“Of course,” I said. “You gave me a candy bar and a diary. Angelo, that was over ten years ago. Why—?”
“And what were you dressed as?”
“A ghost. I wanted to take off my costume, but they said I had to keep it on until we got to your apartment.”
“Yes. Because that was the night you were almost kidnapped.”
I stared at Angelo, my mouth open. “What are you talking about?”
“Word had gotten out about how talented you were with locks, that you were a prodigy. A new member of the Collective was so excited by this that he couldn’t keep it to himself, and, well, I suppose he thought that he could use your gifts for his own nefarious purposes.”
“And by ‘nefarious’ you mean …?”
Angelo shrugged. “In this business, there is always danger. And there is always money to be made. He could have trained you himself, had you open bank vaults for the wrong people, crack safes that were never meant to be opened.” His voice trailed off, and I knew Angelo was thinking about even worse fates for me.
“Do you know who it was?” I asked.
“He was a new recruit,” Angelo explained. His eyes were fixed on the Angel statue, not even looking at me. “Oscar Young. He had only been with us a few months before the kidnapping attempt. His plan was to grab you on the east side of Gramercy Park.”
“Well, what happened to him?” I peeked over my shoulder, suddenly very aware of my surroundings, but Angelo just patted my hand.
“Not to worry, my love, he died. His body washed up in South America a few months later.” But Angelo’s mouth was tight, and the crease between his eyes was deeper than ever.
I swallowed hard. “Um, Angelo? Did you—?”
“Oh, no, no, darling. I didn’t kill him. I would have, but somebody beat me to it.” He glanced down at me and gave me a small smile. “Unfortunately.”
“So then what? Did my parents get a ton of extra security? Did you put a microchip in me?” I felt the back of my neck. “You microchipped me, didn’t you.”
Angelo’s smile widened. “Of course not. And yes, security increased for all of us for a few months. Colton was … poor Colton, he was beside himself. He was the one who had brought Oscar Young into the Collective, had sworn that Oscar was one of the best in the business. Colton was absolutely gutted when he found out about the kidnapping attempt.”
I tried to imagine Colton Hooper being anything except smooth and unruffled. I couldn’t do it.
“He apologized and swore to your parents that he would always look out for your personal safety. He effectively assigned himself to your family. I still remember his words exactly. He said, ‘I suppose Oscar Young was no knight in shining armor.’” Angelo shook his head. “An understatement if ever I heard one.”
My head felt too small to hold all this new information. “So Oscar Young is dead?” I asked.
Angelo’s face became gentle. “Oh, love, I’ve scared you, haven’t I.”
“No, I’m not scared,” I told him, and I wasn’t. “I’m angry, though. I want to dropkick Oscar Young off a tall building and then give Colton a hug.”
Angelo laughed. “Well, your first wish is nearly as impossible as your second,” he told me. “How does your generation say? Colton Hooper does not do hugs.”
“So you’ve met him?”
“A few times, yes. Right after the kidnapping attempt. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look of devastation on his face.”
Something in me burned bright when Angelo said that. I had an entire network of people supporting me, protecting me, looking out for me. Including, I realized with a guilty jolt, my parents.
“I bet my parents freaked out.”
“Yes, they did. In fact, you were the only one who remained unruffled. You were just excited to dress up as a ghost.” Angelo looked down at me. “I suspect that this incident is the reason your parents were a bit upset when you didn’t come home last night. Especially since this happened in New York.”
“Yeah, you think?” I said. “If they had just told me, though! I mean, it was ten years ago. I can handle that news.”
“I can also tell you that your parents were not thrilled about accepting the assignment here,” Angelo continued. “They didn’t want to put you in such a central role.” He paused before adding, “I think they have been surprised to discover that you’ve grown up before their eyes.”
I thought about the night before, about the party and dragging Roux to her bedroom and kissing Jesse on the cold stoop, about all the ways I had grown up that my parents hadn’t even begun to realize. “Well, I did,” I said. “I grew up. That’s usually what happens to kids.”
“So they say.” Angelo grinned down at me. “I’m telling you this not to frighten you, of course. I just think you should know the truth about how valuable your talents are, as well as how strongly we all want to protect you.”
“But they can’t protect me from everything. Even if I were just an average kid, they couldn’t.”
“No, they cannot, that’s true. Nor can I. You have to have the good judgment to protect yourself.”
I wondered if this was starting to steer toward the safesex speech, so I quickly steered it far, far away. “Maybe I could just dress up as a ghost again.”