“The trials haven’t started yet. It’s hard to know what they’ll be charged with and what their lawyers will be able to get taken off.”
I swallowed back the terror that I suddenly felt, knowing that there was a chance that Cade’s father could be out of prison at some point. I wondered what kind of terror Cade felt.
“I still say they should have separated them. Throw them in separate prisons and make them turn on one another.” Gemma sighed. “But from what I knew about Cade, Brantley, and Isaiah was that they were loyal down to their bones. They got that from their fathers.”
“Cade surely didn’t get it from his mother.”
“What do you mean?” Gemma asked, giving me a strange look. Does she not know?
I turned fully toward her and sat cross-legged on my chair. “Cade’s mom left after his father got arrested.”
“Yeah, I knew that. Isaiah told me.”
“She didn’t even say goodbye to Cade. He has no idea where she went.”
Gemma looked confused. “Wait, what? I thought he and his mom had a somewhat decent relationship.” Her gaze bounced all around the room. “I don’t think Isaiah knows this.” The tenseness of her shoulders dropped. “That explains Cade’s behavior even more after everything.”
“His behavior?”
Gemma half-heartedly smiled. “Cade was in his feelings, Journey. After everything that happened with his father and learning that you were kept at the psych hospital the whole time, he was completely closed off. I can’t pretend that I knew the Cade that you knew before you left, but the only time I ever saw much emotion from him was when someone brought you up. When you came back, it was like you put the hope back in him or something. He woke up.”
I laughed, brushing her off. “That can’t be true. I told him I hated him.”
Gemma smiled. “That only made him more hopeful. Those Rebels are determined as hell. You know this.”
We both laughed, and suddenly, the room grew relaxed again. I turned away and pulled the file down to place the paper back inside. My computer dinged with an incoming message. I still held onto the file as I slowly clicked on my school email, wondering who was emailing me after school hours, and that was when my stomach lurched. The email address in the “From” section caused me to fly up out of my seat with my chair knocking to the ground. Sister Mary?
Gemma was off my bed within a second. “Journey? What’s wrong?”
If you want answers and to save the nun, follow the instructions. 4616 Western Blvd, Building C. Be there tonight, 9pm. And don’t bring the snitches.
Chills coated my arms,and I knew whoever had emailed me from Sister Mary’s email did so knowing that Cade was two hundred miles away.
“I…” My hands were shaking as I stared at the screen. The file in my hand fell to the ground, and the faded papers scattered around like my thoughts.
“Journey.” Gemma’s hands landed on my shaking ones, and when I caught her worried gaze, I laid it out in the open.
“Read it.”
She bent down and began scanning the computer. It felt like hours had passed, but I knew it was only seconds. And like a harrowing moment in a horror film, eerie silence filled the room as we stared at one another. I knew that it could have been a trap, but in the same thought, Sister Mary’s life was quite literally dangling in front of me.
“Don’t bring the snitches,” Gemma whispered, repeating what the email had said. “That means they know about the Rebels and how they threw their fathers into prison.”
My heart was a deafening drum inside my ears. Each beat shot pain into my ribs. “Gemma.” I looked up at her soft-green eyes, and she knew, without me even saying it, that I was going after Sister Mary. I had to. There was no hesitation between what was right and what was wrong. I would not abandon the one person who had kept me safe and protected me like I was her own. Because, without a doubt, I knew she had stopped many, many adoptions to save me. She kept me close for a reason.
“It only says not to bring the snitches. So, I’m coming, too.”
I shot her a look. “Isaiah will kill you.”
“Then, we can die together because Cade will kill you, too.”
She stood in the middle of my room as I quickly tore a piece of paper from my notebook and scribbled the address down. It was pretty much an invitation to my own death, but we silently agreed that we were going one way or another. There was no time to think about my decision before we tore out of my room. Cade was right there, screaming at me over my shoulder in the outskirts of my brain, telling me not to go, but I couldn’t listen because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I ignored it.
I wouldn’t abandon Sister Mary.
I wouldn't abandon her like someone abandoned me.