Page 74 of Uncontrolled

Startling, I bobble the phone as I whip what I very much hope is a casual smile onto my mouth. Keeley’s head tilts.

“Are you coming?” she asks, in her same shy voice. There’s a pause. “Are you calling someone?”

“Wanted to put it on silent,” I lie.

My finger slides across the buttons. Without looking, I think I hit the one that will send the incomplete text. Allie’s smart. I don’t need her to understand it. I need her suspicious.

Tucking the phone into my pocket, I head toward Keeley and sling an arm over her shoulders as she moves us forward. “What’s up, kid?” I ask. “Feel like I’m getting called to the principal’s office.”

“Oh, yeah, well,” she says. “They don’t really tell me anything.”

I make a noise as if to agree with her. “No hints, huh?” I tease.

Keeley peels away for a better view as she studies me. “Is Allie your girlfriend?” she asks.

My mouth opens. “It’s compli—” I start and then realize this time I can tell the truth. “No. She’s not.”

I can’t help but notice the tiny grin Keeley’s desperate to hide. Yup, the kid’s got a crush on me. I lower my voice to a whisper as I lean in close again. “Are you sure you can’t tell me what—”

Keeley digs a subtle elbow into my side to shut me up as she moves ahead to enter one room off the hall. “He’s here!” she says.

I’m an arm’s length behind her, expecting the whole crew to be in here, but it’s only Keeley, Quinn, and the twins. I risk a quick visual canvas of the room to get my bearings and see if there’s anything other than the knife at my waist to use as a weapon if needed.

Judging by the closet and a broken-down dresser missing a drawer, this room served as a bedroom. A pile of empty boxes lines the wall behind East. Above them, there’s a window boarded over with a ragged chunk of plywood. Glass pieces, each no bigger than a marble, are scattered across the floor underneath it.

My first tipoff I’m utterly screwed is the warm greeting from East.

“Hey! Are you stoked?” he says. He hooks his fingers in mine and yanks my hand to start some complicated dudebro handshake I struggle to replicate.

“Uh, no one told me what’s up so…” I trail off waiting for any of them to fill in the blank. Instead, they all keep staring at me like I’m the one with the answers. My nerves flare to full alert again.

“Quinn!” Nico says. She sounds aghast in a scripted way. “You didn’t tell him?”

Quinn flips his palms skyward. “I barely got him in the car.”

Apparently, I didn’t do as good of a job hiding my hesitation as I thought. “Because you’re playing games again,” I say as I work anger into my tirade. “Quinn’s hinting we have problems. You were supposed to keep me in the loop.” I take a chance. “Is Allie your new target?”

At Nico’s feet is a blue grocery bag. I can’t see what’s inside, only the vague shape of harsh lines pressed against the plastic. “Adapt or perish, as they say,” she says.

“What happened to not blocking my play?” I ask. As if reminding her of their promises to first Jamison, then me, will do anything at this point.

Nico grants me an indulgent smile and leans against the water-stained wall. “Come on, Ploy. You’ve been running this con, what, two? Three months now? How much longer will Allie humor a parasite like you in her space? You’re cute, but let’s be honest; you were lucky to get your foot in the door and you’ve gotten nothing useful since.”

My neck flushes and Nico’s tone dulls into sympathy. “Oh, Christ,” she says. “You caught feelings for her, didn’t you?”

A harsh laugh explodes from me. Keeley jumps. I sneer at Nico. “Don’t be a child. We’ve gone from a quick payday to me losing the roof over my head. Now tell me if you did the heavy lifting or I’m stuck playing bait to fix your fuckup, too.”

East’s chuff of warning is uncertain. He isn’t happy with how I spoke to his sister, but he’s not sure what to do about it. He doesn’t know what to make of this side of me. Last time it came out, he got coldcocked. My attention locks on Nico. I don’t spare her brother so much as a glance.

Answer. Tell me Allie’s safe, I think, watching Nico cycle through surprise, then respect.

Already, I’m picturing Allie tied down on a dissection board, the skin of her stomach peeled to expose her organs, her genetics reviving her over and over again to screaming pain. Allie’s childhood monsters had lab coats. They came after kids who didn’t keep secrets.

Keeley’s fingers touch my arm, the motion enough to drag me out of my stalemate with Nico.

“We talked about it,” Keeley says, her tone calm and even as she scans each of them in turn, Quinn, East, Nico. “We don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, so all you have to do is get her here. A call, a text. Whatever you think will work best. East will do the rest, okay?”

They don’t have her. Not yet. Relief threatens the hard facade I’m struggling to hold together. Ironically, despite all my efforts, what’s protecting Allie now is how much she hates me. She won’t come. Not to save me.

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