Secret of the Sevens (20 page)

Thirty-six

We scramble out of the angel statue, then creep through the door and down the steps of the mausoleum.

“We need to meet to talk more about this,” Emily whispers.

“Not now!” Jose says, gently pushing her forward.

“No, I think now is the perfect time.” The voice comes from the side of the mausoleum. It's deep. And older. And angry.

Headmaster Boyle steps out of the shadows and aims a flashlight at us.

Shit.

“Jose, did you trade teams? I had a feeling you were lying. You know you've betrayed your school.”

Oh God. We can't run now. There's nothing we can do.

“You're right. I did!” Jose yells back. “When I lied to you. I made the whole Sevens story up. I tried to trick you to get Manny into Singer, but I can't go through with this, okay? I lied. I'm responsible for everything. Even the vandalism.”

“Interesting,” Boyle says. “Because the police are convinced several people were involved.”

“No. Just me.”

“Right. So you went to all this bother to re-invent a secret society and then changed your mind at the last second?”

“That's right. I couldn't do it. I mean, who would believe Laney Shanahan would be involved in the Society of Seven anyway?”

“I would. She has plenty of motive after being overlooked for the Pillars.”

“No. That's not it!” Laney says. She shuts up instantly, biting her lip.

“Well … ” Boyle walks to the top step and peers down at her. “Why don't you explain it to me then.”

Laney glares up at his beady eyes. “There's nothing
to
explain. I got an anonymous note that someone needed my help and to meet them here, so I came.”

“Me too,” Emily says.

“And me,” Kollin adds.

“I sent them,” Jose said. “I sent those notes to trick them so you'd catch them.”

“Mr. Aguilar, that makes no sense, considering you didn't even know I'd be doing rounds of the cemetery tonight.” Headmaster Boyle balls his hand into a fist. “And the fact that you're wasting my time with lies that will be easy to refute later is insulting. But I'll be generous. Once. I'll give you each one chance to confess right now, or I'll have the police here in ten minutes to charge all of you. If you tell me the truth, and what everybody's part was in this little secret society, you'll be personally exonerated. In fact, I think I'll even let those of you who are smart enough to confess share in the reward money the Board offered.”

The five of us stand silent.

Laney's eyes fix on the ground. Headmaster Boyle steps in front of her, lifting her chin with his finger. “You're perhaps the biggest disappointment of all, Ms. Shanahan. How could your parents be so blind to this activity going on in their own home? Michaels doesn't surprise me, but you? You're about to lose your scholarships and ruin your family's reputation. How will your parents pay for your court costs when I fire them? Certainly, a momentary lapse of judgment shouldn't cost them their jobs and you your future. Tell me what's really going on, and I'll make you a hero for turning everyone else in.”

Laney blinks twice. “I got an anonymous note in my locker saying someone needed my help and to meet them here. So I came.”

“How sad.” Boyle shakes his head. “A bright future lost with two sentences. LeBeau … ” He strolls around Laney to Kollin. “I would have thought you were smarter than this. Considering you'll lose not only your scholarships, but any chance of practicing law as a career when I'm through with you, I think you should reconsider your options. Expulsion versus a commendation for protecting your school, not to mention a considerable reward check that will come in handy for college. The choice should be simple for someone with your ambition.”

Kollin glares at him. “I got a note in my locker. It said to meet here at seven. That's all I know.”

“You'll regret this,” Boyle says icily. “Emily Dombrose!” He points at her. “I'd advise you not to be foolish like the others. Doesn't a generous reward and my personal recommendation for a full scholarship to the school of your choice sound more sensible than an arrest record? Or would you prefer to return with your sister to a life of poverty? Tell me everything and help yourself while you still can.”

Emily stares over his shoulder with a hardened glare. “I got a note in my locker telling me to be here at seven. That's all I have to say.”

Boyle's red face looks like it's going to explode. He waves a shaky finger at Jose. “Your brother is depending on you. Your mother will be devastated. We had a deal, which I will still honor if you tell—”

Jose gets in his face. “I told you, I lied. I sent the letters to set them up so I could get Manny in. I have nothing else to say until I talk to my lawyer. We're
all
done here.”

“Not so fast.” Boyle wears the crooked grin of a man who knows he holds all the power. “I still have one card to play.”

He crosses his arms and struts over to me. He threatens me with his eyes, unblinking and glued to mine. “You have the most to lose and the most to gain, don't you, Talan? You've always struck me as an opportunist with some street smarts. I want you to consider your choices. In one hour, you'll be sitting in a jail with no one to bail you out. You have no family, and I doubt you'll have any friends left when word gets out what you've done to this school. When I kick you out of Singer, you won't even be eligible for foster care. If and when you're released from jail, you'll be homeless. Personally, I'll enjoy throwing what little you have to the curb. I doubt anyone here will even care that you're gone, considering the trouble you caused your fellow students.
I
certainly won't miss you.”

Behind him, Laney's eyes well.

“On the other hand”—Boyle brings me back to attention—“you could be the hero who stopped the guilty parties. Since none of your fellow Sevens were smart enough to accept my offer, that leaves the full $10,000 reward for you. Not to mention I have quite a bit of pull with the Board now. I'm sure I could persuade them to help you in your post-graduation plans.”

My stomach twists at the realization that I'm going to be alone and homeless again. For an instant, I consider his offer. My breath catches as I remember Stephen Kane telling me he and I were alike.

“Here's my confession,” I say. “I got a letter and showed up tonight to see what it was about.” With my history, I'm done at Singer and I know it. Might as well enjoy my
bon voyage
. “And I won't miss you either, you fucker.”

Boyle whips his flashlight against a tree.

“So that's it then?” he shouts. His eyes trace an angry trail across each of our faces. “You've all made your final decision?”

Silence.

Boyle storms toward Rucker Road. “Follow me, then!”

We trail him between the tombstones, like lambs to slaughter. Twenty feet in, Boyle freezes near the winged angel statue that marks Mary Singer's original grave. He stares at a dark mass on the ground where the angel points. “What's that?”

Kollin is standing closest to it, five feet away. “You there. LeBeau,” Boyle bellows. “Pick it up.”

Kollin reaches down and lifts up a long black piece of fabric, leaving more of them in the pile on the ground.

“What is it?” Boyle snaps.

Kollin holds it higher, and it falls in folds. He grabs a corner, turns, and straightens it. “I think it's a cloak.” He holds the cape by the collar to show Boyle something. “There's … ” He lifts his eyes to the headmaster's. “There's a seven embroidered inside.”

Boyle walks over and snatches it from Kollin. He holds it out for us to see, giving us a wide smile.

“I believe,” he says in a gentler voice, “there are actually five cloaks. One for each of you.”

He tosses me the one in his hand, and I catch it.

What the … ?

Crossing his arms on his chest, he looks at each of us and says, “Congratulations, Sevens. You just passed your sixth test … For sacrifice.”

No way.

“I guess I should introduce myself.” A grin consumes his face. “I'm Number Seven.”

Thirty-seven

Pigs are flying in a frozen hell somewhere.

Boyle busts out laughing. “Mr. Singer would be proud. I knew I selected the right Sevens!”

“Sir?” Laney says. “Are you saying … ” She doesn't finish. She's too smart. Too careful to be tricked into giving anything away.

“I'm saying
I
sent the tests. I gave you the exact same invitation and virtue challenges that William Singer gave me and my friends eighteen years ago.”

The five of us exchange glances, but none of us says a word.

“Don't believe me?” He smiles. “Good. You
should
be careful. But I can prove it: the column messages, the pediment proverb, the angel in tears—essentially everything we learned from Mr. Singer, I showed you. There are only two people alive today who'd know those secrets—the two surviving Sevens.”

“
You
sent the clues?”

“Yes. I switched the order of a couple of the tests because I wanted you to witness Stephen Kane in my home that night; but you now have every clue the original Sevens had at the time of the murders. In fact, the note that's taped to the wall in the hidden room beneath the mausoleum is the original. That's the last letter Mr. Singer ever gave us, I'm afraid.”

“But why are you doing this?” Emily says.

“Well, Ms. Dombrose, you should know that by now. The same Stephen Kane who lied about the original Sevens eighteen years ago is back to destroy Singer School. It's time I kept my vow of courage and finish what Mr. Singer trusted me to do. I'll do whatever it takes to stop Kane, but I need your help.”

Jose looks Boyle up and down. “Why would you need us?”

“There needs to be a legitimate Society of Seven if we're going to make a legal claim to take over the Board. And more important, I need your help to find the Trust Protector Document before the next board meeting.”

“Do you have any clue where it is?” Jose asks.

Boyle puts his hands in his pockets and looks thoughtful. “Mr. Singer said that the Sevens would know where the TPD was after the last test. The night of the murders, he called us to the chapel to tell us something. We assumed he was gathering us to give us the final clue. We'd been waiting for it for a while by then. Of course, we never got the chance to solve it.”

Kollin rubs his chin. “There's something I've never understood—why would the Board want to get rid of Mary?”

“Singer heard that the Board was angry because Mary insisted that company profits be used to expand the school.
Their priority was to channel the revenue to investments that would triple the stock value.” He glances between us. “Any other questions?”

“What about the money that went missing?” I say.

“We never knew anything about any missing money. Over the past eighteen years, I've searched every part of Singer's residence, the tunnels, and every inch of Founders Hall looking for that TPD. In all that time, I never saw any evidence of any money. My guess is that was a ruse to frame the Sevens. None of the Sevens would have taken it. They were the best of the best.”

Blame it on my ADD, but I can't help myself. “Then why'd Mr. Singer choose you?”

“Well Talan, I asked him that same question once.” Boyle's laugh surprises me. Then his voice gets quieter. “William had great faith in me. He said that I only needed a chance to overcome the damage of a broken childhood. He told me that he knew I'd rise above it one day to do great things.” A corner of his mouth lifts. “It's the same reason I chose you, Talan. You remind me of myself at your age.”

Why do people I hate keep telling me that?

Laney steps forward and touches Boyle's sleeve. “We shared
our
secrets. Now I need to ask you about one. Was the other Seven that survived my mother?”

Boyle hesitates, then nods.

“Both your parents were Sevens. Your father and mother were the closest thing I had to a family. The night of the murders, she confided to me about the pregnancy. That's why we were late for the meeting.”

His gaze drifts to the burnt-out chapel ruins in the dis
tance. “When we finally arrived, we had no idea what was
going on … we watched through a crack in the mausoleum door. A student was struggling with the chapel doors, but the walls were already burning and caving in. When police and fire trucks pulled up, we took the tunnels back to Winchester House to find the Sevens. We realized later that they'd been murdered, just as William Singer suspected had happened to his wife.”

“Why didn't you go to the police?”

“We were scared for our lives,” Boyle says. “And for yours, Delaney. Not to mention that the Sevens were being framed for Singer's murder. There was evidence of arson, and later, the claims of stolen money. The student who discovered the chapel burning told police he was jogging down Rucker Road when he heard Mr. Singer shouting for help, screaming that the Sevens were trying to kill him. Based on his statement, investigators theorized that the Sevens murdered Singer for his money, then got trapped in the fire they lit to hide the evidence.” Boyle's gaze bounces between us.
“That student was Stephen Kane.”

Emily gasps.

“I knew it!” Laney squeezes Boyle's wrist. “Is my mother alive? Tell me who she is.”

Boyle's eyes soften. “I'm sorry Delaney. It isn't safe to tell you yet. But it will all be revealed soon, I promise. When our work is done, fail or succeed, you'll know everything. I can tell you that she loved you enough to give you a better life with the best people she knew. Everyone at Singer adored the Shanahans. Which brings me to my next subject.” Boyle eyes each of us. “You can't tell your parents. Not your parents, not your houseparents, not your best friends. Nobody. There are people to protect. Do you understand? No matter what, you say nothing.”

We nod, but it isn't enough for him. “No,” he says. “I want you to raise your hand and swear. No matter what, you won't mention anything you know about the Sevens. Not even under questioning. Not even to help another Seven.”

One by one, we lift our hands.

“What I wrote in my note to you was true,” he says. “There are murderers among us. I lost six people I loved the most in the world, all at once. I won't let that happen to you.”

The bell tower bongs nine times and Boyle's cranky headmaster voice returns. “You need to hurry back. I'll hide your cloaks in the secret room. In the meanwhile, think hard on all you've learned, and be careful. Kane and the Pillars are watching everywhere. The less we're seen together, the better.”