Chapter 15: Reverberations

"Dr. Steve you wanted to see me," Riley said opening the door slightly.

"Indeed. Come in my boy," Dr. Steve replied tapping his fingers in concentration. Riley entered the office shutting the door behind him. "Take a seat," he offered. He gestured one hand to the chair in front of his desk.

Riley sat down and on the outside looked relax. Inside he was trying to figure out why Dr. Steve had summoned him.

Was this due to the misplaced punch that sent Jeffrey to the hospital? Riley hadn't done it on purpose. He had nothing against Jeffrey Suave it was all because of miscalculation. Or maybe this was about the school no longer being able to afford to continue paying for his attendance here because the cost was too much. It wasn't as if Riley's mom was actually paying a cent for him to be here nor would she care if he no longer stayed. Stay or go it wouldn't matter at home.

The next question left Riley more puzzled. "Your good friends with Zachary Goode are you not?" Dr. Steve asked.

"Yes," Riley replied without hesitating.

"And you live near him, is that correct?"

"Yes, but Dr. Steve what does this have to do with anything?"

"I have been in quite wonderment in why Mr. Goode dropped out of school last semester. I was wondering if you could shed some light on the subject. Perhaps you talked to him over the winter break…" Dr. Steve paused to let Riley fill in the blanks.

"I'm sorry, sir," Riley answered shaking his head. "Zach wasn't at home during the winter break. He went to London, I think. And besides that I really don't know why Zach dropped out only that he did."

Disappointment was on Dr. Steve's face as he took in the information. "So I see." An idea struck him then as his eyes lit up like Christmas lights. "Riley, what do you think of finding and following Mr. Zachary Goode around for a few days?"

"You mean you want me to spy on him."

"Yes, exactly."

"Just to find out why he is no longer attending the Blackthorne Institute."

"Precisely."

"I guess so," Riley answered with a shrug. Spying on his friend that would be new. He wasn't sure how Zach would feel about it he knew his friend liked to have privacy and being a spy being spied on wasn't a welcoming gesture. Still, it wasn't like Riley could turn Dr. Steve down. Really, he was the one paying for everything.

Dr. Steve stuck out his hand as Riley shook it making the deal. "Excellent. I will have you sent out in a few days from now. I suppose you do understand that Mr. Goode cannot know that you are following him."

"I understand, Dr. Steve."

---

Harper never did explain to her cousins why she had suddenly shouted out the name Morgan. It had set both Zachary and Keira on edge, even more so on Zach's part.

However, for Harper, she had a sudden revelation and wanted to get home as quickly as possible to check it out. She had dashed for the black limo while Zach and Kiera went towards it with more caution.

Of course through the whole car ride she was questioned constantly by the two of them, but she never answered any of their questions. They all simply rolled off her as she ignored them. Her mind was much busier piecing information together.

Once they reached their home Harper was out of the car and inside in thirty seconds flat. For the rest of the week Zach and Kiera did not see Harper again.

When they finally did see her again all three of them had been summoned into Rodney Gates office.

***

Keira Goode's POV:

"I have a specific mission for the three of you and it's an important one," he stated looking at all three of us. Harper and Zach only seemed mildly interested, only pretending they were actually listening to what he was saying. Father stood up from his seat and walked over to us where we sat on the only couch in the office. "It's highly important because you will be doing it on your own."

That got the other two's attention as they perked up.

"We're doing it alone?" I asked, unsure.

"Yes, you will have to plan, execute, and cover up on your own." He started walking back over to his desk, grabbed three folders, and then placed them in front of us. "Your mission is to kill Cameron Ann Morgan. I expect the job to be done by next Sunday morning with all three of you back at the house. I don't care how you complete the mission just as long as it's complete by the appointed time." With that said father walked out of the office leaving us three to ponder over our new mission.

Flipping a page or two in the folder I saw it was all about facts. Mainly it held background information on her but it also contained her daily school schedule and the few weaker spots of her school although it would be much easier to attack when she wasn't behind the Gallagher Walls.

I took a look over at Zach to see how he was reacting. He hadn't even touched the folder. He was starring at it hard with a gaze I couldn't decipher. I looked over at Harper and saw that she was already scanning the last page.

There was a shifting of weight and when I looked back over at Zach he was already standing and walking out the door. The folder for him was still waiting on the table, untouched.

***

Cameron Morgan's POV:

The halls were filled with whispers during the first month of being back at school. Only one thing was on everyone's mind as if we really didn't have anything else to worry about.

"I hear she was a double agent for the Russians, but the Headmistress found out because of a slight slip of the tongue. So she had to leave for her headquarters right when the clock struck New Years."

"No, it was more of a love story. She left in search of her long lost love that she could no longer stand living without, which caused her to suddenly leave with no note of her absence. She's somewhere in the Caribbean now."

One girl's voice lowered to a whisper but I could still hear every word crystal clear. "I hear she's the mother of Zachary Goode, one of the boys from the transfer last year, and so she went over to teach at Blackthorne Academy."

None of what was being said was true though. Professor Davis resigned it was as simple as that and a lot less exciting possibility. Although, the reasons for this resignation were either unknown or classified. Either way I didn't have any desire to go in search of records for a teacher I hardly even knew. She accepted her position the year after I was in the class she would teach, which was several years ago.

I continued walking past the girls and their fabricated gossip of why a teacher left in the middle of the semester (it was hardly heard of) but Tina stepped into my path.

"Do you have any ideas of what happened to Professor Davis, Cameron?" Tina asked, eyes glistening for possible inside news.

It took all I had not to roll my eyes. "All I know Tina is this, Professor Davis resigned from teaching at Gallagher for reasons that are unknown and shall remain unknown."

Tina wasn't very pleased in hearing this. She had wanted something juicy and that was exactly what she got three point five seconds later.

"No, I know what happened. She was having a secret love affair with Mr. Smith," shrieked one girl as the rest slowly agreed with her.

Yeah, the most paranoid guy in the world, not a chance, I thought as I continued my long walk towards Culture and Assimilation.

***

"Rachel, it was the right thing to do. They needed help," Dr. Bowers said trying to comfort her.

But Rachel Roberts wouldn't hear it. She should have done nothing; she shouldn't have listened to Dr. Bower's advice. It was the mistake that cost her those children. They were now back where they started, she knew that. And now they were probably more indebted to the group than before, and it was her fault. If she just hadn't sent those applications, if she hadn't tried to send them away, if she just kept them all together than none of this would have…

"Do you…do you smell smoke?" Dr. Bowers asked looking worriedly around the office.

It burned as Rachel took in a deep breath. It was smoke all right and she hadn't even realized it. She had been too preoccupied in her own thoughts to sense the sudden danger.

She saw the blackness seeping its way into the room. Her eyes widened. Stupid, so stupid, idiot.

She shouldn't have thought that it was over, that the cost would only be the loss of those children back in to bloody, deceitful hands. Of course not, that would be too simple. No, this mistake was going to cost actual lives and not just her life but Dr. Bowers as well.

"What th—?" His voice faded as the ceiling started to collapse.

A/N: Okay, so this was a more of a setting up chapter. Now I know it's been a while since Riley and Professor Davis were introduced. So in case you don't remember them or much about them

Riley was in Chapter 7: Quick Visits

Professor Davis was in Chapter 8: Harper's Insight