The Boy Who Knew Everything by Victoria Forester

then snorted as though he had suspected something like this, or worse, all along. Turning to Piper, he gestured with his hands as though to say, See! Just like I told you. This guy is crazy.
    â€œDr. Hellion is alive?” Piper was in shock.
    â€œAfter you saw Letitia fall from the sky, Piper, someone saved her. She can’t remember who. She has memories of this place—she says that she lived there and she wants to go home.” J. confessed this information in a pleading voice. He needed Piper and Conrad; he needed to help them and save them, and now he needed them to help his sister. He wanted Piper to understand.
    â€œWhere is Dr. Hellion now?” Conrad demanded, suddenly concerned that she might be close by.
    J. hesitated, not wanting to tell but knowing that Conrad would accept nothing but the truth. “Area 63. It’s a secret government prison for the criminally insane.”
    Conrad let out a low whistle. “Wow. Why am I not surprised? She sounds like … a credible source.”
    â€œShe’s different now,” he said quietly.
    J. had not fully appreciated what horror the name Letitia Hellion struck in Piper McCloud’s heart, and the rest of the kids too. They had suffered under her control at her evil school and she had done them all great harm, which was not easily forgotten. Piper turned her back on J. and walked away. J. felt the sting of her rejection in his core.
    Seeing that Piper was unreachable, J. turned back to Conrad. “Conrad, Conrad, listen to me. First of all, my name is Jeston. And I have more information for you.” He scrambled to pull a file out of his backpack, placing it in Conrad’s unwilling hands. “This is about your father.” J. opened it quickly and flipped through the pages. “Did you know that your father was abandoned when he was twelve? It’s true. Look. The police found him wandering by the side of the road. He carried no identification and had no memory of who he was. They placed him in foster care and no one ever claimed him. Then when he was sixteen he ran away and they were never able to trace him again. Not that they tried very hard.”
    J. flipped through the pages and Conrad’s brow furrowed as he looked at the police reports and foster home evaluations.
    â€œHe hired people to pretend to be his family, and he has a mysterious benefactor who has been guiding his political career.” J. pointed to specific passages and photographs excitedly.
    With a tremor in his hands Conrad absorbed this strange twist. “But…” He looked to J. “When did you get this information?”
    J. paused. “A year ago.”
    â€œAnd you’re only telling me now?” Conrad slammed the file shut. “What other information are you withholding? What else do you know?”
    â€œBut I already gave you good intel on your father. You have to understand—”
    â€œI understand all too well.”
    â€œThis is so big, there is so much—”
    â€œ Stop . Stop treating us like children. We are not going with you to this place and we will not help you. I can speak for all of us when I say that we aren’t going to be put back into another prison, even if this one has been given the name ‘paradise.’” Conrad crossed his arms over his chest. “You should leave, J. You aren’t welcome here anymore.”
    J.’s shoulders deflated. He glanced toward Piper, but her back was still turned away from him and she couldn’t or wouldn’t face him. With great reluctance, he swung his backpack over his shoulders, and it suddenly felt so heavy his body heaved with the effort it took to hold it up. He turned to go.
    â€œIf you won’t come with me, you should know this.” J. paused at the door. “You are all in the greatest danger. Your father knows where you are, Conrad, and he knows what you are doing. You are interfering with his plans and he