Taylor shot her a look that said “Let me finish.” Wow. Things had really changed.
“And now this MT person is screwing with you via text?” she finished.
“That’s the deal, basically, yeah,” I replied, leaning back into my pillows, which were propped up against the wall at the head of my bed.
I’d changed into my favorite Penn State sweatshirt and Easton soccer shorts upon returning to the dorm, and had just finished giving my statement about tonight’s incident to Detective Hauer, who had left with a promise to run the partial plate against the car’s make as soon as he got back to the Easton PD. While part of me would have loved to pass out and put this night behind me, I was far too wired to sleep, which was why everyone was here, keeping me company. Kiran leaned back against the door and Ivy sat at the foot of my bed, her back against the wall and her feet dangling over the edge of the mattress.
“Reed, I think you know what you need to do,” Taylor said seriously, crossing her arms over her chest. “You need to give up on technology.”
I snorted a laugh.
“She’s right,” Kiran put in, inspecting her fingernails. “Technology is not your friend.” Her eyes lit up and she pushed herself away from the wall. “Maybe you should move to, like, the African jungle or something. Become one of those women who lives off the land and studies the apes or something. Go completely off the grid.”
A bolt of lightning flashed so brilliantly I nearly jumped out of my skin. Taylor smirked and walked over to my dresser, piling her hair atop her head and checking out the effect in the mirror. While Ivy, Noelle, and I had gone casual, she and Kiran were still sporting their cocktail dresses, having come right back here with us instead of stopping by their rooms at the Driscoll.
“Yes, Kiran. That is
so
what I want to do with my life,” I said sarcastically as the thunder clapped just outside. “Why didn’t I think of that before?”
“Besides, we already decided. No running and hiding,” Ivy reminded me.
“So if we’re not gonna run and hide, I say we go on offense,” Noelle said, leaning forward in the chair. “Find out who this MT person is already and grill them about what they actually know until they snap.”
“But there’s no way to find out,” I told her, supporting my cast with my other hand. “Every time we try to text them it bumps back to me as unsent.”
“Oh, please. They’re probably just blocking you,” Taylor said, letting her hair tumble down around her shoulders again. “Any good hacker can get around that.”
I looked at Ivy and she sat up straight, pushing away from the wall. “Any good hacker?” I said. “Aren’t you a good hacker?”
“How?” Ivy asked Taylor. “We tried texting and calling from my phone—”
“And mine,” Noelle said.
“But they came back too.”
“You just have to set up a program to run the numbers,” Taylor said, lifting a palm as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “There’s no way this person blocked every sequence. We find the right sequence, reprogram one of our phones, and we’re in.”
Ivy’s jaw snapped shut and she brought her hand to her forehead.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” She shoved herself off the bed and grabbed her phone from on top of my dresser. “We’ll start with the most obscure area codes first.”
“Good call,” Taylor said.
Ivy started typing into her phone as Taylor leaned over her shoulder. Before long the two of them were whispering and pointing, debating and correcting. I glanced at Kiran and she shrugged in response.
“Got any good magazines?” she asked, dropping down next to me on my bed. “This could be a while.”
“Please. She gets
Shape
and
Fitness
and nothing else,” Noelle said, rising from her chair. “I’ll be right back.”
An hour later Kiran, Noelle, and I were noshing on Godiva and pawing through the latest issues of
Vogue, InStyle,
and
W,
while Ivy and Taylor sat on the floor bent over Ivy’s phone. It wasn’t exactly the party we had originally planned for the evening, but it was darn close, and they were all there with me, which was the best gift I could have asked for. The thunderstorm had passed and the rain had let up a bit, dulling itself to a persistent drizzle, the sound of which was far more comforting than the raging we’d endured earlier. Suddenly Ivy leaned back on her hands, a self-satisfied smile on her face.
“And . . . done!” she announced.
“Done?” I asked dropping the heavy
Vogue
issue aside. “You got through?”
“Yep,” Taylor said happily.
“Finally,” Kiran groused.
“What did you say?” I asked, getting up from the bed and wiping my palms on the back of my sweatpants.
“We wrote, ‘Enough with the mystery. I want to know what’s going on. We need to meet,’” Taylor replied.
“To the point,” Noelle conceded, tipping her head.
“Do you think he’ll write back?” Kiran asked, sipping bottled water through a straw.
I sighed. “We’ll just have to wait and—”
Ivy’s phone beeped. My heart dropped. We all froze.
“Is it MT?” I asked.
Ivy hit a button and nodded, as Taylor leaned in so close her hair fell over Ivy’s shoulder. “It says, ‘Come alone. One hour. Directions attached.’”
“Holy crap,” I said, a rush of excitement flooding my veins. “It worked.”
“Come alone. Yeah. Like that’s gonna happen,” Noelle said, lifting her thick hair over her shoulder.
“We’re going with her?” Kiran asked, a tad fretful.
“Of course we are,” Ivy snapped.
“Don’t worry, Kiran. MT has proven he . . . or she . . . is a friend,” I assured her.
“Then why does he want you to come alone?” Taylor asked. “What’s with the blocking the number and all the mystery?”
“Well, clearly he’s trying to protect himself,” Ivy replied. “Whoever’s after Reed means business if they’re going to try to kidnap her from a crowded event.”
Kiran bit her lip. “Yeah, but—”
“All right, enough,” Noelle snapped. “We’re all doing this together. There’s safety in numbers right? If we all go together, everything will be fine.”
The five of us looked around at one another and I felt this odd mixture of fear and hope. By the end of tonight, I might know who MT was, and I might even know everything he or she knew about this latest attack. But I also knew that ventures like this one didn’t always end up the way I expected. And sometimes they didn’t end well at all.
“I don’t like this,” Josh said, standing in the center of Ketlar Hall’s common room. All along the walls, guys were hunched over their computers at the study carrels, typing furiously or reading over papers and notes. The couches and chairs were laden with last-minute crammers, trying to get in every minute of good study time before tomorrow morning’s exams. Everyone had changed out of their suits and ties and into worn T-shirts and comfy shorts, and there were bags of junk food and cans of energy drinks and soda everywhere. Suddenly I felt very lucky to not have a final at 8
A.M
. tomorrow. “What happened to locking yourself in your room and not coming out?”
“I know,” I said. “But this texter person isn’t the enemy. Think about it. He warned me not to go tonight, and he was right. I shouldn’t have gone.”
“Okay, well, if he’s such a friend, then why are you bringing along Charlie’s Angels over there?” He lifted his chin toward the doorway, where Ivy and Noelle loitered, ignoring each other and waiting for me. They did look sort of spy-fabulous in dark jeans, heeled boots, and black jackets. A dripping and colorful Coach-logo umbrella dangled from Ivy’s wrist, while Noelle had propped her plain black version against the wall.
“Because they have nothing better to do?” I suggested, lifting one shoulder.
“I should come with you,” Josh said, reaching for my hand.
“No way. You have to ace AP bio tomorrow,” I reminded him, as if he needed reminding. “I’m not gonna let you screw up your entire future just to do this with me. Especially when I already have enough backup.”
“Backup? Sure.” He scoffed. “What are they going to do if you get jumped again, whip out a nail file?”
I leveled him with a glare. “Would you want to go up against Ivy and Noelle when they’re pissed off?” He sort of gulped and paled and I had my answer. “Besides, Kiran has a stun gun. She went back to her hotel to grab it and change her clothes.”
“She has a stun gun?” Josh asked, his eyebrows popping up.
“She said it’s just good sense when you’re a high-fashion model,” I replied. “Apparently, the guys in Italy are all about the groping.”
Josh was silent for a moment, pondering. Then he dropped my hand and groaned in frustration, plopping down on the nearest
leather couch. He blew out a sigh and looked up at me imploringly.
“Are you sure you don’t want to just go to the police with this?” Josh asked, extricating his phone from the pocket of his cargo shorts. I’d forwarded him the text with the attachment and he still had it up on his screen. “Give them the directions and let them figure it out?”
I sat down next to him and knocked the side of my knee against his. “How about this? If you don’t hear from me in two hours, send in the SWAT team, the dogs, the helicopters. Whatever.”
Josh knocked his fist against his mouth a few times but finally gave in. “Okay, fine. It’s a plan.”
I threw my one good arm around him and squeezed. And even though I hadn’t exactly come here for his permission, I whispered a quick “Thank you,” because it was important to me that he believed in me and wouldn’t be sitting here terrified the whole time I was gone. Then I kissed him and got up, my ponytail swinging behind me. Josh rose as well, turning to watch as I joined my friends at the door.
“Ready?” Noelle asked, glancing at her phone to check the time.
“Ready.”
“Hey, guys?” Josh called out in full voice, earning some annoyed glances from the studying hordes around him.
“Yeah?” Ivy said.
“Take care of her, okay?” Josh told them.
I wasn’t sure whether I should be offended that he thought I couldn’t handle myself, or pleased that he cared. But then, I supposed
I did have a broken bone and a track record for getting into trouble, so I kept my mouth shut.
Noelle, meanwhile, looped her arm over my shoulders and squeezed. “Always do.”
“Raccoon!” Taylor shouted, pointing toward the windshield from the center seat in the back of Kiran’s rented Escalade. Noelle slammed on the brakes and we were all flung forward for a second before the massive SUV came to a complete stop, its tires squealing on the wet pavement. My hand flew to my heart as the raccoon paused for a moment, gave us a withering stare, and continued loping across the road.
“Okay,
why
are you driving my car again?” Kiran demanded, glaring at Noelle from the front passenger seat.
“Because my car was too small and we all know your driving’s for shit,” Noelle replied, slowly rolling ahead again. The windshield wipers thwapped violently back and forth, sending sprays of water into the night with each giant arc.
“Yeah. And clearly you’re way better,” Kiran complained, resting her elbow against the top of her door and her head on her hand.
“Well, maybe if any of these damn streets had streetlights,” Noelle shot back.
“Guys. Can we stop sniping for a second and focus?” I asked, gripping the back of Kiran’s seat with my free hand. “Where are we?”
“We have to take the next left,” Ivy said, her phone aglow in her lap, casting a white light over her already pale features.
“Does anyone
see
a next left?” I asked, squinting into the night.
“There!” Kiran pointed at a street sign that was half hidden by a low-hanging tree branch. Noelle cut the wheel and we all screeched as the car skidded around the corner, veering into the far lane.
“Next time,
I
drive,” Ivy muttered, her hand braced against the window.
This road was even scrawnier than the last, and clouds of fog rose up from the pavement, gathering around the car as we cut through. I turned and gazed out the window to my right, trying to see anything in the dark—a house, a business, a barn, a gas station—but all I saw were trees, trees, and more trees. An ancient but well-maintained stone wall loomed into view, terminating at the base of a driveway with a tall iron gate. The house beyond wasn’t visible from the road, either because of the fog or because the driveway was so long, the house was hidden by trees.
Taylor glanced past me, then did a double take when she saw the gates. She leaned toward the window, crushing my cast, and I let out an involuntary gasp.
“Oh God! Sorry,” Taylor said, sitting up straight again. “But, you guys, do you realize where we are right now?”
“The middle of nowhere?” Kiran theorized.
“Trapped in some bad horror movie?” Ivy joked as the fog thickened.
“I think both,” Taylor said, looking skittish.
“What do you mean?” I asked, all the little hairs on my arms standing on end.
“It says to take the next right, just after the covered bridge,” Ivy announced. Then she looked up from the page. “Wait a second. The covered bridge?”
While her words still hung in the air, the structure appeared as if from nowhere, and the Escalade’s tires bumped and thumped over its old creaky boards. For a moment, we were eerily cut off from the outside world, the noise of the rain stopped, and all I could hear was the sound of our breathing and the squealing of the suddenly dry windshield wipers. I had this sinking sense of déjà vu as the car reemerged into the rain and Noelle slowed to make the turn.
Seconds later my throat went dry and Noelle hit the brakes. I held my breath. No one moved. Rising up out of the fog at the top of the hill were the uppermost floors of a house I knew all too well. A house I hadn’t stepped foot inside for more than a year. A house I had visited on one of the most horrific nights of my life.
Kiran clutched the door handle, as if ready to bolt. “Isn’t this—?”
“Yeah, it is,” Noelle confirmed. “It’s Cheyenne’s house.”