Page 17 of No More Spies

“I don’t want to hurt some teenaged girl.” John moved downthe aisle. “Come on, kid. Try to remember I’m the one who took you down.”

“Only because you had backup.” Kala forced herself to move,taking in every ache. Wondering how she got them.

Wondering if they would always be there, simmering under hersurface. A nightmare she could feel, sense like a shadow always at the edge ofher conscious. But one she couldn’t catch and kill.

“I still have backup.” John held out a hand, offering herthe stairs. “If we get back soon, I can make us pancakes.”

“Like I would eat poison pancakes.” Despite the rolling inher gut, she had a reputation to uphold.

“They’re not poison.” John managed to sound aggrieved.

Kala walked on, head held high. But her soul…her soul was solow. And she’d done it to herself.

* * * *

Cooper was miserable. For days it seemed he’d been locked inutter and complete hell, not knowing what was going on.

He knew it had only been a day or two, but she still wasn’thome and no one wanted to talk to him. No one could talk to him since he wasgrounded and had barely been out of his room. And he’d lost his cell.

His parents were pissed, though they seemed more sympathetictoday than they’d been the night it had happened.

That night. If he could, he would take it all back. He woulddo whatever she wanted. If he’d thought he wasn’t ready to be Kala Taggart’sboyfriend, he absolutely wasn’t ready to live in a world where she wasn’t.

He had to go back to school tomorrow. They’d let him stayhome Monday because he’d woken up, realized she was still gone, and promptlythrown up and wouldn’t eat anything. It had convinced his parents he needed atleast a day. But tomorrow he would have to go, and all those friends would askwhere she was. Not because they wanted to know but because they wanted to avoidher.

What was Kenzie saying when people asked? Did they call Kalain sick or had they gotten the authorities involved? He was pretty sure theywouldn’t call in the police. The Taggarts were an authority in and ofthemselves.

Would anyone ask? Not caring seemed like the worst outcomeof all. That she could be gone and no one outside her family would beconcerned.

He had no idea what she was going through, and she probablythought he didn’t care.

There was a knock on his door and his mom came in.

“Hey.” She was dressed for the office, though he knew shehadn’t gone in. She looked tired, like he felt. His dad had been at the MTbuilding nonstop since Kala and Kyle were taken. He was working with Uncle Adamand Aunt Chelsea on logistics. Whatever that meant.

His father hadn’t even bothered to tell him their weeklyflight lessons were canceled. His dad had been taking him for lessons since hewas fourteen. Next year he could get his license, and he’d always meant to takeKala up, to show her the world he loved so much.

He might never get the chance.

“Hey.” He put down the math text he hadn’t been focused onat all. Words didn’t make sense to him right now. Numbers definitely didn’t.

“They think they know where she’s being held,” his mom said,sitting at the edge of his bed.

“They do?” For the first time in days, he felt a surge ofhope. “Where? Do they know if she’s still alive? What are they doing?”

His mom reached out, putting a hand on his arm. “MaeBethinks she’s tracked her down because of a pizza order.”

She had the worst taste in pizza. Another thing he’d madefun of her for. “Anchovies. No sauce. It’s gross. How does her pizza habits…Someone was monitoring the orders for the area. Wow. That was smart.”

“I believe Mae figured it out,” his mom replied. “I wantedyou to know. I’ll keep you updated. Charlotte is in close contact with yourdad.”

“Does Kenz know? Someone should tell Lou.” He didn’t wantanyone left out.

“Kenz and the others are at their Uncle Sean’s for now.He’ll let them know what’s going on, and I imagine Tash and Lou are textingconstantly.” She sighed and reached into her pocket. “And I can’t leave youalone in this. I can’t. I know your father is still mad, but I think you’vebeen through enough without having to deal with this alone.”

She passed him his cell phone.

He took it. He wanted to call… He wanted to call her. Hewanted to talk to her, but no one was going to answer that line.

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