The Forbidden Trilogy(76)

At Rent-A-Kid, we had real trees: pines and aspens and Douglas firs, trees that stood tall and proud and filled the air with the heady scent of woods.

I missed my life there at times, as strange as that may have seemed. Life had been good, at least the parts that passed as normal for my friends and me.

I glanced down at the sketch in my hands. The scary man's eyes stared at me as if trying to read my mind.

Nothing felt normal anymore.

"Drake, I think it's time we tried to link to Luke and Lucy. We need to tell them what's going on."

"Are you sure you're strong enough? Last time it took you days to recover, and you've been sick for weeks."

"I know, but I have a bad feeling about all this. We need more information."





Chapter 32 – Lucy



The large man in the dark suit glared at Lucy. "Tell me about her friends. Who did she hang out with? Who would she contact on the outside for help?"

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and gave him her worst evil eye. Such a stereotype, as if he'd just walked off the set of Men in Black. He just needed the sunglasses to complete the look. "I've told you everything. Sam didn't know anyone on the outside. None of us do. How would we? As for her friends—we were it, and really only out of pity. She was a total loner. We felt sorry for her."

Mr. Black—Could that seriously be his real name?—was the new "Head Grunt" at Rent-A-Kid. His brown, high-and-tight crew cut screamed ex-military, as did the way he stood at attention and wore his suit as if it were a uniform. He towered over her, probably going for the intimidating look, his beady brown eyes staring at her over his crooked nose.

He slammed his meaty fist on the table. "Look, smartass, I've got a guy questioning your brother. I may not have super powers like you freaks, but I will find out if you're lying."

Lucy didn't flinch. "Luke will tell you the same thing. We hung out with her once in a while, to make her feel better. Yeah, she was our friend, but we didn't know she was planning to escape. I thought she was in New York. Why isn't she in New York, by the way? Why did she need to escape at all?"

The man reached for the gun in his holster, then moved his hand away when he saw Lucy watching him. Lucy waited for him to answer, to say anything.

His voice hovered on the brink of a scream. "I'm asking the questions here, not you. Who is her outside contact? She must have one. Tell me now!"

Lucy grumbled in frustration. He had to actually answer a question for her lie-detecting para-power to work. Either he knew that and avoided giving her what she needed, or he was just a pain in the ass naturally. She suspected both. "You can yell at me all you want, Mr. Black. I can't tell you what I don't know. Would you rather I make something up just to get you off my back?"

Behind her, a door opened and closed. Lucy turned.

The man who'd been sent to interrogate Luke stood with a creased brow, sweaty pits, and a frown that made Lucy fight back a laugh. It looked as though he'd had as much luck with her twin as Mr. Black had with her. Bummer.

The two men stormed out of the room, taking copious amounts of testosterone with them.

Lucy leaned back with a tight smile and twirled her long dark ponytail around her fingers. She stared at the blank wall in front of her, unsurprised when Luke walked through it.

"That was fun!" His grin, so boyish and sweet, reminded her of their childhood, when they still had hope for a better future. Luke switched to their made-up secret language. "Oh cheer up, Sis. I'm sure Sam is fine. She'll contact us when she can. She just needs to rest a bit."

"I know. I just miss her like crazy. I miss her pale little face haunting the halls!"

Luke's head perked up like a puppy. "They're coming. Catch you on the flip side, Sis." He faded back into the wall, leaving Lucy alone in the stale room.

Mr. Black and his sidekick came back in, looking even meaner than they had before.

He growled at her with the face of a bulldog. "You and your brother have been less than helpful, but we have to let you go. However, know this: if you are hiding anything, it won't end well for either of you. Got it?"

Lucy stood and gave a mock salute. "Yes, Sir. Permission to return to my dorm, Sir."

Mr. Black balled his fists and looked about ready to swing.

Lucy knew she should feel fear, but couldn't muster it. Her world seemed more like a dream than reality. How could she be scared of a dream?

Before it could get ugly, Sidekick not-too-roughly ushered her out of the room.

Luke waited in the hall. The tasteful Tudor-style furniture of the office building had been cleared out shortly after Sam and Drake had escaped a month ago, replaced by a tacky military-like set-up to house the new grunts: metal desks and filing cabinets that lacked any class, footlockers for supplies, and wire cages that held weapons under lock and key. It looked like an old G.I. Joe board game had thrown up on their campus—grown men turned into war-playing boys.