Chapter 21 — Nicholas

Mom dropped me off in front of the Melbourne sign. I had changed into costume beforehand, and the fabric was getting wrinkled the longer I stayed in the car.

“Don’t eat any unwrapped candy,” Mom warned. “Steer clear of strangers, don’t wander off by yourself, and be sure to—”

“Mom,” I said. “I know how to look after myself.”

Plus, I had tucked a gun beneath the Jedi robes in case the night took a wrong turn.

She smiled at me. “I know, sweetheart. A mother can’t help but worry.”

I kissed her on the cheek and jogged out to meet my friends. Alex, Elliot, and Delaney were sitting on the curb with empty bags by their side.

“Just waiting for Lexi?” I said.

Delaney nodded. “Then we can get started. Can’t imagine what the holdup is. She doesn’t let little things like stop signs or speed limits bother her.”

Elliot turned green. “Don’t remind me. I don’t understand how the cops haven’t caught her yet.”

“They have,” Lexi’s voice came from behind us. “A combination of luck, charm, and tears gets me out of it every time.”

“I’m concerned for the integrity of our police force,” I said.

Alex shrugged. “I’m sure they’re doing their best. Now less yapping, more walking. We need to hit as many houses as possible before the candy’s gone.”

The next few hours were a blur. We laughed as we ran door to door, our candy bags getting heavier by the minute. Lexi tried telling scary stories, which resulted in Elliot stuffing his fingers in his ears and running ahead, shouting at the top of his lungs to drown out her voice.

“I’m telling you,” Lexi insisted. “If you think about it, the story of the ghost who got revenge on the bullies that led her to commit suicide is more of an empowering tale than a scary story.”

“That empowering tale of yours will give me nightmares,” Elliot said. “Was the description of how the girl’s heart squelched necessary?”

He shuddered as we passed by a row of stone houses.

“We’re almost at Seth’s place,” I said. “Do you want to call it a night and head inside to watch a movie?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Lexi groaned. “These shoes are killing my feet.”

“Why did you wear stilettos when you knew we’d be walking around all night?” Alex asked. “It’s not like anyone could see your feet under that giant dress.”

“It wouldn’t feel authentic without the right shoes.”

“No one knows if Padmé wore heels when she was Queen Amidala,” I said. “I don’t think they ever showed her feet in the movies.”

Lexi shushed me. “Don’t invalidate the pain I’ve been through. If I don’t get a place to sit in the next five minutes, my toes are going to fall off.”

“You heard Her Majesty,” I joked. “Let’s go.”

A maid answered the door and ushered us inside, promising to bring out snacks in a few minutes. Lexi kicked the shoes away and sighed in relief, rubbing her sore feet.

“Come on,” I said. “Seth’s upstairs in his study, but we can go to the screening room.”

Delaney’s jaw dropped. “A screening room? Your mom sure knows how to pick her men. And that is most definitely a compliment.”

“Thank you?” I turned to the rest of them. “What do you guys want to watch?”

“No horror,” Elliot reminded.

“No romance either,” Lexi added. “I don’t think I could stand the sappiness.”

I dug out A New Hope from Seth’s shelf of DVDs and popped it into the projector. As the Star Wars theme began to play, I reclined in my seat.

Under normal circumstances, my eyes would have been glued to the screen, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the aliases. Halfway through the movie, I got up to grab a pencil and a sheet of paper.

Alex looked over as I wrote the names down. “What are you doing?”

“Remember my uncle’s riddle?” I said. “Ace knows it too, and he gave me another hint. According to the pattern, his name would become Caela.”

“They have different numbers of letters.” Elliot peered over my shoulder. “But Nathan and Atenia have the same.”

“That’s what I thought at first too, but Ace’s full name is Jacen.”

Lexi shook her head. “He hates it. Nicole called him Jacen once on accident and he flipped out.”

“It’s the only way the letters match up,” Elliot said.

Alex frowned at the paper. “Not necessarily. If Ace used his nickname, maybe Nathan did too.”

I stared at the words for several long minutes. Then it clicked.

“Look,” I said. “If we drop the last two letters of each name, the remaining ones unscramble. Caela becomes Ace and Atenia becomes Nate.”

I scribbled down the Esther and crossed out the last two letters. It could only unscramble into one name. I stared at it in horror.

Alex frowned. “Something tells me this is far more important than a simple riddle. What’s going on here, Nicholas?”

“Nothing,” I lied. “Everything’s fine.”

“We’re your friends,” Delaney said. “You can trust us.”

“And if you’ve gotten on the wrong side of the law, we can help you,” Lexi added.

I looked at their faces, earnest and filled with concern. “Tom’s going to kill me.”

I told them everything, starting with the note Ace had deciphered all the way up to now. Their eyes showed surprise and shock, but no sign of disbelief.

Alex shook his head. “Wow. Just...wow.”

Lexi poked him in the side. “Stop repeating yourself. What’s our next step, Nicholas?”

“Your next step?” I said. “Nothing.”

“You can’t hit us with this information and expect us to do nothing,” Delaney protested.

“I have training and years of experience. It’s too dangerous for you.”

Lexi scoffed. “If I had a nickel every time I’ve heard that.”

“Forget it,” I said. “I’m not bringing you into this.”

“You wouldn’t have figured out the name of the Underground leader without us,” Alex pointed out. “Admit it. You need our help.”

“Seth could—”

“Seth’s working in his study,” Elliot interrupted. “If he’s the leader of the Underground, how much do you want to bet he’s discussing illegal plans?”

“Are you suggesting I spy on him?” I asked.

He held up his phone, set to record audio. “No, I’m suggesting that I do.”

Elliot slipped out of the screening room. His footsteps sounded above us as he walked up the stairs. I ran after him, the rest of my friends following despite my attempts to wave them back.

Seth was talking on his phone, far too soft to hear. Elliot had his phone as close to the door as he dared, recording every single word. I gestured for him to go back to the screening room, but he held up a finger.

Through the crack in the door, I saw Seth stand up. I snatched the phone from Elliot and stuffed it in my pocket right before he came out of the study.

Seth’s eyes widened. “How long were you standing here?”

Elliot stiffened.

“We just came up,” I said. “Lexi wanted to start up the old popcorn machine in the screening room. We weren’t sure if we were allowed.”

“Of course it is, Nicholas.” He paused. “You didn’t hear any of my conversation, did you? I was discussing company information with a colleague, and I’m afraid he’s the private sort of person who wouldn’t be happy if you overheard.”

I shook my head. “You must have been quiet. We’re going to head down before we miss too much of the movie. I think Alex forgot to pause it.”

The minute we were behind the black curtain, Elliot collapsed into a chair.

“That was the scariest moment of my life,” he said. “Did you see his face when he was asking if we overheard the phone call?”

“You’re lucky it was too dark for him to see yours,” I said. “If Seth had noticed how you all froze up like ice sculptures, he would have known something was up.”

Delaney bounced in her seat. “Then teach us, Nicholas.”

“I’m not giving you guys a spy boot camp. Apart from the fact that it’s cheesy, I’m not allowed to divulge training to outsiders.”

“You can’t take him on alone,” Alex said.

“I know, I’m not suicidal. I have friends at EAGLE who can help.”

“What about the Underground?” he asked. “It’s not just the EAGLE director involved in the conspiracy.”

He had a point. If I asked Ace for help, he would probably laugh in my face.

I sighed. “We’ll see. Let’s just listen to what Elliot recorded.”

Lexi smiled. “That wasn’t a no.”

I pulled the phone out of my pocket and pressed play. “That wasn’t a yes either.”

There were a few seconds of background noise before Seth’s voice came through loud and clear.

“—keeping a close eye on our dear friend?”

The person on the other end spoke.

“Yes, I don’t expect he’ll be an issue. Threats to loved ones keep people in line. How’s the progress on our other problem?”

Another pause.

“Keep looking, Nate. I want the boy found. He’s capable of throwing a wrench in our plans if we let him walk free. He killed all nine of the hitmen I sent after him last time. I don’t want to waste more lives.”

Faint laughter came through the phone speakers.

“I don’t care who he reminds you of,” Seth said. “Did you check all the rooms in the Sargon manor?”

There was a rustling noise followed by footsteps. The recording ended.

“I sure don’t envy the poor soul Seth is trying to track down,” Delaney said. “Do you think he would help us if we got in contact with him?”

“How would we do that?” Lexi asked. “We don’t know who he is.”

Alex thought for a moment. “It’s Ace.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Alex.”

“No, he’s right,” I said. “The nine men Ace killed are the nine hitmen Seth was talking about.”

“He killed them?” Delaney said. “That’s insane.”

“It makes communication easier though,” Elliot said. “I saved his number from the group project.”

“But he might not have his phone,” Lexi said. “Otherwise the cops could track him using GPS.”

“He might have turned it off.”

“I’ll turn you off.”

“Either way, it would be best not to call him,” I interrupted. “If he’s hiding in the Sargon manor, the EAGLE director is searching for him right now. What I don’t understand is why the Sargons would let Harker inside.”

“It’s their annual masquerade ball,” Alex said. “They invited the EAGLE director since he’s a part of the government.”

“Josiah might be able to take a message to Ace, asking him to meet up with us,” Lexi said. “We see him in school tomorrow.”

The one problem with her plan was that Josiah didn’t show up to school tomorrow. It would have been concerning if an eighth of the student population wasn’t absent along with him.

Alex shrugged. “I guess it was expected. It happens every year. The masquerade ball runs late and others get drunk at Halloween parties.”

“They should make today a holiday,” I said. “Give people a chance to recover from their hangovers.”

I had run into no less than twenty people that morning, downing painkillers and glaring at the world as if it had personally offended them.

Lexi plucked a fry from my tray. “You know how Mr. Giovanni is. Giving us that holiday would mean admitting that we’re not all perfect little angels like he makes us out to be.”

“What are we going to do now?” Delaney asked. “Our parents won’t believe us, let alone the police.”

I finished up a long text to Tom about last night. He replied a few minutes later.

“We’re heading to the Blue Jay after school,” I said. “Tom said he’s found people who can help.”