Free The Trust by Tom Dolby Page A

spoke slowly. “They must know more about my family than I usually tell people. My mom has been sober for ten years, but she used to have a drinking problem. They must have known that this would really bother me.”
    Lauren gave his arm a supportive squeeze. “Hey—it would have bothered anyone.”
    “What kind of sick stuff is this?” Phoebe said. “I can’t believe this—they’re not only messing with us physically, it’s like they’re trying to get to us psychologically. How do we know what’s next? If they could manage to screw up our lives this much in the last forty-eight hours, who knows what they could do?”
    “We need to lay off,” Lauren said. “I mean, this is my sister we’re talking about. She’s a freshman at boarding school. It would be so easy for them to get to her. We need to go to the meetings. We need to do what they say.”
    “I have a plan,” Nick said. “And it won’t put us in danger. I just need to work it out a little more before we get going on it.”
    “What kind of plan?” Patch asked warily.
    “I need you guys to hang tight for a couple of days. Can I fill you in on the weekend?”
    Everyone nodded.
    “In the meantime, maybe we all need to pretend to be model citizens, at least for a little while,” Thad said. “We need to get to know the other members.”
    “I just don’t know if I can bear it,” Phoebe said. “They’re all like zombies. Claire Chilton going on about how the Upper East Side isn’t like it used to be. Who the hell cares?”
    Lauren jumped in. “Speaking of Claire—I had an odd confrontation with her on Tuesday. Phoebe, I told you about this, right?”
    Phoebe nodded.
    “I ran into her at the Ralph Lauren store. She said that everyone had noticed that three of us were missing from the meeting, and then she started going on about how the Society was all about cultural advancement and how there was going to be a benefit for the museum. About how the Society was all about making the world a better place.”
    “Oh, if only that were true,” Nick said sarcastically. “She’s totally bought into the whole thing. Her parents are both members. You know how seriously they take it.”
    “There’s something else: they’ve given us a name. The five us are ‘the Infidels.’ That’s what the older members are calling us. I looked it up; it’s like when you don’t believe in a religion that everyone else believes in.”
    “Well, that would be us,” Phoebe said.
    Nick gave a half smile. “Maybe we should print T-shirts.”
    “Yeah, right,” Patch said. “Talk about wearing a bull’s-eye on your back.”
    “So let them call us that,” Thad said. “Let them think the group is about cultural advancement. We still need to fly under the radar. Don’t let them think we have anything planned.”
    “Because the truth is, we don’t,” Patch said.
    “That’s not entirely true,” Nick said. “I think I can figure something out. I just need some more time.”
    “What should I tell my sister?” Lauren asked.
    “Tell her that she’ll be fine. Tell her it doesn’t mean anything,” Nick said.
    “How can you be so sure?” Phoebe asked. “I mean, we all thought that skipping a meeting wasn’t a big deal, and look what happened.”
    “They’ve made their point,” Nick said. “From now on, we don’t miss any more meetings. Give me a few days—in fact, clear your Saturday, if you can. I’ll keep you posted.”
    “You’re sure you can come up with something?” Patch asked.
    Nick nodded. Nothing more had to be said. Patch trusted his friend, and the rest of them did as well.
    After everyone left, though, Patch kept wondering about the Society, about its methods, and how they had gotten to Lauren by threatening her sister.
    All he had in his family were Genie and his mother. And he wondered which one of them could be next.

Chapter Seventeen
    O n Friday morning at school, the junior class had a meeting with Chadwick’s director of