We all woke up suddenly the next morning to the sound of someone or something being in the house upstairs. I got up and looked out the window to the front and saw an old ford sitting in the driveway. I don't recognize that truck though. "Guys over here, these vents run to the main floor maybe we can hear something through them." We gathered around and just waited to hear anything that would tell us what was upstairs.
"Jake what makes you think she would come here?"
"I hope to hell she isn't stupid enough to come here, but so far her actions haven't been to smart, have they?"
I know those voices! That is Aidan and Jake upstairs. Damn it! We all looked a little alarmed, but I held my finger to my lips and motioned everyone away from the vent. "We will get away," I whispered, "gather the bonds and jewelry and go to the basement door that leads outside. I am going to go back over to the vent and when I tell you to go you go, just sneak back out the way we came in and wait for me at the car."
"Kenna, no we are in this with you."
"Thanks Corrie, but it is me they are looking for. I will meet you guys back at the car I promise." She gave me a worried look but pushed the boys over to the door. I went back over to the vent and listen, Aidan seems a little annoyed with Jake.
"You do realize that it is all your fault Jake! Kenna left because you were treating her like a child. Hell, worse than that you were treating her like an invalid!"
"Someone has to take care of her."
Yeah Aidan is pissed at Jake, lovely!
"Your job was to watch over her from a distance and you are doing a great job of that aren't you. You have no idea what she is going through or where she is and now if she has her way you never will!"
"It is my job Aidan!"
"Kenna is not a job JAKE, she is my sister!"
"Aiden you have only know her a short time, I have known about her my entire life!"
"Exactly, you have known about her. Jake, do you even really know her? Who she is and not just what she is?"
Jake responded to Aidan's question with silence, that is my que to intervene a little bit. "Aidan tell Jake that this isn't helping anything, he can go upstairs and check and you will check the basement then meet back on the main floor."
"Kenna?"
"Who else would it be?"
"Where are you?"
"Will you just do it." And he did, surprisingly Jake did exactly what was suggested.
Watching Aidan walk down the stairs almost brought tears to my eyes. We gave each other a big hug and just stayed like that for a while.
"Oh, Kenna I am so glad you are ok."
"I am Aidan, I am really glad to see you, and just so we are clear, I am not going with you guys."
"I know, Jake won't stop looking for you though."
"Let him look, I can't take him anymore."
"I know, I am sorry I didn't help with that more."
"It is ok Aidan, I will make sure to keep in touch with you I just didn't want him to find me."
"Maybe someday you will be able to forgive him."
"I don't know Aidan, I really don't know. I have never had someone treat me so poorly."
"Time heals all." Aidan said with a smile.
"Time will tell." I laughed back at him. "Where is Lexi?"
"She stayed back at the cabin just in case you came back. She and I both knew you wouldn't, but we figured better safe than sorry."
"What about Luke and his fire?"
"It is gone, and I am pretty sure you had something to do with that, but Jake still won't let him go."
"Of course, he won't. Luke still believes we are evil. Will you let Lexi know I am ok? I won't be calling or writing. You are going to be my only source of communication."
"I will Kenna, I better get back upstairs before Jake comes down here.
I do have one favor though."
"What is that?"
"Don't block me anymore. Having you leave and not being able to figure out where you were since you left has been driving me crazy."
"I will agree to that as long as you don't use our link to track me. If I need you I will let you know I promise."
"You better Kenna."
"If at some point you decide to ditch Jake let me know. I know your parents are up there right now, but when you're sure Jake isn't going to follow you let me know. You can catch up with me then."
"Count on it, it may take longer than I would like, but I will join you again."
"Oh, good bye Aidan, I love you."
We gave each other great big hugs again and Aidan walked back up the stairs. I walked back over to the vent to hear what he was going to say to Jake.
"I didn't find anything down in the basement Jake." Aidan said as I heard him walk back into the room.
"Maybe not downstairs, but she has been here. All the bedding has been stripped from the beds. I think we just missed her, we are getting close."
"Now what? We have no idea where she is headed."
"We will ask around town, see who has seen her and go from there. We are going to find her Aidan." Jake said with complete determination.
"I hope so Jake, I really do." I listened as they walked out the door. Letting Aidan leave is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I waited until I heard the truck start up and head down the road. Then said one last goodbye to my home and walked away from it for who knows how long. I hope someday I can come back to this place, but I have a lot to do before that day comes.
Rick and his sister had set up a plan in case anything ever happened to Rick, and our next moves relied entirely on the fact that she did so. Our first stop was to be to the closest safe house they had so we are now headed to Salt Lake City, Utah of all places. But having a safe house in a big city really isn't a bad idea there are a million and one places to hide in a place like Salt Lake.
It took us another day to get down there, but all things considered that really wasn't a lot of time. Rick had been with the Restorers for over a half a year when I met him and then up in the mountain with us for a while now too, so his sister has been out there on her own for almost a year now anything could have happened to her. We are all pretty grouchy as we pull up to a nice little farm style home in a quiet little subdivision, not exactly what I was expecting but nice. "This is it Rick?" I said with surprise.
"Yeah don't look so surprise, the housing market tanked remember. I actually have rental homes all over the country. When everything tanked it was a great time to get into the market if you had the resources."
Huh learn more and more about Rick every day. Inside it doesn't look like anything has been disturbed for a while. If his sister was here it has been a while since she left. Corrie and Dane went looking through the other rooms and Rick went into one of the back rooms and came back with a small box in his hand.
"She hasn't been here?" He said with disappointment.
"How can you be sure?" I asked quietly.
"This box," and Rick held the box in his hand up, "It has money, a prepaid phone, and directions to another house if needed. None of it has been touched."
"Oh, I am sorry Rick. I was really hoping we would find something useful." I replied.
"Actually, we still have. This phone has all the numbers for all the other phones that are in the safe houses. She has to have one of them with her, so there is still a chance I can contact her today." He said with questioning hope.
"How many numbers are there?" I asked. I hope he is right, and he can get ahold of her today.
"About fifteen." He said with a shrug.
"Fifteen! You have fifteen safe houses set up around the country?" I exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah, seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. The next one is in Las Vegas."
"It is still a good idea Rick, it is what will have kept her safe over the last year." I said with reassurance.
"Yeah, your probably right."
He is just looking at that phone with such longing, like somehow his sister is going to magically step through it or something. "I will leave you to it then, is there somewhere here we can all crash for the night?"
"Oh yeah, it's a three bedroom. All the rooms have beds and they are made up." He replied off handedly.
"What? I get to sleep on a bed tonight?" I said and jumped up and down like a little girl. At least it got a bit of a smile out of him.
"Yeah but there are only three beds and I get one of them because this is my house after all." He replied with a smirk.
"Sounds good to me. Corrie and I will just bunk together, girls have an easier time sharing a bed than guys do."
"Sounds good to me."
"See if you can get ahold of your sister." I said as I gave his shoulder a quick squeeze.
"It's late, I will call the numbers first thing in the morning." He said quickly.
"If you're sure about that then alright, well good luck sleeping then."
"Thanks." Rick said without looking up from the phone.
Corrie and I found a room with a nice king-sized bed in it. I figured if we were the ones sharing we could have the biggest bed. "Oh, Corrie won't sleeping in a bed again be so nice?"
"It's a luxury I can hardly remember now. Let's crash."
We both climbed into bed and sighed with contentment. This is a really nice bed.
I haven't slept that well in weeks, and my body isn't sore everywhere. Oh, that was such a nice night and the bed is big enough I never even notice Corrie was in the bed. Which she actually isn't anymore, so I get up and start looking for her. She is standing in the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee.
"Oh, that smells heavenly." I say to her ask I walk in.
She smiles and hands me a cup, "this should perk you right up."
The coffee takes amazing. I needed this. Corrie smiled at me, but it was only halfhearted and there is a major look of worry in her eyes. "What's going on Corrie?"
"Oh Um, well I don't actually know. I got up early this morning and Rick was outside on the phone with someone. I know he was trying all those cell phones he has hidden around for his sister. But I only caught the tail end of the conversation and Rick wasn't happy and it definitely wasn't his sister on the phone."
"I am pretty sure his sister is the only one who knows where those phones are, if someone else was on one of them what does that mean?"
"Exactly, I asked Rick if everything was ok though and he said it was fine. He just can't find his sister."
"Well maybe it was someone else he was talking to that had nothing to do with his sister."
"Maybe, but I don't think so. When I asked him what he was up to he told me he just tried the last phone on his list and no one answered any of them. Why would he lie to me about that? I know he was on the phone with someone."
"But does he know you heard any of that conversation? He could have called all the numbers and then called someone else and it was personal so didn't want you to know. It is strange, but it really could be nothing."
"Kenna, the only way we survive is to be cautious of everything."
"Your right, but we are also all each of us have. If you start mistrusting within our group, this will never work. As of right now let's just go on as if we do not have this information and see where that gets us. If Rick starts acting strangely we will know something is definitely up."
"Agreed."
Speak of the devil look who decided to join us, and he does have a pretty dark brooding look on his face. "Want some coffee Rick, you look like you could use some."
"Oh sure, just been a long night." He said as he scrubbed his hand over his face.
"No word on your sister?" I asked.
"Ah, no nothing." He said quickly.
His eyes shifted away from me and he made sure not to look at me when he answered that question. Corrie is right something is up. "Sorry to hear that. Well when Dane gets up we can get packed back up and start heading for Vegas. Maybe we will have more luck there."
"No." Rick almost shouted that at me. What in the world happened this morning?
"What do you mean no? That is where the next house is, you told me that last night." I said questioningly.
"Oh yeah, I am pretty sure my sister isn't there though and I really don't want to waste any more time." He said trying to recover.
"Waste any more time?" I looked over at Corrie and there is definitely some mistrust when she looks at Rick. Dane also came into the room and it appears he has heard most of the conversation and he looks a bit worried too. "We haven't been wasting time, we need to check the house in Vegas. You never know until you actually see the house." I tried to reason.
"I just know she isn't there!" Rick shouted.
"How, how do you know for sure your sister hasn't been there? What is going on with you Rick? If you don't want to go to Vegas then don't go, the three of us are going!"
"No No, I am sorry I am just really stressed out about my sister, and she would have answered the phone when I called her. I even tried an old contact this morning and he hasn't seen her in a long time." He replied quietly,
Well, that explains the call Corrie heard. "Maybe your right and she isn't there but that doesn't mean she hasn't been there. We need to go to Vegas and check things out. I am sorry Rick but one person does not get to dictate where we all go. Let's put this to a vote where do you all think we should head next?" I said trying to be diplomatic.
Corrie looked me right in the eyes and said, "Vegas."
Dane also said, "Vegas."
But Rick didn't say anything, he didn't say where it is he was wanting us to go he just said, "Ok, let's go to Vegas."
What in the world is going on with him? I guess I would be just as bad if I couldn't find Aidan and there was a chance he could be in danger. And I only recently found Aidan. This is Rick's little sister we are talking about. Something is definitely up with Rick though, maybe it really is just his worry about his sister. Oh man I really hope that is all it is.
To say it was an awkward ride to Vegas would be an understatement, but the closer and closer we get the more I feel there is something there for me. I don't know what it is but there is something waiting for me in Vegas. Despite Rick's protest we have also decided to stay a few days in Vegas just to take a break from all the traveling. He is so anxious to find his sister he is about to drive the rest of us bonkers.
I decided to be generous and got us the two-bedroom penthouse suite at the Palazzo hotel on the strip. Which Rick also protested because he has a safe house in Vegas, but I don't really want to stay anywhere that Rick suggests right now. I also figure if we are going to be in Vegas a few days we might as well enjoy it a little too, plus the second bedroom has two beds so the boys won't have to share. "Oh my God this room is amazing guys!"
We all toured the room and I have never stayed in anything this nice before in my life. And as I figured it was decided Corrie and I would again be sharing a bed and the guys would get the other bedroom with two beds in it. Guys can be so squirmy about sleeping with another guy.
"Had a thought guys, why don't you head over to Rick's other safe house and Corrie and I can go down to the spa for some much-needed girly time."
Corrie perked right up at my suggestion and Dane kinda shrugged like ok whatever. But then there is Rick yet again.
"You already wasted how much money on this room and now you want to go to the spa? Are you serious?!" He bit at me.
"Oh, I am sorry Rick how much money did you contribute to this adventure we are on now? Oh, that's right none. Everything we have is mine and this room and nice spa time for Corrie and I really is my decision isn't it. That's right it is! I know what we are doing is important and you really want to find your sister, but if we don't get some decent sleep and relax for a little while none of us are going to be any good. We are burning ourselves out and need a little down time." I tried reasoning.
"Wasting our money isn't helping anyone!" Rick said in frustration.
"Oh my God when did you turn into Jake? What happened to the guy I was great friends with up on that mountain? I want him back and this one can crawl back into whatever hole you came out of! It is my money! I have chosen to use MY money to help find your sister. Maybe you should be the one who goes to the spa, you could use some relaxing." Saying he is acting like Jake got a reaction from him.
He immediately looked sheepish, "Sorry Kenna, I just really want to find my sister."
I took a deep breath. "I know you do Rick, we will do everything in our power to find her. Before you go what is the number to that burner cell you picked up at the last safe house?"
"Why?" Rick snapped, maybe he is the one who needs to go to the spa!
"Fine don't worry about it. I can't see any reason that Corrie and I would want to get a prepaid cell and send you the number, so we can communicate, you're right don't need it." I grabbed our cash and jewels, because let's face it at this point don't really trust Rick. Whispered in Dane's ear that we were either going to be in the spa in this hotel or one of the ones adjoining it, looped arms with Corrie and walked out the door. Rick can do whatever he wants at this point. So tired of people trying to tell me what to do.
The spa is just what we needed. Corrie and I agreed there would be no mention of the Restores, Ricks weird behavior or anything stressful we were just going to relax and enjoy the spa and that is just what we did. I feel rejuvenated now and ready to start saving the world. The boys aren't back to the room yet though and we were at the spa for a few hours, I wonder what they are up to now? Oh well, "you want to head out and get something to eat Corrie? I am starving."
"Are you sure that is wise?" She questioned.
"Hey, we were in that spa for a few hours, if Rick wanted to be able to get ahold of us he should have given me the number to that burn phone. Besides they know where this room is, and we can all meet back up here later."
"Sounds good to me Kenna." Corrie said with a smile. "I have never been really great about waiting around for any guy anyway."