my mom dying. My father travels all the time, and so without my mom, holidays just feel empty.” He exhales. “It’s kind of hard to talk about so mostly I don’t tell people.”
My chest feels tight. “Thanks for telling me.”
“After I said all that stuff about how you don’t have to keep secrets alone, I figured I owed you. And it turns out I was right. I do feel better.”
“Just another sign of your quiet brilliance,” I joke as we cross from the sidewalk onto the pavement of the car wash.
He laughs. “Right.” He pushes his hair off his forehead. “And about that other thing —” he starts to say, but before he gets any further Rosie is running across the pavement toward us.
Her eyes are huge. “How did you get here?” she demands, turning to walk with us to the door.
“We hobbled.” Alonso points at his knee. “War injury.” We go inside and he lifts his arm from my shoulder.
Rosie is still looking strange. “But the police had the place covered.”
“They went down; we went up,” Alonso says. He turns to me. “Can we finish what we were discussing later?”
“Sure, yeah,” I say, meaning “No, never, are you insane?”
“Why didn’t you answer on the phone?” Rosie demands.
“We had to turn it off,” I tell her. “We got up to the third floor and there was a guard there sleeping and —” My voice trails off. Louisa, Ryan, and Drew have circled around and I realize they’re all looking at us like we’ve risen from the dead. Can they tell that we were holding hands?
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Drew says, “When the police came, over the walkie-talkie, they didn’t just say there was an intruder. They said the intruder was Evelyn Posner.”
I feel the blood drain from my face. “The police knew my name?” I say. “But — but how?”
“Someone must be watching us,” Rosie says. “Or —” She looks around, and I know what’s coming, and I can also tell she’s hating saying it. “Or one of us is a traitor.”
I look from one to another of my friends’ faces and I can’t believe it.
I think about joking with Louisa in the drive-in about fixin’s. About how Rosie sacrificed a chance to find Wren to save us. About what Alonso just confided in me about missing his mom. They’re more than friends to me. They’ve become my new family.
Family
.
That’s when I realize that Rosie is right. One of us
is
a traitor.
And I know who.
Chapter 11
I take a step away from the others.
“It’s me,” I say.
They stare at me and I rush on. “I didn’t mean to be a traitor, but it’s my fault the police knew I was there. I — there was a phone at the library and we were hiding and it didn’t seem like anything bad could happen, and I — I called home. They must have traced the call.”
“If they’re tracing all the calls out of the library, they must have your name on some kind of watch list,” Alonso says.
“Either that or the Alliance is tracing all calls to our parents,” Drew counters.
Neither of those is a very happy thought. Louisa’s mouth is moving but no sounds are coming out. Finallyshe says, “But — but that means we can’t go home. People from the Alliance could be waiting for us
at our homes.
”
“It might not be the Alliance,” I say, even though I don’t believe it. “Maybe it’s a team sent out to find — what?” I break off.
Rosie is standing in front of me with her hands over her mouth shaking her head. “Oh no,” she says. “It is the Alliance. It has to be.”
“What is it?”
I move toward her, and it’s only because I am so close that I can hear it when she whispers, “Maddie. That’s how they found her. It
is
my fault.”
Not this again.
Rosie drops her hands but her face is bleak. She looks at Drew and says, “You know I’m right.”
His expression goes from confused to understanding. He puts up a hand. “Wait a second, Rosie. It’s not that simple.”
“What are you two talking about?” I
My chest feels tight. “Thanks for telling me.”
“After I said all that stuff about how you don’t have to keep secrets alone, I figured I owed you. And it turns out I was right. I do feel better.”
“Just another sign of your quiet brilliance,” I joke as we cross from the sidewalk onto the pavement of the car wash.
He laughs. “Right.” He pushes his hair off his forehead. “And about that other thing —” he starts to say, but before he gets any further Rosie is running across the pavement toward us.
Her eyes are huge. “How did you get here?” she demands, turning to walk with us to the door.
“We hobbled.” Alonso points at his knee. “War injury.” We go inside and he lifts his arm from my shoulder.
Rosie is still looking strange. “But the police had the place covered.”
“They went down; we went up,” Alonso says. He turns to me. “Can we finish what we were discussing later?”
“Sure, yeah,” I say, meaning “No, never, are you insane?”
“Why didn’t you answer on the phone?” Rosie demands.
“We had to turn it off,” I tell her. “We got up to the third floor and there was a guard there sleeping and —” My voice trails off. Louisa, Ryan, and Drew have circled around and I realize they’re all looking at us like we’ve risen from the dead. Can they tell that we were holding hands?
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Drew says, “When the police came, over the walkie-talkie, they didn’t just say there was an intruder. They said the intruder was Evelyn Posner.”
I feel the blood drain from my face. “The police knew my name?” I say. “But — but how?”
“Someone must be watching us,” Rosie says. “Or —” She looks around, and I know what’s coming, and I can also tell she’s hating saying it. “Or one of us is a traitor.”
I look from one to another of my friends’ faces and I can’t believe it.
I think about joking with Louisa in the drive-in about fixin’s. About how Rosie sacrificed a chance to find Wren to save us. About what Alonso just confided in me about missing his mom. They’re more than friends to me. They’ve become my new family.
Family
.
That’s when I realize that Rosie is right. One of us
is
a traitor.
And I know who.
Chapter 11
I take a step away from the others.
“It’s me,” I say.
They stare at me and I rush on. “I didn’t mean to be a traitor, but it’s my fault the police knew I was there. I — there was a phone at the library and we were hiding and it didn’t seem like anything bad could happen, and I — I called home. They must have traced the call.”
“If they’re tracing all the calls out of the library, they must have your name on some kind of watch list,” Alonso says.
“Either that or the Alliance is tracing all calls to our parents,” Drew counters.
Neither of those is a very happy thought. Louisa’s mouth is moving but no sounds are coming out. Finallyshe says, “But — but that means we can’t go home. People from the Alliance could be waiting for us
at our homes.
”
“It might not be the Alliance,” I say, even though I don’t believe it. “Maybe it’s a team sent out to find — what?” I break off.
Rosie is standing in front of me with her hands over her mouth shaking her head. “Oh no,” she says. “It is the Alliance. It has to be.”
“What is it?”
I move toward her, and it’s only because I am so close that I can hear it when she whispers, “Maddie. That’s how they found her. It
is
my fault.”
Not this again.
Rosie drops her hands but her face is bleak. She looks at Drew and says, “You know I’m right.”
His expression goes from confused to understanding. He puts up a hand. “Wait a second, Rosie. It’s not that simple.”
“What are you two talking about?” I
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