The Forbidden Trilogy(84)

"When do we leave?"

"You have a week. All the documents and IDs are being prepared. In the meantime, go about your normal schedule."

Lucy scoffed. "Normal? In this war zone? Yeah right."

Higgins's shoulders sagged. "I'm sure things will get back to normal eventually."

Lucy felt a pressure build in her body, and her head buzzed. Higgins had lied.





Chapter 35 – Sam



"Couldn't you tell this Higgins guy was lying to you the whole time?" Brad asked.

Outside our car, the hills and mountains changed only in their angle, moving in and out of shades of green. My brain hurt from answering his questions. How could I explain to someone something I didn't even understand myself?

"First," I said, "that's not how mind reading works. People's thoughts are really complicated, and they don't always come in words or follow linear patterns. Second, even though my best friend is a human lie detector, no, we never caught him in a lie. Toward the end of my stay, after Drake was captured, Higgins's thoughts disturbed me, but until then I had no reason to suspect anything."

Drake took a deep breath in the back seat and shifted his body to get more comfortable in his nap. I wished I could fall asleep, but Brad had too many questions.

Brad glanced at me briefly, then fixed his eyes back on the winding road. "So seventeen years, and you never thought they were lying about what happens when you leave?"

Shame filled me. I should've known. What good was a freaking mind-reading spy if she couldn't catch on to the biggest secret of all? "No. I told you, it wasn't like that. We were treated well. We had everything we ever needed, and the organization was careful. I really believe that most of the staff and faculty didn't even know the full truth. I assume that those who did know were never allowed around us."

"Then how did you figure it out so fast? I mean, Drake shows up and boom, all your trust is gone?"

"Not just boom. First, the fact that he'd been kidnapped was enough to give me pause. We'd never seen anyone brought to Rent-A-Kid against his will. Second, and this is just a theory, I think Drake messed things up for them."

Brad slurped his soda and put it back in the cup holder. "How so?"

I gripped the armrest of my car door tightly, relieved when both of his hands were back on the wheel. This road did not look forgiving with its twisty, sharp turns and steep, midnight dips into nothing. "Just the way the whole situation was handled. Getting me pregnant so fast, Drake's being held at Rent-A-Kid at all, the random thoughts I caught running through people—it was sloppy, and they don't strike me as sloppy. Something happened to derail their plan. What exactly? I don't know."

Brad's mouth tightened into a grimace. I resisted the urge to slip into his mind. My brain needed a break.

"Okay, but wh—"

"Stop!" I raised my hand as though it could defend me from his questions. "I know you have a story to write, but can we save the third degree for later? I'm exhausted."

The muscles in his face softened, and his grip on the steering wheel loosened a fraction. "Sure, of course. I'm sorry, Sam, I don't mean to push you. I'm just trying to understand. My readers, assuming I get any, will be wondering the same things. But we can pick up some other time. We should be getting to the cabin soon, anyway."

I rested my forehead against the cool glass window. "What's he like, your professor?"

"Professor Shaw is... well, you'll see soon enough. He's a character."

His soft smile told me more than any words could have. I looked forward to meeting this man.

***

I stiffened in momentary panic, unsure of how much time had passed. Then I remembered the car, Brad, the cabin, and the muscles in my stomach unclenched. I massaged the kinks in my neck with one hand while wiping my eyes with the other.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked Brad.

"Only about thirty minutes. We're almost there."

Drake shifted in the back seat, and I sensed his consciousness waking. 'I missed you.'

"I'm right here."

'I know. I just miss touching you.'

Drake reached through the gap between the seats to take over rubbing my neck.

Brad pulled the car into the dirt driveway of a large log cabin that sat in a copse of trees.

My stiff muscles protested as I stretched. "Are you sure it's okay to show up without calling?"

"He can't be mad at surprise visitors when he refuses to keep a phone."

I couldn't wrap my mind around why a grown man, who'd spent half his life as a journalist and the other half teaching, would want to seclude himself from the world so thoroughly.

I looked around the property. Majestic pines soared to the sky, their brown needles littering the forest floor. The log cabin looked more spacious than I'd expected, with large windows on every wall. "This place does have indoor plumbing, right? Because I'm so not squatting outside."