Midnight Reynolds and the Phantom Circus by Holt Catherine;

Author:Holt, Catherine;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2019-12-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Logan’s right,” Peter Gallagher said on the phone the following morning as Midnight climbed off the bus and walked toward Cookies and Cakes. She’d been waiting all evening for him to call her back, but he’d been dealing with a crisis. “About the mind control.”

“Oh.” Midnight stopped, causing someone behind her to mutter. An elderly man scowled as he walked around her. She mumbled an apology and sat down at the bus stop so she could pull out the spreadsheet she’d been working on. She quickly wrote the new clue into one of the cells along with a question mark. “What does that mean for us?”

“It means that whoever you’re looking for is strong,” Peter said. “Very strong. Using planodiume to wipe away people’s memories and control what they say is highly dangerous, and…”

“And?” Midnight asked, all too familiar with how her boss worked. If he was pausing or lost for words, it could only mean one thing. The worst was yet to come.

“It also makes them unstable. Remember Dylan and Miss Appleby? The more planodiume they’re exposed to, the more erratic they become.”

“Which technically makes it easier for us to find them,” Midnight said lightly, but Peter’s voice remained grim.

“This is no joking matter. If they suspect you’re after them, there’s no saying what they might do. And if they succeed in bringing Eduardo De Rossi back to life, it’s only the start. Who else might they bring back?”

Midnight gulped and looked at her spreadsheet. At the empty cells where evidence was meant to go. So far they had nothing, yet the stakes kept getting higher. If Peter was right, the villain could bring anyone back to life. And she doubted they would be playing for Team Good.

“What do you suggest?” she said, her throat tight.

“For a start, you can’t trust what the circus folk tell you, because there is no way of knowing if they’re being controlled. And don’t go anywhere on your own. Make sure your friends know where you are at all times.”

“Copy that,” Midnight agreed, pushing down the memory of going into the purple tent on her own. Even going into Zelda’s tent yesterday had left her drained and anxious. “At least the cleaning job lets us search without raising suspicions.”

“It’s an excellent cover,” Peter Gallagher said as an alarm went off on his end of the line. He muttered something under his breath and then sighed. “Sorry, I have to take this. But I can’t stress enough. The sooner you stop this person, the better.”

“We will.” She finished the call and stared at her spreadsheet. If they couldn’t trust anything the people at the circus had told them, half their evidence wasn’t valid. All they had now were the readings of the people who’d had time stolen from them, and what she’d seen and heard when Joseph and Zelda had been attacked. A golden light and a strange hissing noise that might or might not be a snake.

It wasn’t a lot to go on.

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