echoed, as though reading my thoughts.
“But why did they take her? And where?” I said. Whatever Celia might think, I worried that this was my fault. I’d stolen images of Hannah’s eye to fool the security camera, and while I thought I’d wiped our entrance from the system’s memory log, maybe I’d left a trail by mistake. If Grassi had reviewed the log-ins and saw Hannah’s name pop up—even though he knew she was with him—he’d probably suspect her of something. Especially when he’d heard that noise in the hallway.
She could still be here at the school. Held somewhere on campus. Interrogated. Tortured. I wouldn’t put anything past Holland and whoever was helping him. But I didn’t detect her GPS chip anywhere.
As the other students began shuffling off to class, my team threw together a hasty plan. We had two goals to accomplish:
Rescue Hannah if she was still on campus. Which I was willing to bet she was.
Connect Grassi and Holland to the illegal experiments on Montford students.
We’d have to use speed and surprise to our advantage.
If Grassi was worried about Hannah’s involvement in a security breach, questioning her wouldn’t lead him to us. Hannah had no idea what was going on. A blessing in terms of our safety, but in terms of hers? I didn’t want to dwell on the possibilities.
First we’d split up and scour the campus for Hannah. Quickly, I made assignments. “I’ll contact Hunter and tell him to take the administrative buildings and the quad as soon as he can get away from J.D. Abby, you take the athletic fields and the gym. Samuel, dorms. I’ll tackle the rest of the classrooms and offices—I’ll be able to locate her by fingerprint scan if she’s in a close enough range. Then I’ll try to get inside Grassi’s office.”
By now, students were already in classes, and the hallways were eerily silent. As I paused to scan each classroom, I avoided standing by the windows. I didn’t know Montford’s policy on loitering in hallways during class time, and I didn’t want to find out. Being stopped by an irritated teacher was the last thing I needed.
There was no flash on my sensor alerting me to Hannah’s presence. No sign of her in any of the vacant classrooms. Nothing.
But as I snuck past a full class upstairs, something beeped in my head. I froze, hope blossoming even though the location made no sense.
Scanning: Match.
Ben LaCosta.
100% certainty.
Not Hannah. Ben. Another grant kid, at risk.
I speed-walked back down the stairs and slipped outside. Clouds covered the sky in a blanket of white, not a glimmer of blue to be seen. The air felt thick with moisture.
Humidity level: 78%.
Showers ahead, probably soon.
I darted into the social-sciences building next and headed for the elegant, curving staircase. I took the stairs two at a time and repeated my search, making sure to check any unmarked doors and storage rooms, even bathrooms.
I quickly exhausted my search there, so I headed to the math-and-science building. Each door I passed yielded the same result.
No traces of Hannah, anywhere.
But I did catch a glimpse of Grassi. Standing up at his desk, lecturing with his usual enthusiasm. Like nothing at all was wrong.
I headed to the basement and confirmed what my gut already told me was true. She wasn’t here, pure and simple. Almost out of time, there was only one thing left to do.
While the others continued their search, I’d move on to plan B.
The basement felt colder than the rest of the building, and the ceiling creaked overhead. Despite staircases at both ends of the room, the knowledge that I was underground made it feel like a trap. I wondered how it felt to the math-and-science faculty, who had their offices down here. Did they like being apart from the bustle of classes and students? Or did they resent being beneath the surface, like moles, with no natural light?
I hesitated just outside Grassi’s office. My internal clock said we had fifteen minutes until the end of class. That might not be long enough to get through everything alone.
I texted to let the others know what I was doing, then prepared myself to break in.
I tried the handle, unsurprised to find the door bolted shut. I stared at it uncertainly. Once I forced open the door, there would be no hiding it. The second Grassi came down here, he’d go to the dean and ask to see the footage from security cameras, and I hadn’t been able to plan