I hear a murmur of voices at the end of the hall, and turn around to see Rachel and about fifteen girls, presumably from Maitland’s class. She gives the thumbs-up sign and I return it, sick to my stomach.
But I don’t have much time to think about it because suddenly the hall is filled with screams and squeals of what seems like a whole lot more than fifteen girls. And they’re all yelling “Prettyboy.” I feel the way I do every time I board a roller coaster, a jumble of fear and happy anticipation of what’s to come. But I need to be all business now, so I get my head right, act like a CIA-trained operative, and feel what I need to feel to get through this moment: nothing.
The minute Koval steps out of his office, I land my fist against the side of his head. It stuns him long enough for Katie to get out of the room, but it doesn’t bring him down. It probably hurt me more than it hurt him. It feels like I’ve broken a phalange or two. If ever there was a candidate for horse tranquilizer, this is the one, but Katie’s bag of tricks is still on the alcove floor.
It’s something I never want to do to a guy, but I have to resort to Katie’s and Dodson’s tactic and kick him in the jewels. That brings him to his knees, but I know it won’t be for long. I’m about to finish him off by landing a kick somewhere more lethal, but Katie stops me.
“Don’t kill him, Peter.”
That request only confirms my suspicions—Katie is working with Koval—but I don’t want Katie to know I know. Besides, I’m mostly concerned about the safety of sixth-period World Geo’s female population right now.
So while Koval is still down, I get behind him and apply a sleeper hold while shouting at the girls to get back to class. But of course they don’t move, other than to shuffle back a few feet, and worse, Koval won’t lose consciousness. I brace against the lockers for leverage, but the guy is so strong, he’s able to fight the hold. All I seem to be able to do is make him groggy. I pull the folding knife from my pocket.
“No!”
“He won’t go down, Katie. I have to—”
“You have to leave him alive. If you kill him before … before I have confirmed something…”
“What are you talking about? You have to give me more than that,” I say, still holding on to Koval’s neck. Now I feel his body going slack. The sleeper hold is finally taking effect on him, but I probably won’t be able to put him under for very long. My arm is running out of strength.
Katie looks at me. No arms crossing her chest, no eye-rolling, no hands on hips. Just looks at me.
“Someone in this building—who I hope is still in this building—could endanger your country’s security.”
She’d never admit it, but her eyes have watered up a little. Looking in them, I know with certainty that she believes what she’s saying. But I still don’t close the blade. Just because she believes it doesn’t mean I have to.
“Does this have something to do with the packages you claim to know nothing about?”
“Whether the rest of us like it or not, your country’s vulnerability means ours as well, your enemies and allies alike. You’re worried about five hundred people? I’m worried about seven billion. Please, Peter, don’t do it. Please.”
At first, I can’t even process what she’s saying to me, except the part about how the security of the planet rests with someone in this building. But then I hear the desperation in her voice. Just a second ago, she was pleading with Koval the same way. Was she being truthful with him then or me now? Or has she been lying to us both? But the way she’s looking at me, I believe her. Just hope I don’t regret it.
I loosen my grip around Koval’s neck, but stay in position in case I need to put him under again. Or slit his throat.
Katie stands over Koval and pats him down. “Told you. No weapons.”
“He’ll come to in a couple of minutes. Ask him what you need to, but you’re going to have to do it with me right here.”
“Those girls—”
“Are at the end of the hall. They won’t hear you.”
Katie shakes her head. “Peter, it’s classified, and I—”
“Nope. There is no way in hell I’m leaving you and this guy alone.” I look dead into her eyes so she knows there will be no negotiating on this point.
Katie throws her hands in the air like she’s just about done. “Because you still don’t trust me?”
“Why should I? You still haven’t told me anything—not enough, anyway,” I say, feeling that jumble of roller-coaster nerves coming back. Katie can throw me off my game like no one else. “It’s because I don’t trust either of you, but also because if we really are on the same side, even without a weapon, this guy might kill you.”
No sooner do I say it than Koval comes to life—about a minute earlier than I expected—and grabs the knife from my hand. My position for the sleeper hold means I’m now pinned beneath two hundred and fifty pounds of muscle. With a knife.
“Run, Katie!”
If I’m going out, at least I can provide a distraction until Katie can get Rachel and her crew safely back to a locked classroom.
But Rachel has other plans. Like Bunker, she has apparently watched too many movies, because from down the hall I hear her yell, “He can’t take us all. Let’s save Prettyboy!”
Koval rolls off of me and gets into a fighting stance, keeping one foot on my chest. But the sight of fifteen girls charging down the hall must make him realize he’s outnumbered seventeen to one—with a switchblade as his only defense—because he looks down at me and back up at Katie before he runs for the nearest stairwell.
“Should we go after him?” Rachel asks.
“I am so grateful you saved me, but now y’all need to go back to your classroom, bolt the doors, and don’t come out again until the police arrive.”
But Katie has other ideas. “No, we should go after him. This may be my only chance—”
“He’s probably gone for backup, and he won’t have just my knife when he returns,” I say.
“So you’re in this, too?” Rachel asks Katie. “I mean, whatever Prettyboy is, you’re one, too?”
“Yes. This is our job; they’re coming for us. They won’t hurt you if you stay out of their way. So you need to do as Peter asks and go back to your classroom.”
Rachel nods, and it seems her friends finally get that this is serious business. A few of them wish us good luck before they all turn and run.
CHAPTER 22
As soon as the girls are gone, Katie heads for the stairwell, but I step in front of her.
“You don’t know if he’s lying in wait behind that door. For all we know, he could have a weapon stashed in there.”
“But I need to confirm … something.”
“Yeah, I know. Something about the package,” I say, stepping so close we’re almost touching. All I can think of is how I felt about Katie before I learned who she really is. “But you can’t do that if you’re dead.”
When I take Katie’s hand, I’m surprised she doesn’t fight me. Maybe she’s remembering me from before, too. I lead her around the corner into the next corridor, to the same stairwell Bunker and I took up to the roof.
“Let go of my hand,” she says, sounding more like the Katie I know now. “Where are you taking me?”
“Uh, you’re welcome? And by the way, we’re even.”
“Yes, well, thank you,” she says before sitting on the bottom step to look through her bag, which she stopped to grab as we ran past the alcove.
“Truth time, Katie. If you aren’t here for me, why are you here? Why do you believe the whole planet is in jeopardy? And what’s up with the ‘package’? Don’t play like you don’t know.”
“Truth time, Peter,” she says without answering even one of my questions. “You say they’re here to kill you. Okay, but why are you here?”
It’s the same thing I was wondering about her, so I shouldn’t be surprised she asks this, but I am. Since I don’t want to reveal the hacker just yet, I don’t have a ready answer.