Under Threat (7 page)
“I couldn’t risk not saying anything to the police,” I say. “Because if I didn’t…if
I just said nothing and if you were wrong about Jake…and if something happened to
my parents…then it’d be my fault.”
We stare at each other in silence for a long moment. I can’t see a way forward. Can’t
see a way out of this.
And there’s no going back.
Leah stands up. “I’m going up to the house,” she says.
It’s over, I think. She’ll never speak to me again. She hates me, and Jake hates
me, and their mother will hate me as soon as she hears about what I’ve done.
I’ll have to move Buddy to some other stable.
Then the door swings open behind me, and I scramble to my feet.
It’s Jake.
“I can’t believe you have the balls to show up here after what you did,” Jake says.
“Telling the cops lies about me. Telling them—”
“I didn’t lie,” I say.
“Right. That’s why they were here this afternoon, going through my room, asking questions
about where I’ve been.”
“All I said was that you called my parents baby killers,” I say. My voice is louder
than I mean it to be. “Which is
not
a lie!”
“No law against calling it like it is,” Jake says. His fists are clenched. “You’re
crazy. A crazy dyke.”
I flinch. For a moment, I wonder if he might hit me.
“Jake,” Leah says. “Don’t…don’t use that word. Not like that.”
“Stay away from us,” he says. “Stay away from my sister.”
I look at Leah. Her face is white, her eyes wide and shining with tears. “I’m sorry,”
I tell her. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“Just go,” she says. “Please. Just go.”
I’ve lost her. Leah’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and it’s over. It’s
my fault, and there’s absolutely
nothing I can do. I feel empty. Hollow. Every part
of me aches.
I turn to leave.
And my phone rings. I hesitate, but I can’t ignore it. Because the first thing that
comes to mind is my parents. I take a few steps away from Jake and Leah and answer
the call. “Hello?”
“Franny? It’s Rich Bowerbank.”
My heart thuds painfully in my chest. “What is it? Is something…has something…my
parents?”
“Your parents are fine,” he says quickly. “But there’s been an incident.”
“An incident? At the hospital?” I glance at Jake and Leah. They’re both staring at
me. Jake still looks angry, his fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tight. Leah’s
mouth is open, her fingers pressed against it. “What happened?”
“Everyone is fine,” he says again. “A man came into the clinic. He pulled a knife
and—”
My knees turn to jelly, and I sit down abruptly on a bale of hay. “A knife?”
“Oh my god,” Leah says. “What’s happened?”
I ignore her. Turn away slightly, pressing the phone to my ear.
“He was disarmed very quickly by security,” Detective Bowerbank says. “We have him
in custody. We’re still investigating, but it looks like he’s responsible for all
of the threats. The phone calls, the letters…”
I start sobbing. Relief, I guess. I feel like an idiot, but I can’t help it.
Leah is at my side, her face wet with tears. “Franny? Franny, your parents? Are they…has
something—”
“They’re okay,” I say. I can hardly breathe.
“What happened?”
I end the call and stick the phone back in my pocket. “Someone showed
up at the clinic,”
I say. My voice sounds strange. “With a knife.”
“Holy crap,” Jake says. He sounds kind of stunned.
I whirl on him. “You thought I was making this up or something? Making a fuss about
nothing?”
“Not exactly,” he says. “But—”
“Doctors get
killed
,” I say. “For taking care of patients. For doing a procedure
that, regardless of what
you
think about it, is legal and safe.” I glare at him.
“At least, safe for the patient.”
He sticks his hands in his pockets. “Well, at least now you know it wasn’t me.”
He’s right. Which means I ruined my relationship with Leah for nothing. Because I’m
an idiot.
I turn and walk away. I’m half-hoping Leah will stop me—come running after me—but
she doesn’t.
She just stands there beside Jake and watches me leave.
My parents are both in the kitchen when I get home. Mom’s grating cheese; Dad’s stretching
out a lump of dough.
“Hello there, Franster,” Dad says. “You’re home early. Buddy okay?”
“Fine.” I burst into tears.
They both stare at me. “What is it?” Mom asks, sounding alarmed. “Rich said he spoke
to you. They arrested the guy, Fran. It’s all over.”
I shake my head. Dad leaves his pizza dough on the baking tray and puts his arms
around me. “Come here, Franny-bear. It’s okay.”
I’m crying in great heaving sobs. “Sorry,” I say. “Sorry.”
He just holds me, my face against his chest.
I sniff, pull back and wipe my nose on my sleeve. “I’m probably getting snot all
over your sweater.”
“No worries,” he says. “I’ve got pizza dough all over yours.”
I laugh through my tears.
“Franny?” Mom says. “Did something happen? Or…”
“Me and Leah,” I say. “I think maybe we just broke up.”
After I explain everything that happened—the things Jake said, how I snooped around
his room, what I told Detective Bowerbank—Mom looks as if she might start crying
herself.
“You poor kid,” she says. “Your dad and I—well, you know why we do what we do. Why
it’s important. But we didn’t want all this to affect you.”
“Seriously?” I roll my eyes. “How could it not, Mom?”
“I know, I know. But…” She shakes her head. “I wish you’d talked to us.”
“You had enough to worry about.”
Dad has returned to his pizza, stretching the dough, spreading pesto sauce on it
and slicing mushrooms as we talk. “So are you going to apologize to him?”
I stare at him. “To Jake? You’ve got to be kidding.”
He shrugs. “Well, you did suspect him of doing some terrible things.”
“Because he
said
some terrible things,” I say. “He’s the one who should apologize.”
Dad just sighs and shakes his head.
I’m undressed and crawling into bed when my phone rings.
Leah.
“Hello?” I say.
“Hi. Uh, it’s Jake.
I sit up, my heart instantly racing. “Jake?”
“Don’t hang up.”
“I wasn’t going to,” I say. “What is it?”
“Look. Uh, I just wanted to say sorry that I flipped out about you telling the cops
about me.”
I don’t say anything for a few seconds. When I told Dad I thought Jake should apologize,
I never in a million years thought he actually would.
“I get why you did it,” he says. “If I thought my mom was in danger, I’d probably
have done the same thing.”
“Yeah.” I pull the covers up around my bare shoulders, shivering in the cold air.
“I knew I was probably being crazy and paranoid, but—”
“You couldn’t risk not saying anything,” he says. “In case you were right.”
“Exactly.”
“Anyway,” he says, “that’s all I wanted to say.”
I think of what my dad said. “Um. I’m sorry too. That I suspected you of doing that
stuff.”
He clears his throat. “I think it’s wrong. Abortion, I mean. But that guy showing
up with a knife…that’s really twisted. Like, that’s way more wrong. It kind of freaked
me out, actually. That someone would do that.”
I can’t make sense of Jake. I can’t figure out how the nice guy fits together with
the guy who called my parents murderers. The guy who called me a crazy dyke. “Did
you tell Leah?” I say. “That you understand why I told the police?”
“Nah.”
“I know you don’t like us being together,” I say. “But…would you tell her? Please?”
“I haven’t told her because she won’t speak to me.” There’s a pause. “She’s been
in her room crying her eyes out all night.”
“I never meant to hurt her.”
“Yeah, well. Me neither.”
“It’s not the same,” I say. “She’ll always be your sister. But I’ve wrecked the best
relationship I’ve ever had.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Seriously? You think she might still…”
“Leah is the most loyal person I’ve ever known. That’s why she defended me.” Jake
sighs into the phone. “And that, unfortunately, probably means she’s not done with
you.”
I don’t hear from Leah that night.
Or the next day. I pick up my phone every hour or so, think about sending her a text,
then put it back in my pocket.
I’m not sure if I’m just giving her space or if I’m scared to find out how she feels.
Uncertainty sucks—but maybe it’s better than knowing for sure that it’s over between
us.
After school I drive down to the Gibsons’. Buddy still needs me, even if Leah doesn’t.
I park my car, looking at the long line of trees that overhang the driveway and,
behind them, the horses in the field. Buddy’s out there, grazing beside Snow, his
blue blanket muddy from rolling on the rain-sodden ground.
I’ll have to move him somewhere else, I guess. Another stable.
Then the barn door opens and Leah steps out.
“You’re home already?” Then I notice she’s wearing jeans and a hoodie, not her uniform.
“I skipped school today,” she says. “I needed to think.”
I take a deep breath.
Wait.
Hope…
“I needed to think about us,” she says.
“Us?” I say. “You and me?”
Leah steps toward me. Holds out her hands. Smiles in that way that lifts the corners
of her lips and leaves deep dimples in her cheeks. “Yes,” she says. “You and me.”
Thanks as always to my wonderful and endlessly supportive family. Thanks also to
Alex Van Tol for coming up with the title, and to the fabulous team at Orca Book
Publishers.
Robin Stevenson is the award-winning author of numerous books for kids and teens.
Under Threat
is her fifth book in the Orca Soundings series, following
Big Guy, In
the Woods, Outback
and
Damage
. Her other novels for teens include
The World Without
Us, Hummingbird Heart, Escape Velocity, Inferno
, and the Governor Generals Literary
Award finalist
A Thousand Shades of Blue
. Robin lives in Victoria, BC.
Titles in the Series
o
rca s
o
undings
B Negative
Vicki Grant
Back
Norah McClintock
Bang
Norah McClintock
Battle of the Bands
K.L. Denman
Big Guy
Robin Stevenson
Bike Thief
Rita Feutl
Blue Moon
Marilyn Halvorson
Breaking Point
Lesley Choyce
Breathing Fire
Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang
Breathless
Pam Withers
Bull Rider
Marilyn Halvorson
Bull’s Eye
Sarah N. Harvey
Cellular
Ellen Schwartz
Charmed
Carrie Mac
Chill
Colin Frizzell
Comeback
Vicki Grant
Coming Clean
Jeff Ross
Crash
Lesley Choyce
Crush
Carrie Mac
Cuts Like a Knife
Darlene Ryan
Damage
Robin Stevenson
The Darwin Expedition
Diane Tullson
Dead-End Job
Vicki Grant
Deadly
Sarah N. Harvey
Dead Run
Sean Rodman
Death Wind
William Bell
Down
Norah McClintock
Exit Point
Laura Langston
Exposure
Patricia Murdoch
Fallout
Nikki Tate
Fastback Beach
Shirlee Smith Matheson
Final Crossing
Sean Rodman
First Time
Meg Tilly
Foolproof
Diane Tullson
Grind
Eric Walters
Hannah’s Touch
Laura Langston
The Hemingway Tradition
Kristin Butcher
Hit Squad
James Heneghan
Homecoming
Diane Dakers
Home Invasion
Monique Polak
House Party
Eric Walters
I.D.
Vicki Grant
Impact
James C. Dekker
In the Woods
Robin Stevenson
Infiltration
Sean Rodman
Jacked
Carrie Mac
Juice
Eric Walters
Kicked Out
Beth Goobie
Knifepoint
Alex Van Tol
Last Ride
Laura Langston
Learning to Fly
Paul Yee
Lockdown
Diane Tullson
Masked
Norah McClintock
Middle Row
Sylvia Olsen
My Side
Norah McClintock
My Time as Caz Hazard
Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Night Terrors
Sean Rodman
No More Pranks
Monique Polak
No Problem
Dayle Campbell Gaetz
Off the Grid
Lesley Choyce
One More Step
Sheree Fitch
One Way
Norah McClintock
Outback
Robin Stevenson
Overdrive