Trapped (Here Trilogy) (15 page)

“Shit, Milo! Frexing shit!”

I grabbed his arm. “West, we’ve got to get out of here!”

“I’ve got to flush this shit!” he cried.

“They aren’t here for that! That doesn’t even make any sense! It’s legal, remember?”

He looked at me, eyes wide with panic. “I’ve been mailing it out of state!” he gasped.

“What!”

“I’ve been mailing it to a few of my friends at different colleges. I put a bogus address as the mailing address and I put a house they’ve scoped out as the return address and—”

“This is not about THAT!” I practically screamed in his ear.

I grabbed him by the arm and flung him out of the bathroom. “We need to get out of here now!”

“What?”

“They’re here for me West! And they’re not police. They’re bad people. And I need to get out now so please help me!”

He snatched his current baggie to his chest as his eyes narrowed on me.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

I swallowed hard, barely able to get air in or out as West's blue eyes blinked at me, anger brimming just beneath suspicion. He grabbed my shoulder, squeezing. “Milo, what’s going on? Who are Nick and Vera?”

I shook my head, unable for a full second to answer him. There was a loud pounding on the door. “Denver Police,” someone called. “Open up.”

“West, they’re
aliens
.”

I SAID IT the way you might reveal, I don’t know, an “A” on a tough final to your mom: like it was important, but nothing to get too worked up about.

West’s face reacted appropriately. His eyebrows scrunched down low over his eyes and then shot up before he grabbed my shoulders with both hands. His lips peeled back, the expression he'd worn that night, two years ago, that we had wrecked Uncle William's Escalade.

“What the hell are you talking about?” A low boom echoed from the door—too close!—and I grabbed West's arm off my shoulder and squeezed his wrist. “West, this is real! We need to get out of here! They're going to
kill
me!
”

In case he didn't get the point, I jerked him one more time. He must have thought I was nuts, because he threw my arm off and dashed back into the bathroom. “West, please!” In that moment, I didn't even know what I was asking for. My brain had started slowing down, part of me accepting the inevitability of my capture while the other part considered jumping out the bathroom window.

I slammed the bathroom door shut and leaned against it, panting. “West, remember when you thought you saw Nick and Vera disappear from the room? That’s because they did because they really are aliens and I know it’s crazy but I need to get
away
!”

I finished screaming, tears pouring down my cheeks, and that finally caught his attention.

“Whoa. You’re—”

BOOM-BANG. The front door had been knocked down! I had the sad thought that I was about to become bait, but at least I would see Mom, when the bathroom door slammed into my back.

West caught me, and we turned to stare at the two hulks in the doorway. One of them raised one of the weird guns I remembered from their compound: short barrel, strange design. He pointed it my way, producing a red laser mark right over my heart, and West gasped.

Then there was a crackling sound, and the other one crumpled. My body thrust into action; I kicked my would-be shooter in the groin and he doubled over, groaning.

West lunged forward, and I heard the crackling sound again. I realized West has a Taser, and he was applying it to the guy I kicked.

“WEST?”

Shaking and white as a sheet, he pointed to an open window over the tub. “You first,” he cried.

I backed up. “No! I...can't!”

“There's a balcony, it has a rope ladder! Go!”

When I still hesitated, he said, “Fine, I'll go!”

West heaved his body out the window just as one of the guards, the first he’d shocked, began picking himself up. I threw myself over the window sill and tumbled out behind him, landing on West and knocking us both to the balcony floor just as the bathroom wall over our heads exploded.

“Holy shit!” West cried.

He pulled me up and tossed me toward the rope ladder dangling from the balcony.

“Milo,
go
!”

I went over the railing without a second thought, making it halfway down the swaying ladder before I lost my grip and fell. I landed on a potted plant and cried out as its sharp leaves pierced my leggings. Then West was there, and he was dragging me behind him, streaking through a courtyard. Dark shadows zoomed around us, and a hand was reaching for me when West pulled me sharply left, and we were in a tunnel that must have been some kind of modern art. I saw light, and West went out first, then yanked my arm and we were running again. Everything was a swirling mess of grass and shrubs and apartment walls as West jerked me behind him just like Nick had not so long ago.

We ran between apartment buildings and I saw people through the windows; regular people living regular lives. I felt a strong longing for Dad, for my old life, and just as quickly re-acknowledged that was over. Gone. This life was mine now, and imperfect though it was, I wanted to hang onto it. Still clutching West's hand, I lengthened my strides, feeling the sting of cold air on my cheeks and the breeze from my cover-up/dress blowing up around my leggings. I was missing a sock, I noticed, but I didn't let it slow me down.

We burst into a parking lot and West muttered, “Hell yes,” and then we were at the bottom of another apartment building and West said, “Jump” as he pushed me over an iron railing framing someone’s patio. I landed in a crouch as West sailed over and I heard the heavy footfall of pursuers as he shoved a wicker table out of the way, yanked open the door to a supply closet, and pushed me inside.

It was a small space, no bigger than a broom closet, filled with ski gear and smelling of mildew. My pulse rushed in my ears as we heard more shouting, followed by the static sound of walkie-talkies. I wondered why they were using those when there was Bluetooth now. Thinking that reminded me of Vera, which reminded me of Nick, and for a long second I had to struggle not to puke.

West's arm went around me, pulling me against his side; I was shaking hard, which I noticed because West wasn't shaking at all.

“I expect a story,” he said in a low voice.

My breath hitched, somewhere between a sob and a gasp, and his tone turned gentle as his hand found mine. I whimpered, trying not to cry and draw attention to us. I could still hear them outside. Probably about to find us. What would they do to me this time? What about West? And did they already have Nick?

“This sucks so bad.” My voice quivered, and West hugged me closer.

“Whatever happened, you can tell me. Remember, I'm your Bestie Westie.” I'd called him that one time when I wanted him to let Aerie and I take his car for a spin when I was still fifteen.

“I know, and I'm so sorry for this! It's just...I really needed to know about my mom. But I already knew!”

I just didn’t want to admit it. Why else would Vera and Nick have left without waiting to see if West had any news?

My body shook with quiet sobs and West patted my shoulder. We hadn't heard voices for a while, but I knew they were still out there. And I thought there was no way they wouldn’t find us.

I cried some more, and after a long time, West moved in front of me. My eyes had adjusted so I could see how serious he looked when he said, “Milo, what are you taking? You can tell me,” he added. “No judgment.”

“You sound like your dad,” I said in a hoarse voice.

He scoffed. “Proving you are on something.”

When I didn't answer, he rubbed his head. “Shit, either I'm tripping or you are. I just thought you told me something about some frexing aliens.”

“I did. West, this is real.” I rubbed my eyes and tried my best to drive it home. “Nick and Vera... They're not human. They're here from another planet. I swear they are, and no, I'm not on anything.”

“Right,” he laughed. “I want to try it.”

“West.” I grabbed his forearm, resisting the urge to squeeze it hard. “I'm serious! Nick and Vera...” I had to struggle to make myself say it. “Nick and Vera are aliens. I know it's hard to believe, but I mean it. That was real, when you thought they disappeared. I wish I hadn’t laughed at you then but you have to believe me now. Those people were from the Department of Defense, and they're after
me
.” I waited a second while his face grew serious. “And the virus in Golden isn’t really a virus. It’s them!”

West shook his head, raking his hands back through his dark hair. The expression on his face was locked somewhere between anger and disbelief. “Milo, if this is some kind of crazy elaborate intervention, I swear to God.” He brought his face closer to mine. “Did my mom put you up to this? My dad? Are they waiting for me outside with Father Oscar? Really, you have to tell me. We’re supposed to friends.”

“We're cousins,” I whispered.

My heart ached as he sank down to the floor, holding his head between his hands.

I knelt beside him, finally realizing he was really freaking out. I put one hand on his shoulder; he shrank away. “West, please. Don't freak out,
please
. I'm telling the truth. I'm
scared
.” I rubbed his back. I remembered Aunt Skylar used to rub circles on our backs—she'd done that for me the day I'd found out about Dad's leukemia—so I thought it might help.

“It's okay, West. You're not crazy or anything. It's all my fault. But,” I fumbled, “we'll get out of this together. I swear, I'll get you out of this.”

His voice was a strangled screech. “I shocked a cop, Milo. I shocked a crapping
cop
.”

I leaned against the cement wall, closing my eyes. “He wasn’t a cop,” I said. “And Nick can help.”

They could erase memories or something. Nick and Vera could do anything, I told myself, just as long as the DoD didn't get them.

“We need to find Nick and Vera! We need their help.” I lowered my voice, worried we might be found in our closet. “How can we do that?”

“Are you kidding me?” West asked. He lifted his head, and I felt the weight of his inquisitive gaze.

“No.” My eyes stung as I said that, and I felt the awful crush of guilt. “Westie, I'm so sorry. I should have
never
come to your house. I was worried about my mom and I was desperate.” Saying the words, I was reminded of Nick in my bedroom that night.

“What do they want with you?” he asked in a surprisingly even voice.

“They want Nick and Vera,” I said. “I just know them.”

“What kind of aliens?” he asked, still sounding remarkably calm.

“Ones from another planet! West, I'm serious.”

“How do I
know
you're not on something?”

“Do you want me to say my ABCs backward?”

“It could be a mental break,” he said.

“Or it could be true.”

He rubbed his hair. “I'm tripping. God, I really want to be tripping now.”

I spent what felt like hours whispering the story, wondering when we’d be caught. When I was finished, and I'd answered all West's sharp-as-a-tack, mostly unanswerable questions, he shook his head.

“That's unbelievable, cuz.”

“Yeah, I know. But you believe me, right?”

He shook his head. “I guess so.” He looked down at his lap, and when he looked back up, his jaw was locked tightly. “What were they like?” he said softly. “The people at the DoD?”

“They were jerks. They tortured Nick and threatened me.”

His brows shot up. “Harsh.”

I flushed, then felt my eyes burn. I nodded. “That's why I have to find him. I couldn't stand it—” I inhaled deeply, trying not to set off another crying jag. “I'll flip out if they catch him again.”

West gave me a pointed look. “Ever heard of Guantanamo Bay?”

“I know. That place is disgusting. But Nick isn't a terrorist.”

“I thought you just told me he was a card-carrying member of Team Alien.”

“He's not carrying his card,” I said. “He cut it up or, I don't know...incinerated it, or made it cease to exist or something. Remember that part of the story?”

West nodded, lips pressed tight, like he was thinking. I tried to remember his many ethical stands. At one point, he'd wanted to be an ethics professor or a philosopher, so I was sure he must have some views on life and its value.

When his thoughtful expression turned darker, I touched his knee. “Thank you,” I said. “You know you might have saved my life.”

I scooted closer and hugged him, and to my kind-of surprise, West let me. “Thanks,” he said into my hair. Then he stood and put his hand against the door.

“Feeling claustrophobic?” I asked.

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean we should go yet.”

“How are we going to find Nick and Vera if we're in here?”

“I'm not sure I want to,” he said darkly. “I know they're your BFFs and all, but...” He shook his head.

“I understand.”

“That is some unequivocally scary shit.”

“Yeah. I know.” My eyes watered again, because I really did.

West sank to the floor, sitting cross-legged with his back against it. “Let's give it a little while longer. Let things clear out.”