94. Pax
Chapter 94
Pax
I ’m less than thrilled by the group I’m stuck with tonight. Team building events have always been something Finn, Holden and I have excelled at. Our dynamic lends itself to working well together. Tonight’s group is just a bunch of individuals here to do our own thing. We enter the cemetery, making enough noise to wake the dead. The mausoleum smells dank, and the temperature drops as we descend into the lower level of the crypt. My breath leaves on a whoosh when I see Thea standing alone off to the corner of the room.
A chorus of groans goes up when she hands them a card that says she’s the last member of our team. This’ll be the first time she’s worked with anyone, and I’m nervous and excited to see how it goes. “Tonight’s my lucky night.” I say as I stand next to her.
“I wouldn’t bet on it.” She huffs.
“Is that a threat?” One of the third years in the group asks.
“Does it need to be?” she counters.
The other second year shakes his head. “This won’t work. We need to do this without her. She’s just going to drag down our individual averages. She’s never worked with anyone before and has proven we can’t trust her.
One of the fourth years asks, “How are we gonna do that? She’s assigned to our group.”
The third year says, “We knock her out. By the time she comes to, we’ll be finished with our challenge and on the way back to campus.”
I shift in front of Thea. If anyone makes a move toward her, they’ll have to deal with me. She laughs and steps around me. “Don’t bother going through all that trouble. I’ll remove myself.”
She ducks through the doors without another word. The group smiles and good jobs each other for running her off. Or rather, they think they did. But I know my girl. She didn’t even try to put up a fight, which means she thinks we’re all idiots. I have been, when it comes to her, but I’m not when it comes to strategy and these challenges.
I say, “We need to find that clue.”
The others agree and start looking around the room and the extended branches of the tomb. While they’re distracted, I jog up the stairs to catch up with Thea, who either has, or has already seen, the next clue.
“What are you doing?” She asks when she finally acknowledges that I’m following her.
“What the challenge said to do. Collaborating with a team.”
“Your team is back there and they’re probably looking for you.”
I say what we both know to be true. “Nobody back there gives a shit about me.”
“Newsflash.” She holds up her hands, opening and closing them like they’re a blinking neon sign. “Nobody out here gives a shit about you, either.”
“Yes, I know. But you’re honest about it, which makes you the best person to work with.”
“And being in a cemetery makes it easier to dispose of your body. So unless you have a death wish, I suggest you go back and play with your friends.”
“The people in that tomb will pretend to like me while plotting my demise. They’d act on that plan if they had the guts to go through with it and the smarts to get away with it. Like I said, I rather be with the devil I know.”
“I work better alone, Pax.”
I counter with, “How do you know if you’ve never worked with a team?”
“Because I know myself. I don’t have time to vote on every little thing or cater to egos. I depend on myself. I know when to trust my gut and when to stick to the plan. I ’m not a good collaborator.”
“That’s not true. I know for a fact that there’s at least one thing you’re very good at collaborating on. Or are you going to tell me you prefer doing that alone, too?”
She speeds up her pace instead of answering, but I have no trouble keeping up. “Just go back.” She growls as we reach the end of the aisle.
“I’m not letting you do this alone, Nem. I know you can. The point is, you don’t have to. This is a team building event which means you have to work with a team. We’re a team.”
“I just told you those guys are not my team.”
“I meant you and me.”
Another couple of minutes go by before she says, “Fine, but only because I’m gonna have you doing the hard shit.”
I follow Thea to the quaint cottage that houses the cemetary office, watching as she pulls a bandana out of her pocket and ties it around her face. She tells me to keep watch as she picks the lock. Quickly stepping inside, she places her phone against the keypad to deactivate the alarm. “There’s a camera,” she warns. “Do not smile for the birdy.”
Thea glances over her shoulder and says, “Unless you want to spend time as someone’s special friend. Then, by all means, smile, dance and do a little twirl so they catch you from all angles.”
“I’ll be your special friend. Just say the word.”
She hurries away from me, walking over to the door behind the counter and down the hall. I catch up to her and ask, “What are you looking for?”
She pulls open a door and says, “This.” Walking to one of the shelves, she asks, “Ready to do your part?”
The hard shit turns out to be carrying the stacks of binders she takes from the office.
Deacon
I’ve been skeptical about this plan to put Thea back in the league’s clutches from day one. Begrudgingly, I’ve gone along with it because I’m relatively certain Alexz has her best interests at heart. We’ve considered this from multiple angles, but the only way to get access to the information we need is through the very people we’re trying to keep our plans a secret from.
Phoenix Foundation sent an ad for trips to France to the students. There were enough prospects accessing the link that we can monitor what’s going on by remotely accessing their phone cameras and microphones. I ask, “Do we have visual on any of the teams?”
Andrew says, “I’m checking the addresses to see if there are cameras at any of the locations.” He types something into his keyboard and clicks his mouse. “Here we go.”
He pulls up the cameras inside the building, giving me a view of Holden’s team, and I ask, “How long do you think it’ll take for them to figure out that you’re more than bodyguards?”
“I thought they’d have started piecing it together by now.” Glancing up at me, he asks, “Think we should give them easier clues?”
With a shake of my head, I say, “If they need this spelled out for them, then they’re not worth her time and they’ll go down with everyone else.”
“We’re on.” He says, scooting closer to the screen. I watch as the camera inside the room comes online.
I don’t consider what I’m doing cheating, since there are probably league members watching the camera feeds from behind computer monitors too. Tonight’s challenge is a team building exercise. The group is made up of a total of ten prospects. Four fourth years, three third years, two second years and one first year plucked from the amnesty challenge group.
Andrew pulls up the audio for the second year prospect’s phone with Thea’s group. The fourth years and thirds aren’t happy to find her waiting for them in the crypt. She agrees to leave and the others congratulate themselves for getting rid of her.
“Team, standby.” Andrew says into his comms.
I ask, “Do we have sound for Thea?” Andrew nods, accessing the mic on Thea’s phone, and I hear her telling Pax to get lost. The camera feed for the cemetery comes online and I track Thea to her next destination.
My eyes flick to the cameras with the other two groups. Those teams aren’t all that happy with the Trium members they’ve been assigned either. Not that I know how the fuck they got to be my problem. Actually, I do. They became my problem the moment I accepted a drink from the smoking hot chick at the bar. Even before I knew who Thea was, I knew there was something about her that would make her impossible to forget. With everything going on, I haven’t had time to process everything. How quickly my life changed, and hers. How many more growing pains will she have to go through before it’s all over?
Going back to Holden’s team, I ask, “What’s their clue?”
“The source of east side money matters.”
“What is that place? An accountant’s office?”
The person sitting behind Andrew says, “According to records, it’s the offsite storage facility that houses the original printed articles and research notes for the California Star.”
We watch as the team rummages through the file cabinets, looking for another clue. “What’s he got?” I tap the screen where the other second-year prospect is standing. His group ascended two years ago, making him senior to Holden.
“I can’t quite make it out from this angle. Oh wait. That’s it buddy. Take a picture.” We watch as he does just that. The tech guy immediately downloads a copy to our server. I read the headline and skim the article. It’s about a lawsuit between Raymond Taylor and his former business partner, Donald Clark.
Andrew says, “Something in that article caught his eye. We need more information on this company.”
A few minutes later, the tech has three more articles pulled up from different parts of the country that say the business was amicably dissolved, after the partners came to an agreement to end their relationship. The one in the California Star is the only piece written on the situation with a less positive slant.
“I found a connection.” Andrew and I turn to the tech guy. “Raymond Taylor is Gregory Lloyd’s maternal great-great-grandfather. He and Donald Clark were both league members.”
A few more key clicks and mouse swipes brings up more information. I say, “It looks like Clark walked away with the bulk of the profits and merged with another business while the Taylors were left to dig themselves back from almost total financial ruin. The Lloyds became the bloodline family in the league, while the Taylor side of the line dropped in status. They’re one of the lowest ranked legacy families now.”
Andrew asks, “And the Clarks?”
I answer, “They’re one of the most prominent families in The League. The head of the family is on the high council.”
I’m sure it was more than just a business deal gone bad. The entire situation was probably a way for the league to manipulate the rankings, putting certain families in place to support their agenda, leading me to wonder what the Taylors did to fall out of favor.
“I found it.” One of the fourth year prospects calls from the other side of the room. He’s out of frame, so we can’t see what it is.
Thankfully someone asks, “You did? What is it?”
He answers, “Research notes for an article written a few months ago about an ongoing investigation into an investment firm on the east coast.”
“What makes you think this is what we’re looking for?”
“Because of this note in the corner with Harrison Nelson’s name on it.”
Everyone except Holden gathers around the fourth year. He’s still over by the file cabinet Lloyd was standing in front of, leaning against the wall as if he’s bored out of his mind.
Thea wiggles her toes in my lap as I massage her calves. “You look tired.”
“I am. This riddle is kicking my ass.”
“You want some help?”
“Sure, but I doubt you’ll find anything. There are a lot of bodies buried in that cemetery, and according to the map, there are acres of unused land still available. That could be the unclaimed land part of the clue, but it feels too easy. Plus, there’s no plot number 27638 in the existing or future planned layout, so what do those numbers even mean?”
I repeat her clue to myself.
1940-62. A blank canvas found just for you, 276 vast unclaimed plans in this space of 38 lands.
She grabbed the binders for years 1900 through 1962. Now we have burial records on our kitchen table and on the nightstand by our bed. Lifting her head, she says, “There are how many cemeteries in Canyon Falls? Three? I need to go check those out, too.” She grimaces. “I don’t even know how I made it to the crypt on my own. Cemeteries still give me the hives.”
Reaching higher on her leg, I pull her across the couch and into my lap. She’s accepting more physical touch these days, as long as she sees it coming. “You can always send someone from Delta Team to scope out the next location for you.”
She scrunches up her nose at the idea. “That’s not their job.”
Brushing her hair over her shoulder, I remind her, “Their job is to keep you safe. If that means sending them to look for clues in a cemetery because you can’t handle doing that, then that’s what they’ll do.”
Looping her arms around my neck, she catches me off guard when she asks, “How are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
“Seriously. How do you feel about all of this? Is it too much?”
I pause before answering, trying to work out what she’s really asking me. Do I think she’s taken on too much by still doing regular league challenges while simultaneously trying to steal clues about a challenge she shouldn’t know exists, and going to school? Or do I think her being shadowed by mercenaries is too much?
“It is. Isn’t it?” She rambles on. “I know it’s selfish of me to expect you to go along with all of this, even though you made it clear at the compound that you thought it was a bad idea. But I don’t know how I’d do it without at least one person knowing what I’m up to.”
“Thea, I don’t like that your doing this puts you in such close proximity to Malcolm and anyone else he may be colluding with; and from what I can tell, this bloodline challenge has no rules, which means the prospects will probably start making them up as they go along.”
Squinting at me, she asks, “So, you think I should let it go?”
“I think you shouldn’t be doing this alone.”
“This is an individual competition. There’s only one bloodline slot, unless an opening comes up with the other three.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “That’s how we got here to begin with.” Actually…
“What torture are you planning for your class?”
“None.”
“Yes, you are. You’ve got that look you get when you’re plotting how to make people puke.”
“What I’m thinking might make you nauseous, but it’s not exercise related.”
She pulls away, reclaiming her seat on the couch. “Go on.”
“You could let The Trium help with the bloodline challenges at least for a little while.”
“Nah, ah. Not happening.” She says, immediately dismissing the idea. “Pax will fuck me over before I even get to the first clue.”
“Then don’t tell Pax. You were planning to use Wade Bishop to get close to his father. Channel that same honey pot energy into getting the guys who are already gluttons for punishment into helping you get what you want.”
She gnaws on her bottom lip, staring up at the ceiling as she thinks it over. Thea’s playing it safe with Finn and Holden, and they’ve chosen to pretend that their relationship isn’t one-sided. Letting them help comes with risks of its own, but I’d feel a lot better if someone was watching her back. Delta Team and I can only do so much, since we lose access to her in The Tomb, and have to monitor her remotely when she’s on challenges.
“Just think about it.” I say, as I get up from the couch. “I’m sure if you do, you’ll figure out a way to use them to your advantage.”