Careless Whisper

by Stacy Claflin

  Owen glared at him. “You burned that hope and sent the cop the video, remember?”

  Sam paced and continued swearing.

  “What are we going to do now?”

  “We have to leave!” Sam turned to him. “They might be able to figure out where we are.”

  “You said you hid the location.”

  “There are always workarounds. And besides, someone might recognize the apartment.”

  “Like who? Nobody lives in this building, except squatters.”

  “All these units are the same.” Sam paced even faster. “Anyone who ever lived here would know where we are right away. This is bad. How could you have let me talk you into sending the video?”

  “You said it would get them off our trail! That they’d have to focus on other ways to find the girls. That we’d take the money we have and not worry about the rest.”

  “We need to go. Now!” Sam raced toward the hall. “We have to get the cash to the van.”

  Owen’s heart thundered, his breaths grew labored.

  What if they got caught? Sam had promised they wouldn’t, but he’d also made other claims that hadn’t panned out.

  He turned around and punched the wall. Pain seared through his knuckles, and blood dripped down his hand. It actually felt good. Somehow, it was better than the terror of getting caught and going to jail for the rest of his life.

  Maybe he should run away now. Joining forces with Sam had been the dumbest decision he’d ever made. And now it could cost him his future.

  He could run and hide. Deny ever being with Sam for any of this. It would be his word against his friend’s. He hadn’t touched any of the money without gloves. In fact, he’d been pretty careful not to touch most anything in the apartment. The police might believe him.

  Thud! Thump!

  “What are you doing in there?” Owen called.

  “Gathering everything! Unlike you. Get in here!”

  Owen swallowed. It was now or never. He was either going all in or all out. If Sam escaped with the money, he would keep everything. But if he got caught, Owen could avoid that.

  That decided it. He crept over to the door and turned the handle.

  Something sounded outside. Or maybe that was just Sam in the other room.

  Scuffle.

  There it was again. It definitely sounded like it was coming from the other side of the door.

  Breath hitched, he closed one eye and looked out the peephole. Something green and crusty covered about half of it, making it nearly impossible to see anything out there. It was dark out, with not much light except for what came from the moon and the streetlights. Nothing direct.

  He inched over to the blinds and lifted one, barely. Peeked out.

  Someone in dark clothes crept by. He had something in his hand. It looked kind of like a gun.

  His heart skipped at least one beat, then hammered.

  Two more men followed the first, also dressed dark, also appearing to have weapons.

  The police had found them.

  Owen opened his mouth to call out to Sam, but he quickly shut it. He needed to find another way out. Through a window, maybe. That was the only option. There was no deck, no other door.

  He raced down the hall and to the bedroom just past where Sam was counting money. Stray items littered the room, and Owen had to maneuver himself over and around all of them to peek out the window.

  More armed men. Or maybe the same ones. It was impossible to tell. Either way, he couldn’t get out this window.

  He hurried down the hall.

  Sam appeared. “What are you doing?”

  Owen whipped around and brought a finger to his mouth and narrowed his eyes.

  “What?”

  “Shut up!” Owen whisper-yelled.

  Sam marched over. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “There are police outside,” Owen whispered.

  “For real?” Sam’s face paled before his brows furrowed. “You can’t be serious. Are you just trying to trick me?”

  “No! Have a look for yourself. We need to get out of here!”

  Sam swore. “This can’t be happening. How can they be here so quickly?”

  “Maybe they figured out our location based on where the girls were dug up.”

  “Don’t be stupid. They must’ve traced the call or the video. That’s the only explanation. They shouldn’t have been able to—that’s what I was told—but they probably have better tech.”

  “Who cares how they found us?” Owen snapped. “We need to get out of here. I can’t go to jail! All I wanted was a new life. Not this!”

  “Shut up. You knew this was a possibility. We have to hide the money.” Sam looked around. “Actually, you start hiding it. I’m going to look outside for myself.”

  Owen clenched his fists. “Fine.”

  Sam ran into the other bedroom. A moment later, he swore. Then he reappeared in the hallway. “What are you doing, just standing there?”

  “What good is it to hide the money, if we’re going to be caught?”

  “Because we’re not getting caught. We’re escaping, and later we’ll return from wherever and get what’s ours. Hurry! And don’t walk in front of the windows, or turn any lights off. Can’t have them thinking we’re in here.”

  “A little late for that,” Owen mumbled.

  Sam glowered at him but didn’t say anything as he entered the bedroom. “Go in the other room and look for a loose floorboard or something. Something that wouldn’t be obvious.”

  “Other than the safe?”

  He rolled his eyes. “It’s already full, genius.”

  “Okay. The mattress.”

  “I said not obvious. That’ll be the first place they look.”

  “Fine.” Owen went into the other room. Checked outside first. More men had gathered.

  He could hardly breathe. There was no way they were getting out without getting arrested. Given the stakes, they might even get shot. There were two other girls still buried, and the cops thought they’d killed that one girl who’d been strung out. Her fake wounds were from Halloween makeup. The police probably thought there were more buried girls. They’d never believe it was just the two.

  Maybe if Owen gave them their locations, they would believe him. Yeah, that could work in his favor. They might charge him with less if he worked with them. Or he could even get full immunity. There were lives on the line, after all. He knew where they were buried.

  “Did you find anything?” Sam appeared in the doorway.

  “Not yet.” Owen turned from the window. More armed men had gathered.

  “Have you even looked?”

  “Not yet,” Owen repeated.

  “I never should’ve picked you as my partner in crime!”

  “And I never should’ve said yes!”

  They stared each other down before Sam spoke. “No time to fight. We need to move the money. Now!”

  Owen looked back outside again, his heart sinking at the sight. “It’s pointless.”

  “It’s only pointless if they take our earnings!”

  “We’re never going to see the light of day if we get arrested. We buried people alive! They think we killed someone.”

  “Have you heard of lawyers? We’ll get a good one to get us out. Then we come back here and get our money. That’s a solid plan.”

  It was a horrible plan, but there was no way he could say that.

  “Look in the closet. I’m going to check the bathroom. Pretty sure I saw a loose board behind the toilet.”

  “I’m sure that isn’t gross at all.”

  Sam glared at him before whipping around and marching down the hall.

  Owen looked again. The men weren’t going anywhere.

  Not without arresting them.

  Knock, knock!

  His knees went weak. Why were the cops knocking? It was a trap.

  Or was it an opportunity? Owen could plead, offer to take them to the girls.

  He hurri
ed down the hall.

  Sam poked his head out of the bathroom. “What are you doing?”

  Owen ignored him and continued toward the door.

  Something crashed into his back. It was Sam’s shoulder. They both went flying. Owen hit a wall. Pain seared in his arm. He fell to the ground. Sam landed on top of him. Knocked the wind from his lungs. He struggled to breathe, to get up.

  Sam finally rolled off him. “If you open that door, I’ll shoot you.”

  Blood drained from his head. “You’ll what?”

  “You heard me!” Sam leaped to his feet and reached for a pocket.

  “You’d turn on me?”

  “If you’re going to open the door for the pigs!”

  Owen looked back and forth between the door and the former friend now threatening his life.

  Knock, knock!

  This time the pounding was louder, faster. Footsteps shuffled and deep voices sounded.

  Owen glared at Sam, who glowered right back at him.

  Crash!

  The door burst open. Men in full gear from head to foot stormed inside, aiming long guns at them.

  Owen felt something warm and wet run down his legs. The urine pooled at his feet, the stench filling air.

  “Smooth.” Sam shoved him.

  Owen lifted his arms into the air and blinked back tears. He didn’t want to go to jail, but he really didn’t want to die.

  Sam grabbed Owen and shoved his pistol against his temple.

  Click.

  If Owen had anything left in his bladder, he was sure it would’ve emptied again.

  “I’ll kill him!” Sam shouted. “I will!”

  Some of the large guns moved slightly, aiming for Sam rather than Owen.

  Owen struggled to breathe, tried to think of something to say that would save himself. But if he said he knew where the girls were, Sam would put a bullet in his head. And if he said much of anything else, the police would riddle him with their bullets.

  One of the cops said something. Owen couldn’t focus, couldn’t listen.

  Sam shouted, the sound ringing in his ear.

  A shot rang out.

  Owen’s ears rang. He squirmed away from Sam’s hold.

  Sam squeezed his shoulders and yanked him back, yelling threats.

  A cop stepped forward. “That was a warning shot. The next one will hit you.”

  Tears blurred Owen’s vision. He pulled himself free of Sam’s hold, raising his hands as high as they would go. “I surrender! I’ll tell you where the girls are buried!”

  Bang!

  Another shot. Sharp pain seared his left arm. Warm blood soaked into his shirt. The bullet exploded into the wall near him.

  Owen grabbed his wound. It was only a graze. On his arm. He was going to be okay.

  For now.

  Several more shots rang out.

  Owen threw himself to the ground. Covered his head, curled into a ball.

  Chaos ensued above. Yelling, more shots. Police stormed inside.

  Sam shouted. Threatened to take his own life.

  Heart pounding, Owen opened his eyes.

  His friend held the pistol to his own temple.

  Bang!

  Owen bolted up. “No!”

  Sam didn’t collapse. Red colored his shirtsleeve. He dropped his weapon.

  One of the cops cuffed him while another read him his rights.

  Another officer yanked Owen to his feet and cuffed him.

  “I know where the girls are buried,” Owen said. “And the dead girl isn’t really dead! She’s passed out in the living room.”

  He hoped it would be enough to earn him his freedom. But at least all of this was now over.

  Chapter 39

  Alex pulled into the driveway and rubbed his eyes. Outside, the sun was rising. He’d spent the whole night at the station following the stakeout then waiting to see if the two girls were really buried where the one kid said they were.

  They had been, and they were both alive. Even the girl they’d thought was dead was actually alive. Strung out on an overdose of meth, from the looks of it, but the doctors said she’d make it.

  What Alex wanted was a week to sleep, but he’d be lucky to get a few hours. The good news was he had what he needed to prove to Zoey that staying in town was safe. The abductors had admitted to working alone—they’d been genuinely confused when asked about a kidnapping ring.

  It was over. Everyone could rest easy now. And that was Alex’s plan once he got inside.

  He stumbled out of the car, barely remembering to set the alarm as he made his way inside the quiet house.

  Upstairs, Ariana’s bedroom door was open. She always slept with it closed.

  Alex stepped inside. Her bed was untouched, still made.

  She hadn’t come home last night.

  A mixture of worry and anger ran through him. He checked his phone for missed texts. She hadn’t let him know where she was, and if she’d let Zoey know, she hadn’t passed along the message to him.

  It was one thing to miss curfew, but it was an altogether different matter to not come home at all.

  He marched to his bedroom, finding the door still locked. Muttering under his breath, he found the key on the shelf then unlocked it. Picked up Zoey’s phone from her nightstand. No messages from Ariana on the screen.

  “Where’s Ari?” he asked.

  Zoey mumbled something before rolling over and looking at him. “What? How’d you get in? I locked the door.”

  “It’s my bedroom, too. Not that it matters. Where is Ariana?”

  “Isn’t she in bed?”

  “If she was, do you think I’d be here asking you?”

  Zoey sat up. “She didn’t come home last night?”

  “No.”

  “Where is she?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know. Is she safe? Did she decide to sleep over at Damon’s to spite us?”

  “She knows better than that. You’ve made it clear they won’t be allowed to see each other until they’re forty if they make that mistake.”

  “We also know how pissed she is about the prospect of moving away.” He glared at her. “I’m going to call into the station and see if I missed anything reported after the dance. You call her and see if you can get ahold of her.”

  Alex stormed out of the room without giving Zoey a chance to respond.

  Nothing unusual had been called into the precinct after the dance.

  He called Damon. The kid was supposed to have brought Ariana back home after the dance.

  Damon didn’t answer.

  Either he was with Ari and they were avoiding calls, or something had happened to the both of them—like a car wreck. But why wouldn’t that have been reported?

  No, the likely possibility was that Ariana was furious about the idea of moving, so she’d decided not to come home. Figured she wouldn’t see Damon anyway if they moved, so why not spend the night?

  This was all Zoey’s fault. If she hadn’t decided on her own that the family would move, none of this would’ve happened.

  He returned to the bedroom. “Did you reach her?”

  “She’s at Emily’s.”

  “That’s what she says?”

  Zoey nodded. “They decided to have a sleepover.”

  “Without letting us know?”

  “Apparently.”

  “You didn’t ask why?”

  “No. She’s safe, that’s all that matters.”

  Alex clenched his jaw. “So, you’re fine with this?”

  “At least she isn’t at Damon’s! She’s with her best friend, and she’s safe. What else do we need to know?”

  “How about why she didn’t bother to tell either of us her change of plans? And why are you okay with this?”

  “We both know you blame me, so what’s the point?”

  “Of course I do! If it weren’t for your insistence on moving away from everything, she wouldn’t have left upset last night. Would you have wanted to leave
everything behind at that age? What if your dad had insisted on moving you to Japan? Would you have left me? Macy? Your chance to graduate with your class?”

  Zoey tucked some hair behind her ears and narrowed her eyes. “It seems like a big deal to her now, but she’ll get over it. At least she’ll be safe.”

  “There’s more to life than safety! Life involves risk—every part of it does. Love, growing up, sports, anything worth having has risk.”

  “But we don’t need to stay somewhere that has a notorious kidnapping ring! One that’s been focused on us in the past.”

  “These abductions had nothing to do with the ring or our family! And the ring is falling apart—it grows weaker with each leader that’s taken down.”

  “Even with them out of the picture, things still happen around here. Can you really tell me you want to raise our family here?”

  “Yes! Our entire support system is here—friends, family, school, and work. It’s all within the city limits.”

  “Except my parents.”

  “They’ll be back.”

  They stared each other down.

  One of the twins cried in the next room.

  Zoey climbed out of bed. “I’ll check on them. You pick up Ariana.”

  “I haven’t gotten a wink of sleep. I’m going to bed. Emily’s parents can drop her off. Or you can pick her up. Or she can find her own way home, just as she found her way there without telling us.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes.” He grabbed a t-shirt from his drawer and marched into the hallway.

  “Where are you going?” she demanded.

  “I’m going to sleep in the garage apartment. You don’t want me in here, anyway.” With that, he stormed downstairs and into their old living space.

  It was stuffy, so he cracked a window before changing into the fresh shirt and climbing into bed. He couldn’t sleep despite how tired he was, so after a few minutes of tossing and turning, he grabbed his phone and called Ari. Paced as he waited for her to pick up.

  “Hey, Dad,” she answered.

  “Are you really at Emily’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “If I drive over to Damon’s, I won’t find you there?”

  “No. I’m at Emily’s house. We decided to have a sleepover. It’s been a long time.”

  He took a deep breath. “You didn’t think to call your mom or me?”