Turn the Tables Read online

  Copyright © 2016 by Megan Atwood

  All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

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  Main body text set in Janson Text LT Std 12/17.5.

  Typeface provided by Adobe Systems.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  The Cataloging-in-Publication Data for Turn the Tables is on file at the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4677-7510-6 (lib. bdg.)

  ISBN 978-1-4677-8105-3 (pbk.)

  ISBN 978-1-4677-8835-9 (EB pdf)

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  1 – SB – 12/31/15

  eISBN: 978-1-46778-835-9 (pdf)

  eISBN: 978-1-51240-509-5 (ePub)

  eISBN: 978-1-51240-507-1 (mobi)

  To my parents, always.

  CHAPTER 1

  JAMES

  Everything the Benefactor told you is a lie.

  James stared at the words that Ana had typed on her tablet. This had to be a mistake. He’d done everything the Benefactor told him to. All ten tasks, with the promise of $10 million if he finished the Contest before the other three contestants.

  Some of those tasks had made him shudder, but there had to be a payoff. James needed this Contest to be real.

  But Ana went on: This guy is dangerous. He’s forced us to do all kinds of illegal stuff. And once we were in, he made sure none of us could back out. He threatened us and the people we loved. Whoever this person is, we need to find out and stop them.

  James reached for the tablet. They had to pass it back and forth to type messages to each other, because all four contestants—James, Ana, Maiv, and Colin—were keeping silent. They’d agreed not to talk while they were in the van, since it was probably bugged. By the Benefactor. The creator of the Contest.

  James tapped out on the touchscreen keys: My grandpa’s really sick. I need the prize money to pay for his treatment.

  Ana looked up at him with a mixture of surprise and sympathy. Then she shook her head and wrote, There is no prize money.

  James clenched his teeth and looked out the window. On some level, he’d known that. He’d known he was being used and that the Benefactor wasn’t legit. But he’d wanted so desperately to believe . . .

  The nightmare he’d been living was for nothing. And here he was, with his family thinking he’d run away, a pawn in someone else’s game. But worst of all: His grandpa would not be helped. He would die.

  James tried hard to hold the tears in as he watched the streetlights pass by, one after another. The streets of downtown Minneapolis were empty this late at night. He felt empty too—empty of hope, empty of energy.

  He felt a tap on his shoulder. Ana had written more. He’s not planning to let any of us “win.” His plan is to get what he needs from us and then kill us.

  Now James turned completely toward Ana, his eyes wide. He wrote: You can’t be serious.

  Ana’s hands flew over the screen. All along, he’s just been using us. Once he doesn’t need us to do his dirty work anymore, he’ll want to cover his tracks. In case we try to tell someone what we know.

  James couldn’t wrap his head around this. No prize money. No life-saving treatment for his grandpa. And now this: death. The brush with the security guard at SolarStar was still trembling through him. That had been a close call. He wasn’t ready for a closer one.

  Maiv, the girl in the front passenger’s seat, gestured at Colin, the tall white guy who was driving the van. Colin slowed down and pulled over.

  James had met Ana a few days earlier—sort of—and a few minutes ago she had told him Colin and Maiv’s names when he’d typed out Who are these people? Tonight wasn’t the night for formal introductions.

  Up until now, James had thought these people were his enemies. Or at least people to beat—enemies was too strong a word. Still, all of a sudden, he realized they might be his only chance to get out of this mess.

  Colin shut off the engine. The sudden quiet freaked James out even more. He and the other three got out fast. They stood in a circle on the sidewalk.

  Maiv started. “They’re going to try to kill us tonight. That’s their only move now. And if we call the police, we’ll just get arrested. No one will believe the Contest is real. So we have to make a choice. Do we try to get away somehow? Or do we go and meet them now, on our own terms?”

  “What do you mean by on our own terms?” James asked. That option didn’t sound very safe.

  Maiv raised her chin so she could look him in the eye. James could practically feel her resolve. “I mean we take them down.”

  “How?” Colin pressed. The guy was clearly on edge—not as confident as Maiv.

  “Well, I have an idea,” Maiv said. “Look, the Benefactor is dangerous. We know that. You don’t mastermind something as complicated as this unless you have some real evil in your heart, some need for control. But I think we can take advantage of that. If you guys will trust me, I think we can find a way to prove that he’s behind this—and stop him from hurting anyone else. What do you say?”

  James looked from Ana to Colin and finally back to Maiv. She seemed super on top of everything, really determined. His grandpa used to say about his wife, James’s grandma, “I’d follow that woman through a wall of fire if she thought it was a good idea. She was that smart.”

  James thought he knew what his grandpa had meant.

  Ana broke the silence. “I don’t know you at all. I don’t know what you have in mind. But no way am I letting this Benefactor get the best of me. No way.”

  Colin nodded. “Same with me.”

  James took a deep breath. “After the night I’ve had—the week I’ve had—yeah, I’m open to anything.”

  “Good,” said Maiv. “Then let’s take this guy down. First step, go to the river and see who’s waiting for us.”

  “I thought you said you already know who the Benefactor is,” Ana said, her eyebrows furrowed. “Why would we walk straight into their trap?”

  “I don’t think the Benefactor will go to the river in person,” Maiv explained, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I don’t think he plans to kill us himself. Just like I don’t think he’s been sneaking around our houses and schools planting bugs himself. He’s got someone working for him—maybe a bunch of people.”

  James groaned out loud. “Great. This just gets more and more complicated.”

  Maiv shot him a sympathetic look. “Well, not really. Our choice is still simple. Try to run, knowing the Benefactor and his spies will probably catch us—or go to the river and try to get some answers from whoever is there.”

  Colin looked doubtful. “Try to get some answers from the person who’s waiting to kill us?”

  “Yes,” said Maiv. And then she pulled out a gun.

  CHAPTER 2


  MAIV

  “I took this out of the trash,” Maiv told James and Ana, who were gaping at her. “Thought it might come in handy. They don’t have to know it’s empty.”

  “So that’s the gun I left under the bench for James,” said Ana. “The one he was supposed to bring into SolarStar.”

  “Yeah,” said Colin. “Maiv realized James had thrown it away. She went back for it while you two were in the building.”

  James let out his breath in a whoosh. “Man, for a second I thought you were about to kill us,” he said to Maiv.

  Maiv smiled. “Nope, I’m on your side.”

  Colin said, “I hate to even use an empty gun.”

  “But considering who we’re dealing with, it may not hurt to have it,” Ana said, her eyebrow raised.

  “Right,” said Maiv. “So we’re agreed?”

  The others nodded.

  “Let’s get going.”

  ***

  The van turned onto a narrow road that snaked right by the river. It was overrun with trees and smattered with little parks here and there.

  In the darkness, the van’s headlights lit up the water on one side and the woods on the other but not much else. “I think that’s the park up ahead,” said Colin, nodding toward a clearing in the trees. A small parking area lay just off the road, with one car waiting there.

  Maiv motioned for Colin to keep driving. Then, about fifty yards farther down the road, she gestured for him to pull over. He parked along the side of the road, and they all got out.

  Maiv whispered, “OK. Here’s what I think we should do. Three of us will go meet whoever it is. “James, you’ve got the folder with the schematics? Good. We’re supposed to be giving them those. We’ll say the fourth person decided not to come. We’ll keep them distracted while the fourth person sneaks around and then surprises them. Is everyone cool with that?”

  “I assume the fourth person will be the one with the gun?” said Colin.

  Maiv shrugged. “Seems like that would make the most sense.”

  “I’ll do it,” Ana said.

  “You sure?” said James. “I could do it. I owe you, for helping me out back at SolarStar.”

  “It’s fine, I want to do it,” Ana insisted.

  Maiv nodded. “Good. I think that’ll be more of a surprise. Remember, we don’t want to hurt this person—just get information. And make sure they don’t hurt us.”

  “Yeah, no sweat,” said Colin dryly.

  ***

  Walking through the dead leaves on the side of the road, Maiv felt like an elephant trampling over bubble wrap. She hoped the group wasn’t making as much noise as she thought they were. She didn’t let herself look back to see where Ana was.

  “Don’t let me pass out,” she heard James whisper to Colin.

  “Don’t let you pass out?” Colin whispered back. “No guarantees, man. That’s kind of up to you.”

  “Yeah, but like, catch me if I do?” He laughed a little.

  Maiv heard Colin laugh back. She was glad for the little bit of fun they could eke out of this horrible situation. He said to James, “I’ll do my best. Now you have to promise to do the same for me too.”

  By now they had reached the parking lot. The butterflies in Maiv’s stomach multiplied. This was it. Maiv watched as a door in the car opened and a man stepped out. Out of the corner of her eyes, Maiv saw James shift the file folder from hand to hand.

  A short, compact man stepped away from the car. Maiv couldn’t see him very well, but she could tell he was wearing jeans, some pretty hip shoes for an old guy, and a black jacket that clung to him. Maiv hoped that meant there was no weapon hidden underneath.

  “Stop right there,” the guy said.

  The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder, facing him.

  “There are supposed to be four of you.”

  Maiv cleared her throat and said, “The other girl decided not to come. She was too freaked out.”

  “Did you bring the file?” the guy asked.

  James held up the file. Maiv noticed that his arm shook.

  The guy breathed out a long sigh. “Thank God. I hope that means this is over.”

  His voice was starting to sound familiar . . . In fact, not just his voice, but the way he stood . . . Maiv squinted at him, trying to see his face in the darkness.

  “So who won?” Colin asked. “One of us is supposed to get a check, right? So who is it?”

  The guy shook his head. “I . . . I can’t answer that.”

  “Aren’t you part of the Contest?” Colin went on. “Don’t you know who gets the $10 million?”

  “I’m really—not supposed to say anything.”

  Suddenly James blurted out, “I know you.”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “You’re Paul,” said James. “You have a wife and two kids, and you live in a nice house in St. Paul.”

  It clicked for Maiv too. The phone call, the person who had followed her. “Paul Grayson,” she added. “You used to work for EarthWatch.”

  “Shut up!” With that, Paul whipped out a gun and pointed it shakily at the three of them. “Don’t come any closer, and don’t say anything else.”

  Maiv wondered where Ana was.

  “You’re not working for the Benefactor.” James sounded amazingly calm, though Maiv could tell his eyes were locked on the gun. “I followed you around the other day, and left you a threatening message. Remember that? I didn’t do it for fun, and I know it wasn’t fun for you either.”

  Maiv admired James for doing that. Great idea—letting Paul know they were all on the same side. She jumped in. “The Benefactor’s blackmailing you, isn’t he?”

  Paul’s voice was shaky but he held the gun steady. “I’ve never heard of anyone called the Benefactor.”

  “But someone’s blackmailing you,” Maiv said, taking a step closer.

  Paul shook his head. Not as if he was denying it. More like he was refusing to hear the question. “It’s almost over. We’ll all be done with this soon. So just—stop—asking—questions.”

  That’s when Ana came out from behind the car and stuck the gun in his back. Maiv heard her say, “Drop it.”

  Paul immediately set the gun on the ground.

  Ana said, “Kick it away from yourself but to the right.” Smart, thought Maiv. Kicking a loaded gun might discharge it. Ana was making sure they wouldn’t be in the path of a bullet.

  Paul put his hands up and kicked the gun. It skidded across the cement, landing about five feet to the left of Colin. Colin moved to stand over it but didn’t pick it up.

  Ana kept the empty gun leveled at Paul. “I’m afraid we’re not done asking questions.”

  The guy seemed to deflate. “Listen. I don’t know anything. I don’t know who they are, or how they know so much about me. But they threatened my family. I can’t back out of this. And I can’t help you. Someone’s on the way to meet us right now, and then it’ll all be over.”

  “Oh man,” said Colin. “This guy isn’t here to kill us, is he? The main act hasn’t shown up yet.”

  “Apparently not.” Maiv sized Paul up. Other than pulling a gun on them—which, to be fair, they’d also done to him—he mostly just seemed scared and confused, like them. “I think he’s here for the same reason we are. Because the Benefactor told him to show up. And yeah, I think someone is on the way to kill all five of us.”

  Paul gaped at them. “Did you say kill us?”

  Ana sighed and lowered the gun. “Yeah. Whoever you’re working for doesn’t want any loose ends. Looks like you’re another loose end, Paul, so we may be in the same boat. Want to tell us how that happened?”

  “I told you, I don’t know anything! I got contacted out of the blue by someone who knew—stuff about me. I’m not getting into it, just—stuff that could ruin my life, if people found out. And then the threats, and—I just went along with everything, I had no choice.”

  “And what exactly was everything?” Maiv
pressed. “What did he ask you to do?”

  “He wanted information about EarthWatch. About who worked there, how things were set up. And he had me follow people—some of you. And make strange phone calls and leave notes for people.” He took a deep breath. “And then he told me to bring this gun to this spot at this time, and said that would be the last thing I needed to do for him.”

  “Uh-huh,” said Ana flatly. “And it didn’t seem like a bad idea to you.”

  “I didn’t have another option!”

  That’s when Maiv saw the headlights. “Here’s another option,” she said. “Let’s get out of here before the real assassin shows up and we all die.”

  Before anyone could react, Paul lunged toward his car. Ana yelled, “Hey!” and Maiv shouted “Wait!” but he slammed and locked the door behind him and peeled out of the parking lot without a backward glance.

  Colin swore loudly. “Way to leave us stranded, man!” he shouted after the car.

  “Now what?” said James. The headlights were getting steadily closer.

  Maiv braced herself. “Run.”

  CHAPTER 3

  COLIN

  The four of them sprinted back toward the van.

  Colin heard squealing tires and saw the headlights beaming from behind, lighting up the road ahead of him. Paul had gotten away clean and left them to fend for themselves. And now the Benefactor, or the Benefactor’s goon, was closing in on them.

  “Where do we go?” he shouted to Maiv.

  “Back south toward downtown,” Maiv gasped back.

  James was up ahead, practically dragging Ana along beside him. “Get in get in get in!” he shouted over his shoulder to Colin and Maiv.

  Two seconds later Colin was in the driver’s seat, veering onto the road. A car was right behind them. Colin half-expected it to ram straight into the back of the van.

  But he floored the gas and managed to stay just ahead of the other vehicle.

  Colin had no idea how to lose a tail. Plus the van probably had a tracker. So it was going to take some fancy moves to get everyone out of this.

  Downtown. Where the streets were complicated and lots of cops hung out. The driver behind them wouldn’t try to shoot them there. And maybe they could lose him.