“Something’s happened to him,” said Will, studying the photo closely. “He looks frightened. Let’s see his junior year photo.”
Another photo appeared over the previous one. Lyle’s transformation into the fearsome figure they knew appeared complete. His smile had warped into a sneer, and the fear in his eyes had been replaced by imperious contempt.
“Whatever happened to the bastard just hit critical mass,” said Ajay.
“My guess is he’s been recruited by the Knights by now,” said Will. “And he’s probably had a visit from the Bald Man.”
A blinking icon of a black telephone mushroomed on-screen, accompanied by an ominous bass note.
“You have an instant message,” said Will’s syn-app. “Someone wants to speak with you. Would you like to open a conversation screen?”
“Maybe it’s Brooke checking in,” said Will. “Yes.”
The phone icon expanded to a large frame. A signal connected; the image seemed to be from the point of view of an embedded tablet camera, but whatever it was pointed at was so dark no detail appeared. Then the image moved; they saw the surface of a gently shimmering fabric.
Will whispered to Ajay, “Record this.”
The fabric swept to the side and a face swooped down to the camera. They saw dark eyes glinting through narrow slits in an armored mask. It was the Paladin who’d chased them through the tunnels.
“Will West,” he said in a raspy growl, electronically filtered to disguise the voice. Will gestured for Nick and Ajay to move away from their camera.
“What do you want?” asked Will.
The Paladin tilted his head to the side, disdainful. “Your head. On a stick.”
Will swallowed. “You’re going to have to come and get it, then.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I know who you are,” said Will.
“You don’t even know who you are,” said the Paladin.
Will stared at the screen and listened hard. He heard faint sounds in the background of wherever this was—natural sounds that he subconsciously knew went together—and tried to identify them.
“At least I’m not hiding behind a mask,” said Will.
“No. You’re just hiding in your room.”
“I’m not hiding anywhere. You know where I am.”
“We are going to meet … and you’re going to come to me,” said the Paladin. “Right now. Alone.”
The Paladin stepped to the side. Behind him, deeper back in the middle of the dark room, was Brooke. She was sitting on a plain wooden chair, her ankles tied to its legs with rope, her wrists secured behind her through the slats. She had a blindfold over her eyes and a gag in her mouth. Thick headphones covered her ears. Her whole body was tensed, coiled. She was clearly terrified.
“Son of a bitch,” said Nick.
Nick stepped toward the screen. Will put both hands out to hold him back.
The Paladin’s face swooped back in front of his camera, obscuring Brooke. “You’ll come to me, or there’s going to be a lot of this.”
The Paladin raised a gloved hand; he was holding a black device the size of a cell phone with buttons on it. He stepped aside so that Will could see Brooke again. Then he touched one of the buttons.
Brooke’s entire body jerked taut and she cried out, muffled by the gag.
“Stop!” said Will. “Please, don’t—”
The Paladin lifted his finger off the button. Brooke gasped for breath.
Will closed his eyes. To keep anger from overwhelming his mind, he focused on the background sounds again. This time it clicked: lapping water, the creak of ropes and wood.
I know where you are.
The Paladin’s face filled the frame again. “Come alone, West,” he said.
“Where?” asked Will. He felt sweat beading on his forehead.
“If you want to find me, look behind me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Will.
“You have fifteen minutes to figure it out,” said the figure. “If you’re one second late, if I see that you’ve brought anyone with you or that you’ve alerted authorities—and trust me, I’ll know—it’s going to get a whole lot worse for her.”
He pushed the button again; this time Brooke screamed through the gag. The Paladin reached toward the camera and cut off the feed.
“Oh my God, Will,” said Ajay. “They must have grabbed her as she was leaving the library.”
“I’ll kill him. I’ll freakin’ kill him!” shouted Nick at the screen.
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#75: WHEN YOU NEED TO MAKE A QUICK DECISION, DON’T LET WHAT YOU CAN’T DO INTERFERE WITH WHAT YOU CAN.
“Calm down,” said Will firmly. “That’s not going to help her.” He set the stopwatch on his phone, counting down from fifteen minutes, and led the others into the great room.
“What can we do?” asked Ajay.
“It’s not what we can do,” said Will. “It’s what we’re going to do. Did you record that?”
“Yes,” said Ajay.
“What about Elise? Do you think Lyle got her, too?” asked Nick.
“No,” said Will. “He would have played that card. ‘If you want to find me, look behind me.’ What do you think that means?”
“I have no earthly idea,” said Ajay.
“Dudes, it’s the statue,” said Nick. “Of the Paladin in front of the Barn. I mean, obviously.”
“Another frighteningly reasonable conclusion,” said Ajay.
“Maybe now you’ll stop misunderestimating me,” said Nick.
“So the Barn is where Lyle wants me to go,” said Will. “But that’s not where he is. Let’s move. Nick, you in?”
“Does a duck have a waterproof butt?”
Will looked through the front door peephole at Eloni standing guard outside. “Which window is farthest from the front doors of the building?”
“Yours,” said Nick.
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#94: YOU CAN FIND MOST OF THE WEAPONS OR EQUIPMENT YOU’LL EVER NEED AROUND THE HOUSE.
Ajay and Nick trailed Will out to the kitchen, where he grabbed a couple of items before heading for his room.
“Will, you’re not serious about doing as he says,” said Ajay.
“What other choice do we have, Ajay?” Will said. “Nick, get some rope.”
“I’m on it.”
“I strongly advise against this. The situation’s far too dangerous—”
“Would you please sack up, Ajay?” said Nick as he hurried to his room. “Or go clutch your pearls and faint someplace else.”
“But maybe Eloni could help—”
“Not now he can’t,” said Will, checking the stopwatch. “There’s no time.”
Fourteen minutes.
“Will, be reasonable. Lyle’s already tried to kill you once today,” said Ajay. “We need the help of qualified professionals—”
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#61: IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE THE RIGHT WAY, DO IT YOURSELF.
“If you want something done the right way, do it yourself,” said Will.
He threw open his bedroom window. It was only two o’clock, but it looked like twilight. The temperature had fallen drastically. Will looked down at the three-story drop. Snow continued to fall, piling up around the base of the building.
“We can’t help Brooke without you, Ajay,” said Will. “What’s it going to be?”
When he heard it phrased so bluntly, Ajay put some starch into his full five feet. “You have my unqualified support. Even if it kills or severely injures me.”
“Get your coat,” Will said, and then asked him to bring along a few other pieces of equipment.
Will put on his winter gear and pocketed Dave’s sunglasses. Nick ran in with two jump ropes, which he knotted together. Will and Nick secured one end of the rope to a leg of Will’s bed and dropped the other out the window. Ajay ran back in, pulling on his coat and carrying a small knapsack.