Natalie Diego and the Collegenappers

Chapter 5: Confusion and Conclusions

            Michael went outside after chapel, and was surprised to see Darren, Sylvia, and Cassie in handcuffs being escorted to a big van with metal screens in the windows. Darren’s head was bleeding and covered in dirt and scratches, Cassie was screaming something about being un-fundamental, and Sylvia seemed rather exhilarated though obviously not enjoying her predicament. The man from the government was holding a bloodstained handkerchief to his nose and Nadine was laughing with the burly agency man she was handcuffed to.

            “Did I miss something?” Mike asked to no one in particular. As he walked into the parking lot, Amanda came over to him.

            “What happened?”

            “I was just going to ask you if you knew.”

            They went over to the courtyard and Amanda told him about what happened in chapel and Nat getting arrested. “She went down in style, Mike. A true example of her ‘agency arts.’”

            Mike leaned back. “If she‘s out of the picture, how will we find the traitors? I don‘t think that she is part of the coup.”

            Amanda sighed. “I don‘t think she was either. In fact, she was right!” She leaned close and put her finger over her lips. “I know who they are. Nat was right when she said Chris was being trained. But he‘s not the only one! Get this, Christa is working with him! I followed him after he sneaked away from our group. He went and met with her and they’re definitely secret-agent-y.”

            Mike smiled. “Secret-agent-y?”

            Amanda glared at him. “You‘re missing the point.”

            He chuckled. “No, I understand. So Nat is completely innocent? That’s good to know.”

            She sighed. “What do we do with all our information? We aren‘t secret agents!”

            Mike looked out into the parking lot. “I think we should see if we can get it to Nat without Chris or Christa finding out.”

            As they began to get up from the table, Mike noticed a piece of gum stuck to the underside of the chair arm. “Really, people, is it that hard to walk the three steps to the trashcan?” As he pulled it off, he became quiet. “Hey Amanda?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Don’t say anything, just nod, okay? Did you tell me everything you knew?“ She nodded yes. Mike’s face fell.  He showed her the piece of gum. “Look, but don‘t say anything.”

            She looked to see a tiny device embedded in the gum, with a wire poking out. Alarmed, she mouthed, Microphone?

            He nodded. “We gotta get to Nat.”

            Nat was scared, but she never showed it. As they sat on the edge of the sidewalk in front of the girl’s dorms by the clock tower, she chatted casually with her guard, stalling and trying to get out of this situation with all she could think of.  She figured being friends with her captor would help lighten her sentencing, and it was almost always helpful to have a friend on the inside. Praying inwardly the entire time, she probed him for information. She found out that an anonymous Org agent had called in on an unregistered field phone and reported the coup of traitors at GCBC, and that she was not even one of their main suspects. She also learned that her mentor Ryan Colton, the Org’s director, was ill and had not been in charge of Org operations for almost a month.