Her eyes narrowed. “A security shield?”
The squeal of tires a block away made them both turn around. Michael and Thomas were just leaving the house, Thomas counting the cash and Michael holding the cat carrier under his arm. “Scatter,” Tegan said.
Jax had been shouting at them for the last minute and a half, but Tegan’s one word sent them running. Thomas scrambled over the fence at the back of the property, while his father made a sharp left turn, crossed the street, and walked between two neighbors’ houses. When Jax turned around, Tegan was gone.
Mrs. Crandall’s car jumped the curb pulling up in front of Riley’s house. The driver’s door flew open, and Mrs. Crandall climbed out. She stalked toward Jax, looking left and right. Mr. Blum, who was fertilizing his lawn, eyed her curiously.
“See anybody, Jax?” Mrs. Crandall called out.
Jax remembered her talent. “No strangers.” That was the literal truth. She gave him a sharp look, but the approach of Riley’s motorcycle distracted her. She lifted an arm and drew a circle in the air with her finger. Riley acknowledged by raising a hand, then turned off to circle the block. Mrs. Crandall turned off the ignition in her car. “Wait inside, Jax.”
Jax returned to the house and released his breath in a gush. Was the Donovan talent smelling people out? That was disgusting! And what had Thomas been doing upstairs? Jax took the stairs two at a time. At the back of the second floor, he found a window open, and when he stuck his head out, he saw the shed directly below. Well, that’s how he got in. Jax shoved the window closed and locked it.
He took a look around Riley’s room, but there was no way for Jax to tell if anything was missing. On his way out, he glanced at the photograph of the girl tucked into Riley’s mirror. Is that his dead sister? With that reminder of what was at stake, Jax went downstairs to wait.
Later, Jax looked Riley straight in the eye and said, “I went out to look around and didn’t see anybody who didn’t belong here. Then Mrs. Crandall drove up, and she told me to stay inside.”
He braced for Riley’s command: I order you to tell me the truth. But it didn’t come. “Melinda says these people have passed through her net before. She thinks they might be loners who live not far from here and occasionally shop at the Walmart or get off the highway for gas.”
Jax barely kept his mouth from dropping open. Of course Melinda had detected the Donovans before. They probably lived only ten miles away. Jax could have mentioned them at any time after discovering he had classmates who were Transitioners, and Riley wouldn’t have been surprised. He wouldn’t have had to say a word about being kidnapped.
But he hadn’t mentioned them to Riley, and now he’d told an outright lie. If he changed his story and confessed, Riley would lose all trust in him. And if Riley didn’t trust him, he wouldn’t take Jax with him when he moved Evangeline. Jax would end up back at Naomi’s, living every Grunsday by himself.
He was going to have to stick with his lie and hope he’d seen the last of the Donovans. He’d given them money, which was all they cared about. There was no reason for them to come back to this house. Jax had nothing more to offer.
“So we’re good?” he asked in what he hoped was an innocent voice.
“I guess so,” Riley said, as if trying to convince himself, but he still looked worried. “Doesn’t hurt to be cautious, though.”
Riley called in sick to work on Monday to keep a watch on the house next door and almost lost his job for taking another day off. He didn’t exactly command his boss not to fire him, but Jax heard him say over the phone, “Have a little sympathy.” Jax shivered. As Melinda had predicted, he was getting a feel for when Riley was using his talent.
Jax went to school for his final exams. To his relief, the Donovans didn’t turn up.
“Maybe they moved,” one of the kids said.
“I hope they enjoy repeating seventh grade in their new school,” Miss Cassidy grumbled. But when she picked the blank test off Tegan’s desk, Jax heard her add, “It’s a shame. She had potential.”
That evening the doorbell rang, and Jax froze, picturing the Donovan trio and possibly their cat carrier. When Riley opened the door to Mr. and Mrs. Crandall instead, Jax felt light-headed with relief. Riley, however, looked grim.
Mr. Crandall cleared his throat. “We request a formal audience.”
“Yeah, I was expecting this.” Riley held the door open wide.
Rather stiffly, the Crandalls each produced their honor blades and laid them on the coffee table before sitting on the sofa. For a moment, Jax thought they were withdrawing their allegiance, but when Riley laid his knife beside theirs, Jax decided it was some weird ritual. Okay, he could play along. He laid his dagger on the table as well. Mrs. Crandall gave him a nod of approval.
Mr. Crandall cleared his throat. “Saturday,” he began.
“Was a false alarm,” Riley finished.
“We were unprepared and undermanned.”
“It was a false alarm,” Riley repeated. “Just some random Transitioners. And I spoke to Miller. He’s heard nothing.”
“Miller may not know everything,” Mrs. Crandall said. “And Arnie’s right. We didn’t have enough people to cover this house.”
“I was here within three minutes of Melinda’s call.”
“A lot can happen in three minutes,” Mr. Crandall said. “And you always assume she’ll be the target, but it could just as easily be you.”
“It’s not your fault, Riley,” Mrs. Crandall assured him. “You have to go to work. We all have to work and pay the bills. The problem is there’s too few of us.”
“You’re not just our liege lord. You’re like a son to us. Which is why we want to ask you if you’ve considered the Morgans’ offer. They’ve shielded you from the Dulacs all these years, never letting on that you were still alive, and you know it’s because they always expected you and Deidre to end up together.”
“But they’re wrong,” Riley said quietly. “I have no interest in getting engaged to Deidre.”
Jax sucked in his breath. Riley—get engaged to marry the heavily armed Deidre? The first time Riley forgot to bring home groceries, she’d shoot him!
“A family connection wouldn’t be enough to satisfy Deidre’s mother anyway,” Riley went on. “Sheila Morgan’s going to expect me to swear my loyalty to her. I’d have to turn over my vassals. Is that what you want, Arnie, to serve the Morgans?”
“You know I don’t,” Mr. Crandall said stiffly, “but I also don’t want to see you killed trying to protect the Emrys girl. The Morgans have the organization, the weaponry, and the manpower to do this job right. And they could protect you. You could come out of hiding.”
“I don’t want their protection.”
“Riley—”
“Deidre and I have been friends since we were kids. Our families have been allies since the beginning. If that’s not good enough for the Morgans, I’ll make do without their help.” Riley picked up his honor blade and stabbed it directly into the coffee table. The Crandalls fell silent. “We stick to the plan: find a safe house for Evangeline Emrys and move her there. That’s it.”
28
ON GRUNSDAY, Jax awoke knowing Evangeline was present next door and he was supposed to leave her alone. “Should we hook up her generator anyway?” he asked Riley, handing him the information on boarding schools he’d compiled.
“No.” Riley scanned the pages. Surprisingly, he’d liked Jax’s idea. “She’s fine. We’re going to have to uproot her next Grunsday. Let’s not make her mad at us today.”