I wrestle with the idea of feeling sorry for him. Not his dad. He can go fuck himself. But Stone, who tries to be perfect at everything, yet has had this thing hanging over his head. He manipulated me. He blackmailed me. But what they’ve done to me is nothing like what’s being done to them.
His mother is missing.
The last time he saw her was when they met up briefly after my father hiked up into the mountains never to be seen again. She left my house that day and hasn’t been heard from since. He doesn’t even know if she left on her own volition, or if she was abducted. It doesn’t surprise me that I hadn’t heard from her, but it does surprise me that Stone hasn’t. Honestly, I don’t know what to think. The only thing that’s clear is that something happened to her after she left Clary.
So, yeah, this morning, I didn’t fight any of them when they said we should all ride to school together. I may not have had the best childhood but at least I never had to worry about violence. About losing a family member.
They don’t think my father’s disappearance has anything to do with this asshole who’s threatening the Jacobs. I came clean about the note that was left for me at school. The guys all looked at each other and agreed it was a good thing they made the registrar put at least one of them in every single one of my classes. Dampening my outrage at that deceit was hard, considering I’d just woken up from being drugged, but I did manage to get a few barbs in which were totally justified.
If we don’t find the treasure—the treasure that’s been missing for over a hundred years—these people, this insane asshole, is going to start killing the Jacobs and their known associates. That includes Lucas, Wyatt, and now, me. Since Marilyn is missing, it only makes sense that they started with her, which is why I keep finding myself staring at Stone. I would never know his mother is missing just by looking at him. He wears his shields like armor, and I can give him props for that. I never mastered that level of indifference.
Wyatt is giving me a list of things to do as we turn into the school parking lot. “Don’t act weird. Just act natural. We have no reason to believe anyone at the school is in on it. We’re keeping appearances normal,” he says, just like they told me last night. Apparently, Wyatt is their enforcer type guy. He secured the perimeter while the rest of us were still passed out, and then he finally pulled the security footage of the intruders entering the house dressed in all black with homemade ski masks who snapped pictures of us and left. Now, if only Stone had led with that instead of saying he didn’t think I was raped. That would’ve been helpful.
“I got it,” I say to Wyatt with more force than necessary. He’s got me paranoid now. I keep looking at everyone heading toward campus wondering if they’re out to get us.
“We’ll always be around. After school, we’re going to Leedsville to get you a cell phone and hiking boots and whatever else we need to plan our first big trek into the Superstitions.”
“A cell phone? I don’t—”
“You need a cell phone,” Stone says, finalizing the argument with that no-fucks-given tone of voice.
My father hated cell phones. He hated phones all together. We never had one. If anyone wanted to talk to us, they could just stop by or send us a letter. Those same denials buzz at my lips. At the same time, though, I always envied everyone in school who had phones. With their pretty cases and fancy apps that played music or took pictures. In the end, I ended up despising them because I knew I was never going to get one unless I bought it myself. And even then, I’d have to hide it from Dad.
Lucas’s discerning eyes are on me. It’s hard to keep things from him. I swear he can read my mind, and I’m wondering if he’s already putting things together, realizing just how odd my father really was. I’ve always defended him. Always. But I have to admit, this is one rule I never quite understood. It wasn’t just the fact that we couldn’t afford the phones or the service, it was more than that to him.
“It’s for safety,” Stone says, softening his tone. He’s really making an effort to stifle his dickish ways this morning. Or maybe it’s just that his facade has crumbled a bit, and I know what’s going on now so there’s no sense in keeping up the pretenses anyway. “We’ll save our numbers inside it, so you can get a hold of us whenever you need to.”
“Feel free to send me nudes, Tits,” Wyatt says as he rakes his gaze over the crowd. His voice lacks all the normal teasing as he scopes out our surroundings.
Stone pulls into the only available front parking space left. Despite the parking lot being full, everyone seems to have reserved Stone’s silver Audi a place of honor amongst the other cars. Students pass us, making their way up the stairs and in through the main doors. Some fiddle with their bags, some talk on their phones, and as much as I’d like to say I feel so apart from them because of what I’ve just found out, the truth is, I’ve always felt apart from them. I’ve been on the outside looking in my whole life, wondering what it’s like for people to live normal lives. I’ve never had a normal life, and that still continues. It’s just that now, there’s danger added in. Real danger.
A cold chill shivers up my spine. Fear threatens to overtake me, something I’ve been struggling with since everything was explained to me last night. These people aren’t
