Chasing Shadows Page 13

  Grace forced a smile to her face, Jack's words should have been comforting, but all they did was remind her that she was still lying to him. Still keeping secrets.

  The only problem with secrets is that they always have a way of getting out, even those secrets you didn't even realize you were keeping.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  As another Monday rolled around, Nate tried to focus on all that he needed to do. Time was moving quicker than he thought it would, already he had been back in school for two weeks. He had only vague memories of what full time education was like, having been taken out of school soon after his mother had remarried. He had often wondered if there was any resemblance to what he had seen in a few films and TV shows; in the case of Theodore Roosevelt High School it seemed as if there were certain similarities.

  The students seemed to be divided into the stereotypical groups, jocks, nerds, mean girls and so on. There was also the divide between students from legacy families; they were top of the social status, and their undisputed ruler was Maddie McKenzie.

  He knew the rumors that swirled around the school about his supposed love story with Maddie. How they had been cruelly separated by his inability to curb his temper; which had led to his departure from Silver Glade.

  He often wondered what they would make of the truth. How he had never actually met the girl. How with the exception of one terrifying occasion he had never been in the same room as her, and how for her sake Nate hoped she had no recollection of the evening that years later still caused him nightmares.

  For some reason the town had been so caught up in the tragic love story that they didn't think it was the least bit unhealthy for young children to be so deeply involved. Or strange that the parents of those young children had apparently encouraged their relationship.

  From what he could tell, Maddie didn't seem to be bothered by the rumors about them, if anything he wouldn't be surprised if she was somehow spreading exaggerated versions of the tales. From what he had learned from Grace; there was a cousin of Maddie's who ran the school blog, someone who had been a friend of sorts, but who she was trying to ignore and avoid as much as possible.

  He had tried asking her about her reactions whenever she saw either Maddie or the cousin; what was his name; something starting with a 'D'? Devlin, Daniel, David? None of those were right. Dylan! That was it. Grace always found a way to dodge the question, to change the subject which made him even more curious. He had mentioned the strange interactions to Ms Riley, who told him she would look into the matter.

  Arriving early to school as was his habit, Nate parked in what he now considered his usual spot. There had been no further acts of vandalism on his truck; the cameras had caught the guilty party, and as he had suspected, one of Silver Glade's finest appeared to have too much time on his hands, if he spent his off duty hours at the high school.

  He had made copies of the footage, adding it to the case file he was building. He wondered if his stepfather realized how lazy and complacent his lackey was, as Officer Camden had made no effort to hide his appearance.

  The sweep of the Riley building had shown the presence of some listening devices, but as far as Nate could tell there had been no effort to hack into the security cameras. It had been possible to find out when the spyware had been placed, but they had not been able to identify who had done the work as the culprits had disguised their appearance.

  After a brief discussion, he and Jack had decided to leave the bugs in place, would continue to follow their original plan, and hopefully their acting would improve slightly if they had need to use it again.

  It was important that whoever was listening genuinely believed that Jack was growing impatient with him, that he was suggesting it was time for a family reunion, or at least a supervised meeting, and that Nate was actually considering it.

  Some days he felt as if he was stuck in an old fashioned spy film, one that would never end due to the tangled web weaved by the bad guy and his minions. When he mentioned his growing lack of patience, his mentor had handed him yet another leaflet about the benefits of yoga.

  It was not all bad though. There had been two evenings that he had spent with Grace, under the careful supervision of Ms Riley. Sure, officially he was there to help her with her calculus problems, but he had discovered that she had a sarcastic sense of humor, that even when she was drowning in proofs that made no sense to her, she still used.

  She was determined not to be bested by the numbers, and that soft smile she gifted him with any time she made a breakthrough was something he treasured.

  He needed all the happy memories he could get, needed to hold onto the idea that in spite of all the darkness there was still light in his life. He had offered to stop by the house over the weekend, but Grace had told him she was finally feeling well enough to go take some photos for her portfolio and could they take a rain check.

  She had sounded so excited, telling him about all the shots she hoped to get, how she was hoping to try out the new lens he had given her. Then she had scolded him for spending so much money on the replacement.

  There was something about being with her, a simplicity that he needed. When he was with Grace, he knew that he could be himself. That in her company he could let down his shields a little.

  He liked how she had never made mention of their first meeting, or recalled the harsh way he had treated her, nor did she ever push him for information. If he volunteered something about his life before, it never led to further questions, she just listened and then might share something about herself.

  In spite of the warnings in his head, knowing that if the wrong person saw them together it could mean trouble, Nate just couldn't make himself stay away. At least not from the relative safety of Ms Riley's house; in school aside from maybe a brief greeting in their shared classes, they rarely spoke. Nate hated it, but again Grace had surprised him.

  Maybe it was seeing him in the aftermath of a nightmare; and again she hadn't pushed him about that, but somehow she knew that his emotions weren't as secure as he needed them to be. She could be trusted, Nate knew this, knew that if he broke down and told her even a fraction of his truth, she would only seek to help him, and this was another reason he needed to keep his distance.

  If any of the dark that surrounded him harmed her in anyway, he knew there was no way he would be able to control himself, that he would not stop until she had been avenged, no matter the consequences.

  The first warning bell rang, alerting him to the fact that he had been caught up in his musings, which was something he couldn't let happen. The school was full of spies, and not only students and faculty members.

  He had discovered the real reason for the school closure. Rather than an act of vandalism that had to be cleaned up, an expensive state of the art security system had been installed; one that had been paid for by one of his stepfather's shell companies.

  Nate wondered if any of the parents realized how watched their children were, how their privacy was being invaded, and what his stepfather might do with any of the information and images he now had under his control.

  Charles Sinclair was not beyond blackmail at the best of times, and now when he was hemorrhaging money while trying to keep up appearances, he was at his most dangerous.

  It had taken Nate; along with one of his trusted hackers, less than three hours to infiltrate the system, to find all the hidden cameras, listening devices and motion detectors, as well as to trace where the data was being sent.

  It had taken a little longer to hide a bug on the system that sent copies to one of his secure servers, then removed any sign that they had been there. It was a relief to know where the few blind spots were, and that he could still distort the audio if needed, all while making it look as if there was an issue with the system.

  Nate was working on another program that would help him find people in the footage faster, as well as identify anyone that seemed to be of particular interest to his stepfather
.

  There was something that was still bothering him about some of the camera placements, and he had ordered several schematics of the building to try and understand why they were deemed worthy of his father's supervision. While he waited for the old plans to be delivered, he would pay close attention to anyone who ventured near to these areas.

  Reaching his first class of the day, he noticed that there was more noise than usual, that the buzz of chatter from his fellow students was louder than expected; especially for first period on a Monday morning.

  The teacher didn't try to settle the students, which struck him as out of character. Then the intercom sounded, static filling the air and a hush fell in the room.

  "Good morning everyone. I know we have a lot of excited students waiting on this announcement." Nate tried not to roll his eyes at the reaction these words caused. Surely they could hear the mockery in the voice of Principal Carter?

  "Homecoming is almost upon us. I have been assured that our team will continue their winning streak, then there will be much celebrating at their victory dance this Friday. With that in mind I have the names of those who have been chosen for the Homecoming court."

  This time he did roll his eyes, it seemed so trivial and yet the students in the room looked as if the next words spoken would make or break their high school career.

  "These beautiful ladies would all love to gain your favor, and your vote for the Prom Queen." A list of names was read out, the only one he recognized was that of Maddie McKenzie, which wasn't that much of a surprise. She was the Queen Bee, it would have been more revealing if she hadn't been nominated.

  He quit paying attention so missed the moment that caused the collective gasp in the room. He didn't miss the whispers that followed, the pointed looks but it wasn't until the teacher congratulated him that Nate realized that he had somehow found himself under consideration for the title of Homecoming King.

  He actually snorted out loud at the sheer absurdity of his inclusion. This had to be some kind of joke on the part of the football team, and judging by the looks one particular player was giving him, this idea didn't seem too far fetched.

  Did they expect he would try to win the title? That he would show up to the dance? Were they hoping for a 'Carrie' type moment? Was this their way of getting a reaction from him, when all their other efforts had been ignored?

  The rest of class was a bit of a blur, the teacher gave a study period, dropping hints that there was a pop quiz happening that week and that no one would be exempt from it. This seemed to be a bit of a pointed message, one that obviously struck home judging by the looks on some of the football players in the room.

  Nate didn't care about whether they got to play or not, he was more interested by the thought that not every teacher was prepared to give them a free pass, even if that meant that the team would be potentially missing key players.

  From what he could recall of his research this teacher was born and raised in Silver Glade, that she had returned to teach in Theodore Roosevelt High after attending school out of state, and was a permanent member of staff. Maybe that offered her some feeling of safety, if she felt comfortable enough to bench a member of the football team.

  There was something familiar about her, almost as if Nate had met her before, but so far he had been unable to figure out the possible connection. Still any student who took advanced language classes couldn't expect to be able to coast through, no matter how much their coach argued the opposite.

  As the rest of the day passed slowly, he noted the looks of curiosity thrown his way; the mystery of his missing years replaced by his inclusion on the Homecoming Court. It was all so cliché and petty, the perfect example of high school drama.

  He was surprised to find Dylan hovering by his desk in his last class of the day, the other boy had never once been on time preferring to make a grand entrance. It looked to him as if Grace was leaning away from the boy beside her, as if the thought of being close to Dylan was repellent. Not saying a word, he took his seat, while at the same time knocking into Dylan forcing him away from Grace.

  "How does it feel to be in the running for King?" He saw the phone in the other boy's hand, the microphone app that was open and ready to record anything Nate might say.

  "Haven't given it much thought," his voice dripped with fake civility.

  "Probably just as well, your odds aren't that good." Nate raised an eyebrow. Did this guy really think he would be upset not to be a front runner; he couldn't be that stupid right?

  "What you need; to improve your chances, is to align yourself with someone who has the popularity you lack." It was official, the boy was that stupid, and given the quiet burst of laughter that escaped Grace, it was very obvious where he thought the conversation was going. Nate decided not to respond, hoping it would end this farce sooner.

  "That attitude is not going to help you win anyone's favor. Don't you think your life would be so much easier with a Queen on your arm?" There was a hint of anger in his voice, as if he should be grateful for this unsolicited advice.

  "I expect she will forgive you, once you have atoned for your past sins." Nate felt as if he had been struck. The words Dylan uttered the same as he had heard before, on a night that he wished he could forget, when his soul had been burned and marked beyond repair.

  "I hope you're not planning on winning any awards, if this is an example of your journalist skills." Grace's voice was quiet, yet Nate could hear the way it trembled.

  "I don't think you are in any position to be interfering New Girl." There was so much venom in those words, that Nate wasn't surprised when her face went white. There was something else going on here, something that he needed to find out about.

  For the time being though he needed to draw attention away from Grace. She had risked an attack to give him a chance to regain his balance, and now he would do his best to take the spotlight off her.

  "Do you think you might tell me your name, before you start planning my campaign? How else will I know who to thank when I get the shiny crown." It was so comical the way Dylan looked at him, like he had gotten his hands on the scoop of the year.

  "On second thoughts I have an elsewhere to be Friday night, so you best find some one else who will appreciate your, ahem, talents."

  "You will regret this, I promise you." Even if he had wanted to respond; and he didn't, Ms Fields walked into the room, Maddie by her side. The class continued in much the same way as the last two weeks, still stuck on the same book, the teacher hoping for some response from her less than subtle jibes at him.

  They missed their target; just as they had from the first day, but he shared the relief of the class when it was announced that they would begin to study 'Macbeth' the next day.

  He hadn't been aware that the 'Scottish Play', as it was also referred to, was on the syllabus, but anything was better than 'Gatsby'. It would be interesting to see if Ms Fields used some creativity when comparing him to the murderous Scottish king.

  Who, he wondered, might she cast in role of Lady Macbeth, Maddie was certainly a contender. She definitely had the ambition, the greed, the lust for power and an absolute lack of morals, similar to Shakespeare's leading lady.

  It was a somewhat inspired decision to start the play, given the week that was in it, when the lure of a glittering crown was whipping up a storm in a school with it's own cast of witches, wannabe royalty and traitors.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  As soon as the final bell rang, Grace was out of her seat, ignoring the calls from Dylan that he needed to talk to her. She didn't look anywhere in Nate's direction; she knew he already suspected something, and she was still surprised that he hadn't pushed the subject more. All she wanted was to get home and forget about the day.

  Jack had dropped her off at school that morning as she was still feeling anxious about driving. She had seen the receipt from the repair shop for the damage she had caused when she had stupidly driven herself home, a
nd was still waiting for Jack to mention it. She had already set the money aside from her monthly budget, and just had enough money over to pay for her phone bill.

  Instead of taking the death trap otherwise known as the school bus, she was walking home. She had hoped to take some photos in the woods that made up part of her journey home. If she was lucky she would be out of the school building before the majority of the other students, and would not be caught up in the conversations about who had been nominated for Homecoming Court.

  It should also ensure that nobody would notice her cutting across the football field to the entrance to her chosen way home. She was looking forward to having some time to herself, to try and recenter herself after another difficult day surrounded by the vultures.

  There were certain times of year when the crazy at school went nuclear, and Homecoming week was one such occasion. She had no interest in the football game or the dance that followed. She especially hated the madness that occurred, only rivaled by Prom, when Maddie tormented anyone who had the misfortune of being named on the ballot alongside her.

  She had often wondered if Maddie took advantage of the vote, as it gave her the perfect excuse to seek out those she disliked. Did she deliberately add the names of those she thought needed reminding about their place in the pecking order of the school.

  Only last year, Jules, the girl who had slapped Maddie for stealing her boyfriend had been on the Prom Court, and that had not ended well. Grace didn't know all the details but somehow a trip to the hair salon had resulted in Jules having to have an extremely short haircut, to remedy whatever disaster had occurred.

  The very next day the stylist responsible had found a job in the salon that Maddie used. All of which suggested that Maddie had a hand in the deliberate act of sabotage, and that was only one of many that Grace could think of.