Page 120 of GAF Factor

“Um—”

“That better not be your answer. Seriously, I could have kept you safer.”

“In what way?”

I heard her huff on the other end. “I don’t know. I would have sniffed your drink or something.”

“The guy put a patch on the back of my neck.”

“Well, then I would have run my tongue over your skin.”

“That’s a little weird.” I walked over to the bed and plopped down on it. We were leaving soon and I still had to pack. If IKE came in and I was still sitting around, he would give me that look.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“What?”

“What?” she repeated in that deadly tone that Mom always used.

“Uh-oh. It must be really serious. You’re starting to sound like?—”

“Don’t you even say it,” she snapped. “You know, if I had been drugged, I would have had the common courtesy to send a greeting card.”

“It’s not really greeting card worthy.”

“You don’t think? I would say so. At the very least, you should have sent a postcard.”

“Well, as interesting as this argument is, I really have to pack so I can come home. Then you can yell at me in person.”

“You can’t even spare me the time while you pack?”

I looked down at myself, still in a towel. “I just got out of the shower. I’m dripping wet.”

“Hey, I didn’t tell you to track down the man who tried to blow you up.”

Sighing, I put her on speakerphone and tossed it on the bed. “Fine, but you’re going to have to deal with me moving around the room. So, what’s going on there?”

“It’s horrible. I’m being forced to live in this really creepy house. It’s huge.”

“How huge?”

“Mansion-sized.”

I snorted, grabbing my clothes out of the drawers. “Yeah, I can see why you would hate that.”

“Did you know that at one point, all of them lived here? Isn’t that weird?”

“You’re weird.”

“Ooh, good comeback. Anyway, it’s strange. They all hang out here and use it as a frat house.”

“Then you should be having fun.”

“I would be if I was on vacation or something. They’re all so suffocating. They won’t let me leave the house. I tried to go to the store the other day and I was told I couldn’t because I was on lockdown.”

“Well, there is a notorious criminal organization after Shawn.”

“Okay, and what does that have to do with me?”

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