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She delayed for only a minute or so, thinking over what she would say, and how, and then stepped out into the cool, thin air.
And into memories.
The steps. She remembered walking up these steps so many times, sometimes trudging in exhaustion, sometimes skipping up so lightly it felt as though she floated on air. Around her, the girls of her group—the Graces—had chatted and quarreled and generally acted like the closest of sisters. Which they’d been, and still were, although the relationships had matured along with their ages. All Athena Academy graduates were siblings, in a sense; some were just closer than others.
Some were closer than family.
As she entered the open front door, she saw a tall, straight-backed figure standing on the stairs with one elegant hand on the railing. The lights in the foyer were dimmed, but still bright enough to show Katie the grave, composed expression on Rebecca Claussen’s face. Rebecca still looked just the same to Katie’s eyes; maybe a bit more gray in the shoulder-length hair, a few more lines at the corners of her eyes. But a welcoming smile and an extended hand, nonetheless. “Katie,” she said. “Thank you for coming. I know this wasn’t easy for you, to drop everything and rush to our aid.”
It wasn’t anything more than any other Athena graduate would have done, Katie was tempted to say, but she only nodded and shook the strong, dry hand, then followed Rebecca up the wide, sweeping staircase to the second floor.
“Are their parents here?” Katie asked. Rebecca glanced over her shoulder at her and nodded. “May I speak with them?”
“Of course. But I don’t think you’ll find many leads there—Teal and Lena were exemplary students, and they had permission to leave campus.”
“Permission? So someone knew where they were going?”
“We log in destinations for any student who leaves the campus grounds, Katie. Here. We’ll discuss this in private.” Rebecca swung open a set of double doors and revealed her office, a Spartan kind of place with a few mementos and photographs of her husband. He’d died, Katie remembered, about eight years ago. Rebecca still wore the wedding ring. “Please, have a seat.” She closed the doors after Katie and, instead of taking the chair behind the large wooden desk, pulled up a smaller visitor’s chair to sit almost knee to knee with Katie.
“Where were they going? According to the official record?” Katie asked.
Rebecca’s dark eyebrows rose. “Official record? Why would there be any discrepancy?”
“Because they’re teenage girls, and I have an idea from Jazz Ryan that they weren’t exactly lying, but they weren’t telling the whole truth, either. May I see the records?”
Rebecca reached for a folder on her desk and flipped it open before handing it over. Katie scanned it quickly. It was a simple log of students, time and date out, destination, time and date back in. Completely routine. Teal and Lena had signed out together, and Jazz had signed out just afterward, which supported Jazz’s statement that she’d tagged along without an invitation. Destination for Teal and Lena was listed as “movies,” and the address of the mall theater in Glendale. Jazz had copied the same information.
Katie handed it back and said, “Jazz told me that they were planning on going to the movies, but they had something else to do first. Has anybody made any reference to it? Any student?”
“No, Katie. We would have informed the police immediately if we’d had any additional information. All we know is that the girls left campus and didn’t return.” Rebecca’s hazel eyes assessed her coolly. She was a tough woman, and she’d always been able to at least appear to see a student’s innermost secrets with a single glance. But Katie wasn’t a student anymore, and she held the stare without flinching. “You think there’s some kind of information here at the school. Some lead.”
Katie didn’t deny it. “I’d like to speak with their parents, and then with the girls in Lena and Teal’s group. If anybody here knows, they would.” Both of them knew how close the bonds were within those groups, assigned during the girls’ first year. “Can you make them available for interviews?”
“So long as either Ms. Evans or I can be present during the conversations.”
“Of course.” She’d rather not, actually, but it seemed unlikely she’d get that much cooperation. The women in charge of Athena Academy were protective of their students. “How many are available tonight?”
“All of them. Naturally, we understand the urgency and time pressures you face. We’ve already gathered the girls. Do you want to speak with them individually?”
“Together first,” she said. In her experience, adults weren’t great at hiding things from authority figures, but kids were even worse.
And she needed to save time. Individual interviews would take too long.
Rebecca nodded. “If you’ll wait here a moment, I’ll get the girls together in a common area.” She moved quickly, with confidence, and Katie was left alone in her office. She rose and paced restlessly, thinking through what was coming and trying not to think about what might be happening to the missing girls.
“Katie.”
A voice behind her. She turned, hands clasped behind her back, and saw Christine Evans standing in the doorway. Christine was a striking figure, just as Katie remembered her—maybe a little more silver in the short gray hair, but it didn’t so much soften her as add another touch of metal. Christine was solid. Katie was an active woman, fit as an FBI agent generally had to be, but Christine had always looked exactly like what she was: a war veteran. Tough, competent and perfectly capable of sending a drill sergeant in full retreat when she cared to do so.
“Ms. Evans,” Katie said, and then corrected herself before she could be reminded. “Christine.”
“I’m so glad you were brought into this. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have looking for the girls.” Christine crossed the room toward her, and if Katie hadn’t been well aware that she was blind in her left eye—had been since anyone Katie’s age knew her—she’d never have suspected that the slight gesture of Christine’s left hand at her side was designed to warn her of any obstacles in her path. Christine offered her hand—a large, square, capable hand, with meticulously clean French manicured fingernails—and Katie shook it. She knew she had a strong grip, but Christine’s was always an order of magnitude greater—not out of any desire to intimidate, just because that was Christine’s level.
Katie couldn’t forget how things had been when Marion Gracelyn, the founder of Athena Academy, had met her death. Things could have so easily fallen apart. It had taken a strong personality to step into that hurricane and make order from chaos…and a gentle one. The girls had needed comfort and a sense of security, and Christine had been the perfect one to do it.
Still, that didn’t make the strength of Christine’s handshake any less painful. Katie smiled and reclaimed her tingling fingers as fast as she could. “It’s good to see you, ma’am.”
Christine snorted. “Ma’am. The next thing you know, you’ll be saluting, Katie. How have you been?”
“Fine.” She had no idea how to make small talk with someone who loomed as large in her personal cosmology as Christine Evans.
“As I recall,” Christine said, “you always were a private person. I hope you’ve worked through that somewhat—I hear you are exceptional at your job, of course. But I know all too well that the type of work you’ve chosen isolates you. You’re happy?”
“Very.” She wasn’t about to talk about her personal life—or lack of one, more accurately—with her old headmistress. “I heard that your great-nephew, William, was injured…?”
Nothing like turning the focus on the other person to cover your own inadequacies, Katie thought wryly. But she also knew that Christine worried about her family, and it was probably a justified sort of worry.
“I just heard from him,” Christine said. “He’s recovering well, and I expect they’ll have him back in uniform soon. Not soon enough, most likely—he’s bored, and that’s never a good sign for someone like William. Or us, for that matter.”
“I’m glad he’s all right,” Katie said. “If I could see Teal and Lena’s parents—”
“Together or separately?”
“Separately, please, if it’s no bother.”
“None at all.” Christine’s one bright eye fixed on her. “I’ve been thinking that this doesn’t look like a random snatch-and-grab kidnapping. It appears more planned than impulsive. That implies that someone must have provided information about where the girls were going—if not students, then staff or employees. I’ve taken the liberty of retrieving personnel files for you.”
It never failed to surprise Katie just how ahead of the game Christine was, although she supposed she should have gotten used to it by now. “Thank you,” she said. “I was wondering how to bring that up. I know that you feel very loyal to everyone here, but—”
“But it’s possible for anyone to be deceived,” Christine said briskly. “Yes. I have no illusions about such things, Katie. However, if one of my people betrayed these girls, I promise you, hell hath no fury to match Christine Evans.”
That, Katie could fully believe. She grinned slightly and said, “Could I look over the files after I speak with the parents and the other girls?”
“They’ll be ready.” Christine met her eyes. “I know that you can’t keep me fully informed, but I’d like to have what information you can provide without violating your oaths.”
“You’ll have it.” She hesitated for a second and then said, “These girls. You know I need to ask…. Can you tell me something about them? About what kind of unusual traits they have, specifically? Things that I’m guessing might not be in the files.”
For a second, she wasn’t sure Christine was going to cooperate, but then the woman nodded slightly. “It might be important,” she agreed. “If Teal and Lena were specifically targeted, then it might have been because of what they could do, that’s certainly a possibility. Lena’s very fast and very strong—in fact, she’s one of the only girls in school capable of keeping up with Teal’s physical abilities. Lena’s certainly outgoing, and she’s also civic-minded—she likes entertaining children, the elderly, anyone in need of a little miracle.”
That, more than anything else, made Katie feel a stab of true fear for Lena. She’s in need of her own miracle, she thought. “And Teal?”
“Teal’s a different case,” Christine said. “Fast and strong, as I mentioned, but there’s more to her. We haven’t been able to determine the exact nature of it, because her abilities seem to be developing, but she’s certainly capable of some telepathic contact, though thus far only with those who have similar abilities. You understand, none of this is in the standard files.”
“Of course,” Katie said. “And it won’t go in my files, either. But it could help.”
Christine smiled. It transformed her from severe to glowing, and Katie found herself smiling back, despite the situation, despite the dire danger that two girls faced somewhere out in the night. “It’s really good to have you on our side, Katie,” Christine said. “Really good. The resources of the Academy and Athena Force are at your disposal.”
No small promise there.
The worst part of any case like this was facing the parents, Katie had always found, and this was no different. Teal’s mother was composed, pale and tense, and she answered questions in a flat monotone while her husband sat staring at his hands. He was angry, Katie sensed, but he wasn’t going to let it out. Teal’s mother, on the other hand, was almost completely consumed with fear.
It wasn’t a productive interview.
It wasn’t until Katie was getting ready to leave that Mrs. Arnett suddenly stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and whispered, “You have to find her. She’s special.”
Katie knew that, all too well. She nodded, but Mrs. Arnett kept talking. There was a feverish light in her eyes.
“Teal—you have to understand, we tried and tried to have children, nothing worked, it was really a miracle. If it hadn’t been for the fertility clinic she wouldn’t be here at all. She’s a miracle baby. Please. Help her.”
Katie covered Mrs. Arnett’s trembling hand with her own. “I will.” Out of some obscure impulse, almost as an afterthought, she asked, “Which clinic?”
“What?” Mrs. Arnett blinked. “Oh. The Women’s Fertility Center in Zuni, New Mexico. Is that important?”
“Probably not. I promise you, ma’am, I’m going to do everything I can. You should rest. We’ll keep you informed when we have any information.”
Katie walked from that room—a study room, warm and cozy, lined with reference books—to the empty classroom next door, where Lena Poole’s mother waited. No father in evidence—traveling, Katie learned, in Asia. Mrs. Poole didn’t know when he’d get back. Unlike Mrs. Arnett, this mother was angry—white-hot with it. Almost vibrating. It didn’t matter to Katie; she’d dealt with every kind of reaction, and she knew when to use strength, when to use persuasion, when to use sympathy. Mrs. Poole responded to sympathy. Ultimately, beyond providing a good photograph of Lena, she had nothing to add—but Katie, on that same obscure impulse from before, asked about medical history. Not just Lena’s— Lena had been exceptionally healthy, which wasn’t unusual for the enhanced girls who attended the Athena Academy—but Mrs. Poole’s, as well.
Lena, it appeared, was also a product of fertility treatments.
And Mrs. Poole had received her treatments at the same clinic as Mrs. Arnett.
Katie left Mrs. Poole weeping quietly, comforted by another of the Athena Academy staff members, and stepped into the hall to make a phone call, this time to Kayla Ryan. “Quick question,” she said when Kayla answered. “What do you know about the Women’s Fertility Clinic in Zuni, New Mexico?”
“Nothing. Doesn’t ring any bells. Why?”
“Look into it, would you? Let me know.” She flipped the phone shut, tried to put that strange puzzle out of her mind, and moved on to the next challenge.
The girls.
Although the students were understandably upset and anxious—as was the staff—the mass interview was brief, as Katie’s well-honed instincts dismissed girl after girl from consideration. She pared down the numbers to just two after half an hour: Melissa Princeman and Gabriella Sanchez. They were as different as could be. Melissa was small, delicate, almost elfin, and every emotion showed on her heart-shaped face. Gabriella was large, solid and muscular.
Melissa was radiating frantic guilt. Gabriella was so controlled that Katie couldn’t help but think that there was something waiting behind it to be discovered.
They sat in one of the smaller classrooms, one Katie remembered well; she’d suffered through geology in this room, absolutely convinced that knowing about rocks would never help her in the least. She’d held that opinion right up until she’d discovered the fascinations of forensic science, and geology had opened up for her like a new horizon.
She shook herself out of the past and focused on the present as she paced. Christine Evans had taken the teacher’s desk at the front, and Rebecca stood quietly at the back of the room. The two girls were rigid and unmoving in their student chairs.
“Melissa,” Katie said, “what if I told you that somebody saw you with Teal today?”
It was a shot in the dark, but it struck home. Melissa visibly flinched, and her china-blue eyes welled up with tears.
“It wasn’t my fault!” she blurted. “It was just a note, I didn’t read it or anything. I don’t even know if it was important! I just handed it to her!”
“And did she open it while you were standing there?”
Melissa nodded, gulping back sobs. “She showed it to Lena. They both looked worried.”
“But you don’t know what was in it?”
Melissa shook her head violently. Tears broke free and slid down her pale cheeks.
“Melissa.” Katie slowly lowered herself into a crouch, one hand on the student desk for stability, and looked Melissa in the eyes. “Honey, you need to tell me who gave you the note.”
Melissa looked stricken and anguished. “It couldn’t have been the note. Honest, it couldn’t.”
“You still need to tell me. You don’t want anything to happen to Lena and Teal, do you? We need to eliminate that note as being part of what happened.”
“No, it couldn’t have been anything bad—” Melissa couldn’t finish. She looked away. “I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”
From the front, Christine Evans said softly, “Melissa. You may have promised not to tell, but promises sometimes have to be broken for the greater good. Keeping your word at a time like this is nothing but a way to avoid responsibility.”
Melissa swallowed, nodded and looked down at her intertwined fingers. “I see that. But—”
“It was me,” Gabriella interrupted flatly. “I gave Melissa the note to give to Teal. Liss, there’s no reason to protect me. I don’t have anything to hide.”
Melissa looked tremendously relieved. Gabriella sat back in her chair and crossed her arms—defensive body language. Her deep brown eyes were steady. She was Teal’s age, Katie remembered. Nearly adult, and probably determined to act more than her age. Not a bad girl, but one who might have a lot to prove.
“Tell me about the note,” Katie said and sat down in the student desk across from her, leaning forward. Open posture. “What was in it?”
“It wasn’t mine,” Gabriella said. “Somebody gave it to me. I only gave it to Liss because I knew she’d see Teal first. They had track together.”
Katie controlled her frustration with an effort. “Gabriella, what was in the note?”
Gabriella’s eyes widened just slightly, but her tone stayed completely neutral. “How would I know? You think I read it?”
Not a denial, Katie noted. “I know you did. What did it say?”
Gabriella finally showed an expression—a flicker of shame. She looked away. “It wasn’t a message really. It just said, Blue Camaro, in front of Macy’s, at 11:00 a.m.”
“It was instructions to meet someone,” Katie said. “Why didn’t you come forward with this?”
“Because I—” Gabriella’s lips tightened. “Look, we were just trying to do the right thing, okay? Somebody was in trouble, and we were trying to help out. Besides, their disappearance couldn’t be about the note. Teal and Lena never even got to Macy’s, right?”
“Right,” Katie agreed grimly. “But all that means is that they were never meant to arrive. Somebody knew where they’d be going, and when. And I suppose, because you girls were cloak-and-dagger, that’s why Teal and Lena didn’t take a cab or catch a ride to the mall.”
The two girls, so different and yet in this moment so alike, exchanged a quick look. “Yeah,” Gabriella agreed. Suddenly, she didn’t sound nearly so sure of herself. “But—it wasn’t any big thing! Honest… It was just— Look, somebody was in trouble. We were trying to help.”
“Help how?” Katie pressed. “Why were they meeting this person?”
Melissa said, “Teal was going to give the guy money.”
Oh God. “How much money?”
“Not that much. A couple of hundred dollars,” Gabriella said defensively. “I told you, it wasn’t that big a deal!”
Katie cursed all the fates she could think of. She’d thought the kidnapping would turn out to be relatively simple, but the complications kept rolling in. The addition of this kind of money drop opened up all sorts of unwelcome possibilities, from blackmail to kidnapping to—although she couldn’t believe it—drugs. All fraught with danger, all involving professional criminals of one type or another, which didn’t ensure the girls’ safety by any means. Only that the situation would be far less easy to resolve.
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