Split Second (Pivot Point) (20 page)

Addie:
My hot ex-boyfriend is annoying.

“We need to stay perfectly still. Stephanie is looking at us. If we move, it will seem like we’re moving superfast.” I said this while trying to move my lips as little as possible. “Stephanie cannot suspect anything.” If she somehow figured out my ability, my life was over.

“She saw us kiss?”

“Yes.”

“She needs to know anyway.”

“I know, but I didn’t want it to happen like this. I just ruined her night.”

“
We
just ruined her night.”

The music and people slowly picked up speed. With every increase in beat, Stephanie was that much closer to us. She arrived at our sides as soon as time returned to normal.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but what I didn’t expect was for her to slap me across the face. All my breath rushed out of me in a gush of air, and I cradled my cheek with my hand.

Trevor grabbed her by the wrist. “Stop.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “This wasn’t how I wanted you to find out.”

“Oh, so is that why you kissed my boyfriend in the middle of the dance floor? Because you didn’t want me to find out?”

“Stephanie, I am not your boyfriend. You know that.”

“You might as well have been. I hate you both.”

About this time, Duke sauntered up to our threesome.
Soothe her
, I pushed into Duke’s mind.

“I thought you didn’t like false emotion,” he said to me.

Stephanie turned on her heel and marched away.

“You should go after her. Talk to her,” I told Trevor.

“Are you sure?” He eyed Duke.

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.” That message seemed to be more for Duke than me. And the kiss before he left was definitely more for Duke, but it still made my heart flutter.

“Why are you here?” I asked, when Trevor was gone.

“I’m not the type to just step aside. I still have feelings for you.”

“Duke, I’ve made my choice. Please don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

“So you want me to make it easy?”

“You should go,” I said. “How did you even get in here? You’re not a student.”

He raised his eyebrows, like he was surprised I had to ask the question. Oh yeah, he probably charmed his way in. He had no problem getting whatever he wanted with his ability.

“We need to talk. I’m worried about you. I don’t believe you told Trevor everything.”

I looked around and then put my finger to my lips, telling him to shut his mouth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “Trevor is clueless.” We had worked too hard to keep this a secret for Duke to come in and ruin it all.

“Well, I know that, but I’m talking about the Compound. Why did you tell him?”

I grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor. If he insisted on saying things like that out loud, with Norms around, we should at least be in the middle of a crowd, where the music and voices could mask our conversation.

“You want to dance?” he asked, pulling me into his arms. It irritated me that when his hands touched my back, warmth spread through my body. I hated his ability so much.

“Listen, you can’t just say stuff like that here.” If the CC heard us talking about the Compound with Norms around, I’d be back to square one.

“Where then? Where can we talk? Because this is serious, Addie. You shouldn’t have told him. He’s not one of us.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Maybe I’ve made it my business.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Just tell me what you told him.”

“I told him nothing.”

He gave a frustrated growl and leveled his gaze on me. His blue eyes were intense with emotion. “Just come outside with me. We can talk in my car.”

“No.”

“Where then?”

“Nowhere, Duke. This is over.”

“If you don’t talk to me, I’m going to report you to the Containment Committee.”

My mouth dropped open, and I pushed out of his hold. “Why would you do that?”

“Because maybe I want them to wipe him from your memory.”

“So it sounds like you’re going to talk to them either way.”

“No. If you explain to me why, what’s going on in your head, I won’t do it.”

Did he really think he was endearing himself to me with this awful display of jealousy and control? “Fine. But I’m waiting for Trevor, so meet me outside in an hour.”

“An hour?”

“I’m sure you can find something to do for an hour. Dance with some girls or something.”

He sighed and wandered over to the food table. I went looking for Rowan.

Over an hour later, Trevor still hadn’t reappeared. Duke caught my eye across the dance floor and nodded toward the exit. I shrugged and mouthed,
Meet me outside
. Then I walked out the door Trevor had left through earlier, hoping to find him. Searching the halls, I came up empty. The four of us had driven in one car, and that car—Stephanie’s dad’s Jaguar—was missing from the parking lot. Great. Trevor had gone home with her? What was
I’ll be right back
about that? I reached for my phone and remembered, as my hand brushed over the silky material of my dress, that I had left it in the glove box of Stephanie’s car.

Back inside, I found Rowan. “Steph and Trevor left.”

“What? Why? My stuff is in her car.”

“It might have something to do with Trevor and me kissing.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.” A sense of panic welled up inside me. “Hey, I have to run.” I gave him a hug. “Sorry to ditch you. I had fun tonight.”

I ran back out to the parking lot. I wasn’t sure what car Duke was driving, considering he couldn’t bring a Compound car here. I scanned the lot for the biggest, flashiest one and saw a yellow Hummer parked on the edge.

I walked to the passenger side and knocked on the window. The doors unlocked with a clunk. I slid inside.

“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked.

Duke pulled it out of his pocket. I dialed Trevor, but no one answered. Either Stephanie was yelling so loud he couldn’t hear, or he didn’t want to be rude by answering the phone in the middle of a serious talk. I left a message. “Hey, Trevor. I’m still here.
Will you call me when you’re . . . uh . . . done?” I hung up the phone.

I stared at the lifeless screen, then handed it back to Duke. It would be really weird to show up at Stephanie’s at this point. Trevor would remember to grab my phone for me.

“So?” he said. “Let’s talk.”

I ran my hands along the interior of his car. Even though the CC couldn’t have possibly known Duke would come talk to me today, I still wanted to make sure his car was clean. Maybe they bugged all the rental cars.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking for bugs.” I crawled into the backseat, my knees slipping along the material of my dress while I did. Once in the back, I continued searching.

“Addie, you’re being paranoid.”

“I am not.” When I didn’t find anything, I settled against the bench seat in the back.

He looked over his shoulder. “Aren’t you going to come up here?”

“I’m good.”

He tilted his head a little and then climbed into the backseat next to me with a smirk on his face. Like he thought this was romantic or something. I just wanted to slap him. He sent a surge of happiness through my body and I backed up, the armrest digging into my back.

“Sorry,” he said. “Sometimes how I’m feeling just comes out.”

“Why are you so happy? I’m here to convince you that you need to leave me alone.”

“So why did you tell Trevor, and why do you think I should keep this to myself?”

“Because I love him. I knew him from a life I Searched, and if you care about me at all, you will respect that.”

“So you admit that you told him?”

“Why is it so important to you that I admit that? Of course I told him. He knows everything. He doesn’t care about powers and the Compound. He cares about me.”

He got this really satisfied smile then. Like me telling him Trevor liked me was the best thing I had ever told him. “And Laila restored his memories after the Containment Committee had Erased them.”

“You know the answer to that.”

“But I had no idea what you guys were doing.”

“Okay. What’s your point?”

“My point is you did it.”

“So?”

He nodded. “Good.”

I was confused. “So are we good then? Will you leave me alone?”

“Yes. I’ll leave.”

I gripped the door handle, ready to exit, but then stopped myself. I didn’t want to go back inside alone. “Will you take me home?” I’d call Trevor from there.

Duke nodded, and we drove the whole way in silence.
I wondered if that was a record for him. When I got out, he pulled me into a hug. “Addie, it doesn’t have to be this way. We’re right for each other. Trevor will never be what you need. He’s a Norm.”

“Duke. Stop. Please.” I pushed away from him.

He sighed, then ran his hand down his sleeve. “Well, thanks for telling me. This will make everything how it’s supposed to be.”

Laila:
How do you say “screwed” in Norm?

The sound of tires bumping over rough road startled me awake. My eyes popped open, and for a moment I forgot where I was. But then I remembered trying not to fall asleep, my head doing the embarrassing fall-forward-then-jerk-back-to-upright motion. No matter how many Alert mind patterns I scanned through, I could not stay awake. My lack of sleep over the last few days had caught up with me. So Connor had patted his leg and I’d gladly lain down, falling asleep immediately.

“It’s just a section of the road. I’m good.” Connor ran his hand along my cheek.

I sat up and stretched. “You sure you’re not tired? I can drive.” I stifled a yawn. “What time is it?”

“Not even eleven.” He pointed at a road sign as we passed. It said twelve miles to Dallas. I glanced in the backseat. Eli was out, his music still blaring.

“You drove fast.” I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. “Did my phone ring?” I asked, even though I could see no new missed calls on the screen.

“No. She probably just didn’t take it to the dance. We’ll be fine.” He obviously knew I was worried and was trying to pretend like her not answering the phone didn’t mean that Duke succeeded in his mission and the Containment Committee was now wiping her of everything that mattered to her; or worse, hauling her back to the Compound to take her place as Bobby’s neighbor. Duke was such an idiot.

Duke. I dialed his number again. It shocked me when he actually picked up.

“Hey. What?”

“Hey what, yourself. You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re in Dallas. Have you seen Addie?”

“As a matter of fact, I took her home a while ago.” Why did he sound so happy about that?

“What did you do to her?”

I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “I’m doing my duty as a citizen of the Compound.”

“I’m about to do my duty to your face. What did you do?”

“Don’t worry. She’ll be happier this way.”

“She will or you will?”

“Both.”

“You have no idea what you just did. This is more serious than you can possibly imagine. Not only do they know that she blatantly disregarded the laws of the Compound, they also know that she had Trevor’s memories restored.” They really were going to do exactly what Addie’s mom feared—wipe a section of her mind to ensure her mental stability.

He went silent. “What? It’s not a big deal. They didn’t do anything when Trevor found out the first time.”

“That’s because he found out on his own, idiot. It was an accident. This was intentional.”

“But they didn’t even believe me. Said they’d been monitoring her and had no proof of any breaches. So I told them I’d get them proof.”

“This is worse than you think. Beyond just a normal breach. They’ve been monitoring her because of Bobby.” I let out a frustrated sigh. “She’s basically on probation because Bobby said that she stole a piece of his ability.”

He cussed. “He’s lying.”

I wasn’t sure whether Bobby was lying. Addie did have an advanced ability that was beyond anything she’d ever had before. Maybe it was the result of Bobby. But unlike the DAA, I didn’t think it was a bad thing. “Well, they’re not going to think Bobby is lying at all. They’re going to think Addie knows exactly what she’s doing. How are you going to fix this?”

“I’m not. It’s done. But I’m very persuasive. I’ll make sure they don’t do anything drastic.”

“Well, that’s not good enough for me, Duke. You are not
going to do this to Addie again. You are not going to use her and manipulate her just to make yourself happy. So you will either help us fix this or I will Erase every memory you have of her from your head the next time I see you.”

He was quiet for at least ten long seconds. Then he said, “I’ll meet you back at her house.”

I pointed to the exit sign that showed her exit, and Connor nodded and pulled off. I hung up on Duke. “We could be in for some trouble.”

He pulled to a stop at a crossroads.

“Three lights, then make a right.”

“I remember.”

Oh right. We’d just done this. I reached to the backseat and smacked my brother. “You ready for some action?”

He popped up like he always did, muttering nonsense. “I told him to stay in the cart.”

Connor raised one eyebrow at me.

“Yeah, his body wakes up before his brain. It’s very entertaining.”

Eli unbuckled his seat belt and started to get out of the car.

I pushed the auto door locks. “Whoa there, kid. We haven’t stopped yet.”

Connor pulled over. I unlocked the doors, and Eli got out.

“Am I in an alternate universe?” he asked.

“You could say that.” I hooked my arm in his elbow. “Come on, little bro. I have a best friend to save.”

He gave a happy sigh. “Addie.” My brother had the biggest crush on her.

“I do not,” he objected to my thoughts.

We walked up the pathway to the front door. I raised my hand to knock, when I realized how late it was and how hard it was going to be to explain our arrival to her dad.

“Window?” Connor asked, one step ahead of me. Eli was finally up and alert, and he followed us around the back to Addie’s window. I knocked softly. Nobody came.

“Do you think she’s okay? What if the CC has her?”

Connor didn’t answer, just knocked again, harder.

Addie parted the curtains. She was wearing a fancy dress and looked like she expected us to be someone else. Her eyes went wide, then she opened the window. “What are you doing here?”

I summarized how Duke had screwed us all over.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

“Maybe your dad can help us.”

She gave a laugh. “My dad? I don’t think he’ll look kindly on all the rules I’ve broken.” She bit her lip. “Maybe my grandpa can help us. He doesn’t trust the Compound at all. He’ll probably know what to do.”

“Can you sneak out?”

She opened the window wider and popped out the screen. “Yes. My dad doesn’t even know I’m home yet.”

I called Duke as we walked back to the car. “Change of plans. Meet us at her grandpa’s house.

Duke was in the hall when we arrived, his elbows on his knees, looking like he actually felt bad. Maybe I wouldn’t have to kick
him too hard. He stood up as we walked toward him.

I crossed my arms. “Ah, here’s the charming ex-boyfriend who recorded you and let the CC listen in.”

“Well, technically, I didn’t let them listen in, I forwarded the recording to them after we . . .” He trailed off when he obviously realized by the look on Addie’s face that technicalities weren’t important to her. “I’m sorry.”

She took a deep breath. “That was over an hour ago. Why aren’t they looking for me yet?”

He shrugged. “Who knows?”

I was proud of the cold look she gave him when she knocked on the door.

Her grandfather answered, his eyes weary. I recognized him from a few pictures I’d seen around Addie’s house.

“Sorry for waking you up. We have an emergency we were hoping you could help us with.”

“Of course. Anything.” He held the door open wider, and we walked inside. “Let me get you all something to drink, then you can tell me about it. Have a seat.”

“Addie’s grandpa is young,” Connor whispered.

“I guess,” I said, as I watched the white hair on the back of his head disappear out of the room. He seemed grandpa age to me. Maybe Connor’s grandpa was ancient.

Connor moved to the coffee table to look at some of the ridiculous modified devices. Just when I was about to tell him they were the handiwork of a crazy man, he pulled out his pocket knife and started unscrewing the back of a little black box with one of the tool attachments. Whatever. He could play.

“Can I borrow your phone? I need to try Trevor again.”

I handed her my phone. “Yes, he should be here.”

“Do you think . . .” She got a panicked look on her face. “You think the CC is taking care of him first?” She didn’t even wait for my answer, just dialed.

Connor settled in at my side, pulled me close by the front pocket of my jeans, and said under his breath, “Something’s not right here.” He held up his hand, and resting on his palm was a small chip.

“What is that?”

“A high-tech listening device. Compound-made. I got it out of that black box on the table.” He looked around. “Where did Grandpa go again?”

Right at that moment, her grandpa walked back in, carrying a few glasses of ice water. My vision blurred, and I blinked a few times until he came back into focus.

He smiled. “Here’s the first round. Let me go grab two more.” He set the waters on the coffee table and left.

Connor was right. Something wasn’t right here, and I couldn’t figure out what. I just knew that I had never felt a stronger desire to leave a place. So strong, I thought maybe Duke was projecting his feelings. A quick glance confirmed my suspicions—he looked uneasy as well.

“I thought you said he was a Healer,” Eli whispered.

“He is,” I said.

“I could hear his thoughts loud and clear.”

“And what was he thinking?” I asked.

Addie and Duke must’ve overheard our conversation, because
they took a few steps closer for the answer.

“He thought, ‘My backup better get here soon. I can’t contain all of them.’”

My eyes darted to Connor. “Does that mean he’s not a Healer after all?”

“I think that’s the least of our worries. We better go.”

Almost as if on cue, we all headed for the front door. Addie’s grandfather stepped in front of it from a side hall.

“Where are you going?”

“My dad is expecting me,” Addie said. “It’s late.” It wasn’t even eleven-thirty, but the late excuse was a good one.

“I’ll call him and tell him where you are.”

“Okay,” she said, obviously trying to buy us time.

I watched for his reaction to that, and my tired vision went blurry again. No. It wasn’t my vision that was going blurry at all. I remembered Face and the little patch on his cheek that was always fuzzy no matter what face he wore. This was a different presentation of that same weakness. “You’re a Perceptive.”

I hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but it came to me like a lightning strike and I couldn’t hold it in. The face of Addie’s grandfather faded away to the dark-haired man we had seen in his apartment last time we were here.

Addie threw her hand over her mouth with a gasp.

Oh. That’s why Connor thought he looked young. He was. I hadn’t realized that a Perceptive couldn’t alter Connor’s vision. No wonder Face had to trust him.

The man locked the door and entered a code into a keypad next to it. “Sit down,” he said. “All of you.”