Sneak (Swipe Series)

Logan’s disappearance herself .
    “After all,” girls would whisper in the locker room behind her back, “the last anyone knows of Logan, he was on a date with her .”
    They were right, as it turned out. Hailey had, in fact, brought Dane and Logan to the Dust, one at a time, over the course of the fall. She’d betrayed them, even if it was for their own protection. But this was her secret. She hadn’t been caught, and she hadn’t confessed it to anyone . Certainly, in all their gossiping, none of the students at Spokie Middle actually believed the things they were saying . . . right? Even if they did happen to be true?
    Hailey was a careful person. Had she known about what Logan told Erin the night before his Pledge—that Hailey had been working with Peck, and that she was a part of the Dust—she would surely have stayed away. She might even have left town with all the others.
    But Hailey didn’t know what Erin knew. And she had to risk it. She had to stick around—just a little while longer, at least. Because the only thing Hailey did know for certain was that Erin was working with DOME. And if Hailey ever wanted to see Logan again, if she ever wanted to find him and bring him back to Peck . . . well . . . then that made Erin Arbitor her single best lead.
    “Rough day?” Hailey whispered as Erin made her way out of economics class and into the Arctic Wing.
    “As bad as all the others,” Erin said. “Today some jerk asked if I thought Logan might have been eaten by wolves.”
    “They roam around these parts.” Hailey laughed.
    “So he said.” Erin rolled her eyes, and the two of them walked together down the hall, acting not entirely unlike friends.
    “Hey, your dad works for DOME, though, doesn’t he?” Hailey asked, seizing the opportunity to bring it up.
    “Oh, uh . . . yeah. Government work,” Erin said.
    “That’s right, that’s right. Cool, cool.” Hailey looked at the ground. “I heard, actually . . . uh . . . I heard, I think on the news or something, that when Logan ran away, it was during his Pledge . . . or something. Isn’t that weird? I just . . . sometimes I wonder if that means DOME might be looking into it—”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Erin said, too quickly. “Dad never tells me anything.”
    “No, I guess not,” Hailey said. She laughed, a little nervously. “I guess . . . I guess I’m just hoping we’ll see him again, is all.”
    Erin frowned. “You ever feel like maybe he and Dane are still around, sometimes? Like maybe they haven’t actually gone too far?”
    “No,” Hailey said, narrowing her eyes. “What makes you think I would?”
    “Oh. Just wishful thinking, I guess.” Erin gave Hailey a sad smile and backed up onto the escalator. “You’re right. Let’s not kid ourselves. We’ll never see either of them again.”
    2
    When Erin made it home a half hour later, her father was sitting at the kitchen table with a DOME agent beside him.
    “What do you want?” Erin said, still standing in the doorway. “I have homework.”
    “Johnson’s here to see you,” Mr. Arbitor said.
    “Again? I’m flattered.” Erin dropped her backpack onto the floor with a thud . “You gonna take me seriously today, or are we all just here to insult me some more?”
    “Erin. It’s good to see you,” Johnson said. “You remember where we left off?” He stood and reached out to take Erin’s coat, but Erin made no motion to accept the gesture. Instead she took her time closing the apartment door behind her, letting the sound accentuate the room’s awkward silence before answering.
    “I do remember,” she said. “We had just finished the part where you didn’t actually listen to anything I had to say, and, if memory serves, we were about to begin . . .” She frowned and thought for a moment, tapping her chin. “Oh, that’s right! Wasting my time.”
    Mr. Arbitor stood from the kitchen table and straightened his sweater. “Erin, we are not wasting your time, because this time is not yours to begin with. It is borrowed. From the government. It is time we are allowing you not to spend in Corrections for your suspected involvement in Logan Langly’s escape.”
    “We’re hoping this’ll just take a minute,” Johnson added, smiling uncomfortably.
    “Don’t bother, Johnson.” Mr. Arbitor laid his hands on Erin’s shoulders. The two of them stood there for a moment by the head of the kitchen table. Then Erin’s father pushed