“How much money do we have left?” Zak asked.
“About twenty bucks,” Xander held it out to him.
“I’m going to go pick up a couple of cheap pizzas. I’m starving.”
“Me too,” Syd agreed, and Xander and ET both nodded.
While Zak and ET went to get food, Sydney showered. Her quick, gas station wash hadn’t been very refreshing. By the time the food arrived, she was on the verge of getting sick she was so hungry. Everyone settled in and dug into the greasy and delicious pizza Zak had brought back. He, Xander, Shay and ET filled Sydney in on all that had happened to them while she had been kidnapped then missing.
“This is the weirdest shit. I never thought stuff like this actually happened,” Zak shook his head while packing his glass pipe with the rest of their weed.
“You’re telling me,” Syd sighed. Images of the Dyian breaking out of the blonde woman’s head flashed through her mind and she nearly threw up her pizza.
They all dissolved into a cloud of euphoria and did little more than lay on their beds staring at the TV. They didn’t talk about what had happened or what would happen. Instead, they let the high wash away all the craziness. Zak and Shay shared one bed, Syd and Xander was on another. ET leaned back in one chair and propped his feet in the other. Syd watched him closely. He was a decent kid and she felt terrible for all that he had gone through. When he chuckled at nothing in particular she had to smile. She didn’t think he was used to smoking pot. We are terrible influences.
Before long the five of them drifted off to sleep. Sydney woke a couple of times when Xander jerked or moved in his sleep. She wondered what he was dreaming about and hoped it was good dreams. No matter how restless he slept, he maintained constant contact with her the whole night. An arm across her waist. A leg between her own. She didn’t mind.
In the silence of the night she tried to listen inside herself. Waited for something. Any sign that she still had an alien inside her brain. Either fortunately, or unfortunately, she felt nothing. What does that mean? She had to admit, it was probably a good thing for her friends. If she wasn't a host anymore, then she couldn't go off and attack those around her. Sydney was amazed by the fact that her friends hadn't turned on her. Sure, ET bugged out, but even he calmed after a while. Most people, she imaged, would have flipped out and drove her away with pitchforks and sticks. Feeling grateful, she fell back to sleep. But it was a restless sleep since she kept dreaming about bugs crawling inside her skin.
***
An electronic trilling jerked Sydney out of sleep and she grunted when Xander accidentally elbowed her in the forehead.
“Ow!”
“Sorry. What the hell?”
“My phone!” Shay croaked from the other bed. Syd could see her flailing in the dim light, trying to get out from underneath the blankets.
“Who the hell is calling you?” Xander asked groggily.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out!”
Shay scrambled out of bed but the ringing stopped before she made it to her purse. The phone lit up her face as she unlocked it to see who had been calling. “Shit! It was Mom.”
“What?” Xander snapped, sitting up.
Sydney sat up too. She had never met their parents but had heard plenty about them. They apparently traveled in their retirement and were content to let their children live their lives. They checked in pretty often, but Xander nor Shay had seen them in months.
“I’m going to call her back.”
Shay tapped at the screen and Zak got out of bed and shuffled towards the bathroom. Syd retrieved her jeans from the floor. She would consider selling her soul for some clean clothes that fit her better. She squeezed into her pants regretting eating so much pizza last night. “When was the last time you talked to them?” she asked Xander.
“A few weeks ago.”
“Do they know what’s going on?”
“Hell no.”
“Good.”
“Hey!” Shay greeted her mother, trying to sound normal. “What’s up? You’re awake early.”
When Shay sat up straighter with a wrinkled brow Sydney grew alarmed. She could tell that Xander was too by his standing up suddenly. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Shay waved for him to be quiet. “No. We didn’t!” she answered something her mom had asked. “When?” And after a few moments, “No! We’ve been in Michigan picking up Syd. She was…visiting some old friends.”
Syd’s heart was beating hard. Zak came out of the bathroom and saw everyone on alert and drew up short. “What’s going on?”
Shay waved at him too and Syd shook her head and shrugged. But she knew her faced was horrified. Something had clearly upset Shay concerning her parents. “Mom!” Shay interrupted something her mother was saying. “Just…sit tight. Answer their questions. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” Shay grimaced and after a moment glanced at Xander. “No. I’m positive,” she spoke into the phone. “Everything is going to be fine. We’ll get everything straightened out when we get back. “OK, yeah. That’s a good idea. We’ll see you soon. Call me if anything changes.” She hung up the phone and looked at the rest of them.
“What the hell?!” Xander asked her.
“Fuck!” Shay looked like she didn’t know where to start. “Some guys in suits showed up asking questions about us. Then they took Dad away for more questioning. They won’t tell mom what is going on. They just told her they needed to talk to us. She said it was almost like they were holding him until we are back.”
“What the hell?” Syd gasped.
“Fuck!” Xander snapped, and grabbed his shirt off the dresser. “Let’s go!”
“Wait!” ET finally spoke up. “This is probably a trap. It’s got to be either Moreno or the Suits.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” Xander barked at him. “They have Dad.”
“Can we call the police?” Zak asked, getting dressed.
“They might be the police,” Xander began tying his boots.
“But would police hold someone hostage?” Shay asked and sounded like she genuinely didn’t know. “Maybe Mom is just upset. Maybe she’s just not explaining or understanding the situation correctly?”
“Can we call and find out? Where did they take him?” Zak returned his wallet to his pocket and grabbed his jacket.
“She doesn’t know.”
“It sounds really fishy,” Xander handed Syd her coat and he zipped his.
“I don’t like this,” ET tried again.
“Then stay here!” Xander shrugged at him.
“We aren’t leaving anyone here,” Shay assured the kid.
“Well, then he needs to shut up and get dressed.”
“He has a point,” Zak stated, but still headed for the door. “We need to go in careful. Until we know who we are dealing with we don’t know if they are going to kill us or arrest us.”
Sydney followed everyone out the door. A heavy stone grew in her stomach. How many more lives can I fuck up? She swallowed the sour bile rising from her stomach and climbed into the truck next to Xander. She couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with anyone. If Shay and Xander’s parents got hurt because of her she would never forgive herself.
Xander
Xander’s leg bounced rhythmically as Zak started the truck. It would take them a few hours to get back to Chicago and he knew he was going to be a wreck the whole way. His mother and father weren’t his biological parents, but they were better than the ones who were. Whatever had led to him wandering the streets as a child clearly spoke of his bio-parents’ character. Heather and Richard Stockton had taken him in and loved him unconditionally. Even when he had been an ungrateful and terrible teenager. They had always been there for him. Even coming to see him every visiting day when he was in juvie.
Zak pulled up in front of the hotel office and Xander jumped out of the passenger seat to return the key. As he did he caught a glimpse of Sydney’s face. She sat in the back seat in between Shay and
ET. He knew it wasn’t the window that was washing the color out of her face. She was blaming herself for what was happening with their parents. He wasn’t able to catch her eye but he did catch Shay’s. She looked like she was going to be sick, but she also looked pissed and read to punch someone in the face for messing with her family.
Xander tossed the hotel key at Jeff who missed the catch and scowled at him. “Thanks,” Xander told him before hurrying back out. He opened the back door and told Shay to trade him spots. At first she looked annoyed at his ordering her around but then rolled her eyes and moved to the front. Xander slipped in next to Syd and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Regardless of what happened, he wanted her to know he didn’t blame her. It wasn’t her fault that she had gotten sucked into this whole situation.
Everyone was silent for the ride back to Chicago. They had all been shell shocked by the new turn of events. Xander kept trying to go over scenarios in his head. But trying to plan for the unknown was infuriatingly impossible. If it was the cops or some kind of agency, why were they wanting to talk to them? It was possible they had found some kind of trace evidence from Connor, Pan, or even Randall considering they didn’t know where his body was. But those traces would have been in the garage or in Shay’s apartment and why would the cops have been in there to begin with? And, if that was the case, they were surely being investigated for murder at this point.
If it was Moreno, how the hell had he found their parents? How would he have tied ET to them? ET said Moreno worked with some American drug dealers. The Gringos could have helped, but he still didn’t know how they would have found them. According to ET, it wouldn’t have been that hard to trace his online research—but that seemed too simple, too convenient.
Of the options, Xander was pretty sure it wasn’t hosts. They had yet to be clear-headed and rational enough to pull off anything other than chaotic riots and individual attacks. But he couldn’t shake off the weirdness of Syd’s story about the old couple. Frankie and George. Who the fuck were they? And why had they been so helpful? Sure, they could have just been a nice old couple, but they had given Syd the creeps, and instincts should be trusted. Plus, there was the trouble of Millville. Why were there so many hosts in the tiny town?
When he considered all the groups that could be involved his head hurt. Cops. South American drug cartels. American drug dealers. Aliens. Weird old people. The fact that that so many people were involved was the only thing that stopped them from going to any one of them. The press, or the media or whatever, he thought. That’s the only logical thing to do. If they told the media, it would make it that much more difficult for the groups that were after them. Wouldn’t it? That’s how these things worked—especially this day in age. Anything crazy, or unethical lost its power when faced with the general public. Nefarious entities had a really hard time getting away with plans when they were confronted with the outrage of the people. Unless the nefarious parties in question were larger than the media. If that’s the case, Xander thought, we are totally screwed.
***
Four hours later, they turned into the parking lot of a gas station a mile from Xander and Shay’s parents’ house. “OK,” Zak shut off the engine. “What’s the plan?”
Everyone was silent. The drive should have given them a chance to come up with something good, but that hadn’t proved the case.
“I’ll go in,” Sydney croaked.
“The fuck you will,” Xander glared at her.
“He’s right,” Shay frowned. “That’s just stupid. You haven’t even met our parents yet.”
“But whoever is here, is definitely here because of me.”
“And that is exactly why you can’t go in there,” Shay told her.
“I can’t deal with anyone else getting hurt because of me.”
“And if our parents knew the whole situation they wouldn’t change a thing. They would tell us to get you far, far away from here,” Shay assured her.
“Hell, they would want us all out of here,” Xander nodded.
“It’s true,” Zak agreed, looking at Syd in the mirror. “Look, I know exactly how you feel, but—”
“I’m pretty sure you don’t!”
“—OK, not exactly, but I do know what it’s like to not have parents. And I, more than you, know how much Heather and Richard don’t deserve this. But I can, for a fact, tell you they love you without knowing you. And they love their kids more than they love themselves. They don’t want anyone hurt—let alone someone who doesn’t deserve it.”
Xander felt a rush of warmth for Zak. Zak got on his nerves sometimes, but the guy was family. His mom and dad didn’t know strangers. They had taken Zak in just as they had Xander, and they would with Sydney. “So, that settles that. You are not going in there.” He could tell she wanted to argue, but she wisely chose not to say anything.
“They didn’t mention Zak, did they?” Xander asked Shay.
“Nope.”
“Then, Zak, I think you should stay here. Keep the car running.” He knew it went without saying that Zak was supposed to also help keep Sydney out of the fray too. Zak caught his eye in the rearview mirror and nodded. Sydney glared at him but he ignored it. “ET, you stay here too.” ET didn’t argue.
Shay turned sideways in her seat. “So, Xander and I will go in and see what is going on. Try to get a handle on the situation.”
“I don’t think we should split up,” Syd grumbled.
“If we get taken by…whatever…then you guys go to the media,” Xander insisted.
“We should go to the media now!” Syd grabbed his wrist.
Shay reached for Syd’s hand and she took it. “We should, but we don’t know what the hell is going on. What if this is the police? What if they think we murdered people? They could arrest Mom and Dad both as accessories or something. Going to the media could also hurt our defense. We could be considered on the run if we don’t show up now. What if they find us and end up shooting us? If it is the cops, they know about Xander’s record.”
Xander stiffened, but didn’t disagree with his sister. She glanced at him apologetically. “It’s true,” he shrugged.
“But what if it’s not the cops?” Syd asked, her voice thin and worried.
“Then we will need you to go to the cops. Or the media. Both,” Shay told her.
“Goddammit,” Syd muttered dropping her head into her hands.
Xander lifted her face. “Hey, it is what it is. We move forward, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
He kissed her for a long moment before pulling away. Breathless, he addressed Zak. “Drop us off at the corner. Stay close though.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sydney watched Xander and Shay hurry down the sidewalk with guilt twisting her stomach. This was all her fault. She moved to the front seat when Shay and Xander got out. Now she, Zak, and ET sat in silence watching their friends walk to what could be their doom. The neighborhood was incongruously lovely. The lawns were manicured. Trees were old and huge. It was a typical Chicago suburb and Syd felt terrible for bringing this corrosive chaos into it.
“I feel like we should do something?” she grumbled.
Zak raised a brow. “What?”
“I don’t know,” she huffed. “Something other than just sitting here doing nothing.”
“There’s not much more we can do than listen and wait.”
Sydney had made Shay swear she would call her before they went inside. She would leave the phone out so that the three of them could listen in. It was the only way they could safely join in and know what was going on. Both of them had disliked the idea at first, insisting that they could be caught and it could cause a lot more trouble. But, in the end, they realized it was the only way Sydney was going to accept them going into the meeting without her.
“I really don’t like this,” she told Zak, unnecessarily.
“I don’t particularly like it either. I don’t like the entire situation. But what the hell else ar
e we supposed to do?”
Sydney sighed. Zak came off as arrogant and aloof, but he was incredibly protective of his friends. She knew he had been upset with his family being in danger and, to some degree, he held it against her. “I’m sorry,” she told him.
Zak glanced at her for a long moment. “I know,” he nodded and patted her knee. “I know you didn’t want to drag anyone into this. And I also know Xander and Shay wouldn’t allow you to go through this alone. And I won’t let them deal with this alone.” After another pause he added, “you either.”
Sydney’s breath caught in her throat and she tried to smile at him but she knew it looked more strained than pleasant. Xander and Shay turned towards a house half way down the long block. She could see Shay get her phone out and tapped at the screen. Moments later Syd’s phone trilled the call. She answered without saying hello and immediately muted her end. There was no need to accidentally alert everyone to the fact that they were listening and the line was open.
Through the speaker phone, Syd and Zak listened to Xander and Shay knock before opening the door to their parents’ house.
Shay: Mom?
Woman: Shay? Xander? Footsteps across hardwood floors. I’m so glad you are here!
Xander: What the hell is going on?
There was a rustling and Shay made an oomph sound. Apparently, Shay got her hugging strength from her mother.
Heather: These men showed up yesterday. Looking for you two. When we told them we weren’t going to call you unless they had a warrant, or without a lawyer, they arrested your father.
Xander: Are you sure they arrested him? Are you sure they are cops?
Heather: Well…who else would they be?
Shay: Did they ever show you a badge?
Heather: I…well…I don’t remember.
Xander: So they might not even be the police?
Heather: Ask them yourself! One of them is in the living room.
Show No Fear (The Dyian Series Book 2) Page 9
