Black Rose

Chapter 11

The girls raced to Valerie's room, ignoring the questioning stares of the other spies. Kate grabbed the keys that Garret had given her and unlocked the door. Room 119 was about to be searched.

Kate opened the door to reveal an immaculate room that looked identical to hers. Unlike her room, this one was filled with secrets and lies of her former best friend.

The girls each took different areas of the room to search. Bethany offered to check the dresser, opening each and every drawer and shuffling through the clothes.

"Kate, go check the bed. I'll check the bathroom," Caitlin ordered, retreating into the bathroom.

Kate walked over to the full size bed. She whipped off the sheets and looked underneath the bed but was met with no results.

Meanwhile, Caitlin was searching the bathroom. She peeked into the cabinets and unscrewed the shower head only to find nothing. The back of the toilet was free of clues as well.

Bethany continued to search through the drawers. She checked behind and underneath each one. Clothes had been pushed to the side in a haste.

Kate popped the top off of one of the bed posts and glanced inside. There was only darkness.

This search was beginning to get on Kate's nerves. She knew that the clues would not be out in the open, yet she had examined almost every inch of the room and had produced no results. Maybe there really were no clues in this room and they were searching blindly, allowing her enemies to get away.

Just the thought of her enemies getting away with their plan motivated Kate even more. Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind when she laid her eyes on the pristine white desk.

"Has anyone checked the desk?"

"Not yet, but that would probably have been a good place to start," Bethany said jokingly. Humor was definitely one of Bethany's positive attributes.

The girls simultaneously walked over to the desk. A pen rested on top, neatly positioned. They opened up the desk drawers to find all of them empty.

Bethany, always one to think outside the box, stuck her hand under the desk. "I think I feel something," she muttered.

She crouched under the desk and swept her hand across the underside of the desk.

"There is a small pocket with something inside," she said. She stuck her hand inside the pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"What is it?" Kate asked, stepping closer. They had finally found a clue. She could only hope it meant something.

Bethany unfolded the paper. It looked like it had been folded and refolded several times. "A letter."

"What does it say?" Caitlin asked curiously.

Bethany read it out loud: I wanted to continue talking about my plan. I figured it wasn't safe to talk about it out loud. - V.

"V must be Valerie," Kate concluded. Caitlin nodded while Bethany continued reading.

I agree. Why did you want to carry out this plan? - H.

"H must be Harry," Kate said. Caitlin put a finger to her lips.

Well, you already know my grandma has financial problems. I thought that we could get money by selling your company. - V

I like your plan. I have been meaning to sell it for years now. But I cannot do it when S and G are always around. They are already suspicious of me as it is. We need to distract them. - H.

Distract them? I think we should destroy them. Oh, and add Kate to that list. I think she is becoming suspicious as well. - V.

Kate shuddered. Valerie and Harry had been planning to destroy her?

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard thundering up the stairs. In one quick movement, Bethany tucked the letter into her pocket.

Garret rushed into the room. "Girls, we caught Harry, Valerie, and Ms. Martinez as they were trying to escape the school. Come quickly, they are being held at the police station."

The girls rushed after Garret without hesitation. Kate smiled to herself as she realized that within all this betrayal, she still had friends at her side who were ready and willing to help her.

"How did you catch them?" Kate asked, keeping pace with Garret.

"We had a police car stationed outside the school at several of its exits. They were bound to get caught coming out of one of them," Garret explained.

"Clever. I still have so many unanswered questions though," Kate said with a shake of her head.

"They will be answered soon. Don't worry," Garret comforted Kate.

That was all Kate needed for motivation. She was about to find out what was really going on at Black Rose.