Killer Mission Read online

  “So what does this mean?” I asked. “Do you have to shut down the house and everything?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Patton. “I heard the guys who live in the houses can stay there. But no parties, no meetings, no pledge activities. Nothing.”

  “I need to talk to Dr. Darity.” Spencer rushed out of the office.

  Patton and the other two followed. That left Frank and me alone with Lee.

  “Wow,” Frank said. “Big news, huh?”

  “Yeah.” Lee sounded bummed out. “Though after what happened last night . . . Well, let’s just say I’m not surprised.”

  Just then a student hurried in with a question about something. Frank and I took that as our cue to leave.

  “Find out anything?” I asked Frank.

  We’d just come out of lunch. I’d sat with my usual crowd. Most of the gossip was about Lewis’s death, but I hadn’t learned anything new.

  “Yeah.” Frank looked around to make sure nobody was listening. “I found out the GTT actives and pledges are vowing to continue with their rush despite the ban.”

  “Whoa! Really?”

  He nodded. “Spencer’s trying to keep it on the down low. But Patton told me.”

  I let out a whistle. “Now I wish you’d pushed harder to actually join rush,” I said. “If the frat’s going into hiding . . .”

  “We’ll just have to do what we can. At least we’re getting friendly with some of the guys by now.”

  I nodded. After leaving Lee, we’d spent most of the morning talking to some of the other pledges who’d witnessed the explosion. A few of them confirmed what we’d suspected about Patton being envious of Lee for stepping ahead of him in line. Others mentioned that Spencer was Ellery’s biggest supporter. Almost all of them admitted that nobody had liked Lewis much.

  But none of that was news. It was starting to feel like we were at a dead end with the mission.

  “It’s time for Killer’s next walk,” I told Frank now.

  “I’ll tag along,” he said. “Maybe the fresh air will help.”

  We grabbed the dog and set out on our usual route. Frank and I talked over everything we knew, trying to figure out if we’d missed something important. We kept coming back to the incidents leading up to the explosion, trying to see a pattern.

  “There was that blown fuse at the frat function. Then the petty vandalism and stuff.” Frank ticked the incidents off on his fingers.

  “And those threats,” I added. “Then the swim coach getting injured in the soccer coach’s office.”

  “Soccer,” Frank said thoughtfully. “Could that be a connection? Lee and Destiny are both on the soccer team.”

  I tugged Killer away from the pile of snow he was nosing. “Maybe,” I said. “But Lee was a victim too, remember? The grade thing. Unless you still think he did that to throw suspicion off himself.”

  “It’s possible. But then how does the dog bite fit in?” Frank glanced down at Killer, who was walking along sedately. “There just doesn’t seem to be a common thread.”

  “Except GTT,” I pointed out. “If we take Destiny off the suspect list, everything and everyone else is connected somehow to the frat.”

  “What about the gum we found after your cottage was ransacked?”

  I shrugged. “Lots of people chew gum.”

  “Not at Firth.”

  He was right. “Well, what if someone’s trying to frame Destiny for some reason?”

  That sounded kind of weak, even to me. Frank didn’t even bother to answer. He was still staring at Killer thoughtfully.

  “Come to think of it, it’s weird that Killer was in the cottage when you got there,” he said. “Didn’t Darity say he’d be in the kennel?”

  “You think that could be important?”

  “Considering how little we have to go on right now, I think we should consider everything important.”

  He had a point. I thought back over the past few days, searching my memory for anything out of the ordinary.

  “There was the day he ran away,” I said.

  “I thought that was your fault.”

  “It was,” I said. “But that’s not what I’m talking about. I just remembered that when I got back to the cottage that day, Killer acted kind of funny. Plus, there were some liver snaps spilled on the floor.”

  “You think someone was in there?”

  “Could have been.” I sighed. “But come on—why would anyone bother to mess with me like that? Nobody here even knows who we really are.”

  “Except Darity.” Frank bit his lip. “And he’s the one who’s supposedly so eager to shut down the frats.”

  On the one hand, that made sense. If Darity was behind the trouble, of course he’d want to throw me and Frank off the track. But I couldn’t quite believe it.

  “He doesn’t seem like that kind of guy,” I said. “If he really wanted to shut down the Greek system here, seems like he’d just go ahead and do it.”

  “Except the frats are a big tradition,” Frank pointed out. “One that a lot of wealthy and influential alumni might really want to keep up.”

  By now we were coming within sight of a place known as the Cottage. This Cottage wasn’t like my cottage or the others in the staff area. It was a sprawling, luxurious one-story Tudor where old Dr. Montgomery lived. Janice and her friend had told me all about it during one of their frequent lunchtime rants about Mrs. Wilson, who apparently lived in a smaller cottage just behind the Cottage.

  Frank was looking at the place too. “Everyone says Dr. Montgomery still keeps track of everything that goes on around Firth,” he said. “And I bet he’s more anxious than just about anyone to see this cleared up before the school’s rep is damaged. Apparently his favorite saying is ‘Firth first.’”

  “You think we should talk to him about what’s been happening?”

  “Couldn’t hurt. I’m sure if he’d seen something that was obviously suspicious, he would’ve already told Darity or the cops.” Frank shrugged. “But he might have noticed something he didn’t even realize was important.”

  “It’s possible,” I agreed, hurrying up the walk with Killer at my heels. “Let’s see if he’s in. But we’d better not tell him why we’re asking.”

  Frank paused with his hand raised to knock. “Why not?”

  “Duh.” For a smart guy, my brother can be kind of a dolt sometimes. “Undercover, remember?”

  Frank knocked sharply. “I know we’re not supposed to tell just anyone,” he whispered, “but Darity already knows, so what’s the harm? Montgomery’s more likely to talk if he knows the deal.”

  I just shook my head warningly. The door had just swung open.

  “Yes?” Mrs. Wilson said icily, looking us over.

  Killer had been sitting quietly on Frank’s foot. But now he rose slowly to his feet, his hackles up and his gaze trained on the housekeeper.

  Okay. So at least I wasn’t the only person at Firth who wasn’t the dog’s best friend. “We’re looking for Dr. Montgomery,” I said, making sure I had a firm grip on the leash.

  “I’m afraid he’s not available at the moment.” If Mrs. Wilson noticed the dog’s glare, she didn’t let on.

  “Oh, that’s too bad,” Frank said in his best good-guy-talking-to-adults voice. “Could you tell us when—”

  He cut himself off. That’s because the housekeeper had just shut the door in our faces.

  “What a charmer. Guess my lunch buddies were right about her,” I said.

  Frank raised his hand as if to knock again, then lowered it. “Maybe we should see if he’s at Firth Hall,” he said. “I think he has an office over there.”

  “I will not lower my voice!” a woman’s strident voice rang out.

  Frank, Killer, and I had just entered the large, echoing lobby of Firth Hall. It was normally empty and silent. But not now.

  Dr. Darity and Dr. Montgomery were both there. So was a well-dressed middle-aged couple. The husband was standing to one side
with his hands in his pockets, looking bored. His wife was ranting at the headmasters.

  “Please, Mrs. Marks,” Dr. Darity said soothingly, putting a hand on her arm. “If we could just go into my office and talk about this . . .”

  I shot Frank a look. Mrs. Marks—could these be Ellery’s parents?

  “I won’t rest until I get some answers!” Mrs. Marks exclaimed. “Do you think we took the heli-copter all the way up to this godforsaken place for our health? No, it’s because we heard what happened and want to make sure our son is safe here! Isn’t that right, Milton?”

  “Hmm?” Her husband didn’t seem to be listening. “Er, of course, dear.”

  I felt Killer turn to look behind us. Glancing over my shoulder, I was just in time to see Ellery appear in the doorway.

  His mother spotted him too. She descended on him, weeping and moaning. Ellery tolerated her attention with his usual air of superiority. Eventually, however, the two headmasters managed to shoo them all in the direction of Darity’s office. Mrs. Marks finally let go of Ellery and swept off on Dr. Montgomery’s arm, with her husband and Dr. Darity trailing along.

  Only Ellery hung back, shooting us a look. “My folks put on quite a show, don’t they?” he said sarcastically as the adults disappeared into the office.

  “You might as well give it up now that Mother’s all worked up about this.”

  “Huh?” For a second I thought he knew we were there to see Dr. Montgomery, and I wondered how he’d figured it out.

  Ellery rolled his eyes. “Don’t play dumb with me,” he said. “I know why you guys are really here. ATAC isn’t nearly as slick as they think they are.”

  Office Hours

  Joe and I stared at each other in shock as Ellery disappeared into the office after the others. “Whoa!” Joe whispered. “So much for being undercover!”

  “We’d better contact HQ. They’ll probably want us to pull out if people are onto us.” I reached for my phone.

  Joe put out a hand to stop me. “Chill for a sec,” he said. “We don’t know that people are onto us. Just Ellery. Isn’t his dad a pretty powerful political dude?”

  “Yeah. Heard he has some ties to the CIA.”

  Joe glanced at the office door. Loud voices were drifting out of there. He yanked me a little farther down the hall to a quieter spot.

  “Then Mr. Marks would definitely know about ATAC,” he hissed. “And probably could have found out we’re here. Maybe clued his son in too.”

  “Maybe.” I was still worried. Part of what keeps us safe and allows us to do our job is our cover. A big part. “But what if he didn’t get it from his dad? Rumors spread fast around this school.”

  “Think about it, bro,” Joe urged. “If someone like, say, Patton knew about us, do you really think he could keep it to himself for more than a nanosecond? Or what about that Neanderthal roommate of yours? Would he be able to act normal around you?” He paused. “Well, or whatever passes for normal with him . . .”

  He had a point. “All right, I guess we might as well work under the assumption that Ellery’s the only one who knows, at least until we find out otherwise. But we’ll have to be careful.”

  “Always,” Joe agreed. He pulled Killer away from the pile of rubble he was sniffing. Last night’s explosion had blown a hole in the back of the bathroom wall, which adjoined this part of the hallway. The police had cordoned it off along with the rest of the crime scene.

  A little farther down the hall, a door opened a crack. A pale, narrow face peered out.

  “Hi, Mr. Westerley,” I called, guessing that the English teacher had heard the commotion from the Marks family. “Don’t worry, I think most of the yelling’s over out here.”

  He blinked at me. Then he darted out into the hall, slamming the door behind him. “Oh?” he said in his absentminded way.

  I glanced at the door. It had his name on it. “Hope your office didn’t get damaged by the explosion last night,” I said.

  “No, no, no damage here.” He straightened his bow tie and stared at Killer.

  “Did you notice anything strange around here the past couple of days?” I asked, deciding I might as well take advantage of the chance encounter. “You know—people who wouldn’t normally be around this part of the building, anything like that?”

  “Strange?” Westerley cleared his throat. “Uh, no. That is, I wasn’t in my office much over the weekend. But when I was, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

  His eyes darted around. He seemed kind of nervous. Was he afraid of Killer? Or was something else going on?

  Speaking of Killer, Joe appeared to be having some trouble with him. The dog was pulling at his lead, trying to get closer to Westerley’s office door.

  For a second I went on full alert. What if there was more than one bomb planted in Firth Hall?

  But then I took a better look at Killer and relaxed. He wasn’t in alert mode. It was more like he acted when he saw me coming. Or when someone offered him a liver treat. He was whining and wagging his tail, his ears pricked.

  “Cut it out, dude!” Joe complained as Killer dragged him forward.

  The dog ignored him. He jumped up on the door and let out a bark.

  “What’s wrong with him?” I wondered. “You don’t have another dog in there, do you, Mr. Westerley?”

  Westerley laughed, though it sounded kind of forced. “Nothing like that,” he said. “Oh wait, I know! I found some doggie treats on the ground on my way in and picked them up. He probably smells them—they’re just inside. Here, I’ll show you.”

  He pushed past the excited dog and darted back inside, shutting the door behind him. Joe and I exchanged a glance.

  “Is he always this jumpy?” asked Joe.

  I shrugged. “He’s a little eccentric.”

  Westerley emerged, once again yanking the door shut behind him. “Here we go,” he said, holding out a handful of liver snaps.

  He held them in front of Killer’s face. The dog hesitated, casting another look at the office door. But when the teacher cooed and shoved the treats even closer, Killer finally picked them politely out of the teacher’s hand and swallowed them. Then he turned away from the door and sat down.

  “Guess that was it,” Joe said. “Dr. Darity said he’d do anything for a liver snap.”

  “Where’d you find those treats, anyway?” I asked.

  Westerley waved a hand vaguely down the hall. “You must have dropped them on your way in,” he told Joe. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for an appointment.”

  He locked his office door, then rushed away. Joe frowned.

  “Okay, that was weird,” he said. “I don’t even have any liver snaps on me today. I keep forgetting to bring them along. So I couldn’t have dropped them.”

  “You know what else is weird?” I stared at Killer, who was sitting quietly. “He didn’t even act like he wanted those treats.”

  We were silent for a moment. I wasn’t sure what to make of the odd little encounter. Did it mean something? Or was it just a distraction?

  “You don’t think that guy could’ve been the one who broke into my cottage, do you?” Joe said at last.

  “Seems pretty unlikely. But you never know.” I glanced down the hall to make sure Westerley was out of sight. Then I turned toward his office door. “Think we should take a look inside just in case?”

  “Why not? We’re here anyway. . . .”

  The office door was locked, but its hardware was as antiquated as the rest of the building. It was a simple matter to jimmy it.

  We slipped inside and looked around. It was pretty much what I would have expected. Messy. Dusty furniture. Books everywhere. There were a few cushions and papers scattered on the floor, but otherwise nothing at all out of the ordinary.

  Killer perked up a little when he got inside. He pulled away from Joe and trotted over to the window. It was wide open, allowing cold air to rush in.

  “Grab him before he jumps out,” I war
ned.

  Joe hurried over and picked up the leash. “I think this is a waste of time. We’re not going to find anything here,” he said. “Let’s get out before he comes back and catches us.”

  Hunting for Answers

  This pie is awesome,” I declared at dinner that night, shoveling a forkful of oversweetened apples into my mouth. “Think I’ll go grab seconds.”

  I got up and hurried off. But my mind wasn’t really on pie.

  Ellery’s parents were having dinner in the caf. They were seated at the headmaster’s table where Darity and Montgomery usually ate. Ellery was there too, though he didn’t look thrilled about it.

  I’d managed to pass by a couple of times already, trying to hear what they were talking about. Frank had done the same. But I hadn’t heard much, and dinner would be over soon.

  I slowed to a dawdle as I got closer. Spencer was standing beside the table, talking to Ellery’s parents.

  “. . . and Ellery’s been a real asset to the GTT family so far,” he was saying as I came within earshot. “We’re all looking forward to welcoming him officially into the brotherhood once, uh, all this mess is over.” He shot a cautious look at Darity.

  “Yes, don’t fret,” Dr. Montgomery spoke up cheerfully. “I’m sure we’ll be able to work things out so the fraternities can resume their rightful place on campus shortly. After all, what would Firth be without that particular brand of brotherhood?”

  Mrs. Marks smiled. “Indeed. I know Milton cherished his time in Gamma Theta Theta. Isn’t that right, darling?”

  “Eh?” Mr. Marks finally looked up from his food. “Oh, yes, yes, of course.”

  Ellery wasn’t saying anything. But he looked over and caught me eavesdropping. His sullen expression changed briefly to a smirk.

  A short while later I caught up with Frank outside the cafeteria building. I told him what I’d seen and heard.

  “Could Ellery be behind the trouble?” Frank mused. “Maybe that’s why his parents showed up—if they know he’s capable of this sort of thing, they could be playing damage control.”

  “Anything’s possible.” I shrugged. “But what’s his motive? He doesn’t really seem to care that much about GTT one way or the other.”