Worried, I look at Quentin. “What about your family?” I ask.
“They’re safe,” he assures me. “They live outside of town, and they’re visiting my aunt in Arizona anyway. I talked with them before they left a few weeks ago. They’ll be gone through the end of the month. Not sure what they’ll think when they come back to find the town empty.”
An entire town of people disappeared? If I think on it hard enough, I’m sure I can place most of the missing people with the academy somehow. People who’d been paid off or witnessed us in town. People with a connection to the school.
But the bigger question remains: Who has enough power to disappear and entire town? Does someone like Hawke Fusillo with his spaceships have that kind of power? Can money buy complete impunity? If so, does that mean the corporation is untouchable?
Jackson sits quietly on the floor, his head hanging low. He’s beat down, but it’s complicated, considering his relationship with his father. I look sideways at Annalise.
“How did you end up here?” I ask her. “How did you know about Jackson’s father?”
She exchanges a look with Quentin, and he shifts on his feet, seeming deeply uncomfortable. It’s quiet for too long.
“It’s all right,” Jackson says from the floor. “Just tell me.”
“Valdemar Casey made a purchase,” Annalise states. “Jackson, your dad bought… He bought a girl.” She darts her eyes to me. “He bought one of our girls.”
There’s a jolt to my heart. “What do you mean?” I ask. “Which girl?”
Annalise takes a step toward me, a flash of hope in her eyes. “It was Valentine. We found her body at the academy before we left, right? Well, I think she’s still alive. In the lab, there was a bill of sale for her programming. They resold her, andthisaddress was on the bill.”
“She’s alive?” I repeat, my voice shaking.
I want to believe so badly that it’s true. Valentine helped wake me up; she showed me what was happening to us, what we really were. Without Valentine, none of us would have escaped. But Mr. Petrov and the academy killed her before we could get her out. She died saving us, lying for us. Fighting for us. I have to cling to the idea that we can get her back.
“I can feel her, Mena,” Annalise says. She places her hand over her heart and smiles. “Ifeelthat she’s alive.”
I reach for the feeling she’s describing, but I can’t place Valentine the way she suggests. However, it’s like I can sense Annalise, Sydney, Marcella, and Brynn—all the girls, right inside my programming. Other pieces of me. My connection to the girls brings me immeasurable comfort, and I match Annalise’s smile with tears stinging my eyes.
“So where’s Valentine?” I ask. “How do we find her?”
“I don’t know yet,” Annalise replies, wilting slightly. “I honestly thought she was here, but when we arrived, we just found…” She stops and looks at Jackson, who’s still kneeling on the floor. “I’m sorry, Jackson,” she says flatly. “I’m sorry that he was your father.”
Annalise doesn’t hide her disdain for the man on the floor. Why should she? He was an investor. He was a monster. Justbecause he was Jackson’s father doesn’t make him any better than the rest of them. Jackson nods, accepting her comment. He looks up at Quentin.
“Who did this?” Jackson asks him. “Any idea what happened?”
“No,” Quentin says. “We honestly just got here, man.”
“Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” Jackson asks. “I’ve been worried. You should have told me about the town, about everything.”
“I know,” Quentin says. “And I would have, but we ditched our phones a few days ago. I didn’t want to give anyone a chance to track us.”
Jackson grabs onto the couch and tries to pull himself to his feet, wincing. He accepts Quentin’s help when he reaches out his hand. Balancing on his crutches again, Jackson is stoic, his tears having dried.
“How did he, um…?” Quentin starts, motioning at the body.
I look down at the man, steadying the phone flashlight on his face. My stomach turns. My guess is he’s been dead for a little while—his body has bloated and there’s an unpleasant smell in the air.
“From what I can tell, there’s no blood,” Jackson says. “I need a better look. There’s a generator in the basement. If we can get that going, get some of the lights on, then maybe we can figure out what happened here.”
“Good idea, man,” Quentin says. He tells us they’ll be right back, and as they walk away, Jackson reaches out his hand,brushing his fingers against mine before leaving the room.
I hear them open a door in the kitchen, then the slow descent of footsteps on stairs. I turn back to Annalise, and she immediately steps up to hug me. It’s only been a short time, but I’ve missed her so much.
“Where are the other girls?” she asks, pulling back but still holding my arms. “What happened with Ridgeview?”
I fill her in on the events of the past few days. There’s so much, it all tumbles out of my mouth in a mess of information. I tell her about the boys losing their scholarships, about Lennon Rose kidnapping a boy, and about Leandra giving us the investors’ names. Annalise nods along, her face serious as she absorbs every bit. I barely finish telling her about the kill switches being remotely activated when the lights above us flash and then turn on altogether.
