“Alright, dear, it’s almost over.” Rosa cuts her finger, and a few drops of blood splatter onto Lee Seol’s stomach. As I watch her heal before my eyes, I can’t help but think of Rosa saying her ability is a gift from God. To me it seems so strange to attribute my ability to a higher being, but I suppose I can see why Rosa is so religious.
“Holy. Shitballs.” Lee Seol stares at her now perfect stomach, and I think I see understanding cross her face. “Did that really just happen?”
I nod. “You’ll keep it secret, right?”
“Of course,” she says breathlessly. “Hell, is everyone in Madison keeping secrets like this?”
I look right at Seth—he won’t look back. Sighing, I say, “Who knows? But we better get going.”
“I’ll take you guys home,” Seth says. “And, um, Rosa? Can me and Brady stay here for a while? My dad…he’s…”
I can feel him struggling for words. Of course he wouldn’t want to stay in his house when a paid killer lives with him. He must want to tell them what we saw tonight, but how can he?
“He’s been wasted for days,” Brady picks up. He seems to get that there’s more to it, but for right now this is all the excuse he can give. “We’re both getting tired of dealing with it.”
Alejandro curses in Spanish. “John has been useless at work lately, too. Most of the time he can at least pretend to look normal, but these last few days…”
“Of course you can stay. But let me make one thing clear.” Rosa stands, pointing at Brady. “You are not to go near Bea’s room. Don’t think we haven’t figured out you two have a thing.”
“Mom!” Bea’s face fills with horror.
Brady goes stop-sign red. “I would never.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Bea’s dad says sternly. “You better get home, Fiona. I’m sure your mother is worrying.”
“Yeah.” I help Lee Seol off the couch. He has no idea just how worried she probably is, knowing this mission was going down tonight. And we’re definitely late on return. “Thanks for your help.”
“Of course,” Rosa says as we leave.
The night is quiet and dark, but the light is on at Seth’s house. He glares at it, and I’m sure he’s looking through walls to see where his father is. Lee Seol pulls away from me, seeming to have gotten her strength back. “So when are you gonna tell me what really happened post-shooting?”
“At home,” I say. “It’s…complicated.”
After Seth and I tell them what happened, Mom, Miles, and Lee Seol sit there in a daze. Clearly no one saw this coming. Then Lee Seol says, “He can’t be with Juan—he sounds like a free agent to me. A contract worker.”
“Why’s that?” Seth asks. “We’ve seen him around Juan’s guys twice now.”
Mom sighs. “He’s probably working with them currently, but he’d have tattoos if he were initiated into the syndicate.”
“It’s not that uncommon,” Miles points out. “You want something done quietly—you hire it out. Would explain him knowing Crisis, too. There’s no other way he could have found the drop-off info.”
Lee Seol taps on her super phone. “John Mitchell wasn’t flagged in my database as a person of interest, but he is now. He must be damn good at his job. Even I didn’t see any red flags.”
Seth lets out a wry laugh. “Great. My dad’s a top notch hit man. That makes it a little better.”
I frown. “I don’t think that’s what she meant.”
He shakes his head. “Whatever. I better go.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Mom asks. “He knows you know. Even staying at the Navarros’, I don’t like the idea of you being so close to him. Maybe you should stay here.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You’re okay with that?”
“Do I have a reason not to be?” She eyes him suspiciously.
“Nope!” I stand quickly and grab him by the hand, pulling him up the stairs. This is exactly what we need right now. Me and Seth. Alone. “We’ll be good, I promise!”
“He better sleep on the floor!” Mom calls after me. “I will be checking!”
“Okay!”
The second I shut my door, I’m kissing him. He doesn’t resist, but he does say, “I thought you said it was weird to do this with me.”
“Only sometimes,” I say between kisses. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No.” He relaxes a little, but not much. “But aren’t you mad at me?”
“Nope.” I wrap my arms around him. This will make it better. At least for a tiny moment. “You’re mad at me, and I’m okay with that because I won’t change my mind. I just hope you get over it soon.”
“I hope so, too.” He kisses my neck, and soon his tenseness is gone. I push him towards my bed. Maybe we won’t go all the way, but after the shit that happened earlier this feels good. For one second it feels like we’re back to how things were before The Phantom showed up that day at soccer practice.
I hear my mom’s footsteps on the stairs, and I push him back. “She’s coming.”
“Damn.” Seth grabs the extra pillow and the blanket at the foot of the bed. He hits the floor just as she opens the door, and I hold my breath.
Mom lets out a small laugh. “Better stay there.”
When the door closes, I wonder if Seth will listen or not. I even consider asking him to come back. But then the insecurity creeps in. Maybe after I’m visible. I smile just thinking about it.
Definitely after I’m visible.
Chapter 35
“Still shacking up with the Army, huh?” The Phantom yells on Monday as we walk into the school. “Saturday night wasn’t enough for you?”
I don’t look back.
On Tuesday, Mom has to fight her way out of work because Juan’s men try to kidnap her. Graham sets up guards at our house and personally watches the area from the air.
Wednesday, it seems like everyone in town is leaving before things get worse. My neighbors pack up their stuff. Half the students at school are absent—same with the teachers. Gunshots are heard outside far too often. There’s no doubt The Phantom is prepping for something huge.
On Thursday, I consider not going to school at all. Seth watches me while I decide on glasses, the tension between us a little less thanks to that make-out session. Too bad Mom wouldn’t let him stay more than one night. Maybe our whole relationship would be fixed by now. I can tell he’s watching me in the mirror, and I can’t help but ask, “What?”
He shrugs. “I just hate that you have to wear glasses all the time. You look better without them.”
I smile a little. “Well, if this cure works, I won’t have to wear them ever again.”
“You’re really obsessed with that, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” And I’m not apologizing for it, either. The more I think about all the ways it will improve my life, the more I’m willing to do just about anything for it.
He lets out a long sigh, and the expression on his face screams impending apology. I hold my breath, hoping that he’ll finally say he’s okay with this. Because I need his support more than I can tell him. “I guess I just—”
My door flies open, and Lee Seol enters in a fit of excitement. “I’m IN, Fiona! I AM IN!”
It takes me a second, but then I gasp. “Wait, like, you cracked the network?”
“Duh!” She points her finger at her super phone. “Take that, idiot programmer. I told you I’d beat your ass and now your secrets are MINE. Damn, I can’t wait to mess the shit out of his system.”
She laughs maniacally. Seth and I exchange a worried glance.
Miles appears in the hallway, looking one part proud and one part exhausted. “Are you done gloating yet?”
“Nope.” She types furiously into her phone. “Why hello, list of assholes on this job, don’t mind if I download you. Oh, and what’s this? SuperMart! These bastards are trying to hide their network by making it look like the company’s. They must have found someone decently good to think of that.”