Secrets Return (Leftover Girl Book 2)

by C. C. Bolick

  “What about your jobs?”

  “A cover,” he said. “Although Health Made Simple is a real company, dedicated to treatments which help people from Golvern live longer lives on Earth.”

  “Before we came to Credence, I had three outfits. Total.”

  Mom sighed. “I’m sorry. You deserved better, but I never realized you worried about clothes.”

  “I don’t.” I balled my fist and shook it at Dad. “You refused to let me get a license.”

  “You’ll never need a license,” Dad said. “Of that I am certain.”

  “A year ago, I was normal. Yesterday I was from another planet. Today I’m—”

  “Important?” Dad asked.

  “I’m royalty from another planet, which sounds like something you pulled from the pages of a book I’ve read. My brother is lying in a hospital bed, and the same people who were after him will probably come for me at any moment. And you won’t call for help.”

  Dad’s words came out in a patient flow. “I won’t call because it simply isn’t necessary. We mobilized a team after Lorraine found the book.”

  “You recognized the language,” I said. “You knew the notes were written by someone from Golvern.”

  Dad nodded. “This hospital is surrounded by fighters with loyalty to the Lucha Noir. Dozens of fighters. If someone comes here to harm you, there’ll be retribution, to say the least.”

  “Who’s coming?” Bailey asked, with Pade following behind. She removed the cap from the bottle in her hand and took a sip.

  “No one for you to worry about,” Dad said and stood. “Wish me luck.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “To face your mother, of course. I did make a promise.”

  Bailey coughed into her bottle, drizzling coke down her chin. “Mrs. Pearson is back?”

  “Want me to come?” Mom asked, but the tone of her voice suggested she’d rather clean every bathroom in the hospital.

  “No,” Dad said, “I think just me would be better. Perhaps I can convince her not to sign our death warrants.”

  Bailey slumped into a chair. “Uncle Justin, please don’t make jokes right now. I want to know the second you find out what’s wrong with Chase.”

  Dad raised an eyebrow. “Hopefully Chase will be fine, but I’ll add you to the list.” He took another look at Mom. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” Mom looked at Pade and Bailey. “Perhaps I will check on security.” She patted my hand and stood, following Dad out of the room.

  Pade handed me a coke. I twisted the cap and took a sip of the fizzy liquid. It burned my throat as I dropped into one of the chairs, but it was a taste I’d miss. “I wonder if they have sodas on Golvern.”

  “How long have you known?” Bailey asked.

  I crossed my arms. “How long have you known?”

  “Since we stayed in Colorado. I lied to you about the night Dad fought with Pade. I found a way through that door.”

  “Mom never told us,” Pade said, leaning against the window. “It feels kind of dumb knowing I’ve had this power for seventeen years and never knew how to use it.”

  “Your turn,” Bailey said.

  “I dreamed about Chase the night you and Pade left for Colorado. I remembered running away, and that Chase was my brother, but nothing before. My power didn’t return until after the coma.”

  “Mom said you got a reboot,” Bailey said. She shrugged as Pade gave her the ‘can’t believe you said that’ look. “I wanted you to tell me, but I couldn’t wait. I had to know.”

  “How long have you known about me?” I asked.

  “Since the car, when Chase said you were his sister. Do you remember everything now?”

  “No,” I said. “Chase took me to the spaceship last night, but my real mother doesn’t even know how to help.”

  “You went up there?” Bailey asked, pointing at the ceiling.

  “Would you have gone back to Golvern without saying goodbye?” Pade asked, his words almost a whisper.

  I looked into his eyes, unsure of how to answer. “I didn’t.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “Imagine what it would be like on Golvern,” Bailey said as her eyes grew with wonder. “Mom told us about the two suns and all of the water.”

  Pade snickered. “I’d never go there. We’d be outcasts, remember? They don’t want people there who don’t have a twin.”

  Bailey stared at me. “Chase once told me his birthday was October fourteenth. Is that your birthday too?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “That means you’ll be seventeen before me. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t think you’d understand.”

  “We didn’t think you’d understand about our power. If only we’d talked before. This whole situation makes me mad.” Bailey’s face lit up and she snapped her fingers. “Let’s play truth or dare, but without the dare part.”

  “That’s just truth,” Pade said.

  “Right,” Bailey said, “that’s what we need more of around here.”

  I thought of the night at Angel’s house. “Did you really spill the tequila?”

  Bailey giggled. “Guilty. And the Ouija board—that was me too. What about those Ronald rumors?”

  “That he’s crazy?” I smiled. “I might have had something to do with that.”

  Pade frowned and took a sip of his coke. “Football.”

  “What?” I asked, choking on my drink.

  “Prepare yourself,” Bailey said.

  Pade laughed, his face twisting in misery. “Why do you think people always said I had a gift for throwing a football? Turns out I was using my power and didn’t know it.”

  I smiled, wishing I was close enough to touch him. “You should have told me.”

  “I wanted to tell you so many times.” Pade crossed the floor to stand before me. “Then I learned about New York and realized you really were different. I knew I needed to find the right way to tell you, otherwise you’d never understand. I considered showing you my power, but I was afraid of scaring you.”

  “If you only you had.”

  “That day when Collin got hurt, when you opened your eyes and looked up at me, I almost spilled everything. I never wanted to lie to you, but Mom insisted.” He shook his head, disgust souring his features. “She knew you were like us all along. I can’t believe she made me lie.”

  “Do you forgive me for wanting to go back?” I asked.

  He cleared his throat. “Now that the secrets are out, be honest. How do you really feel about me?”

  I pulled the gold chain from under my shirt.

  He stared, a glistening ray of hope spreading across his face, as if I’d said three words instead.

  * * * * *

  “The boys are fine,” Aunt Charlie said to Mom, as I reached Chase’s room. “Not a single car has passed down our street that doesn’t belong, but I don’t know how long before someone realizes we’re in this hospital. It could be worse if—”

  “Jes,” Mom said. “You can see Chase now.”

  I looked from Mom to Aunt Charlie. Both stared at me with pity, but their eyes also held a love that was undeniable. I couldn’t find an ounce of hatred within me for either of them.

  Evelyn sat next to the bed where an IV tube ran into Chase’s arm. The machine next to him beeped and groaned, giving a series of vitals that seemed almost normal. Maybe I was wrong to worry. She held his hand, whispered his name, and touched his hair with the other hand. Dad stood near the tiny window, staring as I approached the bed. Evelyn looked up, shifting to stand, but I waved her to stay in the chair. Circling the bed, I gripped Chase’s other hand.

  I stood and listened as Chase’s chest rose and fell. His eyelids fluttered, but never opened. Evelyn hummed a soft tune, one that made me feel cozy inside. As if I was never lost on another planet a million miles away. Like I could take on the world and win. Her eyes met mine with a softness and understanding so real I cou
ldn’t look away. She held out an arm and I moved to her side of the bed. Her hand brought a warmth to my cheek that dissolved the uncertainty in my stomach.

  Dad checked a message on his phone and approached the bed. “There’s more to this story Jes…Kayden,” he said, correcting himself as Evelyn frowned. “Whatever Chase joined wasn’t the Lucha Noir.”

  “There is another opposition group?” Her eyes grew wide.

  “If Chase were with the Lucha Noir, I’d know. My guess is he’s in danger, but not from the Lucha Noir. You’ve got to get him back to Golvern.”

  “And my daughter?”

  Looking away, Dad sighed. “You can’t protect them both. I think we’ve proven that.”

  Evelyn took my hand, squeezing as she let out a sob. Her eyes held a longing, deep enough for an ocean of tears. “We are out of time.”

  “Wait,” I said, as the truth dawned. “You’re leaving me with them?”

  She gripped my hand as if she’d never let go. “If what your…dad says is correct, Chase is in more trouble than I imagined. He trusted the wrong people and has managed to lead them to you. I am sorry, but to keep you safe, we must keep the two of you apart.”

  No matter what happened, I had to lose someone. I felt like crying again, at the unfairness of it all, but my eyes stayed dry. Evelyn couldn’t hide her fear for Chase or her fear for me. She was willing to trust the people who raised me. No one had a choice.

  “I wish things were different this time,” she said. “My darling, I cannot imagine another day without you.”

  A gun appeared in Dad’s hand. “How many guards did you bring?”

  “Two outside the doors,” she said. “Another six outside the hospital. Please do not harm them.”

  “We will try to escape without casualties, but it’s important they think we’re stealing Kayden away.”

  “Why does it matter?” I asked.

  “Because,” Dad said, “we don’t know who Chase is involved with. It could be one or more of her guards. We will give your mother a diversion to get Chase out of here safely.”

  She nodded. “The Lucha Noir will protect my daughter?”

  “Until our deaths. She is the Honra Ril,” he said, pushing me forward. “Our Honored Girl. Say your goodbyes, but know you will see them again. I promise.”

  I hugged my mother and leaned over Chase, kissing his cheek. “And I promise you I’ll come back.”

  “We’ll buy you ten minutes to get him unhooked and back to your ship,” Dad said. He pulled me out of the room and into the crowded hall. Mom rushed forward, from where she stood by the door.

  “Update?” Dad asked.

  “Charlie took Pade and Bailey back to the house. They’ll drive to Joel’s and have the boys back in ten. Two guards outside the doors and another six outside the building.”

  “Good, she was honest with us.” Dad looked at Mom as he led us to the exit. “Signal our fighters to stand down. It’s important the guards think we’re taking her by force.”

  Force? “What do you mean—”

  “Scream when appropriate,” Mom said.

  As the doors opened, a blast of voices hit us. We shuffled through the main E.R. waiting room, squeezing between two wheelchairs and a man with crutches. The man was waving one in the air, complaining about the wait.

  “Gun!” a nurse on the other side of the reception window screamed.

  Dad gripped my arm as two men in black suits rushed forward. “Get down,” he yelled as if commanding an army of troops. Waving the gun brought more screams from around the room. The man with crutches stumbled into a nearby observation room. People around us ran for the sliding doors, fighting to escape into the night.

  Dad fired the gun, hitting a bullseye with the three cameras, each at a different corner of the room. Shards of glass rained down on the remaining people.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Saw that on TV,” he said. “Always wanted to try it.”

  One of the guards reached for me. Mom punched him in the stomach and hooked her foot behind his knee. The man fell to the ground as she kicked his side.

  Dad shoved his elbow into the other guard’s face. The man groaned, grabbing for his face as Dad hurled him over a row of chairs. “Two down.”

  Mom took a gun from the hand of the man under her foot. She looked over it, scrunching her nose. “These weapons used to have a paralyzer setting.”

  “Here,” Dad said and reached for the gun, “let me help.”

  “No,” she said, “it hasn’t been that long. Let me figure it out.”

  Dad laughed. “Don’t kill anyone while you’re figuring it out.”

  She hit a button and fired at a nearby trash can. The plastic disintegrated, leaving nothing but a square burn on the floor. “That wasn’t it. How much longer?”

  He looked at his watch. “We need to give them at least five more minutes.”

  Mom hit another button and fired the gun, this time at an empty wheelchair. The metal glowed, but when the light faded, the chair remained. She smiled, satisfied with herself.

  “Come on.” Dad pulled me toward the sliding doors. He circled an arm around my waist, lifting me over his shoulder.

  “Now,” Mom said.

  I screamed and kicked my feet, fighting against Dad as he carried me outside, but I couldn’t see the people running around us, not with my perfect view of the ground. Crashes sounded from where row after row of cars were parked, along with spinning tires as people raced to exit the parking lot. He turned around and around, until I felt like puking.

  “Surely, they’ve seen us,” Mom said.

  “Why don’t we just zap ourselves home?” I asked as he sat me down on my feet.

  A popping noise sounded as something hit the ground near my feet.

  Mom shot at a man in a suit and he fell to the ground, frozen in place. Another guard appeared and Mom spun around, hitting him with a second shot.

  A high-pitched sound zipped by my head.

  “For goodness sake Jes,” Mom said, “get down.”

  “Down where?”

  “Anywhere,” they both said at the same time.

  “I’ll cover her.” Mom waved me behind her. We ran along the row of shrubs and dove between two cars.

  Dad fired a series of shots and ran through the shrubs, sliding on the gravel around the square bushes as he reached the pavement. He landed next to us, almost on his knees.

  “A little out of shape?” Mom asked.

  “I don’t know if I’ll make it to Atlanta at this rate.” He coughed, a ragged sound I feared worse than any gun.

  “You weren’t making up being sick,” I said.

  He put an arm around me. “Sorry for all of this. The timing couldn’t have been worse. If we make it out alive, I promise to teach you how to drive.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, sitting next to my parents, wedged between two cars because armed guards from another planet were shooting at us.

  Dad checked his watch again. “Want to do the honors?” he asked Mom.

  “I can get myself home,” I said.

  He grinned, pride shining in his eyes. “That’s my girl.”

  One More Goodbye

  When we appeared in the empty living room, Mom and Dad both stared at me, a look of awe on their faces.

  “You said you’d get yourself home,” Dad said, “but I wasn’t sure. I heard the fear in your voice.”

  “Yeah, I was scared. People were shooting at us.”

  “Fear is an issue,” Mom said. “It’s the biggest obstacle to using our power. Most people spend years mastering that skill. Adult years. Some never do.”

  “But you figured it out,” Dad said. “In two months, you’ve found a way to tap into your power. Then you set aside fear when you needed your power the most.”

  “It’s no big deal,” I said.

  Mom looked incredulous. “It’s a huge deal.”

  Voices sounded as Danny and Collin opened
the front door, protesting before Dad could say the word ‘move.’

  Dad held up his hands. “No arguing. You know how this works. You’ve got twenty minutes. Pack whatever will fit in your bags.”

  He looked at me. “Only take what’s most important to you. Everything else we’ll buy along the way.”

  “You don’t care about us,” Danny whined. “You only care about Jes. Everything we do is for her.”

  “You’re right.” Dad looked at his watch. “You’re pushing nineteen. Want to complain some more?”

  “Don’t argue with your father,” Mom said, with a frigid strictness I never knew she had.

  Danny’s mouth fell open.

  “We want to stay in Credence,” Collin yelled over and over, as they climbed the stairs.

  “Don’t tell them anything about tonight,” Mom said. “It’s safer that way.”

  “Do they know about our power?” I asked.

  Mom laughed. “Thank goodness, no. We might never get them in the car.”

  “I fear they’re getting close to figuring it out,” Dad said, “and I can only imagine the drama when they do.”

  “I still can’t believe you hid the truth all these years.”

  He grinned. “It wasn’t so hard, but it did get strange the day Collin was hurt. When Pade called, I was still ten minutes from the house. I pulled my truck over and came immediately. Bailey had brought Danny inside to clean up. Collin was out cold. I thought he’d lost too much blood and took him to the hospital, but it turns out his issue is with seeing too much blood. Lorraine circled back in the van to grab Danny.”

  “Danny talked through what happened,” Mom said. “All the way to the hospital. I’m not sure if the sight of you or Collin scared him worse.”

  “When you freaked out,” Dad said, “I wasn’t sure how to handle you, save Collin, and keep our secret at the same time.”

  “Good thing Pade was there,” Mom said, giving me a wink.

  Dad didn’t notice as he checked his watch. “Sixteen. Clock is ticking, Jes.”

  “What about Bailey and Pade? What’s going to happen with them?”

  Mom started for her bedroom. “They can’t go where we’re going.”