by Jessica Kapp
“It’s true,” Gavin says.
“W-why?” Questions flood my brain faster than my mouth can move.
“The most popular drugs are made with Chemical 31.” Gavin turns to me. “You said it was on your form, so I looked into it. Turns out you have a mutated gene that allows you to process it. Something only redheads have.” His throat clicks when he swallows. “Kenny put a tracker in you because he knew PharmPerfect would want you back. They can replace Paige and Mary. Even Parker.” When Gavin glances at him, Parker widens his stance. His eyes come back to me, landing so heavily my chest hurts. “But you’re different. Pills go in and your body keeps functioning.”
“I-I don’t understand…” I step back, distancing myself from what Gavin is saying.
Sasha, Mary, and Adrian have disappeared to the basement. Paige is off to the side, her hand over her mouth. I have to fight to keep my knees from buckling.
“Your body reacts differently. That’s why they took you to the hospital and not the Flat House. They don’t just want to put drugs in you. They need a sterile environment to replicate what your body creates naturally,” Gavin says.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” My anger surges and blood roars in my ears.
“I wanted to be sure.” His eyes lock with mine, and for the first time today, I notice the dark circles underneath. I hope guilt’s been keeping him awake. “Kenny is looking for a way to be the golden boy again. I’m sure he’s covered his trail so we take the fall. All he wants is to make his dad proud by bringing you back.”
That must be why he acted so weird at Paige’s rescue. He didn’t want someone else to catch me first. I clutch my side.
Gavin steps closer. “You’re a drug company’s dream come true.”
“Whose side are you on?” Parker yells from behind me.
“Hers, of course!” Gavin looks crushed, but I don’t care right now. He reaches for my hand, and I jerk it away. “I would have told you sooner, but I had to be certain.”
“It’s my life, Gavin. Don’t you think I had a right to know what was going on, even if it’s just a hunch?” I turn on my heels and head for the forest before my tears can escape.
Parker calls out to me, and I run faster. He isn’t as quick and doesn’t know these woods yet. There are plenty of paths that jut off the main trail, so it’s easy to throw him off course. I find a tree and climb until I’m a good twenty feet off the ground. In the distance, I hear Parker calling out for me. Eventually his voice fades, and I know he’s moved farther down the trail or left the woods completely.
The silence helps me clear my head. I think about Kenny and what I want to do to his face, and how awful this new world must seem to Parker. But my thoughts drift back to Gavin again and again.
How long has he known my genes made me a target? I cringe when I think about what would’ve happened if I’d gone with Kenny to test my pills. I would have walked right into PharmPerfect’s lab wearing a tracker. Kenny could have handed me over on a silver platter. Gavin had stopped me. Had he known then? I was foolish to trust Kenny, and if Gavin’s tests were right, what pills did Kenny give me?
Every dot I connect leads to more questions, and soon my head is a jumbled constellation.
“Tabitha?”
The bark grates against my back as I shift in the tree to hide from view. Gavin is several feet away, drawing closer. Just when I think he won’t look up, he does.
“There you are.” He gives me an impish smile, and my traitorous stomach flutters.
“How’d you find me?”
“You said you liked to climb when you were little. I figured it was worth a shot to look in the trees.”
“Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Good, because I want you to listen.”
“There’s no way to get rid of you, is there?”
“I’m afraid not.” Gavin scoots around until he has a clear shot of my face. “I didn’t tell you what I knew because I didn’t want to scare you. I hoped it wasn’t true, but the more I looked into it there was no denying they weren’t going to forget about you like they did Mary and Sasha.”
“When did you figure it out?”
“When you didn’t have a price. That was my first clue you were special.” He holds onto the last word, and I avert my eyes.
“Is that why you got me out? Because of how special I was?”
“Of course not. But I wondered why we never heard details about a buyer. And the cut Kenny gave you at the screening didn’t look like a normal skin sample. It was too red and inflamed. When he showed up at Dairy Land, I knew he must have done something. I suspected it was a tracking device.”
“That morning we were going to get breakfast…he tried to get me to go to the lab with him,” I confess. “He made me think…” Guilt settles in my gut, and I push out what I’ve been holding back from Gavin. “He convinced me that the pills you gave me were wrong.”
“Is that why you two got chummy?” He scowls when I nod.
“My headaches weren’t going away.”
“When I see him again—” Gavin sucks in a deep breath. His face is still taut after he exhales.
“Why didn’t you confront him if you suspected he was tracking me? What if something had happened today? What if Parker had died, like Meghan?”
“I needed to keep him close until I could figure out why they wanted you so badly.”
“So you treated me like bait?”
“No. Leaving you here at the barn would’ve been worse. The rest of us would have been miles away. But Kenny knew you weren’t here. The tracker tipped him off that you were in the van. I wanted to keep Kenny close, but I also wanted to keep you close. To protect you. I wasn’t going to let them take you without a fight.”
My throat feels raw, like I’ve been chewing bark. I want to smile and cry at the same time. Life was so much easier when I was at the Center. Prior to knowing I was going to be harvested, and before Gavin had yet to take my stomach on a rollercoaster ride of emotional ups and downs.
“Can you come down here? You’re making me nervous.”
I’m still slightly angry, but I don’t want to spend the rest of the afternoon in the air, away from my friends whose lives are in danger because of me. I start to climb down. My foot touches the branch below, and there’s a crack.
“Tabitha!”
My fingers tighten around the branch, and I struggle to keep my grip. My feet dangle, and I glance down. The next limb is thick enough to hold me is through a cluster of smaller branches.
“Hold on!” Gavin starts to climb.
“What are you doing?” My fingers slide against the rough bark.
“You’re going to have to drop.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Drop straight down. The other branches will slow your fall and I’ll grab you.”
“That’s insane!”
“There’s no other choice.”
I duck my chin, trying to gauge where I need to land, counting the seconds until Gavin makes it to the branch that I’m supposed to hit. I can’t hold on much longer.
“Ready?”
I’m not. But I let go.
My shoulder bumps against one of the smaller limbs and I hit the branch with one foot. I’m off balance. My arms flail. He catches my wrist and pulls me upright. My heart races, and I steady myself against the only solid mass available. Gavin.
He leans back against the tree, holding me in place. It feels good to have his arms around me, but I won’t let myself enjoy it. It’s too tempting to forgive him completely, and I ease myself out of his arms.
“I’m so sorry, Tabitha. I was only trying to protect you.”
“I don’t need anyone to protect me.”
“That’s what you do when you care about someone.”
“I don’t need that, either.”
It’s such an obvious lie he doesn’t hide his doubtful expression. “Well, it’s too late.”
He reaches an arm behind
my waist and slides his other hand behind my head. I can’t fight against his kiss without risking us falling. Once our lips touch, the urge to resist drops away like a pinecone released from its branch. I hope I’m not a fool for forgiving him.
“Promise me you won’t keep things from me,” I say, pulling back slowly.
Our foreheads touch and he sighs.
“What aren’t you saying?”
“I will tell you everything I know, I promise—but you have to give me time.”
“Time?” Maybe I am a fool, because at this point I don’t know how much time I have left.
“Trust me, please?”
I bite my lip. No matter how hard I try, my heart won’t allow me to say no.
“Give me a few days and I’ll explain everything. But it can’t be here. We have to leave the barn. They’ll come after us.”
“Kenny will bring them right to us, won’t he?”
Gavin nods and my ears burn. I wish I’d drowned him when I had the chance.
“Where will we go?” I ask.
“You and I will go to my house. Ry’s told him I don’t talk to my father, so he won’t expect it.”
“What about everyone else?”
“It’s safer if we separate. Adrian and Craig will make the arrangements.”
It’s amazing how much the barn already feels like a sanctuary, and how the idea of leaving it makes me ill. In such a short time, this has become my home.
By the time we make it down the tree, my hands are chafed and red. But my heart throbs even worse. Leaving tonight means I’ll be abandoning Parker and Paige when they need family the most. After all, isn’t that what we are? What we’ll always be?
I just didn’t realize it until now.
Chapter 22
Ry and Craig are in the kitchen, surrounded by the rest of our team. Ry’s talking like he’s jacked up on adrenaline. “And as we’re leaving the Flat House, Craig clips a guy.” He gives Craig a slap on the back, the kind you’d give a teammate when they made you proud.
Gavin’s hand feels clammy in mine, and his grip tightens when he clears his throat. “I have an announcement.” The group quiets down, but their expressions say they aren’t sure they can handle any more stress today.
Parker sits on the edge of the table, and his eyes form tight slits as he zeros in on Gavin’s hand linked with mine.
“They will come looking for Tabitha, so it’s best if I get her out of here tonight. I won’t tell you where we’re going in case they use drugs to try to get info out of you.”
“Who put you in charge of her?” Parker says, hopping down. I don’t know if it’s the injections they’ve given him or that he doesn’t like the idea of Gavin taking me away, but his chest seems to puff as he walks aggressively toward us.
Gavin stays calm. My hand tightens, yet part of me wants to pull away. The last thing I want to do is make Parker feel worse today.
“It’s the only way to keep everyone safe. Ask her yourself,” Gavin says.
Parker waits for me to stand my ground, but I know Gavin is right. Leaving the group is the best thing I can do right now. I lower my chin. “I have to go.”
“Then I’m going with you.” Parker startles me when he slings his arm over my shoulder.
“It’s better if you’re not involved,” Gavin says, his voice sharp.
“I’ve known her a lot longer than you, buddy.”
I’m being sandwiched by egos and testosterone. This is not what this group needs. Anger. Blame. I pull away and turn to face them. “That’s enough,” I snap.
They stop glaring at each other long enough for their brows to relax.
“Fine. If it’s all right with Tabitha,” Gavin waves his hand at Parker, “you’re welcome to come.”
As much as I want to keep Parker safe, I don’t want to leave him again. “I’m okay with it,” I say, my voice softer this time.
Parker grins. Gavin acts like he doesn’t mind, but I can tell by the way his body tightens, he does.
We grab blankets and pillows and say our goodbyes. Leaving Paige is harder this time because I know we’re being hunted, and that any of us could get caught. That I might never get to hug her again.
I hold on as long as I can before we head for the truck.
“Stay safe,” I say to her.
“Stay alive,” she whispers back.
I climb in the back so Parker can ride next to Gavin. I don’t want him to have to sit by himself, and until I can address the pact, it seems like the right thing to do. But when he and Gavin start talking, I wonder if I’ve made a mistake.
“So, you think you know what’s best for her?” Parker says to Gavin when we hit the paved road.
Gavin looks at me in the rearview mirror. Our eyes catch, and he has a mischievous look about him. I hope he’s delicate with his answer.
“You could say that.”
Parker grunts. It’s clear he doesn’t think the short time I’ve known Gavin could contend with our years at the Center. I can’t blame him. He does know me, just in a different way. Parker knows my habits, my routines. Gavin knows my desires. It helps that he’s one of them.
I’m thankful Parker doesn’t comment about the yard when we pull up to Gavin’s house. The door creaks when we enter, and Parker nudges me from behind. I glance back, and he wrinkles his nose. It smells like ink and dust, and somehow the papers seem to have multiplied as we wade through the clutter to Gavin’s room.
“Make yourself at home,” Gavin says, tossing my pillow on his bed. “Tabitha, you know your way around.”
Parker’s jaw clenches, and I see a thick blue line in his neck—a vein ready to burst.
“We came here to test my heart medication,” I explain. “There’s a lab in the basement.”
The answer is a Band-Aid solution to the situation, and I shoot Gavin a scolding look. He smiles defiantly.
“Who’s sleeping where?” Parker asks.
“Tabitha can have my bed, and you and I can take the floor.”
Parker nods, satisfied with the plan.
“What do we do when your dad gets home from work?” I ask.
“He won’t be back ‘til Sunday. He’s at a conference.”
I don’t ask him how he knows, but it strikes me as odd. For someone who hasn’t been close to his father in recent years, knowing his schedule seems a bit unusual. Have they been talking more? Based on the way Gavin shifts his jaw, I doubt the discussions have been good.
Parker picks up the picture of Cherry from Gavin’s dresser. “Is this your girlfriend?”
“Used to be.”
“Isn’t this the girl—”
“From the Center,” Gavin finishes.
“How convenient.”
Gavin rolls his eyes. “Cherry’s mom got her the job, but even she was kept in the dark. And after I told her, she only stayed there so she could help us.”
“We’re supposed to believe that?” Parker says, joining me on the bed. He lifts the picture for me to see, holding it so close I’d be able to smell the corsage on her wrist if photos were scented. Cherry’s smile mocks me. I’m glad I’ve already had practice blocking it out.
Gavin rips it out of Parker’s hand and puts it face down on his dresser. “I got Sasha out on my own, but I almost got caught. Cherry lied for me, said I was with her so PharmPerfect would back off. I let Cherry know what was going on and told her if she gave me the name of the next person fostered out, I’d prove it. That was Mary, and if you noticed, she had her cornea lopped off for someone else to use. I didn’t have Adrian listening for surgeries being scheduled then—or Kenny giving me exact room numbers.” Gavin’s voice drops an octave, sounding less defensive. “Mary’s basically blind in one eye and short a kidney. That was all the evidence Cherry needed. She was happy to help after that. Plus, her mom looked like a jackass every time one of the kids she was supposed to deliver went missing.”
“Wait. Her mom…so she’s Cherry Preen?” I ask, piecing i
t together.
Gavin nods, and Parker lets out a small gasp. “That little—”
“Cherry’s not like her mom,” Gavin says, shaking his head. “Nadia would spit and crawl her way to the top. She started out running PharmPerfect’s blood drives and now she runs the organ harvesting scheme.” Gavin grunts in disgust. “Nadia would sell her soul for a life of privilege. Not Cherry. She might be prissy, but she’s not evil.”
It feels as though the room has been divided into teams: the Center kids versus the Preens. Although Gavin sounds so sure of his assessment of Cherry, it makes me pause to reconsider. I may not like the way she looks at him, but she didn’t poison me when she had the chance.
“I believe you,” I say. Gavin looks just as surprised as Parker.
“Once I had a crew,” Gavin continues, his face softening, “we were able to get Tabitha and Paige out.”
“Paige told me what happened to Meghan,” says Parker with bite. “Doesn’t sound like Cherry was that helpful.”
“What happened to Meghan wasn’t Cherry’s fault,” Gavin says. “I think Kenny knew the surgery rooms were changed. Hell, he might have changed them himself for all I know.” Gavin shakes his head.
There’s a sharp pain in my chest as I picture Meghan’s lifeless body on the operating table. Parker has no idea how guilt-ridden we are.
“We tried, Parker,” I say. Gavin jerks his head in my direction, looking relieved I’ve come to his defense. “The hospital staff even came looking for us after I walked in on Meghan’s surgery. Gavin and I had to hide out on the rooftop and climb through the ventilation shaft to get out.”
Parker’s face turns a fiery red. “You took him through the ventilation shaft, huh? Must be a habit of yours.”
He gets up, shaking his body like he’s loosening his limbs, ready to box something. Or someone. Instead, he flicks one of Gavin’s baseball pendants, making it askew. “So, Gavin…got anything to eat around here?”
“Nothing you’ll want to eat out of our kitchen…” Gavin stands, hesitating at the door. “I’ll call for pizza.”
When we hear Gavin on the phone, Parker’s tongue unleashes. “How can you trust this guy?”
“You’ve got him all wrong. He risks his life to save people like you and me.”