Chapter 17 — Nicholas

“Ace is staying in the Sargon manor?” Seth said.

I nodded. “I’m guessing that it isn’t a good thing.”

“They don’t listen to anyone but themselves, and they’re influential enough to get away with it. The police won’t approach the manor unless they're called by the Sargons.”

I groaned. “Is there a government agency that’s not corrupt?”

Seth gave me a smile of encouragement. “There’s hope yet. I’m assuming Ace can stay at the manor because of his friendship with the Sargon heir. If we were to plant a seed of doubt in Josiah’s mind, he might even call the police on Ace himself.”

“It won’t work, at least not with Ace.”

Seth looked puzzled. “Why not?”

I pulled up my camera roll and tapped on the picture that had made Lexi squeal at inhuman pitches. “Something tells me they might be close enough for him to know.”

I handed the phone to Seth, who stared at the screen for several seconds.

Without warning, he cursed and threw it on the desk. “The little harlot!”

“This complicates the situation, doesn’t it?”

“Greatly,” he admitted. “I’ll contact the police to let them know about our suspicions. Phone them when Ace isn’t at school or at the manor. We may not get another chance.”

“I know.”

“And Nicholas,” Seth said. “Don’t mention any of this to your mother. She might freak out again.”

“I know,” I repeated, this time with a smile. “I think Mom wants me to help her pack now. The city deemed our house safe to live in again.”

“Ah, yes.” Seth fidgeted with an object behind his desk. “What would you say if I…”

“If you what?”

He struggled to find his voice. “I-If I asked your mother to marry me. You could both move here. There’s plenty of space.”

I grinned. “Are you asking my permission?”

“It seemed proper. I didn’t want you to feel like I was butting in. I love Diana, but if you’re not ready for me to become a part of your lives, I’m okay with that too.”

My smile stretched wider. “I think it’s a great idea, Seth. You should go for it.”

“You’re a good kid.” Seth set a small black box on his desk. “Do you want to see the ring I got her?”

I nodded. Seth pulled back the lid. Nestled in red velvet was an elegant silver ring, adorned with one of the largest diamonds I had ever seen.

“How much did this cost?” I marveled.

“A small fortune.” Seth closed the box. “But for your mother, it was worth every penny.”

He planned to propose to Mom at their date that night, and it took every ounce of my self-control to avoid spoiling the surprise.

Once they were out of the house, I let loose the smile that had been threatening to break free all day and pulled up the group chat to tell my friends. As expected, Alex was the first to reply with a request for a group video call. Lexi seconded the suggestion in all caps.

A few minutes later, I was on the couch with my phone screen split between four people.

“Nicholas!” Delaney said. “Why didn’t you tell us your mom was seeing someone?”

I shrugged. “I thought you guys wouldn’t be interested.”

“Are you kidding?” Lexi screeched. “I live for stories like this. Please tell me we’re invited to the wedding.”

“I had no idea you were such a sap, Lex,” Alex teased.

“Her obsession with setting up Josiah and Ace was a big clue,” Elliot said.

Lexi smirked. “Speaking of which, all of you owe me money for losing that bet.”

“There’s no proof,” Delaney protested.

“No proof? You saw the photo Nicholas sent into the group chat.”

“It could have been a fling,” Alex pointed out. “Josiah was a notorious playboy before he started dating Cheryl.”

I coughed. “You weren’t there. From what I saw, it looked serious.”

“Are you on my side or not?”

“I tell it how it is.”

“Then I guess you don’t want to know the answer to your uncle’s riddle,” he said in a singsong voice. “I figured it out last night.”

My jaw dropped. “I take back everything I said. Lexi, that picture is photoshopped. Josiah and Ace are a couple doomed to fail.”

Elliot snorted. “Please, Nicholas. You couldn’t photoshop Obama’s head onto a donkey.”

“Like you can do any better.”

“I could. In fact—”

“Excuse me,” Lexi interrupted. “Are we going to ignore the fact that he stabbed me in the back for the answer to a measly riddle?”

“My uncle’s being insufferable because no one in my family has figured it out,” I said. “How did you solve it?”

“It’s easy.” Alex grinned. “You can’t.”

Delaney voiced what I was thinking. “That’s it?”

“There’s no pattern that matches up the two names letter by letter,” he explained. “And if it’s a different rule for each letter, there’s no way to confirm it without a second name.”

So Tom and I needed another alias, and the only person who could provide one had left nine men dead on campus. If I wasn’t afraid of EAGLE’s corruptness, I would have gone to the director and asked for a team to arrest Ace. My hands could have been clean in three days tops.

When did everything get complicated?

“Nicholas,” Alex said. “Earth to Nicholas.”

I blinked. “Sorry, I guess zoned out.”

“I was asking for your opinion on my Halloween costume.”

“I think he should be Darth Revan,” Delaney said.

Lexi laughed. “I suggested Princess Leia.”

Alex held up a finger. “An idea I’m not opposed to. The girl has a wicked hairstyle.”

“And I suggested that we’re all too old for Halloween now that we’re in high school,” Elliot said. “We should wear normal clothes like mature adults and hand out candy to the neighborhood kids.”

“How boring is that?” Lexi complained.

“You should go as Obi Wan,” I told Alex. “I’ll go as Anakin Skywalker. We could do a group costume.”

“Ooh,” Lexi squealed. “I call being Padmé.”

“I’ll be Ahsoka,” Delaney said.

We looked at Elliot.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I guess I can be C-3PO.”

“That’s perfect for you,” Lexi said. “You’re just as fussy and neurotic as him.”

“Gee, thanks, Lex.”

I stayed up chatting with them until I heard the door open. It was almost one in the morning. Seth had his arm around my mom as they walked toward me.

The new diamond ring on her finger told me everything I needed to know.

Ace had the audacity to show up to school on Monday like nothing was wrong. Everyone there was in danger because of him, whether they realized it or not.

“What did Ace ever do to you?” Elliot asked during lunch.

I blinked. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“You’re glaring at him like you want him to catch on fire.”

“Is it about the bet we lost to Lexi?” Delaney said. “Because I’m having not-so-pleasant thoughts about that too.”

Lexi smiled. “Since Nicholas provided the picture, I considered the debt he owed me resolved.”

“What debt?” I said. “Unlike the rest of you, I have enough sense not to make a deal with the devil.”

“She-devil,” Lexi corrected. “Let’s get our genders right.”

Elliot sighed. “At least she’s learned not to deny it.”

Seth showed up after school in a sleek black car.

Alex’s eyes popped out of his head. “What is with you and getting picked up by relatives in amazing cars? That’s a Lamborghini, Nicholas, a Lamborghini!”

“I heard you the first time.” I laughed. “Seth’s a cool guy.”

“Seth? Isn’t that your mother’s new fiancé? Nicholas, you’re going to have a stepdad who drives a Lamborghini, and you didn’t think to take me for a joyride in it?”

“Next time, Alex,” I promised. “Seth doesn’t normally pick me up from school. Something must have happened.”

He clapped me on the shoulder. “Best of luck then. Let me know later if you’re okay.”

Seth smiled as I got in. “Good news, Nicholas. The police figured out how to take Ace into custody. The drive from Jefferson High to the Sargon manor is about ten minutes, ten minutes where he’s vulnerable. They can nab him the second he leaves school grounds.”

“What about Josiah?” I asked. “I doubt he’ll let the police drag his boyfriend away without a fight.”

“Ace’s mother filed a missing child report with the police. That’s the excuse they’ll give Josiah. Once Ace is at the station, we can talk to him.”

“What do we do in the meantime?”

“We go home and wait for the phone call.”

“I pick the other option, whatever that is.”

The corners of his eyes crinkled. “We wait with the police hiding outside campus.”

It was almost dark when a familiar sports car drove by.

I pointed it out to Seth. “That’s them.”

Seth rolled down his window to relay the message to the car next to us. The cop barked orders into his radio, and two squad cars rushed out of the alley, sirens ablaze.

I gestured for Seth to start the engine. “Let’s go after Ace.”

He shook his head. “If they don’t buy what the police say, it could get messy. Your mother would never forgive me if I put you in danger.”

“It’s two guys against armed cops. We wouldn’t be at risk if we drove a little closer to watch.”

And to help if the situation became perilous. I touched the gun I kept hidden under my shirt.

“It’s police officers against a trained killer who might have weapons of his own. We’ll be safer here.”

Up ahead, Josiah pulled to a stop along the side of the road. An officer walked up to the driver side window. They were too far away for me to hear their exchange.

A few minutes later, the passenger door opened and Ace stepped out. He followed the officer to the squad car.

I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Seth gave the cops a few minutes before pulling up the police station on his GPS.

The officer at the counter took one look at Seth’s ID and waved us to the cells at the back.

“The boy may not take kindly to seeing you,” he warned. “I know he’s behind bars, but if he’s everything you’ve said he is, I would be careful.”

“Hear that, Nicholas?” Seth said. “That means stay behind me at all times.”

The way he babied me was a little annoying. I wished I could tell him I had dealt with the interrogations of criminals far worse than Ace. But doing so would reveal that I worked as a spy for EAGLE, and I wasn’t ready for that yet.

Ace was sitting on a bench in a holding cell with his head in his hands.

As we walked in, he looked up and shot to his feet. “You did this, didn’t you?”

“I’m afraid I can’t take all the responsibility for bringing you to justice,” Seth said. “Nicholas played an indispensable role in figuring out where to find you.”

Ace stared at me like I had grown a second head. “You’re working with him?”

“You make it sound like we’re scheming together,” I said. “Seth just wanted to keep the city safe from you.”

“That’s ironic considering he was the one who sent me out to kill people.”

“You’ll be telling your story to a judge soon enough, Ace,” Seth said. “I wouldn’t recommend trying to lie to them.”

Ace crossed his arms. “There’s no evidence. My case won’t make it past a grand jury, let alone to court.”

“What about the footage from the school’s security cameras?”

He paled. “You’re bluffing.”

“I warned you what would happen if you crossed me.”

He turned to me, imploring. “Nicholas, don’t you know who he is? Seth’s the leader of the Underground, the same one who’s working with the EAGLE director and Horace Whitaker to—”

I raised an eyebrow. “You realize how far-fetched your story sounds.”

Ace threw up his hands. “Just because you don’t believe me, does not mean I’m lying. You have eyes, Nicholas. Can’t you see what’s in front of you? Seth wants me out of the way because I know what he’s planning to do.”

“This is getting pathetic,” Seth said. “Nicholas is too smart to fall for your lies.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Can you prove anything you’ve told us?”

Ace grew quiet.

Seth smirked. “That’s what I thought. Go wait for me in the front, Nicholas. He’s not going to tell us anything if he’s trying to get you to believe his crazy story.”

I protested, “But Seth—”

“I know it's hard to sit out on the action, but sometimes it’s for the best. Knowing when to step back is an important lesson to learn.”

“I guess so.”

I headed back to the door.

“Nicholas, wait,” Ace called. “You have the intercepted note, don’t you? If you unscramble the name of the sender, you’ll find that it’s Seth. My alias is Caela according to the pattern the other names follow. You can figure it out yourself since I doubt you’d believe me if I flat out told you the decryption.”

“Enough, Ace,” Seth said. “You’re wasting your breath.”

There was a high chance that Ace was making everything up, but I made a note of the name he had told me, just in case.

After a few minutes of awkward silence with the police officer at the counter, the door swung open and Andrea marched in, heading straight for the holding cells at the back.

The cop jumped in his chair. “Ma’am, you’re not allowed back there without permission.”

Andrea fixed him with a glare, her green eyes ablaze. “See if I care about your permission. My son is back there, and I need to know that he’s okay. Why is he kept in a holding cell?”

The officer looked lost.

“Ace killed nine men on school grounds,” I said.

Andrea’s eyes widened. “That stupid boy.”

She darted down the hallway. I started after her, but the police officer grabbed my arm.

“Sorry,” he said. “It’s illegal to have over two visitors in the back.”

“You can’t be serious.”

His face told me he was. I sighed and sat down in a plastic chair. Seth would stop Andrea from doing anything drastic. I just had to wait for them to come out.

But waiting was so boring.