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“I understand, more than you realize.” Chris shuddered as if recalling an unpleasant memory as he climbed in the car behind Matt. “Your parents taught me everything I know. If anyone can stand up to Kestler, Eric and Marisa can. Besides, whatever happens, God will be with them.”
“And God will be with us as we search for them.” Matt twisted in his seat to look at Chris. “Where are we going? Are you sure you don’t want to drive now?”
“Nope.” Chris shook his head. “I’m taking you back to the Academy, then I’ll come back here. That is, if my car still runs.”
Matt turned the key and the car roared to life.
“See.” I covered my relief with with smirk. “I didn’t wreck it. It still runs.”
“We already know you’re satisfied if a car simply runs,” Chris teased. “I just happen to hold my vehicles to a slightly higher standard.”
Matt hesitated before shifting the car into gear. “Are you sure that there is nothing we can do to help here?”
“No, our top priority is getting you two back to safety.” Chris frowned. “Mr. Jackson was less than happy you were caught in the middle of this at all. When I get back, Mr. Jackson should be here. I’ll give him a report and we’ll decide where to go from there. I’ll call you guys as soon as I can to give you an update.”
He paused to retrieve his gear from the guard as Matt pulled up to the gate, then turned back to us. “Don’t worry, guys, we’ll find them. You guys staying safe will be the best thing you can do to help.”
Chris dropped us off at the Academy just in time for dinner. I didn’t see Trinity in the dining hall, but she usually ate dinner at home with her family. I would have to try to catch up to her in the morning to let her know how things went. Neither Matt nor I were really in the mood to seek out any of our other friends, so we found a table alone and ate in silence.
As soon as dinner was over headed to our room to get started on our homework. We had only been working an hour when the door flew open with a crash.
“Go away, Winston,” Matt and I chorused without looking up from our work.
There was an awkward pause, then Winston began to whine in a high-pitched voice, “I will not go away. You’re leaving me out on purpose. I want an assignment, too!”
Who does he think I am? SATURN? “We’ve been over this, Winston. There’s nothing for you to do. There’s not even anything for us to do.”
“But there was something for Trinity to do.” He stomped his foot. “She left right after evening formation to go investigate something. How come you gave her something to do and not me?”
Man, he sounds like a four-year-old. “Winston,” I said slowly, trying to keep from losing my patience. “She asked when there was something to do. Now there isn’t, sorry.”
“You guys just think I’m a screw-up,” Winston complained. “Even the guy who took Gene thanked me for bringing Gene right into his hands.”
“Well, you certainly did that.” Matt snapped his pencil in half with one hand.
I stood to my feet, interrupting before Winston could reply - or my best friend could toss him out. “Sorry, Winston, there’s really nothing to do. If there were, we’d be doing it instead of sitting here. Thank you, and good-bye.”
I ushered Winston out and locked the door just as he opened his mouth to protest. He shook the doorknob trying to get in, then pounded on the door and began shouting at us. Ignoring him, I went back to my desk and sat down.
Matt glanced at his watch. “Study time has started already. He’s going to get demerits for making noise.”
Winston’s racket stopped suddenly, replaced by the sound of a loud discussion outside our door.
“I think he just did.” I grinned as the discussion ended and the hall was quiet again.
“Do you think Trinity found anything?” Matt turned in his chair to face me.
“I’m more concerned that she didn’t do anything stupid.” Worry nagged at me. If anything happened to her, I would blame myself. “Like go alone. Winston didn’t mention anyone going with her.”
“Right.” Matt scoffed. “And Trinity would have given him all the details.”
“I suppose you’re right.” I shook off my fears and focused on my homework. The best thing I could do was add Trinity to my growing list of people I was praying for God to keep safe tonight.
We got up eagerly the next morning. The pain in my ribs was becoming livable, and I no longer struggled to get up in the morning. Besides, I was excited about getting updates from Chris and Trinity.
My nagging concerns returned, however, when she was not at formation or our first class together.
“I wonder where Trinity is this morning,” I commented to Matt as we headed to our next class.
“I have no idea,” Matt said in frustration, not catching the worry in my voice. “She knows we’re going to be on edge waiting for news.”
“Would Cadets McCully and Marshall please report to the Superintendent’s office,” the school PA system blared.
“At least Chris came through!” Matt raced down the hall. “Come on!”
Pushing my worries out of my mind once again, I hurried after Matt. Chris must have found something really important to call Superintendent Hinkly’s office. He could have just left us a message with the main office.
“Maybe they found Gene and Dr. Rogers.” Matt grinned as he pushed open the door to the receptionist’s office.
I glanced around the room, half expecting to see Gene and Dr. Rogers sitting on the blue couches that lined two of the walls. “That would be awfully quick. Even for SATURN.”
“Agent Marshall is waiting for you in Superintendent Hinkly’s office.” The receptionist nodded toward the door.
I wiped my sweat-slicked hands on my pants. Chris had said he would call, not come. He should be too busy to come now. Perhaps it’s just really good news, I tried to convince myself. It didn’t work. Something in the receptionist’s manner suggested otherwise.
Even Matt’s excitement seemed to change to apprehension as he opened the door to Superintendent Hinkly’s office. My fear turned to dread when I saw Chris sitting in Superintendent Hinkly’s chair - alone. His face was shadowed with the beginnings of an unshaven beard and dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t gone to bed last night.
My body went numb. His expression was the same as the day he came to tell me that my parents had died in that plane wreck.
Chris must have noticed my reaction, because he forced a tight, reassuring smile. “No one died, Scott. Not this time. But I’m afraid it is bad news. Close the door and sit down.”
Matt closed the door behind us and we sat quietly in the chairs across from Chris.
“Trinity was hurt last night, pretty badly.” Chris held up a hand and added quickly, “She’ll recover, but she is resting at the hospital right now.”
“What... happened?” Matt managed to choke out.
Dread squeezed my heart harder. I had a pretty good idea.
“We can’t be sure until she’s well enough to be questioned.” Chris leaned forward in his chair, looking sharply at me, then at Matt. “Unless you guys can fill in some of the holes.”
“I can.” I looked down at my hands. “What information do you have?”
“Late last night, Coach Shiloah called me to say his daughter hadn’t come home. He was worried about the threats and other things going on around here,” Chris explained. “He said Trinity had told him that she was running errands with some friends after school, but would be home before curfew. She wasn’t home, and none of her friends had seen her. We checked out her usual stops, but no one remembered seeing her at all last night. Finally, about 0115, the police contacted us and said that a girl matching Trinity’s description had been anonymously dropped off at the University of Maryland Medical Center. It was Trinity, but we’re not sure what she was doing or how she got there. Obviously, we have a pretty good idea where her injuries came from. I thought you guys might have more information for us.”
“I’m afraid the whole thing is my fault.” I still didn’t meet Chris’s gaze as a a wave of guilt washed over me.
“Scott,” Matt interrupted sharply. “If she had listened to you, none of this would have happened.”
“Maybe not, but it was my idea.” I finally looked back at Chris. “Trinity was mad about being left out of all the action, so I found something for her to do. I told her to go back to the field where Gene was abducted and look for clues. I made her agree to let her dad know where she was going, only to go during the day, and not to go alone. I thought it would be harmless.”
“You should have talked to me first. Kestler isn’t someone to mess around with; I’d have thought you understood that by now.” Fire burned in Chris’s eyes as he glanced pointedly at my side. “Even if she’d done all those things, she might still have been at risk. I just can’t imagine how Kestler knew she was going out there if she didn’t tell anyone.”
“She told Winston.” Matt made a frustrated gesture with his hand. “He’s finked on us before.”
“But he hasn’t been in contact with anyone,” Chris said. “I checked. I don’t think it was him this time.”
“Maybe the Snake thought that Scott or I would go back and investigate,” Matt tried again. “He could have set a trap for us and caught Trinity instead.”
That idea just made me feel worse. Not only had I sent Trinity out there, but, if Matt was right, she was caught in a trap meant for me.
“Maybe,” Chris said skeptically. “But I doubt Kestler would have someone sit in an empty field for two days waiting for someone to show up. Especially with SATURN agents in and out of there since Saturday.”
He paused and pulled a folded piece of paper out of the inside pocket of his jacket. He unfolded it and laid it on the desk in front of us. “This is a copy of a note we found in her pocket. Can you make it out?”
Matt and I leaned forward to get a better look. It was a copy of a scrap of notebook paper. There were several words scrawled on it, but only one was even remotely legible. Matt shook his head and looked at me.
“All I can read is the word ‘shed.’” I slid the paper back to Chris. “Trinity’s hand writing isn’t the greatest, especially when she is in a hurry.”
“I’ll just have to add that to my list of things to ask her when she is well enough.” Chris put the scrap back in his pocket. “If you guys think of anything that might be important, let me know.”
“Chris, I know you said Trinity is resting.” I hesitated. Her recovery was important, but I needed to see her as soon as possible, if only to reassure myself that she was going to be all right. “But, when do you think she’ll be able to have visitors?”
“Her dad and grandma are with her right now. We probably won’t be able to question her until later today or early tomorrow morning. She’ll probably be ready for regular visitors tomorrow evening at the earliest.” Chris looked at me for a moment then continued, “She’s going to be fine, Scott. You have to stop blaming yourself for everything. Trinity should have known better than to go out there herself.”
“But I should have known that she wouldn’t,” I grumbled. “She wanted to prove herself. She’s too independent.”
I took a shaky breath and swallowed back a lump rising in my throat. “It’s not just that. Trinity’s not saved. I’ve been working on her, but when I think that she could have been killed last night...”
“But she wasn’t, Scott.” Matt reminded me gently. “God gave her another chance.”
“God gave me another chance,” I corrected him. “And I’m going to take advantage of it as soon as I can.”