Page 71 of No Capes
“Water?” Brynn opens the refrigerator.
“Vodka, if you have it, would be great,” says Arielle. Jamie gawks like she made a joke, but straightens when he realizes she hasn’t.
“Of course.” Brynn reaches for some glasses from a cupboard. “Madeline?”
“Water’s good.”
Fox helps Brynn pour our drinks. In only one night, Fox already seems more mature. Has he been mature the whole time, and just tired of putting on the act? Or, has he figured out that when you’re as smart and capable as he is, you should behave like it, because you owe it to everyone who isn’t? He notices me and winks. He had to ruin it.
Brynn hugs us when she passes out the glasses, since she missed hugging us when we came in. It’s as if Brynn always knew Arielle and I aren’t as invincible as we pretend to be, and she’s happy we’re letting her see it.
“Arielle, you’re in my room,” she says. “Please, both of you, borrow anything from my closet. You’re both smaller than me, so it should still fit.”
I study Brynn. She’s tall and athletic with shoulder-length blonde hair. I’m definitely smaller than she is, but she and Arielle are the same size, and almost the same height. I didn’t realize how similar they looked before.
Brynn continues, “Madeline, you’ll be in Jamie’s room.”
“Don’t take anything from my closet though,” Jamie pipes up. “You’ll stretch it out.” He giggles at his joke. Fox cocks an eyebrow.
“Madeline and I can sleep in the basement,” Arielle says. “I’m sure that would be easier for you.”
“Definitely not.” Brynn shakes her head before anyone can fully process that Arielle Bridges just offered to sleep on a floor instead of in a queen-sized bed.
Wait.Anxiety jolts me awake.My dad.It makes sense for me to hide at Fox’s house, since Phil’s probably searching for me now, in addition to Arielle, but my dad’s at our apartment—alone.
Not only would hurting Dad give Phil leverage over Arielle and me, but if anyone knew what Mom was working on before she died… it would be Dad.
“Arielle?” I ask. “What about Dad?”
“Shoot. Can you call him? He’s at home, right? They must have already looked for me there.”
I fumble with my phone, but before I can turn it on, Fox blurts, “Hold on. I saw this documentary once where the police could find any phone from a single call, regardless of whether the location is on. They might be waiting for you to call your dad. They’ll be able to trace what number called him and run it through a cellphone tower to get its GPS coordinates.”
“Cops need a wiretap to do that,” says Arielle. “It would take days to set one up.” She sees my dumbfounded expression and adds, “I saw the same documentary.”
“You don’t think they have a wire up already?” asks Fox.
“Not yet,” she answers with complete certainty. She pivots toward me, her muddy dress skating around Brynn’s immaculate tile floor. “Go ahead, Madeline.”
“Isn’t spying on Dad’s apartment like, the definition of corruption?” I point out. When Arielle ignores me, I power up my phone, double-checking that the location is still off. “This is some real spy crap, you know that?”
My dad picks up on the first ring. “Madeline? What’s going on?”
“It’s alright, Dad,” I do my best to sound reassuring. “Where are you?”
“The apartment. Phil came and said you were both kidnapped. I called Officer Kyle, but he couldn’t give me any updates.”
“We’re safe, I promise. I think we’ll be able to come home soon. Wait one sec.” I turn to everyone in the kitchen. “Is there any way to check on him? Locking the doors might not be enough.”
“I could,” Brynn offers.
“Phil’s definitely got people spying on the apartment,” Arielle says. “If they see you, they’ll follow you back.”
“I won’t stop then,” says Brynn. “I’ll just drive by and check for a struggle. Phil’s not looking for me, and I can claim I’m coming home from Hallowfest if I get pulled over.”
Arielle nods, confirming the plan.
I bring the phone back up to my ear. “Lock the doors, Dad, and turn on the light in the front hall if you’re okay, but keep it off if you aren’t.” Brynn could check for that. “If you need the dobermans, Ms. Pellingham’s gate unlocks on the bottom, near the first stair up to our porch. Love you and see you soon.”
