AGENT COLE TURNED OUT TO be waiting in Colonel Charles’s office. Unlike Fort’s escorts, she wasn’t wearing a suit but instead had a green jacket with the letters TDA printed on the back. She turned around and smiled warmly as Fort entered, extending her hand.
“Forsythe?” she said, and he nodded, trying to play it as cool as he could, considering he was about to have a heart attack. “That’s not a name you hear very often. Is it a family name?”
“My grandfather’s,” Fort said.
“That would do it. Sit, please,” she said, and gestured for Fort to sit in the same seat he had been using the night before. “My name is Christina Cole, and I’m head agent at the TDA in charge of locating our infamous two missing students. Usually, Colonel Charles or Dr. Oppenheimer would be speaking to you now, but unfortunately, both are recovering from the attack last night.”
Fort nodded, trying not to stare at the pieces of the other chair that still lay on the floor. “You want to know if I remember anything,” he said, since Sierra had told the guards that he’d been mind-controlled and had his memory erased. “Is that it?”
Agent Cole sat down in Colonel Charles’s chair and leaned back, her finger steepled in front of her. “Part of it, yes. I’d also like to know what Sierra wanted with you and Dr. Oppenheimer.”
Fort took a deep breath, trying to keep his hands from shaking. “All I remember is going back to my room after dinner last night and reading a book, then waking up in the hallway outside with Dr. Opps walking me back to bed. He told me we’d both been taken over by that girl you mentioned… Sierra, that’s her name?”
“Yes, that’s it,” Agent Cole said, nodding at him.
“Right. Beyond that, I have no idea what happened.” He looked around like he’d never been in the office before. “Looks bad, though. How did the chair break?”
Agent Cole smiled gently, then leaned forward. “Forsythe… do you go by that, or something else?”
“Fort,” he said.
“Fort, I can appreciate that you’ve gotten used to dealing with regular administration here at the school,” she said, looking him straight in the eye. “They’re good at what they do, but there’s a reason that I’ve been put in charge of bringing our two fugitive students back into the fold. I’m very good at seeing through falsehoods, whether magical or otherwise. So why don’t we start again?”
His eyes widened, and he gripped the arms of the chair tightly. “I don’t know what you mean… I told you, I can’t remember anything.”
“Two books of magic went missing last night,” Agent Cole said, standing up to come around toward him. She stopped a few feet from Fort and sat back against the desk. “Now, no one went in or out of the building, so there would have only been one person who could have removed them. Unfortunately for you, he was busy running from my agents last night. So why don’t you tell me where the books are?”
Fort tried to speak, only to swallow the wrong way and launch into a coughing fit. “I told you,” he stammered. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“I’ve got agents searching your room as we speak,” she said, watching him closely. “And this will go much easier on you if you admit what happened before we find anything.”
“You’re searching my room?!” Fort said, incredibly thankful that he’d thought to hide the book elsewhere now. “I’m telling you, I didn’t take any books.”
“So what, you’re going to say Gabriel stole them?” She shook her head, smiling again. “I think we both know better than that.”
“No, I’m not saying that Gabriel did anything. I’m… I’m trying to say that no one… that I don’t know who took the books! I didn’t even know they were gone!” He could feel sweat running down his neck now and fought the urge to wipe it off.
She sighed and leaned in closer. “From what I can tell, you’re not a bad kid, Fort. You shouldn’t even be here at this school. But the colonel decided to bring you in, to see if that would wake Sierra up, and here we are. Now, the connection you shared with Sierra wasn’t your fault. But getting her help to steal the books… that’s not something we can forgive, not unless you tell me what happened so I can fix this.”
“I’m telling you, she was in my head! I don’t know why, or what happened!”
Agent Cole looked down for a moment, then stood up and went back to sit behind the desk. “Do you know what’s going on in London right now?” she asked.
The alert on Dr. Opps’s phone came to mind, but Fort shook his head. “No. They don’t let us watch the news or anything.”
“Sierra and Damian somehow made it on an international flight, but we were waiting for the plane when it landed. They evaded capture but haven’t left the airport yet. I have four squads of agents going terminal by terminal at Heathrow, all wearing these.” She pulled on the amulet chain she had around her neck. “No one’s being let in or out until we find Sierra and Damian.” Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up. “Ah, they’ve swept terminals four and five, and are moving on to three.” She looked at Fort. “Like I said, this will all go easier on you if you cooperate. We’re going to find her and the boy. But if you help us…”
Fort gripped the chair even tighter and shook his head. “Last I saw or heard from Sierra, she and Damian were leaving the old school,” he said quietly. “Other than that, I have no idea what you’re talking about, with any of this.”
She studied him for a moment, then shrugged. “Fair enough! Listen, I hope you’re telling the truth, I really do. I don’t see that as a possibility, but until I find those books, I can’t prove anything.” She paused. “Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m told some of these memory wipes turn out to be just temporary, so I’m sure Dr. Oppenheimer and Colonel Charles will be glad to volunteer anything they remember. And you, of course, should do the same.”
Fort barely remembered to nod, busy wondering what would happen if either of the two headmasters could recall what had happened the night before.
“Don’t worry about your room, by the way,” she said, opening one of Colonel Charles’s drawers. “We’ll put everything back where we found it. Got to run a tight ship here at the Oppenheimer School, you know!”
“Thanks,” Fort said, still distracted.
“Oh, and since you say you’ve just had your mind taken over by a fugitive,” Agent Cole said, pulling out another amulet from the desk. “I’m going to need you to wear this at all times. I’ll alert all the guards to make sure you’ve got it on, just in case she tries again.” She held it out to Fort, and he slowly took it.
Sierra? he shouted as loudly as he could in his mind as he sat back down with the amulet. I don’t know if you can hear me, but the TDA is looking for you and Damian with a bunch of agents. They’re going terminal by terminal, and have already checked four and five! You need to run, get out of there before—
FORT? Sierra said in his mind. I CAN HEAR YOU. YOU’RE SURE SHE SAID FOUR AND FIVE?
“Put it on now,” Agent Cole said, and Fort began to put the amulet over his head, stopping to let it get caught in his hair.
Yes! Where are you?
TERMINAL FIVE! IF THEY’RE GONE, THEN WE CAN GET OUT OF HERE. YOU’RE A LIFESAVER!
Agent Cole stood up and grabbed the amulet from Fort’s hands.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE’VE BEEN THROUGH. I NEED TO TELL YOU—
The agent placed the necklace over his head, and as soon as the amulet dropped against his chest, Sierra’s voice disappeared.
“That’s better,” Agent Cole said, her smile returning. “Now run off to breakfast while we finish with your room. The moment we find anything, you’ll be sure to know!”
Fort nodded and stood up, anxious to slip into the bathroom or someplace private to get the amulet off and see what Sierra had to tell him.
“Oh, by the way?” Agent Cole said as Fort put his hand on the door. “That amulet is a bit… special. I guess Dr. Oppenheimer had Sierra rig a few to knock someone out if they tried to take it off. So make sure you don’t lose it! Wouldn’t want to find you unconscious in the bathroom or something, now, would we?”
Fort just stared at her for a moment, shook his head, then walked out without another word.