Trembling (7 page)

* * *

Hallam paced in the kitchen of the apartment, looking
anxious. "What happened, Azazel?" he asked.
Jason and Lilith were apparently still at work, even though it was late. I'd
convinced Jude to go home after dropping me off, even though he'd wanted to
call the police. I'd lied to him and told him that I'd be calling the police on
my own. It was just me and Hallam in the house. I figured now was as good a
time as any to talk to Hallam. I started at the beginning, telling him about my
suspicions about the bell and about Mr. Sutherland. Then I explained what had
happened at the target range that evening.
 
Hallam sat down at the table heavily when I finished. "It doesn't make
sense," he said.
"I think it does," I said. "The Sons are after us again."
He shook his head. "No, they can't be."
I was flabbergasted. Why didn't he believe me? I'd been attacked. I'd nearly
been carried off. And with all the other evidence I'd amassed, how could he say
that I was wrong? Were he and Jason both incredibly blind?
"They can be," I said, "and they obviously are."
"No," he said again. "No, it's not the Sons style, Azazel. Why
would they capture you? They don't care about you. They care about Jason. The
only way they'd do anything to you is if you were in the way of Jason. And ski
masks and parking lot assaults are not their style."
I thought about what he'd said. The Sons did have a tendency to come in
shooting. Usually in mass numbers. One guy in a parking lot was a little
sketchy. "Maybe he's not working with the full knowledge of the whole
organization," I said. "Maybe he's just doing something covert. For
Edgar Weem or something."
"No, that's not possible," said Hallam. "This has nothing to do
with Edgar Weem."
"How can you be sure?" I demanded. "You and Jason both seem to
think that Weem is iron-clad to this deal you made with him. But I don't think
that deal made him happy. And I can't see any reason why he wouldn't try to
find some way around it."
"It's not Weem," said Hallam. "I'm certain of that."
"How are you certain?"
"I just am," said Hallam. "Trust me on this."
I didn't. But Hallam's tone of voice warned me not to press the point any
farther.
"What else could it be?" I asked. "If it isn't the Sons, then
who could have done it?"
"Someone crazy?" Hallam suggested. "People do get kidnapped, you
know."
"Why would anyone kidnap me?" I asked. "I don't have
money."
"Your grandmother does," said Hallam.
Oh. He was right. I shuddered. "Do you really think that's what it
was?"
My grandmother was pretty rich. She lived in a multi-million dollar home. It
was old money, but it had been augmented by the work my grandfather and Aunt
Stephanie had done for the company my family owned. I had no idea how much my
grandmother was worth, but it might be enough that someone would try to hold me
for ransom because of it.
 
Had I been completely wrong? Had I assumed that if something bad was happening
to me, the Sons had to be part of it?
But there were other things. Not just the kidnapping. "What about the
bell?" I asked. "I saw you look at it today in Dingle's office."
Hallam spread his hands. "I'll admit," he said, "that engraving
does resemble an old Sons emblem. I've seen it on old documents."
"So, there could be a connection?"
"I don't know," said Hallam. "I'm inclined to think it's a
coincidence."
"I didn't think you believed in coincidences," I said, remembering a
conversation we'd had in November.
 
He sighed. "Well, it wouldn't make sense not to look into it," he
said. "I'll do some digging. I'll even check out this Sutherland. But I've
got to say, Azazel, his interest in secret societies seems to clear him
entirely. If he were really a member of the Sons, why would he mention that to
you? Why would he want to make you suspicious?"
I didn't know. If he was a member of the Sons, it seemed like he'd try to keep
a low profile. He'd shown me the engraving on the bell. Why would he have done
that? Still, something about Mr. Sutherland really gave me the creeps. I
couldn't exactly put my finger on what, but I didn't trust him. And I felt like
there was some kind of connection between the bell and Mr. Sutherland and the
Sons. I just knew it.
 
"I'd like it if you checked into him," I said.
"I will," said Hallam. "I can't believe that he stole that bell
and put it in your purse to get you into detention. He sees you every day as it
is in class."
"Every other day," I said. "Maybe he just wanted to be able to
talk to me. He asked me to go to his house. Maybe he wanted to tell me
something."
"Well," said Hallam, "until we know what's going on with this
guy, I wouldn't recommend going to his house."
"I know that," I said.
Hallam sighed, looking at the clock. "Where's Jason?" he asked.
"At work, I guess," I said.
"You didn't call him?"
Huh. Weird. I hadn't. I'd nearly been captured, taken away by a scary man in a
black ski mask, and I hadn't even thought to call Jason. Why hadn't I done
that? "No," I said.
"I half-wonder if we should tell him at all," said Hallam.
"Really?" I asked. "Why?"
"He's erratic, Azazel, surely you've noticed. Especially when it comes to
you. I don't want him out trying to hunt down this masked man. God knows what
he'd do."
That was probably true as far as it went. Jason would be livid. He would want
to protect me. "Well, he can't," I said. "Go after the guy. We
don't even know who he was."
"Does he share your opinions of Mr. Sutherland?" Hallam asked.
"No," I said.
"Thank God for that. At least he won't be after Mr. Sutherland."
"I have to tell him," I said. I couldn't keep something this big from
Jason. It would be like trying to keep a secret from some part of myself.
 
"I suppose you do," said Hallam, "but try to keep him
calm."
"I will," I said.
"He's becoming increasingly violent," said Hallam. "I'm
concerned."
This was weird, considering that Hallam had spent his time working for the Sons
doing things like slaughtering sorority girls at their request. "
You're
 
concerned about his violence?" I
said.
"Of course I am."
"But you . . ." How did I put this delicately? "You've done
things that . . ."
 
Hallam raised his eyebrows. He stood up from the kitchen table. "Jason
told you about that, then?"
I nodded.
 
Hallam shook his head. "That was a bad night," he said finally.
"I don't think Jason's ever been the same." Hallam stared at the
linoleum, not speaking for several moments. "But I wonder if there wasn't
something . . . something within him . . . something that was always
there."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What he did that night," said Hallam. "It was—"
And the door burst open. Jason and Lilith tumbled inside, drunk and laughing.
I wanted to ask Hallam what he meant by what
 
Jason
 
did that night. Jason had told me that
Hallam had shot the girls. He'd said that Hallam had screamed while he did it,
blood spattering his face. Jason had said that he hadn't done anything but
watch.
I turned toward Jason, my brow furrowing. Hadn't he told me everything? I'd
always trusted Jason, but lately things seemed different. We were at odds. He
didn't believe me. And here he was stumbling into the house, late on a school
night, clearly drunk. This wasn't the Jason that I knew.
 
Jason stopped laughing, but Lilith was still giggling.
"Who died?" Jason asked us.
"Where have you been?" Hallam asked.
Jason rolled his eyes, striding into the kitchen. He flung himself into a chair
at the table. "Geez, Hallam, you sound like you think you're my
mother."
Had I ever seen Jason drunk before? I tried to think. Sure, Jason drank at
parties, but he usually didn't have more than a few drinks.
 
Lilith followed Jason into the kitchen and sat down with us. She was still
grinning. "We went out for a couple of drinks with some of the people from
work," she explained.
Really?
 
"Oh?" said Hallam, folding his arms over his chest.
"It was my idea," said Lilith. "I didn't know if Jason would go
for it or not, but when I asked he said, 'Sure.' I think Jason needs to get out
more. Don't you, Zaza?"
I glared at her. I couldn't believe her. I did think Jason should get out more.
I'd said as much to him on numerous occasions. But when I asked him to come out
with me, he always said no. Apparently, when Lilith asked, it was a completely
different story. "Did you have fun, Jason?" I asked him.
He grinned at me. "I had a blast. Lilith was telling me this hilarious
story about you freshman year. She said that you got lost your first day and
you went into the wrong classroom . . ." He started laughing again and so
did Lilith.
 
"That's great," I said. "Because while you guys were off having
a blast, some guy picked me up and tried to carry me off."
Jason stopped laughing. "What?" he said, his eyes darting between
Hallam and me.
"She's right," said Hallam.
We filled Jason in on the details of the evening.
"I can't believe you went to the shooting range without me," Jason
said angrily.
 
I snorted. "I can't believe you went out drinking with Lilith without
me."
"That's ridiculous," said Jason. "I wasn't in any danger."
"That's not the point," I said.
"It absolutely is," said Jason. "You went off to
Sarasota
with
 
Jude
,
and you nearly got hurt."
"I'm fine," I said. "I took care of myself."
"Because I wasn't there," said Jason. "You're blaming me for not
being there, but you snuck off without me. You could have asked me to go with
you."
"I did the other day at lunch," I said. "You didn't want to
go."
"But if you just had to go," he said, "you could have called
me."
"You were working!" I protested. "Besides, you didn't call me
and ask if I wanted to come with you tonight."
"It was just people from work," he said. "I didn't think
—
 
This
is not my fault."
"I'm not saying it is," I said.
"Yes, you are," he said. "If I'd been there, this wouldn't have
happened."
I couldn't believe him. "Jason, are you listening? I hit the guy. He
dropped me. I'm fine. Nothing happened. I didn't need you."
Jason jerked back, as if I'd slapped him. He didn't say anything for several
moments. "I wish you would have called," he said finally.
"Well, so do I," I said.
"Listen," said Hallam, "it's over. There's no point in worrying
about whether the incident would have been preventable or not. It happened. We
just need to figure out who did it and why. So, I'm going to do some digging
tomorrow. We'll get to the bottom of this."
"It's my fault, anyway," said Lilith. "I really shouldn't have
encouraged Jason to come out tonight."
"It's no one's fault," said Hallam. "Let's go to bed."
But I kind of half-agreed with Lilith. Why had she asked Jason to hang out?
What was more, why had he said yes? The two were awfully chummy these days. I
didn't like it.
 
Hallam left the kitchen, leaving me with Jason and Lilith.
"I'm so sorry," said Lilith. "I'm sorry that happened to
you."
"I'm fine," I said. I didn't need her pity.
"You must have been so scared," she said.
I shrugged. I'd been terrified. Hadn't I? With all the worrying I did about the
Sons swooping in and terrorizing me, I expected myself to be more jumpy about
the entire incident. But I felt calm. I'd felt calm almost the entire time. It
surprised me. Apparently I was tougher than I thought I was. "Not as
scared as I thought I'd be, actually," I said.
Jason was shaking his head. "Well, I don't think you should be alone
anymore."
"I wasn't alone tonight," I said. "I was before, in the
apartment, but after that I had Jude with me."
"I don't think Jude counts for much," said Jason.
"Well, what do you want, Jason? You can't be around me all the time. We
both work a lot. And we don't have the same schedule at school. Who else do you
think is capable of guarding me?" I couldn't help but be a little
sarcastic. Jason couldn't be mad at me about this. I wasn't the one being
reckless tonight. I'd gone to the range because I wanted to improve my abilities
to take care of myself. It had been a preventative measure. Jason was the one
who'd been out having fun. He'd been irresponsible. It was ridiculous for him
to be angry with me.
Jason heaved a huge sigh. "You're pissed at me," he said.
I rolled my eyes.
Lilith bit her lip. "Maybe I should leave you two alone," she said.
I stood up. "Thanks, Lilith, but I think I'll leave. It's late, and I'm
tired. I was nearly kidnapped tonight. It took a lot out of me."
I stalked back through the apartment to my bedroom and began throwing off my
clothes, letting them fall in a messy pile on the floor. I yanked open my
dresser drawer, took out my pajamas and began forcing on pajama pants.
There was a knock on my door.
 
I jerked my pajama shirt over my head and flung open the door.
 
It was Jason.
"What?" I demanded.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
I moved out of the doorway wordlessly.
He walked past me.
 
"Well?" I said, folding my arms over my chest.
"Why are you mad?" he asked. "If it's not because I wasn't there,
why are you mad?"
"I'm not mad," I said.
"Right," he muttered. He crossed to me, put his hand on my cheek.
I ducked away from him.
"I just feel like I can't do anything right anymore," said Jason.
 
I rolled my eyes. "I'm tired, Jason," I said. "I had a rough
evening. I just need to rest."
"Because," he said, "if anyone should be mad, it should be me. I
mean, you didn't say anything to me about going to the range by yourself, and
then all of the sudden you're there. With Jude." He said Jude's name like
Jude was a leper or a mass murderer.
I couldn't believe it. I glared at him. "Listen, Jason, there is no reason
for you to be jealous of Jude. He's gay for God's sake, and I'm in love with