“But you still trust them?”
“I trust my dad, yeah. And I think that what MDG is doing is smart. Private police and security forces will be the norm in most countries soon.” He gestured at me. “You know that. You’re part of one right now. Grayson and MDG are basically doing the same thing, MDG is just doing it better. And if I’m going to choose a side, it’s going to be the side with the scrab army.”
He laughed. I tried not to look horrified.
“Listen,” he continued. “You have to promise me that you’ll keep all of this a secret. My dad only let me join Grayson’s teams because I promised not to tell anyone what I knew about MDG.”
“Wait—what? You knew about this the whole time?”
He nodded.
“Why would you help Grayson do this if you were working with MDG? Were you spying on him?”
“No, not really. Most of what Grayson does is out in the open; there’s no need to spy. Honestly, I was mostly keeping him safe. And all of you.”
“How?”
“Grayson goes wild when he gets an idea in his head. He wanted to kick the teams into high gear six months ago, when we were barely prepared. I slowed him down, which benefited everyone.”
“Because MDG needed time to capture scrabs over here,” I said slowly as it clicked into place.
“And Grayson needed time to build an effective training plan so he wouldn’t get all of you killed.” He rolled his eyes. “Everyone worships fucking Grayson, but do you know who they should actually be thanking? Me. Most of you are still alive because I made him take his time.”
Was he serious? I tried to keep an incredulous look off my face, but I wasn’t sure I succeeded. Luckily Julian wasn’t paying attention to me.
“Grayson never appreciates what I do for him,” he continued, talking faster as he got angry. “He still treats me like I’m that little kid who followed him around everywhere. He thought that these stupid teams were such a great idea, but we are, like, fifteen steps ahead of him.” He smirked. “He can carry on with his little scrab fighting teams if he wants. It doesn’t matter after tonight. They’re getting the last of the scrabs out of here.”
“Out of here?” I repeated, fighting to keep my voice steady. “Where are they sending them?”
“To their US facilities for further training. But you really can’t tell anyone that. My dad would be pissed if he knew I told you.”
My eyes widened. They were shipping scrabs to the US? Tonight? I touched my backpack, where I’d hidden Grayson’s phone. I needed to find a way to text him.
“Don’t worry,” Julian said, clearly catching the horror in my expression. “The facilities are state-of-the-art, according to my dad. They’ve had to improvise temporary solutions here, which caused some problems, as you saw. They’ll have a much better handle on things in the US facilities.”
“Are you—we—going back to the US?”
“Don’t worry,” he said with a chuckle. “We’ll be safe, even if we do go back. I promise.”
He actually thought I’d be OK with this appalling plan just because I’d be safe. He really didn’t know me at all.
“I may want to go back to New York for a while, but not right away.”
“Is that where the facilities are? New York?”
“No. They’re out in the middle of nowhere.” He waved his hand. “Not important. I was actually thinking we could escape to Barbados for a bit, after my parents and I wrap things up here. We have a house there, and I can probably take a couple weeks off.”
“Sure,” I said faintly.
He took my hand. I forced down a wave of nausea.
“Everything will be fine, Clara. Trust me.”
40
We drove for an hour before the car turned into the driveway of a massive house. It was red brick with white pillars in front, its expansive windows uncovered and providing a partial view of an impressive interior.
The driver stopped, jumped out, and opened Julian’s door.
“Why don’t you wait here for a minute?” Julian asked, unbuckling his seat belt. “I’m just picking up some stuff from my dad, so I shouldn’t be long.”
“OK,” I said, trying not to sound too happy about it. Once he left, I could text Grayson.
And I desperately wanted Julian as far away from me as possible.
He jumped out, and the driver closed the door behind him and wandered to the front of the car. I leaned back, watching through the back window until Julian disappeared through the front door.
I grabbed Grayson’s phone from my backpack and typed out a text to him and Madison.
It’s really bad. They’re shipping the scrabs back to the US. They have facilities there for training. Julian knew the whole time.
Grayson’s responded immediately. What???
Julian took me to a house like an hour outside the city. I’m sending you the location. I dropped a pin and sent it to them.
The door opened suddenly, and I jumped, the phone falling into my lap. Julian’s mom leaned down, peering at me with a smile.
“Clara, right?” She wore perfectly pressed white pants and a light-green silk shirt. “I met you with Julian a couple days ago?”
“Yes. Clara. That’s me.” I slipped the phone into my backpack with trembling hands.
“Come on out of there. It’s so rude that Julian left you in the car.”
“Uh, OK.” I grabbed my backpack and climbed out, taking a quick survey of my surroundings. The driveway curved around the back of the property, and several black vans were lined up there.
Julian’s mom extended a hand to me. “I’m Faye.” She had smooth, clear skin and meticulously applied makeup. Her blond bob was perfect. I wouldn’t have guessed she was old enough to have a nineteen-year-old son.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand.
“Come on in. Julian will only be a minute, but you don’t have to wait in the car.” She steered me to the front door.
It was cold and quiet inside. The floors and walls
