?”

  “Stealing some sort of file—a project proposal,” Colin told her.

  “And I’m guessing that file contains a physical copy of the schematics,” said Maiv. “The electronic copies are probably ruined by now.”

  Now Colin was confused again. He’d suspected everything was tied to SolarStar’s project with Huffmann Industries. But had Maiv found some actual details about that project? “Now you’ve lost me. What schematics?”

  But Ana wasn’t paying attention to him. “You mean they only have one hard copy and one electronic file?” she asked Maiv. “That seems weird.”

  Maiv shrugged. “This is technology all pretty brand-new and super secret, so I don’t think they’re sharing it with anyone. Not even over email. Too many security risks.”

  Colin threw his hands up. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”

  Ana said, “All we know for sure is that James just walked into SolarStar with a gun and instructions to steal something.”

  Maiv’s eyes went wide. “He has a gun?”

  And that was when they heard the sirens in the distance.

  “Crap,” said Colin, “that’s probably the police.” Icicles shot up his spine, and the sweat started.

  “Ana, wait!” Maiv shouted, but Ana was already running toward the SolarStar building.

  “Start the van!” Ana called over her shoulder.

  Colin put his hands on his head—felt the sweat slide from his skin to his hair. “Should we go after her?”

  Maiv’s face was pale and her eyes were huge. “No, then we’ll all get arrested if the police show up before we can get away. Let’s just do what Ana asked—get in the van and wait for them to come back.”

  Colin nodded grimly. “If they come back.”

  CHAPTER 18

  As they headed back toward the van, Colin whispered, “So who is it? Who’s the Benefactor?”

  “I’ll tell you my theory when we’re all together,” Maiv replied.

  “And what about this EarthWatch project thing? Is this the thing that
SolarStar and Huffmann Industries are working on together?”

  “Shh. Wait here—I’ll be right back.”

  “What? You said we should stay with the van—”

  “I just thought of something! Two seconds.”

  Maiv gestured for him to get into the van. He groaned in frustration as she ran off.

  Exactly seventy-eight seconds later—he was counting in his head—she was back, panting, holding a small, dark, familiar object.

  “Don’t tell me that’s—”

  Maiv nodded. “The gun. I saw James earlier, on my way over here. He was throwing something into a garbage can. I didn’t think much of it until Ana said she’d given him a gun.”

  Colin stepped back. “Is it loaded?”

  “No. I checked. But it’s got James’s fingerprints all over it and Ana’s.”

  “And mine,” said Colin. “I’m the one who bought it.”

  Maiv nodded. “So we don’t want the police to find it. Not until we can explain all this somehow. Now come on, you were supposed to start the van!”

  “I know—it’s just creepy sitting in there all by myself.” Colin opened the passenger door for her.

  “A gentleman, I see,” said Maiv with a small smile as she got in. Colin blinked. Did that count as flirting? Or had he imagined it?

  No time to think about it now. He got into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and rolled down his window so he could hear better. The sirens were very close now. He ran his slick palms along the steering wheel. He didn’t want to abandon the other two, but what if he had to? If it was a choice between driving away and going to jail . . .

  Suddenly Ana and James appeared, both out of breath.

  Colin heard James say, “Whoa. Ana? That’s you, right?”

  Colin leaned out his open window. “No time, dude. Get in.”

  It only took another ten seconds to convince James that he could trust the three of them. With James and Ana safely in the back, Colin stepped on the gas.

  No one spoke, but he could feel everyone’s resolve.

  They would find this Benefactor. And they would make him pay.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Megan Atwood lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she teaches creative writing at a local college and the Loft Literary Center. She has an MFA in writing for children and young adults and was a 2009 Artist Initiative grant recipient through the Minnesota State Arts Board. She has been published in literary and academic journals and has the best cat that has ever lived.