How About Seven? ✔

32. Dark Harbor

Brandy Simmons was a member of Black and Tan.

But that was impossible. She was supposed to be the mean girl, the ditzy blonde, the one whose head was constantly filled with nothing but boys and fashion and all the latest, useless trends.

How could she be a member of a family of cyberhacking, technology pioneering geniuses? It didn't make sense. It was impossible.

Yet here was the proof, right in front of my eyes.

Like peek-a-boo.

With that thought came another, doubt dogging shock like a shadow of a mysterious man under lamplight. Did she resented me because she was catty, and I was taking away her man?

Or did she resented me because she knew exactly who I am?

Hell's bells.

My eyes narrowed. Even as my heart thumped fast, the cogs in my brain whirred and clinked as I crouched on the gym floor, fingers tangled in my shoelaces and thoughts tangled in a rut, as I made up the decision to find out exactly who the hell this blonde girl was, and fast.

|*|

I rang the doorbell with my heart in my mouth. A housekeeper opened the door, letting me in and telling me that Kaylan would come down shortly. I nodded, and as I waited I looked around.

The Hoods' house was luxurious, as to be expected. The shelves were beautifully decorated with ornaments and trinkets, souvenirs from overseas holidays and business trips. Or perhaps gifts from Black and Tan for a case well done?

In the sitting room there was a large family portrait, gilted in a frame of gold. It had been taken a few years back, when Kaylan was in his early teens, and Mr and Mrs Hood were much younger.

In the photo, he looked different. His smile was bright, youthful and free, he wasn't as thin; even Mr and Mrs Hood seemed happier. I glanced up the staircase. What had happened which had made him become the bad boy I now knew?

As I waited on the couch, the sound of a violin stopping and starting made me jerk my head in surprise. It drifted down from upstairs, faint and melancholy. Quietly, I began climbing the stairs.

"No no no, it's mezzo forte here, dear, you have to be careful of that. This is the fourth time we're going through this already."

From my vantage point on the top of the stairs, I could see right into an open room. Kaylan was standing in front of a score stand, violin under his chin. Mrs Hood was sitting in a chair, watching him with a patient look on his face.

"Again, Kay."

Obediently, Kay lifted his bow. My eyebrows nearly flew off my face in surprise. This look of his was so jarring compared to the rebellious, broody one he wore in school. For one, he was actually listening and following instructions. The corner of my lips quirked.

Though I had no musical background, I could tell it was a challenging piece from the way Kaylan's cheek muscles kept twitching, and also from the way the song seemed to demand his fingers to run up and down the strings at top speed. Mr Hood's frown deepened with every passing note, until finally, she raised a hand and stopped him.

"Mezzo forte, Kay! Again, please."

Kaylan's arm dropped, holding the instrument by his side. I watched his left shoulder spasm and he winced. Ever since the day I went to his house for the "school survey", and we had that altercation in the alley, I'd noticed his left shoulder came off a little weak.