Untrained Eye (29 page)

I paused at the top of the stairs and turned back to see Renee in
conversation with Owens. It wasn’t my place to help her no more, that much was
clear. I was only good to talk to when nobody else was around. I was worth her
time when she wanted something.

That sounded a lot like my mother. At least Sam hadn’t cared who
saw us talking.

Wasn’t that just great? I’d had a father who’d been too
embarrassed by me, too hung up on the woman I resembled to tell me anything. I
had a mother who hadn’t bothered to stick around long enough to see me walk.
Sam, my so called best friend, was a homicidal maniac who had tried to kill me.
Then there was Renee, who’d been a friend, she’d pretended like she cared. I’d
had to fight for every bit of her she’d shared. I didn’t count enough for her to
think I deserved an explanation.

I wasn’t important enough to her for an apology. I’d felt that she
knew she was wrong yet it still didn’t matter.

Why bother saying sorry to me? I was just somebody she worked
with. What did it matter that she could see I was hurt? She had better things
to do.

I sighed. So I’d found out someone else had been less than
truthful. I didn’t mean a whole lot to her, at least not enough. I’d found out
the same thing time and time again, so what made this any different?

I turned away when Renee looked in my direction and headed down
the stairs. A friend who wasn’t quite the friend they’d made out to be . . . It
was all too familiar.

Some things never changed.

Chapter 33

URSULA FREI LEANED against the smooth, hard wall of the tower and
slid her aviators up her nose. Her phone tucked discreetly into her shorts, she
clicked the Bluetooth button to answer the call. No one would hear her. She’d
stuck a scrambler on the tower. She could speak freely. Not that speaking to
Huber could ever fit into that category.

“Good afternoon, Locks.” His tone said business. Short and sweet.
Better for her anyway.

“I’m listening.”

“The genius and the musician have just shot up in price. In fact
they are now worth treble the original estimate.”

Ursula drew her breath in slowly, carefully. He didn’t need the
pleasure of hearing the shock she felt racing through every muscle. That was a
huge jump. More buyers would be sniffing around now. Elite buyers. The kind she
didn’t want to tangle with. “Any ideas why?”

“My guess would be the promise made to a visiting buyer.” She
heard the click of his solid gold pen as he tapped it on and off. She could see
him in his office with it. It was etched with his family’s heraldry. His office
bigger than most people’s houses. How small she’d felt as a child sitting in
front of his desk. The relief she’d felt as a teenager when he’d still wanted
to keep her. The pride in his eyes as an adult when she’d bought her freedom
from him.

“Promise?” Her voice betrayed her interest and Huber laughed.

“It’s not every day a child can hack into our database.” Even
Huber would pay for someone with that kind of “genius.”

“The kid is in observation after trying to throw himself off a
roof.” There was no way that she’d tell him who the real geniuses were. She had
the notebook now and if Miroslav and Jessie stayed quiet, maybe she might be
able to get them out. “The kid isn’t worth a cent.”

“He said he had notes on how it could be done, Locks.”

Ursula again steadied her breathing.
She
had the notes and
Huber wasn’t the one she’d give them to. “I’ll check out his room but the kid
is unhinged.”

“Not what Jäger thinks.” Huber was blunt. He knew her ability to
embellish or cover what the truth was. His tone used to terrify her into
telling him anything he wanted. It still made her heart pound and sweat pour
out of her. She hadn’t forgotten any of it. No matter how hard she tried.
Closing her eyes, she tried to unhitch her shoulders, to breathe.

“He is no genius himself.”

Huber laughed with genuine shock pulsing through it. “Haven’t you
grown a backbone.”

She hated it when he laughed at her. It shook her until she felt
like that scared kid all over again.

“It’s a fact. Kid is a dud.”

“Make sure of it before you write him off. He’s not worth your
kind of money but think of the look on Jäger’s face when I have him.”

It was all a game. It always had been. Huber didn’t care if Kevin
could hack a system or possessed the mind of a genius. He cared about getting
one over on Jäger.

Her jaw clenched at the thought. Kevin, like all the others, just
like her, they were all property. It was too familiar. Huber had always used
the fact she was worth so much to ignite her competitive nature. It was how
they worked. It was how the system worked. Isolate one slave from the next,
stop any kind of unity. Slaves couldn’t rebel if they never talked, never
bonded, never saw each other as equals.

“Worth the dagger flying your way?” she asked. Huber wasn’t stupid
and Jäger would only react in one way to someone stealing something from under
his nose.

“Hah,” Huber fired back. “He’ll have to catch me first.”

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “So anything else you called
for?”

Huber laughed at her again. She ground her teeth. “You’ve always
been impatient. No, that is all. Find out if the boy is bluffing. If he is, it
will make it all the more amusing.”

Huber cut the line.

Ursula leaned her head back against the wall. She had no idea what
Huber’s plans were for a messed up kid but she doubted she’d
want
to
know.

The memory of Catalina smashing to the floor, of Aeron trying to
help her, flashed through Ursula’s mind.

She sighed.

There went her conscience again.

It was ridiculous how it had never existed before she met Renee
but now, she couldn’t shut it up.

She pulled out the sim card from her phone and replaced it with
the CIG one.

“And how are my girls?” Lilia sounded happy. Children giggled in
the background and Ursula could hear Eli’s calls.

“Working well together.”

Lilia sighed. “Which means they aren’t.” She heard a door creak
and shut. “What’s happened?”

“Nothing, Aeron is doing great. In fact the kids love her . . .
Renee . . .” She stared at the buildings, the bright blue sky. “You could be
right. She could be exhibiting side effects.”

“So Nan was right,” Lilia muttered. “You can’t get involved, you
know how important it is that they work this out together.”

Ursula watched a bird high above her in the sky. It swooped and
then held still as if frozen. “I’ll only get involved if it goes too far.”

“And the POIs?”

Ursula stared down at her sneakers. “Renee doesn’t know the full
story. Aeron is on board. She’s keeping confidence about it.”

“Good. It’s better we keep it that way for now.”

She clenched her jaw. More games, or at least that’s how it felt.
She understood the need to keep the little information they had to themselves.
The differing part of the vision Lilia had seen. She knew why Lilia was
cautious. She just didn’t like lying to Aeron. Frei wanted to prove Lilia
wrong, prove that they wouldn’t implode.

“They’ll need to know eventually,” she said.

Lilia sighed.

“If you talked to her, she’d understand why. She’d understand your
reasons.”

“I’ll take her distance, her dislike over anything happening to
her.” Lilia’s voice was strong, decisive. It was her call to make. “We have the
chance to bring down a small part of a trafficking ring but we have to strike
at the right moment.”

“Your vision show a Rolex?” Aeron had mentioned a watch.

“Yes.”

It was good enough for her. “She saw it without the gifts.”

Lilia laughed. “Nan said they would be postponed but they will
never be completely removed. In emergencies it’s called off altogether.”

It explained a few things. The class bell sounded in the distance.

“I have to go. I’ll expect a call when you have things ready your
side.”

Lilia creaked a door again. Aeron’s half-sister’s laughter
sounded. “Take care of them both. You know what the vision said. And now these
three remain faith, hope . . . one is left behind to face her fear.”

Ursula cut the call. She didn’t need to answer. They both knew
she’d do anything to keep them safe, even stay behind. 

Chapter 34

THE TOUR WAS another gauntlet for the students. Frei had warned me
that this portion could well see single figures remaining. Not many of them
passed.

It was a swap. The kids from the gold group attended one of the
skill sections like me, Frei, or the others. Our skill groups then went to
study under Renee and Owens.

As head of physical education, I was in charge of overseeing the
touring students. A genius who could be a master thief on weekends was more
valuable.

I had no idea why my group was sent in the opposite direction.
Maybe it was to clear the way so the geniuses got our full attention, maybe it
was because a thug could also need to type up a report on why he’d knocked
someone’s teeth out.

Who knew? I’d long stopped trying to figure out the crazy system.

I’d reminded my group to keep together. I didn’t want any of them
getting hurt. Safety in numbers. Meanwhile, I had the honor of teaching the
golden geeks.

When two kids walked in, Kevin and Miranda, I know my shock showed
on my face as Frei leaned in and whispered, “It’s only them.”

“Where did the rest of them go?”

Jones and Sawyer were loitering off in the corner but even they
must have heard the shock in my voice.

“Seventeen left,” Frei said. “Eight are yours, four are mine, two
with Jones and one with Sawyer—”

“That’s it? Two from Re—I mean—Worthington and Owens?” What were
they doing over there? Renee had the same pass rate as creepy Jones.

“Owens has a happy red pen.” Frei’s brow dipped. The glint in her
eyes was enough to tell me how she felt about Professor Pain-in-the-butt.

“You like her too, huh?”

Frei’s eyes narrowed. “Like poison ivy.”

“Owens needs to be pelted with pickles.” Frei raised her eyebrows
but I shrugged. “There’s a pickle trend in my view of justice.”

Miranda strode over and handed me her report card. “Miss Samson, I
am with you for the week.”

I nodded and looked down at the card. Apart from music she was
barely making grades. Owens had been stingy with any praise. I glanced at Kevin
as he scuttled past as if waiting for me to lynch him.

Sawyer and Jones seemed delighted when he handed them his card.

“They look like he’s lunch,” I whispered to Frei.

She nodded. “He is.”

I didn’t want to ask any more in front of Miranda so I waited for
the three guys to leave.

I walked over to the bike and tapped it. “Locks and I are going to
run you through the fitness test. We’ll see where you are and then look to give
you an achievable target for the fortnight.”

Miranda bit her lip. “I’m not great with all . . . this . . .
stuff.” She looked at the bike like it would bite her.

From the weedy look of her, that was pretty obvious. “You remember
what I said about resting and doing something else?”

She glanced at Frei then nodded.

“This is your rest. We’re going to build you up gently so that you
got a better shot at keeping it up. The better your fitness, the suppler you
will be and that’s important for playing, right?”

It was strange how much I enjoyed training people. Maybe if I got
fired from CIG, I could run my own personal gym or something. That thought
brought a smile to my face. Better I didn’t open one near my hometown. Serenity
folk had a tendency to draw others. My gym would be filled with people whose
alma mater was Block A.

“Miss Harrison told me that if I fail, I will lose my spot at gala
night.” Miranda picked at her sleeves. That nervous panic reminded me of Nora
back in Serenity and I felt a prickle of alarm crawl through me. Not a good
person to have things in common with.

“You think I
want
to fail you?”

Miranda met my eyes. She searched them as if expecting me to issue
a warning or get angry with her.

I raised my eyebrows and she shook her head.

“Good. Work hard, pay attention. Trust us to look after you. Jed
is doing okay after working with me, right?”

Miranda’s cheeks flushed.

“There you go.” I grinned at her and patted the bike. “Now, let’s
figure out how much of a weed you are.”

IT WAS CLEAR Miranda had never seen gym equipment let alone used
it. She was less fit than Jessie had been when we started and she’d had
crippling asthma.

No wonder Miranda was scared. If I’d given her the same pass mark
to hit as I had the others, she would get nowhere near it.

Frei had lifted her off the rowing machine when we’d finished and
had to give her a banana and some water. The kid keeled over like she’d pass
out
three
times.

When we got back to the villa, I wasn’t sure how we were gonna
pull off getting Miranda anywhere near fit in a fortnight. It grated on me all
the way through dinner.

I knew I was quiet. Frei knew I was stewing. It took until we had
taken up residence for the evening, me on the sofa reading and Frei in her
chair on her laptop, that it got the better of me.

I’d read and re-read the same line about a million times. I looked
up at Frei who raised her eyebrows, a half smile on her face. Her eyes were
still locked on the screen but she’d been waiting for it.

“Why would they set her up to fail?”

Frei’s smile grew wider. “Gives them bargaining chips at the
auction.”

“Right.” I went back to my book. The same line still didn’t make
any sense to me. I was currently learning how to ask directions in German. It
was hard.

Nehmen Sie die zweite stra
ß
e rechts
I repeated in
my head. It meant take the second street on the right, I hoped.

I ran over Frei’s explanation. As I read through how to get to a
café and order beer. I didn’t even like beer and why would Caprock fail someone
who was such a prize asset?

“I don’t get it?”

Frei’s smile curled the corners of her lips. Guess she had me
figured. “If she passes, Caprock gets a pass bonus of twenty percent of her
price.” She met my eyes. “If she fails, the owner has the choice to sell her to
someone like Crespo or pay a bribe to Caprock to keep her on.”

“Which is more?” I put the book to the side.
I’d ask for beer later.

“Half.”

I whistled. That was some rise in fee.

“It’s a risk. Jäger and Smyth are willing to bet on the owners.”
She tapped away at her laptop.

I was always fascinated how she could type without looking at the
keys. The only time I’d tried to use a computer, before it broke, I had spent a
good ten minutes looking for each letter with my tongue sticking out.

One finger typing.

Then it had crashed or broken down or whatever computers did and
my father never let me near another one.

“Caprock is in trouble?” That had to be the reason why Jäger was
risking so much.

“No, they just like to gamble.” She sighed. “Smyth has come close
to bankrupting them a few times. Unless they really messed it up, no one would
take on Jäger.”

“Why?”

“He has done things that even they’re scared of.” She glanced up
at me. “He’s on most wanted lists in Europe for a start.”

“So how is he here?”

Her brow flinched. I knew talking about him was hard. “He used to
be a trawler. A person who follows disasters and goes into war zones looking to
sell kids.” Her eyes hardened. “He was part of a reputable rescue organization
before he went into hiding.”

“How’d he get into the States then?”

Frei smiled a sad smile. “My bet would be bribes and blackmail.”
She shrugged. “The authorities watching him can’t prove what he is. Who will
testify against him?”

I had a feeling any witness against Jäger would disappear before
they took the stand. Who would believe all those kids anyway? They were
criminals. Most of them didn’t know who they were or where they were from.

“So how
would
Caprock go bankrupt?” And more importantly,
how could we help it to.

“Two ways, one if the buyers see the kids pass and they are not
there after the sale.” She tapped away on her laptop. “Or if the merchandise is
harmed before the auction.”

“And you think other folks out there want to bring them down?” I
sat forward.

“There’s always someone but normally it’s abduction.” Her eyes
narrowed. “If one of the other kids hurts Miranda or Kevin, their owner pays
the full price.”

The flash resurfaced in my mind again. Rolex watch, of the
abduction. “They could be hunting for Miranda and Kevin.”

Frei shut her laptop and watched me for a moment. “You’re a lot
like your mother.”

“White gold Rolex. They were both out of it.” I tried to focus on
the wavy, faded glimpse, ignoring the comment about my mother. I needed to
write down the stuff I saw.

Frei rubbed her hand over her mouth, her silver ring caught the
light. “It isn’t surprising. High value means the others want them. If they
can’t afford them or don’t want to pay . . . they want to get one over on the
others.”

“By making sure no one else has them.”

“Spite is rife in their circles.” Frei stared at the ring, her
thoughts danced across her eyes. “It’s nothing but a game.”

“Sign me up for a loyalty card. These guys are awesome.” I thumped
the cushion next to me for good measure. “How do we help her pass?”

Her eyes softened. “We can’t.”

“There’s no way, no loophole?” I stared down at my hands. For so
long I was scared of touching people, of getting close, of seeing more than I
wanted to. Now, it felt strange to look at the same big shovels and remember
what they’d fixed, how they’d helped. Even though I knew it was, part of me
questioned whether it was real, if I had done any of those things.

Was I still in Serenity and it was all a weird dream? Some
dreaming if it was.

My hands seemed like foreign objects. Dulled, dampened, dormant
but the memories, how they’d felt, the warmth, the tingling and burning, it was
so vivid.

“You can’t fix everything.” Her voice was soft and she smiled at
me when I looked up. “You don’t
have
to fix everything.” She got up,
dropped to her haunches in front of me, and took my hands.

“She could fail and end up being sold.” Warmth radiated from
Frei’s hands and her smile as she held on tight. “Her wrist is beyond repair
and she can’t play without getting panic attacks. Miranda . . . well . . .
she’s got issues.”

There it was, what I’d seen when I held her bow. I stared down at
my palms. I’d read it off the bow. I hadn’t been able to do that. I didn’t
realize I had done it.

“Injury?” Frei sounded worried, whether it was Miranda or the fact
I had read off the bow, I didn’t know.

“She’s got enough tendonitis to make anyone
cry.” I shook my head. “No, she fell when she was drunk with Jed. Pretty sure
something needed putting back into place and is now messed up.”

“That can be fixed.” Frei nodded at me. “We just have to—”

“Miranda can’t hold the bow steady with the pain let alone play
for fifteen minutes. The kid has been trying to squeak and squeal her way
through it.” I rubbed at my wrist, feeling pain just from the thought. “Mine
aches and there ain’t nothing wrong with it.”

Frei closed her eyes for a moment. I weren’t sure if she’d fallen
asleep on me or something. “That’s an interesting complication.”

“She’s useless?”
Jäger,
younger, angrier.

“Yes. The fall damaged the joint. She’ll be
mediocre at best.” A doctor, white coat and severe face.

“So we fail her. They buy her anyway. No one needs to know.”
Jäger paced around the doctor. The keyhole shape around the room.
Heavy breathing, pounding heart.

“She won’t pull it off. She can barely hold
the bow.” The doctor shook his head. “I advised you not to put her through the
tour.”

Jäger leaned onto the arms of the chair. The doctor arched
backward in panic. “I didn’t come here to lose money.”

“You came here to hide. You’re lucky Smyth took pity on you.” The
doctor pulled his chin down, his eyes hard. His sharp nose dribbled sweat.

“Give her whatever she needs to get her through that performance.”

The doctor shook his head. “There is nothing. She’s good for
nothing but the scrap heap.”

Jäger grabbed for the letter opener on his desk. He held it to the
doctor’s throat. “Do it.”

The doctor’s Adam’s apple jumped. “There’s nothing that will
work—”

Slice.

“I saw it.” I squeezed Frei’s hand as she snapped her eyes open.
“Jäger . . . who was he talking about?”