The taxi pulled to a stop at the airport. I handed him his fee as the four of us quickly climbed out of the back of the taxi. We made our way through inside the airport and headed directly for our lockers. My eyes continuously moved back and forth as if any minute now, I expected to be tackled down by airport security. As it were, we made it safely to our lockers. We opened our lockers and retrieved our bags and then headed to the nearby restrooms. The women’s restroom was crowded with people, so we had to take turns entering the same stall. Once we were dressed back in our regular clothes, we decided to stop by the food section as Yuri and Kerry went to get us some drinks.
“Autumn, are we going to talk about what happened.” Taylor said whispering over at me.
“About what?”
“Yuri killed Mark. She put her hands on him and the next second he’s flipping around like a fish out of water.”
I swallowed tightly as I stared over at Yuri in the line with Kerry. She’d been quiet since we left the museum and I knew she was still having a hard time dealing with what she did. “I’m not going to lie and say that she’s the same. I don’t think any of us are. But until we know the extinct of what happened, let’s not treat her like a pariah.”
“I know that.” Taylor said sighing. “It’s just that after seeing what she did. I’m scared not only for her, but for me as well. What if I end up being able to do the same thing?
I said nothing to this. I couldn’t. I felt the same way too. Yuri and Kerry headed over to us with two extra frozen coffees. I took my coffee and headed towards the gateway that would take us back to California. I needed some time to myself, so I stood off from the girls and sipped on my coffee. But as I turned around, I saw Kerry and Taylor standing together while Yuri sat alone. Shooting them a look, I made my way over to her and sat down beside her.
“Are you okay?”
Yuri turned to me and gave me a weak smile. “I’m fine.” She turned to stare over at Kerry and Taylor who were slowly inching towards her. “They’re afraid of me.”
“That’s because you still smell like the sewer.”
Yuri eyes widened as she tried to secretly sniff herself. I stifled a grin. Glancing back up at me, she gave a roll of her eyes. “Ha, ha Autumn. I don’t smell. But thanks.” She said smiling over at me. “I know you’re just trying to make me feel better.”
I opened my mouth to say something to her when they announced our flight. Getting up from our seats, we tossed our drinks away and made our way to show our tickets, and board the plane. We headed to the first class cabin and found our seats. It was pretty full so we had to end up sitting on different rows. Yuri and I grabbed a seat together since I knew that the girls were still a bit too uncomfortable to be near her. I know they had to have a clue how bad they were hurting her feelings, but I knew that they also had a lot on their mind and being around her would only cause more trouble.
The plane took off from the airport and I finally felt myself relax. We had done it. We’d stolen the painting from the museum. I felt a sense of accomplishment even though I knew I didn’t have all the answers to the puzzle yet.
“You were right about Mark.” Yuri suddenly said.
“Huh?”
“I said you were right about Mark. He wasn’t trustworthy.”
“Yuri.” I said placing a hand on hers. “Don’t do this to yourself. You couldn’t have known about Mark any more than I could have.”
“But you seemed to sense that there wasn’t something right. I don’t know how I could have been so blind.”
“Yuri, Mark fooled all of us. He had a secret life just like we have. His just was something far more dangerous.”
“Do you believe him when he said he killed your father?”
“Yes.”
Mark hadn’t been lying about that. At first I hadn’t been so certain when he said it in such a smug tone, but as he lay there on the ground dying, I knew that he was telling the truth. He had no point to lie anymore since his life was about to be over. I also knew that he was telling the truth about not wanting to do it. Mark had a desperate look on his face when he spoke to me as if he was begging me to forgive him. Even though I had no problem giving him comfort during his last moments, I couldn’t give him the forgiveness he so desperately wanted. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but he was the only one I could blame at the moment.
“What did he whisper to you?”
“He told me the name of his Boss.”
“Really?” Yuri said sitting up. A flight attendant stopped by to ask us if we wanted any drinks but we declined. As soon as she left, Yuri turned back to me. “So what is his name?”
“Mark said they called him, The Invisible Spider.”
Yuri got quiet as we both got lost into our thoughts. I had no clue to who this Invisible Spider was or even how to find him. My only hope had died at the hands of Yuri and I was pretty sure she would soon realize this. Maybe when we got back to school, I could search Mark’s room. There had to be some sort of a hint hidden in there. Hopefully Yuri still had the key to his dorm room so I wouldn’t have to worry his roommate. But what if his roommate was a part of it? While it was true that Mark could hide any and everything from us, he couldn’t have hidden everything from his roommate. If he wasn’t his partner, then I’m sure he knew something. I would have to question him.
“Wait a minute Autumn.”
“What?”
“You said Mark said “they”. Does that mean there are more people involved besides his Boss?”
“I’m pretty sure that there are a lot more people. The fact that they seemed to have had the whole museum staff at their disposal seemed to make me think that they’re an organization of sorts.”
“Mark didn’t really seem to be in charge even though those guys followed him.”
“For some reason I feel that Mark was just a flunky. The guy on the plane and at the museum was way taller than Mark and more bulky.”
“So if they are flunkies, where is this Invisible Spider?” Yuri asked.
I thought back to the guy standing in the shadows of the plane and the one at the museum. Their shape was exactly the same. Could it be that he could have been on the plane as well? He had been hidden from view thanks to shadows, and at the museum you could hardly see him the crowd.
Turning my head, I stared out the window as sprays of water began to hit them. The Invisible Spider wasn’t hiding. He had been there, and he’d allowed me to see him. Feeling a chill, I tightened my arms around my body, as I allowed the plane to put me to sleep.