Caught Between Worlds (The In-Betweens Book 3) Page 2

  “Harper! Oh honey, call me Liz. You know that.” She examined Harper closely, noting the bandages on her face. “Sweetie, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Mrs. Ros—Liz. I was sitting next to Maddie, but I think she got the brunt of it. Is she okay? Did the doctors give any updates?”

  Liz smiled… a genuine smile that went all the way to her eyes. Now that I could focus, I noticed how pretty she was. She and Maddie looked a lot alike. “Yes, Dr. Johnson came by. Maddie’s out of surgery and resting in recovery right now. They’ll let us see her in a few minutes. Apparently, she was thrown in the blast, so not only does she have a few burns, she was impaled by a piece of metal from the stands and it pierced her spleen.” Her voice faltered a bit. Mr. Rosen hugged her close and took over.

  “They were able to remove it and stop the bleeding, but it’ll take some time to heal. She’ll be fine.” He cleared his throat. “Dr. Johnson said she was lucky.” Before he could say anything more, a nurse appeared at his elbow.

  “Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Rosen? Are you ready to see your daughter now? She’s awake.”

  Cam used the opportunity to carefully untangle himself from Liz’s arm. He shot me another dramatic glare and I snorted. The two parents exploded into a flurry of activity as Liz gathered her things and Mr. Rosen looked for a trash can for their empty cups. Harper gave them each a hug and whispered something so softly in their ears even I couldn’t hear it.

  As the nurse led the couple away, the rest of us huddled in a little group. I’d been so focused on Maddie that I’d tuned out the rest of the chaos around us. But as my panic faded, the sounds of crying and whispering caught my attention. The feeling that the explosion hadn’t been an accident tugged at my gut. I wanted to talk about it but couldn’t until I had Molly and Harper alone.

  “Harper, since your parents are out of town, you should come home with me. I don’t like you staying by yourself.” I expected an argument and wasn’t disappointed.

  “I don’t know…” She let the unspoken thought dangle in the air, her eyebrows knitted together.

  I turned to Cam. “Would you mind getting the car?”

  He pulled the keys out of his pocket and jingled them. “Sure. I’ll meet you out front in five.” He dropped a kiss on my cheek and was gone.

  Before I could even start, Molly jumped in. “You need to stay with Sadie.” Her tone was firm and no-nonsense, the bossy Molly I’d known my whole life.

  Harper looked at me. “But I don’t know how your mom will feel about that. She doesn’t know what your dad knows. I’m sure she’ll have some objections to it.” What seemed like a semipermanent frown covered her face. I hated it. Hated that because of me, she’d been dragged into this mess.

  I forced myself to sound calm. “Dad will convince her. We can appear like normal people if we want to, you know.” She relaxed a little and I sealed the deal. “Besides, we’ll be asleep when they’re doing their thing and vice versa.” Going for a smile, I quipped, “We’ll be like two ships passing in the night.”

  To my delight, the corners of her mouth lifted. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

  “Please. Like that’s ever an issue.”

  Molly snapped her gum. “Great, it’s settled.” She pulled us toward the sliding doors. We walked outside and the cool night air grazed my skin, leaving goose bumps in its wake. Cam was waiting at the curb in his mother’s Toyota he’d borrowed for the night. I could hear the thump of a bass from inside. We started toward it when a voice stopped me for the second time that night.

  “Sadie!”

  Boone jogged up, out of breath. He stopped right before us and bent over to gulp air. Finally, he straightened, his face painted with worry. “Have you seen Maddie? Is she okay? I got here as fast as I could.”

  “Did you have to run here? What happened to your car?”

  “It wouldn’t start.” He waved his hand around like he was dismissing the subject. “Maddie?”

  “Sorry. Yeah, she’s here. She had to have surgery, but she’ll be okay. Her parents are with her in the recovery room.”

  His face paled. “Surgery?”

  I felt bad being the one to break the news to him. There was something special about his and Maddie’s relationship. I was sure everyone else at school felt it, too. Maddie and Boone, the couple, were iconic. It felt like I was intruding on an intimate moment I had no business being in.

  Without saying anything else, he barreled through the doors we’d come through. Another wave of guilt blasted through me. None of them would be in this mess if it weren’t for me.

  Molly pulled me from my thoughts with a quiet whisper. “Hey, who’s that?” She barely nodded her head to the corner of the parking lot. I turned, pretending to whisper in Harper’s ear, and took a quick look. A boy was standing in the shadows next to a black car, gazing directly at us. There was something familiar about him, though I was certain I’d never seen him before. My keen eyesight cut through the darkness. He had blond-brown hair and a lithe body. Dressed in jeans and a black sweater, he looked normal. But something about him made me nervous. It didn’t help that I couldn’t see his eyes. He wore dark sunglasses, which was weird since it was nighttime.

  I casually fiddled with the skirt of my dress before turning back to Molly. “I don’t know.”

  “Who are y’all talking about?” Harper craned her neck as she looked around the lot. “I don’t see anybody.”

  By this time, Cam had gotten out of the car and came over to join us. “Is everything okay? Y’all are just standing here.”

  I took another peek at the boy, but he was gone. Nervous vibes shot through me. I glanced at Molly and she looked equally confused.

  “Sadie? Hello?”

  “Sorry. We were saying bye to Molly. We’re ready to go.”

  Molly and I exchanged worried looks before I turned to help Harper into the car. Walking around to the passenger door, I glanced over to the darkened parking spot again. For a brief second, I thought I saw a flash of metal glinting in the dim light from a nearby light pole. But before I could decide if my eyes were playing tricks on me, it was gone again. I swept my eyes over the area but saw nothing. Giving up, I slid into the front seat, my mind churning over yet another mystery. Who was that guy and why was he hovering in the dark like that?

  Cam started the car and changed the heavy bass thumping to a pop station. Harper was quiet in the back seat. I gave Cam a tired smile as he pulled away and aimed the car toward my house. The events of the night seemed to catch up to me in one breath. My lids grew heavy and I blinked rapidly as I tried to keep them open. But it was no use. Exhaustion wrapped me in a tight cocoon. The last thing I saw before my eyes closed for good was the outline of the hospital in the passenger door mirror.

  CHAPTER TWO

  As I’d predicted, Dad talked Mom into letting Harper stay with us. Once we explained Harper’s parents were out of town, her mothering instinct took over and she bustled around the house preparing ice packs, sending Nate to the store for snacks and soup, and getting fresh linens to make a pallet in my room.

  “Sadie, you’ll sleep on the floor. Harper needs a soft bed to rest in.”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  I was surprised at how gung ho she was. Not that my mother isn’t caring. She is. But we also have a huge secret and unless Dad had already filled her in about Harper, she was doing all of this with an incredibly optimistic attitude. In fact, the whole family did. I felt a soft surge of pride in that.

  I remade my bed with clean sheets and nudged Harper into it. Although she was definitely healing faster than a normal person would, her injuries were still taking their toll. Her teeth clenched in a tight grimace, though she tried to hide it by smiling. Mom noticed, too, and dug the medication Harper had been given at the hospital out of her bag. She read the bottle carefully before twisting the cap off.

  “It says take one to two pills every six hours for pain. Let’s start you off with two. It’ll help you sleep.” She to
ok a bottle of water from the nightstand and handed it and the pills to Harper, who dutifully swallowed them down. “Good girl. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat before you fall asleep?”

  Harper shook her head. “No, thank you, Mrs. Criswel.”

  “Call me Mom, sweetheart.”

  What?

  My mother had never told anyone to call her that. Even Molly was never given permission. And here she was telling Harper to call her “Mom” after knowing her, like, two seconds?

  “Sadie, get that look of shock off your face. What’s the matter with you?”

  “N-nothing. I guess I’m just tired.”

  “Well, I should think both of you are worn clean out.”

  I nodded, hoping if I played along, she’d take the hint and leave. I wanted to talk to Harper alone, before she was zonked out by her pain pills. I needed to know what she was thinking and if she saw anything suspicious. Kade’s face floated through my mind. His presence at the game was weird. I remembered the intensity in his eyes and his insistence that he talk to me before Cam and I took the field for the Homecoming Queen ceremony. That definitely fell into the suspicious category.

  Mom backed out of the room, nudging her way through the clutter on my floor. “If you need anything, just holler. Night, girls.” She flipped the light switch by the door and left us alone in darkness.

  I listened to Harper’s breathing. Her long, slow breaths told me the pills were taking effect.

  “Harper?”

  Her groggy voice floated across the room. “Yeah?”

  “Do you think tonight was an accident?”

  Her pause was so long I thought maybe she’d fallen asleep. I sighed and closed my eyes, hoping my own dreams would take me away, but her voice snapped me back to attention.

  “No.”

  I waited for more, but she was silent again. Deciding it was better if we talked about it when we were both rested, I didn’t pursue it. Instead, I snuggled into the covers and tried to relax. “Good night.”

  Her soft snoring was the only response.

  ***

  “I said I don’t want it!”

  “Would you stop being so stubborn?”

  It was the next morning and Molly had come to check on us. Harper was in A Mood after waking up so loopy from her pain medication she’d tripped walking the short distance to my bathroom. By the time she was climbing back into bed, I’d heard her curse three times and possibly kick a shoe. It was a new side of her I hadn’t experienced. She was usually the calm, levelheaded one in our group.

  Molly shook the pill bottle at Harper and the two glared at each other. Perched on the foot of the bed, I did my best to stay out of the brewing tension. Molly’s bossiness was seeping through and it was clear Harper was getting fed up with it. I held my breath as I watched them wage a battle of wills.

  After a few seconds of staring at each other, Molly blinked and gave in. “Fine, have it your way.” She tossed the bottle onto the nightstand and started fussing with the covers, pulling and straightening until she was satisfied. Clucking her tongue, she grabbed another pillow from the pile on the other side of the bed and tucked it behind her patient’s shoulders. Harper sighed and rolled her eyes at me but didn’t complain. We both knew this was Molly’s way of coping with a situation none of us could control.

  I patted the seat next to me and she finally sat. Snaking my arm around her waist, I pulled her in for a side hug. “We’re okay, Mol.”

  She huffed out air. “I’m just not used to this. Even though you’ve always been a klutz and knocking yourself out and stuff, there was never any real danger of you being hurt hurt. But now, we’ve got car accidents and explosions and human friends in the middle of it…” Her fingers plucked at a loose thread on the comforter bunched under her feet. “How in the world are you handling this, Sade? You’re normally the drama queen.”

  “Um, thanks?”

  “Oh, you know what I mean.”

  Harper giggled, the first hint of her former self peeking out, and I felt better hearing it.

  “I don’t know how I’m handling it. Or if I’m handling it. It helps that Mrs. Rosen called this morning to tell us Maddie is doing well, all things considered.”

  “Thank God. When does she get to go home?”

  Harper piped in. “It’s too early to say. But Liz said she’d keep me in the loop.”

  “Well, I guess that’s something.” Molly’s fingers plucked faster.

  “Hey, leave me some bedding, please.” I slapped lightly at her hands and she grimaced.

  “So, what do we think happened?” Her directness was welcome. I’d been trying to figure out how to bring it up without seeming insensitive to Harper’s recovery. Now, Molly had opened the door for me.

  I got up and paced in front of the bed. “Harper and I definitely think it was on purpose. And the only thing that makes sense is that it was another attempt on her life. Obviously, I was safe since I was on the field, but it’s no coincidence the center of the explosion was around y’all.”

  “They’re picking you off one by one.”

  “Yeah.” I stopped and stared at a small cobweb hanging in the corner of my ceiling. “It would appear so.

  “Well, what are you going to do?”

  “I need to talk to my dad about it,” I said in a small voice.

  “He’ll freak out that you’re in danger like this.”

  “He already knows.” My voice sounded glum, so I tried to add some pep to it. “I’m sure between him and Pen, we’ll figure out a game plan.” I looked at Harper and she smiled at me. What would I do if I lost any of my friends? Ice-cold fingers squeezed my heart. I couldn’t let that happen.

  Molly’s voice was quiet. “Aren’t you scared?”

  Scared? Scared didn’t even cover the half of it. I’d only lived sixteen years and wasn’t ready for that to be it. What sixteen-year-old would be? I was terrified. But I couldn’t let them see it. Somehow, I was the glue holding all of us together. If I lost it, we all would.

  “A little. But, I’m madder than anything else. I don’t like that my whole existence was manipulated like this. Or Harper’s.”

  “Yeah, and your dad was at the center of it.” The subtle accusation pierced me like a needle in a pincushion. I wanted to defend him. Wanted to prove his involvement was all a misunderstanding. But I couldn’t. Even though he had no idea Harper and I were victims of the test program, he still willingly participated in it in the beginning. That was something I was still trying to come to grips with. Something he and I needed to discuss. I had to know what he’d been thinking. Why he’d thought that was okay. As his daughter, I needed to understand. The room fell silent as tension rippled through it.

  Harper threw her covers off and climbed out of bed. “C’mon guys. I’m feeling better. I don’t want to mope around here. Sadie, do you think your mom will let us make breakfast?”

  “She’ll more than likely insist on making it for us.”

  “That’s cool. I’m hungry and I’m sure y’all are, too.”

  “Okay, but before we do, I want to talk about the guy last night. In the parking lot.”

  Molly whistled under her breath. “He was hot.”

  Amazed, I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Are you kidding me? That’s the only thing you have to say? He was being creepy, skulking in the shadows like that.”

  Harper looked back and forth between us. “Well, I never saw him.”

  “Truh-ust me,” Molly said, “he was hot.” I sighed in exasperation and she shot me an offended look. “He was!”

  “Maybe he was… is, but that’s not what we should be focusing on. He was hanging out in the dark… with sunglasses on… watching us. Considering we were nearly blown up, I think his stalker status is what should concern us.” I couldn’t believe I had to explain this to Molly.

  Harper looked intrigued and worried at the same time. “So, we have a new player,” she said thoughtfully. “Interesting.”

&nbs
p; I shook my head at the both of them. They didn’t seem to be taking this as seriously as I was. “Did either of y’all see anything strange before the explosion? Anything at all?”

  They both shook their heads and my hope plunged.

  “I need to talk to my dad. And Kade.”

  “Why Kade?” Both of them focused on me now. “Did something happen that we don’t know about?” Harper asked.

  I gritted my teeth. “Yes. You had already left to get your seats, but when Cam and I were leaving the gym to head to the field, Kade was waiting for me. And he was adamant I talk to him right then.”

  “Did you?”

  “I blew him off. But he was acting intense. Now I’m wondering if he knew what was going to happen.”

  “Or maybe he’s the one who did it!” I flinched at the heat in Molly’s voice. She went from ogling over a hot, weird guy to pissed off in a flash. But I couldn’t blame her. Considering what a jerk Kade turned out to be, she had every right to be angry. We both did.

  “Yeah, I’ve thought of that. I just don’t know. I need to talk to him and see what he wanted to tell me. Maybe I’ll be able to get a better read on him after that.”

  Harper broke in. “I think you should have one of us with you when y’all talk. I don’t trust him.”

  “Totes what she said.” Molly nodded vigorously. “I’d actually prefer we all three talk to him.”

  I doubted he’d talk to anyone but me. And I had another, more private thing to discuss with him. Crossing my fingers behind my back, I smiled. “I’ll try.” That seemed to mollify them, so we trooped downstairs to see what we could find for breakfast.

  Harry the Cat was sitting on the landing. He was lazily washing his front leg, but stopped in midlick when he saw us. I touched my hair as I remembered our last feisty encounter and patted it to make sure it was still there and in place. Even though I was used to my pixie cut now, the memories of my shredded long locks still left me bitter. As if reading my mind, he looked me dead in the eye before making the most uncatlike sound I’d ever heard.

  AAACH!