Buckingham hadn't said gone.
"She's got to be here," I said flatly, certain Tina had missed her. "My mom has to be back by now," I said, despite that fact that Professor Buckingham was moving to my mother's place behind the podium at the front of the room.
I was standing, desperate for a better look, when Buckingham asked, "Women of the Gallagher Academy, who comes here?" and every girl in the room stood there too.
The hall echoed. "We are the sisters of Gillian."
"Why do you come?"
"To learn her skills. Honor her sword. And keep her secrets," my classmates replied, but I didn't say the words. I was too busy staring at Professor Buckingham, who as standing proudly behind the Gallagher Academy crest as if that were her place - her job.
"Welcome back, ladies. I have a few announcements," she said with no more emotion than when we'd stood in the Hall of History and she'd told me my mother had been detained.
"Headmistress Morgan is not able to be with us tonight, so it's my duty to inform you that Joe Solomon will not be teaching our Covert Operations courses this semester."
She said it just like that - no excuses, no explanations - as a gasp went through the room.
"Fortunately, the Gallagher Academy has a long list of alumni and friends from which it can choose its faculty. Therefore, I am pleased to welcome an operative who has excelled on many continents, working in some of the most challenging circumstances that one can experience in the clandestine services."
I knew what she was going to say, of, course. A part of me had known it as soon as I had felt the hand on my arm and heard the voice - long before Liz asked her questions. When I turned, I saw those blue eyes staring back me. I heard Professor Buckingham say,
"Please join me in welcoming Agent Edward Townsend."
Watching the man from London make his way down the center aisle, a hundred thoughts rushed through my mind: Who is this guy, really? What does he want with us? Can a suitcase really do that much damage? But Liz was the one who asked what my roommates and I were all thinking.
"We don't like him, do we?"
"No," Bex answered for me as our new CoveOps teacher made his way to the front of the room. "I don't think we do."
He looked directly at me as he passed, but he didn't wink - didn't smile. (Of, course, technically, he probably just didn't want to turn his back on Macey.)
"This is probably a good thing, Cam." I could feel Liz staring at me. "The only way your mom and Mr. Solomon would miss the start of school is if they're really close to finding something big. They'll find it and then they'll be back."
"I bet Mr. Solomon is this close to catching the Circle." She looked at me. "Right?"
I know this is going to sound crazy, but when you're a spy, your life isn't defined by the lies you tell, but by the truths. A lie wouldn't change anything. I sat there, numb, knowing that the truth . . . the truth could set me free.
And that was how I found the strength to whisper, "Mr. Solomon is the Circle."
Chapter Eleven
In our room an hour later, Bex was the one who told the story. About the Tower and the Circle and the mad look in our teacher's eyes as he stood shaking on the bridge. It sounded like a dozen other crazy tales she'd brought back after break, but this one, I knew, was true.
"He was sixteen?" I watched Liz plug that number into some formula in her mind, then shake her head as if it didn't compute. "No, he couldn't have been bad. I mean he can't be.
He is . . . I mean, he was . . ."
"Our age," Macey finished for her.
One of the downsides of going to a school where they teach you that you're capable of anything is that eventually you start to believe it. But none of us had ever thought ourselves capable of that.
"How does someone our age end up working for Circle?" Macey asked in disbelief.
"Blackthorne," I said simply. "The Circle recruits at Blackthorn."
"Cammie, no," Liz started, already knowing where my thoughts had gone. "Zach can't be . . ."
"But he might be. These are the facts: We know Zach was in London. And D.C. And Boston. Zach knew the Circle wanted me before we even knew the Circle existed." I looked down at my hands. "And we knew Zach's always been close to Mr. Solomon.
They've both always known too much."
"Cam, no," Macey ordered. "Stop it. Even if Mr. Solomon is a double agent or whatever, that doesn't mean Zach is too."
"Bex's mom said that having someone at the Gallaher Academy - having someone close to me - would be a high priority." I laughed sadly. "And Zach got pretty close."
"Cam, that doesn't mean anything." Liz rushed toward me. "Maybe Mr. Solomon used to work for the Circle, but now -"
"He's the good guy?" I guessed.
"Yeah," Liz said.
"Good guys don't jump into rivers in the middle of winter to get away from other good guys," I answered. "Besides, I don't think the Circle really offers early retirement."
"Okay, so Joe Solomon's a traitor . . ." Macey said as simply as if she'd said "So Joe Solomon looks good in turtlenecks." "Do you really think he'd be stupid, too?" she stepped closer. "Think about it, Cammie. Why was Mr. Solomon there?"
"He said I had to follow the pigeons."