J
Ren’s eyes bulge, and he yanks his arm away. Pulling his sleeve down so it covers the tattoo, he says stiffly, “I’ll be outside.”
The door rolls shut.
Shock keeps me frozen for a few beats.
I’ve seen that tattoo before, but where?
Racing to my chair again, I power my monitor back on and tap the play button on the hospital footage. Cars roll in and out of the parking lot. Visitors hobble into the emergency room. An ambulance screams into the driveway, blue and red lights flashing.
But there’s no Finn or Ren.
I tap on the clock symbol and speed up the timeframe. The people on screen move faster, scrambling up and down the hallways like tiny ants on a supercharged treadmill.
“There.” I smack the spacebar.
Everything freezes.
It’s Finn. His chiseled features, broad shoulders, and height are unmistakable.
I tap the space bar again and the footage continues.
On the monitor, Finn stalks through the parking lot. Ren and his buddy follow him inside a few minutes later.
They were definitely tailing Finn last night. Maybe even longer than last night?
I slip my finger sleeves on and get to work researching Ren’s tattoo. Henry searches through Ace’s phone in the background.
A notification pops up in the corner of my screen.
I type:Expand the search to the internet.
“Ugh! Useless.” I close Henry down and spin in a slow circle, my eyes on the ceiling.
It’s not conclusive evidence, but my gut is telling me that Ren is not related to the Grave City Crew. After all, he was fighting them off that night, not working with them.
Butwhy?
Why was he outside Redwood Prep fighting the Grave City Crew? Why did the Grave City Crew comebackto Redwood Prep? What were they searching for?
And why is Ren now hanging around Finn, a senior at Redwood Prep?
Since all roads lead to the school, I open the database for the Redwood Prep app. No tip, no message, no hint of a scandal that’s sent to Jinx is ever discarded.
My fingers fly over the keyboard, and I scroll through reams of information.
Finn is the most secretive member of The Kings. How did he get on The Grave City Crew’s radar?
My search leads me back to the biggest scandal to ever rock the hallways of Redwood Prep.
“The Grateful Project?”
Earlier this year, Finn and Zane struck a deal to take down politicians and businessmen who were involved in “The Grateful Project,” a scandal where the powerful were allowed to “buy” scholarship students at Redwood Prep for their own twisted depravity.
