Rebel Nation by Shaunta Grimes Page A

held his attention for long.
    The real truth of what it meant that Bridget had chosen to stay in the city dawned slowly. Isaiah had slept with Bridget. The thought took West’s breath away and he nearly came out of his skin when Leanne put a hand on his shoulder and he realized that he’d almost driven off the road. He pulled the wheel and straightened the van out.
    â€œYou okay?” she asked.
    West forced the image of Bridget and Isaiah in bed together out of his head. “Why would Bennett suddenly want Clover back, after all this time? What about our dad? Does he know that Clover left the city?”
    Leanne shook her head. “I didn’t tell him. Do you want me to?”
    He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything. “I barely know him. How can I answer that?”
    She hesitated before speaking again. “I know him.”
    Fantastic. “So what do you think?”
    â€œI think that we need someone in the city. If I just leave again, we don’t have anyone to give us information.”
    â€œYou don’t know any other rebels?” What an incredible mess. “My dad might not even believe you.”
    â€œYour dad knows that you’re alive.”
    â€œGod, you told him? How could you do that? You had no idea what he’d do.”
    â€œI knew we’d need someone. Who else could I have trusted? He hasn’t told anyone. When I see him, he asks a lot of questions. The right questions. He helped you before, didn’t he?”
    West felt like he should have some kind of answer for her, but nothing came to him. He literally had no idea how his father would react to the news that Clover was gone from the city again. “Use your judgment. We’ll meet at the train on Wednesday.”

I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing. . .
    â€”THOMAS JEFFERSON,
LETTER TO JAMES MADISON, JANUARY 30, 1787
    It didn’t rain much in Reno, so when it did, it felt like magic to James.
    He stood at the window in his barracks and looked into the near-perfect dark. He couldn’t see the clouds, but they completely blocked the stars, so he knew they were thick. If green had a smell, he thought, the ozone scent of almost-rain was it. He turned his head just enough to see the framed photo of Jane he kept on top of his dresser. She was under an umbrella, smiling at him as he snapped her picture during a weekend trip to San Francisco.
    A knock on his door pulled him back out of the past. He shook off his nostalgia and his thoughts of Jane as he went to answer it. Leanne Wood was the last person he expected to see, but there she stood, looking like she’d been hit by a truck. She was staring over her shoulder, like she thought someone might come up behind her and didn’t even seem to notice that he’d opened the door.
    â€œLeanne?” When she turned her face to him, alarm shot through his blood. Her eyes were hollow and she looked exhausted to the point of collapse. Her hair was damp and she was shivering so hard she had to hold on to the wall to keep upright. “What is it? What happened?”
    She came past him into his room, closed the door and locked it, then pressed her back against it. “It’s time,” she said.
    â€œTime for what? What happened? Is it Clover? Is she okay?”
    â€œShe left the city.”
    James’s hands fisted and unfisted and he started to pace. On his third pass across the room, he brought a blanket to Leanne and wrapped it around her shoulders. “It’s West, then. She left because something happened to West?”
    â€œWest is fine.”
    Something unclenched in his chest. “Sit down and tell me what’s going on.”
    She slid awkwardly to the floor, her back still against the door. Not exactly what he had in mind. “Bennett expects to bring Clover back into the Company in the morning. What time is it?”
    â€œAbout midnight.”
    â€œSo we have eight