The Things We Hide: A Friends to Lovers Young Adult Romance (Pushed Aside Book 2)

by Cassandra Hallman

  How did we get into this mess? Jaxon and Hunter in jail for murder. Eliza and I wanted for questioning and Colt is still on the loose with my sister. Why hasn’t he let her go already? In the news they are saying that the search for my sister is still in full swing. I wonder if I should call Josie’s family. Maybe they have more information than they show on TV. The only thing that is keeping me from calling is knowing that they hate me already. They must know about my involvement, which will only make them hate me more. They are going to do everything in their power to keep us apart now. I will probably not see her again until we are eighteen. Every time I think I can’t possibly feel any worse, the dread and sorrow just keeps expanding in my chest.

  It’s five o’clock in the morning when the phone rings again. A minute ago, I could barely keep my eyes open. Now that I see the name flashing on the screen, I am awake and alert as ever, and so is Eliza.

  “How?” She looks at me shocked.

  “Colt has my phone.” He must be the one calling since it is my name and picture showing up on Eliza’s phone. She slides over the screen to answer the call and immediately hits the speaker button so we both can hear. Instead of saying anything she looks at me helplessly and I take that as my cue to be the one talking to him. “Hello.”

  “Hey girls, I hope I didn’t wake you.” His voice is so icy that it feels like the room temperature just dropped ten degrees. I wrap my arms around myself like that is going to protect me from the effect his voice has on me.

  “Where is my sister?” I am proud of how steady my voice sounds when I feel anything but that.

  “She is right here next to me, waiting for you to come and pick her up,” he coaxes.

  “I want to talk to her.” To my utter shock, I hear him hand off the phone and my sister’s shaky voice comes through the line next.

  “Jenna?”

  “Josie! Oh my god, are you okay? Are you hurt? Where are you? Just tell me where you are and I’ll be there.” I have about a million more questions, but I will be happy if she answers only these three right now. Next to me, Eliza is shaking her head profusely. Of course, she doesn’t want me to go. Some part of me knows that this is probably a trap, but at this point, I don’t even care. I just need to get to my sister, nothing else matters.

  “Yes, it’s me. I am okay. Really. I don’t know exactly where I am, but you shouldn’t come.” I can hear Colt snatch the phone out of her hand and I quietly curse at how brave Josie is. She should not make him angry.

  “I will come, okay. Just don’t hurt her. Tell me where you are,” I yell at the phone like a crazy person.

  “Calm down, she is fine. Just do as I say, and you can have her back in one piece.”

  I take a calming breath to steady my voice. “Please, just tell me what you want.”

  “There you go, much better.” He sounds so smug. If he was here right now, I would punch him right in his smug face. “I need you to come and meet me, so you can sign your new statement and I need you to bring Eliza to do the same.”

  “I will come, but I am not bringing Eliza. She has nothing to do with this.” He can’t really believe that I am willing to endanger my friend like that. I’ll sign the paper and that has to be enough.

  “If you want your sister back, you will bring her,” he says in a threatening tone right before the line goes dead.

  “Jenna, I am not letting you go alone.” Eliza is already putting on her jacket. “Besides, who is going to drive you there?” I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. I am torn between wanting to help my sister and not wanting to put my friend in danger. I am holding on to the thought that my statement will satisfy them enough to let my sister go.

  “Okay, but you just drop me off there and I go in by myself.” I’m not sure how I’m going to do this, all I know is that I need to get to Josie. The elevator seems to go down much slower than it came up and I swear Eliza drives half of what the allowed speed limit is. Everything leading up to the moment that I get to see my sister again is dragging on.

  I try to get a sense of what Eliza is feeling right now. She must be scared, but I can’t tell. My own feelings are so messed up at the moment that I can’t gauge my best friend’s. I know I am being irrational storming over here into what is most likely a trap. I just can’t think of anything else to do. Jaxon and Hunter are in jail. We can’t call the cops and I am scared of calling Josie’s family. Besides, I don’t think they could help with this anyways. They would probably push me to go and sacrifice myself for her.

  We finally get to the address that Colt has sent to Eliza’s phone. It’s some kind of storage building, conveniently located out in the middle of nowhere. I turn to my friend and put my hand on her arm. “Eliza, please just drive back home. I’ll go in there, sign the paper and get my sister. If I need a ride, I will call you.”

  “I’ll wait out here, you need to be able to get out of here fast,” she says firmly, but I can feel her shaking. I want to argue but I can tell she is not going to budge. Also, she is right. If we need to make a run for it we will need a car to get away fast. I nod and head into the building.

  I’m walking down a hallway, my footsteps echo through it like it’s the only sound in the world. I see light out of one of the rooms at the far left and I pick up my step.

  The door swings open when I get closer. It’s Colt. My heart rate speeds up just seeing him. He holds the door open for me and I hurry in the room hoping to finally see my sister again. I step in to scan the room and my heart sinks. Josie is not here. Instead, there is a man I don’t know sitting at a desk. He is wearing a suit and an arrogant smile. My best guess this is that this is Coleman.

  “Where is my sister?”

  “Where is Eliza?” He answers with a question.

  Behind me, Colt closes the door and leans against it like I needed a reminder of that I am not leaving unless they let me.

  “Please, just leave Eliza out of this. I’ll sign whatever you want me to.” I am not beneath begging for my friend even if it makes me seem weak.

  “I’m afraid I’ll need her as well.” Before I can say something else, someone knocks on the door. Colt steps aside and opens it with a smirk.

  A heavy-set guy with a bald head walks in. He has Eliza’s arm in his grip and is dragging her along with him. “She was outside.”

  “There you are, Sweetheart.” Coleman’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard. “I have been waiting so long to see you again.” He pushes two stacks of papers toward us on the table and points toward two chars in front of the desk. “Please sit. Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way so we can reunite you with your dear sister.”

  We hesitantly sit in the chairs. I grab the pen and scribble my name on the line without reading a single word. Eliza looks a little less eager to sign, but she does it anyway. Coleman smiles widely and his eyes gleam with excitement as he takes the papers back. He looks up. “Karl, go get her.”

  Karl takes a step forward. “No, I’ll get her,” Colt barks holding up his hand.

  “I don’t care who gets her, just get her here,” Coleman hisses.

  I look at Colt and almost ask him not to go. I don’t want Josie anywhere near the man sitting on the other side of this desk. He leaves without a flicker of empathy in his expression. The door closes behind him and we are locked in the room with two of the scariest people I have ever met.

  Coleman leans forward, planting his elbows on the desk. He smiles at Eliza and licks his lips. His eyes roaming up and down her body is making my skin crawl. If Jaxon were here right now, he would kill him for looking at her like that.

  The door opens again, and I jump out of my seat. Two eyes identical to mine are staring at me. We meet halfway, slamming into each other. I hold on to her like my life depends on it. I close my eyes as we hug and for a second I forget where we are.

  “What a beautiful reunion.” Coleman brings me back to reality.

  I don’t let go of Josie, but I untangle myself enough, so I can look
at him. “We did what you wanted, now let us go.” The bald-headed guy positions himself in front of the door to block the only way out.

  “You just got here,” Coleman laughs. “Eliza owes me some fun and my friend Karl over here has a thing for twins, so why don’t we just all get comfortable and stay a while.” Bile rises in my throat as he glances past me at Colt.

  “You can go now, we got it from here.”

  I don’t know what possessed me at this moment, but when I turn to look at Colt I give him a pleading glance. Please don’t leave us here. I have no idea what makes me think that he would ever help us. Maybe it’s knowing that once upon a time he was Hunter’s and Jaxon’s friend. There must be some part of him that is good and that is the part I am begging to help us right now.

  Colt doesn’t give me any indication that he was taking pity on us and is going to help, but he is not making a move to leave either.

  “What are you waiting for? Get out of here,” Coleman growls impatiently.

  Colt doesn’t say anything back, he just crosses his arm in front of him and stands there glaring at Coleman. I can’t figure out what he is doing. Is he actually going to help us, or does he just want to stay to see us suffer even more?

  “If you don’t turn around and walk out of this room right now, I will put you back in the same prison cell I got you out of.”

  Colt turns around and Karl steps away from the door. Colt grabs the door handle and yanks open the door slamming it into Karl’s face. Before the heavy-set guy can regain his footing and realize what just happened Colt throws a punch. He hits him straight in the jaw knocking him out cold. His body hit the floor with a loud thump that makes us all jolt.

  “I promise you, I will put you in a hole so deep, you will never see the light of day again!” Coleman spits out the words like they are venomous.

  Colt glances at me and Josie. “Get out of here.”

  He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I grab Eliza with one hand and Josie with the other and we dash out the door together before Colt can change his mind. We run down the hallway and out the door. When we are in the parking lot, we hear a loud bang coming from the building.

  “Was that a gunshot?” Josie asks anxiously. I don’t want to answer, I know exactly that it was the sound of a gun going off. The car door is still hanging open when we get there. I get in the back with Josie, not wanting to let go of her. Eliza gets in the driver’s seat and the car roars to life. The tires are squealing as we leave this nightmare behind us.

  “What happened back there? We should call the cops, we need to get Colt some help.” He did let us go, but help him? That’s a stretch. He got himself into all of this and he can get himself out just as well.

  “We can’t just call the cops Josie. Let’s just get somewhere safe and I’ll explain everything.”

  I only take in a relaxed breath when we get up to the apartment. It was dark in the car and this is the first time I actually get to take a good look at Josie. She is wearing black leather jacket that is way too big and I wonder if it’s Colt’s. Her hair is a tangled-up mess, but otherwise she looks fine. Then I remember that Mindy said she saw blood on Josie’s shirt. “Let me take the jacket, Josie.”

  She wraps her arms around herself like she doesn’t want to take it off. Yeah, she is definitely hiding something. I have to peel the jacket off of her revealing a blood-stained shirt and scratches all across her arms. “What the hell Josie, you told me to you were fine and not hurt.”

  “I am fine and those are just some scrapes,” she tries to downplay it.

  “What about the blood on your shirt? That’s not from a few scratches.”

  “I had a nosebleed.”

  “Oh my god, did he hit you?”

  “No, he didn’t hit me. And the scratches happened before I even met Colt.” Met Colt? She is saying it like they ran into each other in a restaurant and had a nice chat.

  “Why can’t we call the police?” I know she is changing the subject on purpose, but I still let it slide for now and tell her everything that has been going on, including that we are wanted for questioning. She takes everything in better than I expected.

  Eliza makes us some hot chocolate and brings the mugs to the living room. “I wish you two could have met under better circumstances,” I say when we are all sitting on the couch.

  “I am glad to finally meet you. Jen talks about you all the time and it was killing her not to be able to tell you about me.”

  “I understand,” Eliza says without hesitation, and gives my sister a genuine smile. I can’t help but feel happy that even in this impossible situation, my sister and my best friend have finally met, and that Eliza is comfortable enough to speak with her. Two big parts of my life that I had to keep separate until now. Only one part that is missing now. My chest hurts thinking about Hunter.

  “I’m going to lie down for a bit,” Eliza tells us and gets up. “Guest room is the first door on the right.” I give Eliza one more hug before letting her go to bed.

  “What do you think happened after we left?” Josie asks.

  “I have no idea and honestly, I don’t care either. I am just glad that you are here now. I was so worried about you.” I don’t know what I would have done if something would have happened to her because of me. Shaking that thought off I ask, “do you want to call your parents?”

  “No,” she says quickly without any further explanation.

  “No? Just no?”

  “I just want to be with you right now. My parents would come and get me the second I call them. And if they know how you were involved in all of this, they probably won’t let me see you again.” She starts sobbing at the last word and falls into my arms. “They’re going to blame you.”

  “Josie, it’s okay. It’s not gonna be much longer and we’ll be eighteen.”

  20

  Hunter

  After an all-night interrogation, they finally let me go to a cell. Even this concrete bed with a thin mattress and no blanket is better than that flimsy chair in the interrogation room.

  I only get to sleep for an hour before they get me back up. Better than nothing, I guess. They tell me that I will be seeing the judge at eleven. I have a pretty good idea of who that is going to be. I hope that I get a chance to see Jaxon at court. I hate that they keep us separated. At least we can talk through Frederick. I wonder what Jenna is doing right now. I hope she is not freaking out. I just need her to stay safe and out of this if she can help it.

  I scan over the cafeteria as I get in line for breakfast hoping to see some familiar faces. This is not a big town and I would be surprised if I didn’t see anyone I know. I spot two guys that were regulars at the club right away and one more who looks familiar, but I can’t place right now. I get my plastic tray and look at the most unappetizing food I have ever seen. “Am I supposed to eat this?” I say more to myself.

  “You’ll eat this or starve.” With a thick Russian accent, the guy in front of me answers without looking at me. “It gets better after a while.”

  I find a free table and sit down by myself. I take the first bite and realize that the food tastes even worse than it looks. I drop the fork on my tray and push it away from me. I can’t even smell this stuff without getting sick to my stomach.

  “It gets better. You’ll get used to it,” some guy tells me and takes the seat across from me.

  “So I’ve heard.” I’m really not in the mood for small talk. Only when I look up, I see that I know this guy. I loaned him and his brother some money when they were in a tough spot. I knew they would not be able to pay me back, but I had already planned on something else. I was short two guys for a job I needed done and I ended up letting them work off the money instead of doing something drastic. Not usually how I do business, but that’s the good thing about being your own boss. I’m able to do what I want.

  “Or you can buy some ramen and use the flavor packs to season your food. That makes everything taste a little better.” He gets a litt
le silver pack out and starts sprinkling it all over his tray. Then he hands me half of the pack and I do the same. I try the first bite. He was right, this is slightly better.

  “It’s almost edible now.”

  “Almost,” he chuckles. “So, listen. I don’t want to freak you out so early in the morning, but you did help me out a while back when you didn’t have to. I’m going to return the favor and let you know that there is a hit out on you in here.”

  I look up at him. “Yeah?” I am not really surprised by the fact that Coleman would do this, only that he is doing it so fast. “I figured it would take him a little longer than a day.”

  “Whoever wants you dead has been scouting people for a few days. They knew you were being put here in advance.”

  “Thank you, when we get back out of here and you ever need anything, you know where to find me,” I tell him and he nods.

  We eat the rest of our meal in silence while I think about what he just told me. If Coleman is so eager to see us dead, that can only mean one thing. He knows that the charges won’t stick for long. There are only so many people he can pay off, and the ones he can’t pay are going to investigate this. We just need to stay alive long enough for that to happen.

  We get to court, and I am put in a waiting room by myself. Frederick said I’ll see Jaxon inside, but they will keep us separated as much as they can and that we are not allowed to communicate inside the courtroom either. When we finally get called in, the first thing I see is Jaxon coming in from the other door. The second thing I see is Coleman’s self-righteous look from the judge’s podium. Who the hell elected this guy?

  He lists the charges that are brought up against us and asks me and Jaxon to step up to the podium. I glance at Frederick, who is already on his feet. “They have the right for me to come with them.”

  “Of course, please.” Colman waves us over with a smile. I want to wipe that smile off his face so bad I can’t stand it.