The Maplethorn Initiative (Book 1, The Maplethorn Series)

The Phantom of Maplethorn

"Mary, it's Benny. You won't believe this, but one of our missing cadets just called me. Drexler's coming to turn himself in! I know it's Saturday, but I need you in the office as soon as you get this message." A beep told the doctor he had a call waiting on the other line. "Mary?" he asked, clicking over.

"Hi. Uh, no. It's me."

"Cadet Drexler!" the doctor boomed. "Don't tell me you're here already?"

"Yeah. Should I come up to your office?"

"I can meet you at the front door." Bensen stood and crossed to the window, stretching his phone cord to its limit. "Are you in the parking lot?"

"Not exactly."

A dark figure in a hooded sweatshirt shot above the windowsill, causing the doctor to drop the handset and stumble backward. Catching himself on the edge of his desk, Bensen retrieved the phone by reeling in the cord. "Cadet Drexler, I presume?"

"I'm here." The boy floating outside the window was speaking into a cell phone. "Sorry if I scared you. Can I come in?"

"Of course! Come down," the doctor chuckled. "Down to the front door and—"

"Can't you just open the window? I mean, I'm right here."

"Just a moment," Bensen sighed and hung up the phone. Cranking the window open was simple enough, but removing the screen proved to be more difficult. Following a considerable amount of grunting, twisting, and pulling, the doctor tossed what remained of the window screen onto the carpet. "Come in, young man."

The boy stuffed the phone into a pocket before drifting gracefully through the open window and crashing awkwardly to the floor.

Dr. Bensen lunged forward. "Are you all right?"

Jumping to his feet, Keegan pulled back the hood. "I'm fine, Doc. How have you been?"

"You!" Bensen's small eyes grew round with terror. "Stay away from me!"

"Come on, Dr. Nasty Fingers. Relax."

The doctor practically melted, collapsing to his knees, and then the floor.

"Did it work?" Cam asked, gliding through the window and landing nimbly on his feet.

"Yup. He totally bought our Famous Flying Drexler act, which is good because there's no way he'd ever let me get this close."

"I can see why." Cam bent down to study the unconscious physician. "Is he all right?"

"The floor broke his fall," Keegan said, rubbing an elbow. "But you could have warned me about the landing."

"Sorry. Once you were through the window, I couldn't hold you up anymore."

"It's cool. I'm a survivor."

Cam tapped the doctor's leg with the toe of one sneaker. "And you're sure he's okay?"

"Either I overdid it when I was trying to get him to settle down, or he just fainted." Keegan squatted and pulled one of Dr. Bensen's eyelids open with a thumb. "Doc? It's wakey, wakey time."

Bensen's other eye fluttered open, and he lurched to his feet. Keegan guided him around the edge of the oak desk and into the faux leather chair that waited on the other side.

"Better?" Keegan asked.

The doctor stared blankly ahead as though lost in thought.

"I'll take that as a yes." Keegan sat on one corner of the desk and folded his arms over his chest. "Now that you're awake, I would very much like to know what happened to Tober Sunderland."