“What?” Carlos seems genuinely surprised at her reaction. “If that thing glows blue in three minutes our lives will be changed forever! It’s the same.”
It takes surprising effort for me to suppress a laugh. “And how do you know so much about pregnancy tests?”
He tips his chin up. “I take health class very seriously.”
“It’d be nice if you’d take this—” Seth starts, but then he stops because something is happening to the stuff inside the beaker. The color has gone from barely blue to intense ultramarine, and a distinct aura of light emanates from it. It feels as if my insides have been flipped upside down.
We have merinite.
Hector takes a spoon and dips it in the substance. Sure enough, it coats the utensil like a thick syrup. “Well, I think it worked.”
“Really? What tipped you off?” Seth looks sick.
“I wasn’t sure until the glowing,” Carlos says sarcastically.
“What do we do with it now?” Brady says. “It’s not like we can pour it down the drain, and that stuff is bright as a lamp!”
Hector turns off the hot plate. “Good question. Didn’t think that one through. Guess now we have to figure out if it can be destroyed safely.”
“Great idea,” Seth says. “Small test before dealing with the cave.”
“That’s all nice, but what do we do about the Army and Juan now? We really do have what they want, and they already suspect us so much,” I say, putting my hands on my hips. Seth and I both told Brady that there’d be a way to protect the pools without burying them, but as the merinite swirls like a lava lamp I can’t help but think destroying them completely is the only way.
We gather in a circle on Hector’s floor to strategize. Maybe we could barricade the place—no, that wouldn’t stop them from using sensors to analyze the subsurface and finding the cave. Maybe we could empty the pools and take the merinite somewhere else—we’d just need a couple semi-trucks, a giant pool vacuum, and a new location. Not likely. Or we could guard it by making the area look haunted. Or booby trap the entrance. The longer we talk about it, the stupider the ideas get.
Brady leans his head back on Hector’s bed, sighing. “Let’s face it. There’s only one way to guarantee people won’t find it. I have to bury it.”
Seth purses his lips. “You’re probably right.”
“I hate to say it.” Hector stirs the merinite. “But if it’s safe to do so, caving in the place would contaminate the merinite with dirt and rock, which would make it a lot harder to find and extract. It may even destroy whatever process is happening there to create it in the first place. That’s probably the best we can do.”
“Are you sure?” Bea puts her hand on Brady’s arm. “That place…”
“It’s okay.” Brady gives us a big smile, and I’m surprised it’s not his fake one. He takes Bea’s hand. “I have you.”
A big grin spreads across her face. When she leans her head on his shoulder, Hector and Carlos make gagging sounds.
I roll my eyes. “We’ll have to meet up at my place tomorrow, see if my mom can help figure out how dangerous destroying the merinite might be.”
Hector nods. “She was a huge help with this test.”
After saying our goodbyes, I head to my car parked in front of Seth’s house. Miles took Mom to work so I could have it, and for once I’m glad to drive home by myself because I don’t know where Seth and I are at. He watches me unlock the car door, and when I glance at him our eyes meet.
“I don’t like fighting with you,” he says.
“Then stop.” I open the door, but he grabs me before I can get in. I don’t hug him back. “So you’re mad at me but hugging me?”
“Be safe. Keep your phone on.” He squeezes me tighter, then whispers, “I don’t want to sleep in the same house with him, but I have to, don’t I?”
I bite my lip, the frustration fizzling. My boyfriend is scared. Of his own father. Our lives are starting to be similar in ways I’d rather not have them be. I wrap my arms around him. “Yeah. You be safe, too. We’ll look into it tomorrow.”
“Okay.” He kisses me once, and there’s something sad about it, as if he’s unsure of whether I want his lips on mine or not. Then he heads for his house, and I watch him until he disappears behind the door.
As I drive home, I wish I could turn off my brain. I’m tired of thinking, of worrying, of making sure no one is following me. By the time I’ve pulled into my driveway, I feel like I could sleep for weeks. I drag my feet towards the front door, telling myself I need to be on my guard but knowing my reflexes are shot from fatigue.
So when a person wearing black emerges from the bushes pointing a gun at me, I almost expect it. It would be the perfect time for an attack. I pull out my phone and call Mom. “I’m dialing the person inside who can rip that gun right out of your hands, so if you’re gonna shoot you better do—”
“Fiona!” a feminine voice says from behind the mask. She puts the gun down. “Thought you were at Bea’s, sorry.”
I quirk an eyebrow. “Do I know you?”
She shrugs. “Miles might have mentioned me once or twice.”
Well, now I’m wide awake. “Spud?”
“Yup. Ah, there she is.” Spud aims the gun again. This time she pulls the trigger, and the silencer hides most of the sound. I turn just in time to see a person hit the ground. I stare at the fallen body, horrified that my brother’s girlfriend is a killer. Does he know this?
“What the hell?” I step back from her, scared.
“Oh, come on. You think I’ve survived this long without fighting?” Spud heads for the street, and I feel obligated to follow. Besides, maybe she’ll explain what she did, because right now I’m not sure my brother should be with a girl like this.
“Sorry I had to do this in front of you.” Spud kneels down next to the corpse, typing something into a fancy-looking phone. “This bitch was too smart for her own good, going completely off the grid. It was the only way to intercept her.”
I don’t want to look at the body—the thought alone makes me ill—but when I finally get the courage to face whoever Spud shot, my eyes go wide with horror. This can’t be happening. Short brown hair, hazel eyes, perfect skin that can change to any shade she pleases—I know this woman. “Noelle.”
She used to teach me how to steal and hide. She’s from my dad’s syndicate.
Chapter 23
As I take in the reality, I don’t know what to feel. Noelle was like a mentor to me—as a chameleon, she could almost understand how I felt being invisible. She would tell me I’d find myself eventually. She taught me how to use my ability in ways no one else could teach me. But at the same time, if she was here tonight then it means she was on a mission for my dad. Finally, there is a hint that he’s not ignoring what’s happening in Madison—and Spud just protected us from him.
Maybe I should feel grateful. But it seems horrible to be grateful someone is dead.
Spud searches Noelle’s body, for what, I don’t know. All I can see is the blood pooling in the street. All I can feel is the urge to cry and throw up. Spud reaches into Noelle’s bra and pulls out a small box. “Always in the bra,” she says. “Is that protocol or something?”
It takes me a moment to find my voice. Still, it comes out weak. “Um, not that I know of.”
“You probably didn’t wear a bra on your missions, so how could you?” Spud opens the box, and even in the dark I recognize the contents: knock-out needles tipped in purple and killing needles tipped in red. And here I thought Dad only made those for me—another reminder of his lies. There is also a piece of paper, which seems to be what Spud is after. She smirks. “Written in code. Cute. I dream in code, idiots.”