Page 17 of The Knight

I consider Lukas's warning, but shake my head. In a low voice, I tell her, "If he asks anything I don't want to answer, I'll call the lawyer up. But until then, I'm okay."

She nods, clearly unable to deal with this kind of stuff—the scary stuff. "Whoever is helping you pay for that lawyer, thank them for me. And be careful. Don't say anything you shouldn't."

I wonder what she thinks it is that I've done, or how much she knows. "I'll be careful."

Hopping out of the truck, I follow the detective a few feet away, so we can get some privacy. He doesn't look like he suspects me of anything, so hopefully his questions are just more about the men who took me.

"I just have one question for you, if you could bear with me."

"Of course."

"What is your association with Peter LeGrand?"

Chapter 8

Iblink at him. "Who?"

"You don't know?" Detective Lyons arches a coy eyebrow. "LeGrand is the man who gave you the social security number you used to enroll at Coleridge Academy—an act of fraud I've been instructed to ignore by my captain for some reason."

Trying my best not to let the shock and anxiety show on my face, I tell him honestly, "The person who helped me enroll at Coleridge was anonymous."

"So you let a complete stranger give you a social security number without even asking for his name?" The detective narrows his eyes at me. "Interesting."

"Do I need to call my lawyer?"

"You're not under arrest, Ms. Wilder. Despite your offenses."

He taps his pen against the pad of paper he's holding in one hand, which he hasn't written any notes on. It's clear to me that this is some kind of fishing expedition—he doesn't have anything yet, but he'd like to get something, and is hoping I might be loose tongued, alone and confronted like this.

Well, I'm not falling for it. "Does Peter LeGrand have anything to do with my kidnapping?"

"No," he admits, grudgingly. "At least, not that I know of. I'm still trying to figure out why you were taken—what motivated the men who kidnapped you."

"Well, maybe you should work on that," I point out, feeling intimidated despite the brave tone I try to put in my voice. "Last I checked I was the victim of a kidnapping last night, and no matter what petty offenses I may have committed, that's what you're supposed to be investigating. Or am I wrong about that? Is there an investigation into me, or someone associated with me?"

An oblique, slightly angry curve turns his mouth into a caricature of a smile. "No, there isn't."

"Maybe Ishouldcall my lawyer."

"That won't be necessary." Putting away his pad, he tells me, "I'll just note that the association with LeGrand was anonymous—and shut that part of the case. After all, I'm not supposed to investigate it. Forsomereason."

A reason that begins and ends with the Elites, I imagine, and whatever it is that Cole did to get me back at Coleridge. If that's what money buys—a change in an open police investigation—I shudder to think what else that kind of influence might have covered up in Great Falls.

Now I don't know if Lukas warned me about the cops because some of them are corrupt—or worse, because some of themaren't,and can't be easily bought by outside influence.

Detective Lyons tells me, "Have a good day, Ms. Wilder. We'll be in touch if any developments are made in your case."

"Thank you," I tell him, even though my heart is still slamming against my chest.

When I get back in the truck, Wally and Mom both shoot me worried looks, but I just say that the detective wanted another description of the men who took me. They don't need to worry about all the other things going on, things I've gotten myself into—and in over my head.

* * *

Rosalind Hall looks different.

It hasn't even been twenty-four hours since I was last here, but everything about it feels like I'm in a dream. Finals are still happening—I'm barely prepared—and the campus is filled with activity as students head towards their post-lunch classes. Everything looks, and feels, normal.

I can't forget Georgia's hateful face as she told the whole campus the truth about me.

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