Page 91 of Artifice
A blessing she didn’t deserve.
Olive waited a few seconds, then eased the door open a crack.
The hallway was empty. None of the board members or students had come into this area.
She slipped out, locked the door behind her, and moved swiftly toward the emergency exit at the end of the corridor. She didn’t bother to return the keys. She couldn’t risk being caught.
With every step, the amber bottles pressed against her ribs, physical reminders of what was at stake.
She pushed through the exit, bracing for an alarm that never came. Another small miracle.
Someone must have disabled it, probably to facilitate the late-night “deliveries” Thorne had mentioned.
The cool night air hit her face as she emerged onto a narrow path that wound around the back of the building. She needed to get back to the B&B, needed to get these samples to Tevin for analysis. But first, she had to clear the property without being seen.
Olive skirted the edge of the east wing, keeping to the shadows. As she passed beneath a row of darkened windows, a soft hiss caught her attention.
“Ms. Bettencourt.”
She turned, instinctively reaching for her gun—the one she didn’t have with her.
CHAPTER 49
Abe crouched in a shallow alcove formed by the building’s Victorian architecture, nearly invisible in his dark hoodie.
“What are you doing out here?” Olive whispered, scanning for security cameras.
“Waiting for you.” His eyes were wide, nervous. “I saw Thorne heading for the dispensary. Figured you might be there.”
“How did you know?—”
“Because that’s where Colin went before he disappeared.” Abe glanced over his shoulder. “We need to move. Follow me.”
He led her around the building to a maintenance shed, slipped inside, and pulled the door closed behind them. The space smelled of soil and motor oil, with gardening tools hanging on the walls like strange instruments.
“Colin figured it out,” Abe said without preamble. “Whatever they’re giving us—those supplements—he realized they were experimenting on us. Changing us.”
“How?” Olive asked.
“Like I told you earlier, he stopped taking them. Pretended to swallow, then spit them out later. After a couple weeks, he said his head felt clearer than it had in months.” Abe’s voice trembled slightly. “He started noticing things. Like how some kids whofought the system suddenly became perfect little robots. Or how Dr. Wells would take blood samples from everyone, but some kids got called in more often than others.”
“He documented this,” Olive said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. On his phone. Videos, photos, recordings. He was building a case, he said. For when he got out. His dad’s a lawyer, and I guess Colin paid more attention than he let on.” He swallowed hard. “The night before he disappeared, he told me he was going to follow Thorne to see where they were taking the ‘special cases’—kids who’d been in the Quiet Room too many times.”
“Did he tell you where he hid his phone?”
“Not exactly.” Abe hesitated. “But the day before, he showed me this place where he could get cell reception. Where the school’s signal jammers don’t reach.”
Olive tensed. “Where?”
“There’s a cave on the northwest side of the cliff near the lighthouse. Locals call it the Osprey Nest because birds roost in the rocks above it.” Abe’s voice dropped lower. “Colin said if anything ever happened to him, that’s where I should look. He had a solar battery pack—the kind hikers use. Said it would keep his phone alive for months if needed.”
“Why there? Why not just email the evidence to someone?”
“He tried. Said the school’s Wi-Fi blocks certain uploads. The signal jammers block most cell service on the property.” Abe’s eyes looked haunted in the dim light. “But the cave entrance . . . it’s like a weird dead zone where signals can get through. Colin thought it had something to do with the old lighthouse equipment still embedded in the cliff, creating some kind of pocket where the jammers don’t work.”
“How do I get there?”
