Page 11

The diner’s booth felt unusually confining as Mr. Blackbourne presented his case to Dr. Roberts. He had to be strategic, he knew. He needed to not give him any information that would be detrimental to whatever he decided to do.

fter the waitress brought them both sandwiches and soup bowls, they pretended to eat, but kept talking to each other.

“First, before I start, I need to know something,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Who sent the letter?”

The older man sat quietly, fingers steepled beneath his chin, his expression revealing nothing. “I asked around after you called me in for this meeting. nd I haven’t found out who yet. I had my suspicions but...” He paused. “No, I don’t want to think like that.”

Mr. Blackbourne nodded. He spooned some soup, and sipped it absently before speaking again. “I’ve been considering a particular idea about it. Which is very concerning.” He didn’t dare think it outloud. It was unfathomable.

That the letter had come outside the cademy completely. Because anyone trained within the cademy would not send a team to such a location to recruit someone without having done some background first, and none of the ones they’d seen would likely qualify, not a thief or someone so reactionary as Wil had been. The letter had been unclear who exactly they were recommending.

“I’ll figure it out,” Dr. Roberts said. “Because I think I know what you are suggesting and I don’t like it. nd we’re guessing at best.” His gaze darkened and he picked apart the bread of his sandwich. “But I need to come at this from a different angle.”

Mr. Blackbourne continued to eat quietly, giving Dr. Roberts time to consider before giving him any further information. Sometimes going in blind on a job was critical. No prejudice meant an open mind, seeing things anew. To look genuinely surprised when bumping into suspects. In this case, it was needed.

t the very least, this was a potential project for the cademy to address. It wasn’t ideal for anyone to live in a shady motel with drug dealers around, but teenagers especially. They would at the very least try to correct that.

He looked up at Mr. Blackbourne. “I need you to tell me very little, but give me one place to start from. Your best bet.”

Mr. Blackbourne considered his words carefully. He didn’t want to send him to the motel. Not yet. He also didn’t want to identify the ones they were looking for. “Citadel Mall has been getting some unusual activity...” That should be enough. The girl thief would likely return. She had been there quite often.

Dr. Roberts cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Stop there. location is good. I may be handling this personally. t least initially.”

Mr. Blackbourne nodded approvingly. If he got stuck, he’d come back with questions, but it was unlikely he would get stuck. Mr. Blackbourne and his team rarely gave up jobs, so their retreat meant they needed a quality team up for the task. Dr. Roberts was one of the best among the cademy, and highly respected.

Dr. Roberts nodded slowly, then pressed a button on his phone sitting on the table. "If you’re quite finished securing things, would you come over?"

The door of the diner opened within a few moments, and a young man, tall, with blue eyes and wearing a T-shirt with a video game controller emblem, stepped deliberately toward their booth in the back. His presence wasn't entirely unexpected – Mr. Blackbourne had suspected another team would be taking over – but something in his demeanor suggested this wasn't a simple case transfer.

"Mr. Blackbourne," he greeted him with a slight nod.

Dr. Roberts motioned to him. “This is Corey. Though I suspect you might not meet again for a while. If you see him around, you should be cautious,” he told Mr. Blackbourne.

"Do feel free to come to me if you have any questions,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

Corey took a seat, his casual posture relaying he wasn’t at all worried about the situation. "When Dr. Roberts said you had something for us, I wasn’t even sure we should meet.” His hand lifted in the air, drawing something with a finger on an invisible chalkboard only he could see. “I might have to work you out of the equation.”

Mr. Blackbourne had seen such behavior from other cademy members. Most were brilliant within their own right, with a few quirks. He was sure even he had his own others might find strange. “I won’t talk about it anymore.”

Corey’s lips lifted into a friendly smile. “Thanks. It sucks, I know. It looks like you’re dying to say something.”

“No,” Mr. Blackbourne said. They had gone in with little information, and if it wasn’t for their team being distracted, and far too connected, they would have kept at it until it was solved. “This is perfect. The less you know at the start, the better.” It would take time to figure out the girl thief and track her. That would ensure Wil Winchester had time to cool off, and approaching the sister might have been the smarter move overall.

The cademy did not know failure. They only tried again in different ways. new team. new angle. He didn’t even say recruit like the letters had suggested. Dr. Roberts could figure out who sent the letter on his own. Corey and whatever team he was on, they could figure out the girl and go from there. Perhaps not for recruitment, but certainly to extend an olive branch and possibly change their lives. They may even decide to do so without them ever knowing who did it.

Mr. Blackbourne continued. “This is the right decision. Go in blind. nd good luck.”

"Your team's involvement ends here," Dr. Roberts stated. "The situation at shley Waters requires your full attention."

"Understood." Mr. Blackbourne stood, recognizing the dismissal. "We’ve extracted ourselves entirely.” Mr. Blackbourne gathered his cell phone sitting on the table, mind already shifting to the challenges awaiting at shley Waters. Principal Hendrick’s financial discrepancies, the overcrowding issues, the systematic suppression of student advancement – all problems requiring careful investigation and delicate handling.

He’d have to face Wil again, of course, as he had promised to test him to advance him in school. But he’d have to keep tight-lipped about what he knew. Everything before had been incidental, and he had to show no special attention to Wil. He might have to look up other smart students and test them out of classes to give Wil a sense that he did this for everyone. That Wil was treated no different than anyone else. He had to pretend he was just a school employee and nothing more.

He might even send Ms. Walter to conduct the tests and manage Wil from here on out to be even less involved.

Dr. Roberts spoke again. "Owen." The use of his first name made Mr. Blackbourne pause. "bout the Lee situation..."

Mr. Blackbourne pursed his lips. fter all, Kota was supposed to be handling this entire operation, not Mr. Blackbourne. The changes in use of different members of the team was unusual and likely Dr. Roberts wanted to know why.

nd Mr. Blackbourne already had a favor to ask of Dr. Roberts. He wanted to know everything he could about Sang Sorenson. "I... have something to ask you about with that. But another time," Mr. Blackbourne said firmly. “I’ll send word about it soon.” He needed time to consider what to tell the cademy about Miss Sorenson, if there was anything to reveal.

He had a feeling there was. Within a matter of days, she had already unwittingly meddled in an cademy project, and with being a student at shley Waters, would likely be thrust into another, without even knowing it. Especially as Kota and the others seemed very concerned with her.

But he didn’t know anything really. Nothing tangible to tell Dr. Roberts. Was that why Kota wasn’t telling him? Because Mr. Blackbourne reported most things to others within the cademy? Likely so.

Dr. Roberts didn’t appear at all pleased, but he respected his answer.

Mr. Blackbourne left the diner, heading to his BMW in the lot. Dr. Green sat in the passenger seat, half asleep already. He sat up as Mr. Blackbourne opened the car door, a half snore cut short. He wiped at his face. “How did it go?”

Mr. Blackbourne sat in the driver’s seat. “I didn’t tell him about your phone.”

Dr. Green’s eyes widened. “What? Why? You usually tell him everything.”

“We were passing it on blindly. So I couldn’t. Telling him would have informed them of the pickpocketing, which meant knowing something.”

Dr. Green sat back in the leather seat, pressing a palm to his face. “Victor said my old phone was copied to the new one I got, before I got my old one back. That kid, whoever did it, is a flat out genius. If it was Wil or the other ones...”

“They’ll figure it out,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “But we have to stop here. Not if we’re at the school and Wil is there. We have to pretend we know nothing.”

“So I have to turn the phone back on?”

Mr. Blackbourne questioned the decision for a moment. “Keep it on for a couple of weeks, doing your normal, every day routine. nd then we’ll have it reported stolen officially later and you can swap. Maybe. We might just let this play out and see if anything happens. Just be careful.”

“It’s still in the trunk,” Dr. Green said. He ran a hand over his messy sandy blonde hair. “One more thing on the to do list.”

“lways,” Mr. Blackbourne said.

The drive back into Charleston gave Mr. Blackbourne time to process the day's revelations. The Winchester case may have been over, but they would deal with the aftermath. Blackbourne’s team, however, was already shifting, new alliances and priorities emerging that would require careful management. They would have to be completely hands off of Wil for the foreseeable future. Not unkind, but they couldn’t get close or press to become friends. They had gotten too close, and they had to play it off as best as they could that they were not interested in Wil. That the entire thing was somehow a coincidence. Only time and feigned disinterest would allow for that to happen.

The upcoming school year at shley Waters loomed ahead. From that point on, he would be very critical about any potential cademy side projects that might distract them.

If he wanted to graduate his entire team in one go, he had to.

The only team to successfully graduate in such a way.

But as he reviewed his mental notes, Mr. Blackbourne found his thoughts returning to Miss Sorenson. Her presence had already catalyzed significant changes within his team, and he suspected they had only begun to see the ripple effects of her arrival.

Her face.

Those eyes.

He thought of her in Kota’s arms. He thought of her when she first came into the back office at the school.

He thought of her voice, the ‘thank you.’ The one just for him, after changing her class schedule.

What was happening? He should be focused. Still, he knew what he wanted to do, before he did any other cademy work or whatever else tonight.

He had violin lessons to prepare for.

Thank you for reading this series. If you enjoyed this Meeting Sang Series, you might also enjoy my other books available.