Altercation (15 page)

D
o you even know where we’re going?”

“Um.” Megan squinted her eyes and stared at the exit signs along Interstate 71. “Sure. I know. I’ve just never come from this direction before.”

Seth shot her a suspicious look. “How many times have you been to this safe house?”

She rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants. “Well, I’ve not actually been to the safe house. I just know what city it’s in.”

“What?” Seth banged the palm of his hand on the steering wheel. “Fantastic, Megan. You know the city. It better be a city with a one-mile radius.”

Megan gave him a frown. “Calm down. We’re not going to the safe house, remember? They’re not there. We’re looking for the McDonald’s.” Finding the correct McDonald’s would be the hard part.

And from there, she had no idea what Seth hoped to accomplish. What he thought he could do that her father couldn’t was beyond her.

Her father, who was probably getting nothing done except worrying about his daughter’s recent “marriage.”

“Cincinnati” written on a green exit sign caught her eye, and she leaned forward. “Here! Take this one!”

Seth pulled into the lane. “There are nineteen exits to this city. Hmm. That means, there’s probably only twenty or thirty different McDonald’s here.”

“Probably more.” Megan opened her book and feigned nonchalance. “But I’m sure we can hit all of them in just a few hours. We have to find the one that caught them on the security camera. And then what?”

“We’ll use the clues we find to get to the next spot.”

She rolled her eyes. He sounded like Mr. Nancy Drew. “You’ve never done anything like this before, have you?”

“No.”

“I can tell.” She couldn’t help but sound smug. Seth had been rude and obnoxious on this entire trip, and now he thought they were in an action flick.

He stopped at a red-light at the bottom of the exit ramp. “All right, Miss Smarty-pants. What now?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have to know. I’m not the brains here.”

“There’s our first McDonald’s.” He turned at the fast-food joint and pulled into an empty spot. “Didn’t your father say anything that might indicate which one it was?”

“No. I assume it would’ve been close to the safe house, but I don’t know where that is, either.”

“They found the woman’s car. Can’t you remember where?”

Megan forced her mind to rewind, tried to remember the exact words her father had said. “I think the car was dumped under an overpass.”

“All right.” Seth squinted his dark brown eyes and turned off the car. “Let’s ask inside.”

The guys behind the cashier got nervous as soon as Seth started asking if they had a security camera. They brought the manager out, who glared down at Seth. “No, we don’t have a security camera. But there’s a police station just a block away for anyone wanting to cause trouble.”

“Which wouldn’t be us,” Megan said, flashing a smile. “We’ll be going now. Thanks.”

Seth didn’t budge. “Do you have a map with all the local McDonald’s franchises?”

“No,” the man grunted. “What do I look like, Googlemaps?”

“We can print one from the computer in the back,” one of the cashiers volunteered.

The manager glared at him. “That would be great,” Seth said. “We’ll just wait right here.”

The kid disappeared for a moment. When he came back, he handed a sheet of paper to Seth, who thanked him.

They walked out, Megan fighting the urge to sprint to the car.

Seth tossed the map at her. “Tell me how to get to the next one.”

“Go right. Go three more blocks and then right again.”

They got pretty much the same response at the next six McDonald’s. Only one of them had a camera, and they hadn’t found anything suspicious on their footage.

“Let’s get some food at the next one,” Seth said, stopping beside Cindy’s car. He pulled his jacket closer.

Megan glanced down the road. An orange delivery truck pulled into the traffic, causing the cars behind it to honk. She could read the black and red J&M Laundry Services from a block away. Must be a lot of laundry delivery in a big city, because she had seen one just like it at the last McDonald’s. “Is it lunch time already?”

“And then some.” Seth opened the door and climbed in. “All the smells of great hamburgers and we haven’t even eaten one.”

Megan got in and fastened her seatbelt. She flipped the mirror on the visor down and straightened her bangs. “Okay.” Her eyelashes didn’t really need any more mascara, but she pulled out the black wand anyway.

Seth hit the curb on the way out of the parking lot, and Megan got a line of black mascara on her eyebrow. Licking her finger, she concentrated on erasing the smudge. It only smeared.

An orange truck in the reflection caught her eye. She paused and focused. The delivery truck was in traffic again, this time behind them. The opposite way it had been going.

“Directions, Megan.” Seth’s impatient voice snapped her back to the present.

“Um.” She quickly looked down. “Next right.” She lifted her eyes back to the mirror, watching as Seth turned the car. For a brief moment she got a side view of the delivery truck and the large logo. J&M Laundry Service.

Be calm.
She put a hand to her chest.
Maybe there are several of them. It could be a coincidence.

“Okay, I see it.”

Megan inhaled sharply. The orange truck had just turned the corner behind them.

Seth glanced at her. “What?”

“I think we’re being followed. Keep going.”

Seth drove into the McDonald’s parking lot and put the car into park. “Are they still following us?”

She waited to see if the truck would come into the McDonald’s, but it didn’t. It must’ve stopped a few blocks back. “I’m not sure. Let’s just, um, be aware while we eat.”

“Uh-huh.” His eyes didn’t leave her face, his lips pursed in a scowl.

Megan had no idea if he believed her or not.

“You’ve got something on your face.” He touched his eyebrow.

Oh! The mascara! Megan’s hand shot up, feeling along her brow.

“Right here.” Seth leaned over and pushed the skin with his thumb. “What is this, makeup?”

Megan did not breathe until Seth moved away from her. “Yeah.”

Seth chuckled.

Was he laughing at her? Did he think her utterly ridiculous? Her face hot, she pushed open the door. She walked ahead, leaving Seth behind.

He caught up to her in the food line. “Take the food and find a place to sit.” He handed her some cash. “I’ll ask for the manager.”

Megan nodded. She took the tray to a table where she could watch the parking lot. A moment later Seth joined her, taking his burgers from the tray. He didn’t offer any information before biting into his meal.

She waited a few minutes. “Well?”

“Well, what?” He glanced at her over his cheeseburger and took a sip of soda.

She tapped her foot. “Did you find anything out from the manager?”

“If I had, would we still be sitting here?”

Megan ran her tongue along the back of her teeth, irritated.

He pulled the edge of the map out from under her tray and spread it across the table. “Where are we?”

She pointed. “Here.”

“How many are left?”

“Um.” Megan left her food and came around the table. She wished she could say something sarcastic, like, “Can’t you count?” But that was too mean. Leaning over his shoulder, she pointed out the ones they had already visited. “We’ve been to the ones with an x on them. See those?” She smirked at him. “So there’s thirteen left.”

“Then we know where we’re going.” He turned his head, his hand poised to throw his wrapper in the trash, and came nose to nose with Megan as she hovered over his shoulder.

He met her eyes, pausing. Megan licked her lips, and she saw his eyes drop to her mouth. Heat rushed up to her face. With a gasp, she moved to the other side of the table. “Oh, sorry.”

“Whatever.” He shrugged and stood to empty the trays.

Megan blinked at the back of his head, wringing her hands to stop the trembling. He acted like nothing had happened.
Like he hadn’t even noticed
.

He swiveled back around, meeting her eyes for a split second before averting his gaze.

Her heart swelled. He
had
noticed.

They stepped out into the nippy evening air. Megan shivered and zipped her jacket. She prayed they wouldn’t get a snowstorm right now, since the car doubled as a hotel.

She remembered the orange truck as soon as they were back in the car. She glanced around as she directed Seth to the next McDonald’s, but didn’t see it. Must’ve been her imagination.

McDonald’s number eight was also a no.

“Think we can keep this up all night long?” she murmured as they climbed back in.

“I don’t know.” Seth sounded tired. Drained.

Megan knew that tone of voice. It was when all the hostility left him. She took advantage of the moment, jumping in with her questions. “Do you think your mom’s okay?”

“No.” Seth shook his head, guilt flashing across his features. “At least they know we’re safe. Though my mom’s probably had to increase her medication.”

Megan didn’t know his mom was medicated. “Why does she have medication?”

“For her depression. It came on right after Jaci was kidnapped.”

Megan pressed a hand to the base of her neck. “Seth! We shouldn’t have left her! Turn left at the signal.”

“She’s not going to get better, Megan.” He shot a glance at her and got in the turning lane. “Not unless I get Jaci home to her.”

Megan shook her head. He couldn’t actually believe they would accomplish something that the police and FBI couldn’t.

But maybe he needed this. Maybe this was how he fought his own helplessness and depression. “Two more blocks and you’ll see it on the corner.”

“Thanks.”

That was all he said, but it was enough.

The streetlights were on when they pulled into the tenth McDonald’s. There was still enough sunlight to see, but the purple and orange sky made it necessary for additional lighting. Megan took a moment to admire the sunset before following Seth into the restaurant.

He asked for the manager and she stood behind, the quiet and invisible assistant.

“Are you with the police?” the manager asked with a frown as soon as he heard Seth’s inquiry.

Seth shook his head. “No, no. Private investigation.”

“Well, you should ask the police. I told them everything already.”

Seth shifted his weight. “I understand. Just a few quick questions. Do you have a security camera?”

“I don’t have time right now. I’m working.” He waved a hand and headed back behind the counter.

Why was he evading the question? Megan stepped forward and put a hand on his arm. “Excuse me.”

He turned with a frown, but she curved her lips into a smile. She cocked her head and gave a small shrug. “Please. Just a quick question.”

He glared at her and sighed. “All right. One question.”

“Thank you.” She kept her smile and voice meek and sweet. “Were the girls here?”

“Yes.” He gave a quick nod. “They never came inside, but we got the car on our surveillance camera. The FBI has the tape.”

She worked hard to keep her face passive. “Did you see where they went?”

He grunted. “One question. I answered it.”

Someone had made him nervous. Megan twirled a strand of hair around her finger and lowered her eyes. “You can just point in the direction,” she whispered, looking up at him from under her lashes.

His eyes didn’t leave her face. Lifting his fingers, he pointed left across his body. She didn’t look, but mimicked the gesture with her own hand. He nodded.

“Thanks.” She skipped out of the restaurant, feeling Seth’s eyes on her. “What?” She stopped to face him.

He gaped at her. “You seduced him!”

She rolled her eyes. “I did not. I just acted girly.”

He still stared at her. “How?”

“I’m a girl,” she growled. “What do you mean, how? It just comes naturally.”

“I’ve never seen you act that way.”

“That’s because I’ve never tried to manipulate you. Nice girls don’t do that.” She scanned the parking lot. “Where did you park?”

He followed her gaze. “Right there.”

“Right where? I don’t see the car.”

“Car’s gone.”

Seth said the words so calmly, it took a moment for them to register. Megan’s chest constricted and she fought to catch her breath. Spots danced before her eyes. Seth’s hand snaked out and caught her wrist.

“There.”

She looked where he pointed. The car sat in a softball field across the street and two blocks over, headlights on like a beacon.

“Come on.” Seth started toward it.

“Wait!” Megan cried. “It’s a trap!”

“I know that.” Seth frowned. “We’re going to sneak up and ambush them.”

Except there would be lots of people, and they would have weapons. “We need to call the police.”

Seth spun on her. “Don’t you dare. They’ll frighten them away, or catch them and ship us home, and if this thing never gets solved, we won’t get a second chance. If you don’t want to come, don’t come. But don’t you ruin this.”

Megan choked back tears and shook her head.

Seth didn’t wait for her. He jogged across the street, heading into the darkness.

Her rational thoughts got the better of her. She couldn’t follow him. She couldn’t walk into danger. She sank onto a concrete slab and cried.

She only cried for a minute before the tears dried up. Megan jumped up and ran after Seth.

M
egan caught up to Seth a block later.

“I thought you weren’t coming.”

She slowed to a walk, holding her side and panting. “I didn’t have anything else to do.”

“Keep up.”

She tried to jog again, but couldn’t stop wheezing. He slowed down.

The direct route from McDonald’s to the field was probably six minutes. But Seth took them the long way around, eventually coming to a house with a For Sale sign in the yard. Judging from the tall, overgrown and dead vegetation, the owners were long gone.

Megan glanced at her watch. It had been half an hour.

Seth motioned to the yard. “We can cross that fence when it’s dark.”

She eyed the six-foot tall wooden fence that partitioned the yard off from the field behind it. “I won’t be able to get over that.”

“I’ll help you.”

Seth led her through the foliage, crossing the plot of land until he reached the fence. They sat with their backs against it and waited for the sun to finish its descent. Seth kept an eye glued to a space between the wooden boards, watching the car in the field.

“Are they still there?” Megan picked up a few dried weeds and began weaving them together in the moonlight.

“Yeah. I see the headlights.” He stiffened and straightened up. “I see people. Moving in front of the lights. They turned the lights off.”

Megan’s heart thudded. “We won’t be able to see them.” What did that mean? Were the thieves trying to be elusive?

“They’re probably conserving gas. Come on.”

Before she could say a word, Seth jumped up, grabbing the top of the fence and hoisting himself onto the small board nailed to the inside. “Jump and I’ll catch your hand,” he hissed.

She knew he was up there, but she couldn’t see him very well. “You’ll fall!”

“Shhh! I will not. Jump!”

She did, but not high enough. Her hand slapped the fence several inches beneath his outstretched hand.

Seth uttered a sound of frustration. “Higher, Megan.”

She jumped again, and this time he caught her. She kicked with her legs and grabbed at the top of the fence, panting by the time she got up.

“Okay, now you jump down,” Seth said.

She looked at him perched next to her. “What? You first. Then you can help me.”

“You won’t jump.”

She peered down the other side, where the ground seemed very far away, even under cover of night. “I will.”

“All right.” Seth threw himself from the fence, hitting the ground with an oof. “Your turn.”

He was right. She didn’t want to jump. The blood pounded in her temples and she swallowed. “You’ll catch me?”

“Yes. Come on, now.”

How could he see her? Megan closed her eyes and jumped.

He couldn’t see her. It became painfully obvious when she landed on him, knocking them both to the ground. “Nice catch,” she gasped, rubbing an aching knee.

Seth shoved her off. “Stick with me.”

She mouthed complaints to herself, dusting off her hands and clothing. Then she focused on the task in front of them, feeling her senses heighten with anticipation.

The murmur of voices reached her around the same time she made out the darkened silhouette of the car. What were they doing?

Seth stopped and leaned close to her. “You stay here.” His hot breath tickled her ear. “I’ll go around and take them out.”

She grabbed his arm. “Seth, that’s ridiculous. There’s only one of you. What are you, kung-fu panda?”

“And you’re going to help how?”

She considered that for a moment. What could she do? “I can distract them so you can take them all out?”

“Fine. I take out the first guy, and while the other two are getting their act together, you make a loud noise and pretend to attack. But stay out of sight. They might have guns.”

Scary thought. Getting shot wasn’t something she wanted to do tonight.

She watched Seth until he melted into the shadows. She looked up at the dark clouds moving across the moon.

A shout came from the car, directing her attention to it. Instantly she ran forward in a zigzag motion, yelling in a deep, maniacal voice.

The car sprang to life, engine roaring and lights blinding her.

She caught her breath.
Oh no. Now they can see us.
She saw Seth in the glare of the taillights, wrestling a man on the ground.

Where were the other two?

One got out of the driver’s seat and raced around to tackle Seth.

Megan ran over to join them, adding herself to the foray. The man under her turned around and knocked her off, then threw her to the ground. He grabbed her chin and lifted her face. She squinted against the red brake light, trying to kick him off.

“It
is
you!” He released her, his voice triumphant. “Megan! It’s us.”

She scrambled backward on her hands, mind reeling. “Who? What? Huh?”

He laughed. “It’s Ricky. Ricky and Neal. Do you mind calling off your friend?”

Her mind snapped together, even if the pieces didn’t quite fit yet. Ricky and Neal were here! “Seth! Seth! It’s okay, they’re friends!”

It still took both her and Ricky to pull Seth and Neal apart. They’d beaten each other pretty well. Megan looked over Seth’s bloody lip and bruised cheekbone, wincing. He didn’t look happy.

“What’s going on, Megan?” He spat blood and glared at Neal.

“I have no idea.” She took a deep breath. “But I know these boys. Seth, this is Neal.”

Neal waved. Seth had whacked him good in the nose, and Neal wiped the blood with the back of his hand. “Hi.”

Seth nodded. “Hi.”

“And that’s his twin brother, Ricky.”

“Hi.”

“Yeah.”

Seth whirled on Megan. “What the hell? These guys were just beating us up. What’s going on?”

“Sorry about that.” Neal offered a smile. “You attacked us.”

Megan cleared her throat. “They’re Sara’s brothers.” And for the first time, Megan thought maybe they had a chance to accomplish something. Ricky and Neal were known for having less than traditional ways of achieving results.

Seth blinked at them. “Sara’s brothers?”

“Yeah.” Megan nodded. “I’ll explain in a minute. Ricky and Neal, this is Seth. He’s Jaci’s brother.”

“Wow.” Ricky raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this nice.”

Neal cast a glance around. “Great. You guys took almost an hour longer to get here than we expected. We should go.”

“Wait.” Megan frowned at him. “You were expecting
us
? And where’s the third guy?”

Ricky guffawed. “Apparently we didn’t bribe him enough. He took off when Seth attacked.”

“We passed a city park this morning,” Neal said, already walking around to the driver’s side of Cindy’s car. “We can talk there.”

Seth sat in an angry silence the whole fifteen-minute drive to the park. Megan couldn’t fathom what was bothering him. They hadn’t been kidnapped or murdered, though he did have a fat lip. Was he just mad that it wasn’t a lead to Jaci? Was he mad that Neal was driving the car? Maybe he was mad that they were taking time out of their search to sit and plan with the boys.

For her part, Megan was incredibly grateful to have Neal and Ricky’s company. She could hardly stand the brooding moods that accompanied Seth most of the time. Neal and Ricky argued the whole way to the park over what radio station to listen to. She smiled to herself. Great to have them along.

They parked under a streetlight, and the twins wandered toward a park bench. Megan waited for Seth, who slammed the door shut and glared ahead.

“You okay?”

He glanced at her. “No one’s supposed to drive the car but me.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Neal knew the way to the park.”

“I have a lot of questions. These kids better have good answers.”

The concrete bench at the picnic table chilled Megan’s thighs through her jeans. She wrapped her arms around her, glad there was no wind.

“Okay, let’s get the story.” She focused on Neal, the more serious of the twins. His brown hair had been cut short, close to his head. “What are you doing here? How did you find us?”

Neal blew on his hands and leaned forward.

“It’s cold,” Seth interrupted. “Can’t we do this in the car?”

“I can start a fire if you like,” Ricky said.

Megan kept her eyes on Neal, waiting for him to start.

“I called Detective Hamilton a few days ago to see how Sara’s doing,” Neal said. “His answers were vague. I got the impression there might be danger, though I wasn’t sure if it involved us or the girls. So we—” he included Ricky with a nod of his head, “decided it was time to find out for ourselves.” His eyes met Megan’s. “And you know something, too, or you wouldn’t be out here.”

She didn’t want to distract him by telling him the truth about the girls just yet. “Finish your story first.”

“Ricky and I hatched a plan to run. A girl from school agreed to drive past the group home after lights out. We waited until the tracker was in the bathroom, and then we ran.”

“Group home?” Seth frowned at the boys. “Are you in trouble?”

Neal met his gaze evenly. “No. But our guardians are dead and the FBI thought a group home would be safer than a foster home.”

“Oh.” Seth looked away.

“Our ride showed up at the bottom of the drive and we jumped in. We were safely away before the first police lights lit up the street. She took us to the bus station with some money.”

Seth shifted in his seat. “How well did you know this girl?”

Ricky winked. “Well enough.”

“Ricky!” Megan gasped, her neck warming at the implications.

“Hey, calm down.” He laughed. “It wasn’t like that. I promised to pay her back with a nice dinner.”

“She did all that because you said you’d take her out?” Seth furrowed his brows.

Neal cleared his throat. “She had a crush on Ricky. Anyway. We were in New York. So we caught the Greyhound to Cincinnati.”

“Not too pricey, as far as traveling goes,” Ricky put in. “And soon the buses will have more leg room!”

“Yeah,” Neal said. “Anyway. We got here and I thought I’d recognize things.”

“But you didn’t.” Ricky looked at Seth. “You have any matches? A lighter?”

Seth fiddled with his earlobe. “Why? You smoke?”

“He likes fire. Been going crazy for the past few days, no matches.” Neal explained his brother’s crazy obsession away with a wave of his hand.

“Go on.” Megan raised her eyebrows. “You got here and had no idea where you were.”

“Right. We found a kid delivering dry-cleaned laundry. He seemed pretty nice and we asked to borrow his truck. He said sure, as long as we let him drive.”

“Not to mention, he charged us a ridiculous amount of money.” Ricky sounded annoyed.

“Which, you might recall, we didn’t pay him.” Neal shot a glare at his brother.

“You cheated him?” Seth asked.

“No,” Neal said. “He got scared when you jumped us. I guess he decided the money wasn’t worth it.”

“Wait.” Megan narrowed her eyes. The orange truck. “What was the name of this company?”

“J&M Laundry Service.”

“Oh!” Megan leaned back on the bench. “I saw you guys! You were the ones following us!”

“Yeah.” Ricky brushed his hair out of his face. “We stopped at McDonald’s for some breakfast. Figured we needed fuel before staking out the city. We were just getting into the truck when we saw you. What was up with all the McDonald’s? Cravings for Big Macs?”

Megan glanced at Seth. “We’ll get to that. Why didn’t you say something? Why take our car?”

“I
told
him we should just talk to you,” Ricky said, shooting a glare at Neal.

“We weren’t sure it was you,” Neal said. “So we took your car.”

“How?” Seth asked. “I had the keys.”

Ricky clicked his tongue and Megan smiled, remembering the story of Neal and Ricky hijacking a car in New York.

“I’ve got talents,” he purred.

Seth looked Ricky up and down.

“Now you know why we’re here,” Neal said, his eyes on Megan again. He tossed his head, even though his hair was gone. Maybe the group home wanted to be able to tell them apart. “Why are you here? Why are you going to every McDonald’s in town? And where are the girls?”

Megan hesitated and glanced around the silent park. “You know, it’s cold. And dark. We really should go somewhere else.”

Neal looked around also. “You mean somewhere safer. Fine. You got money?”

“I do.” Seth leveled his eyes at Neal. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Where were you planning on staying?”

Seth crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin. “Megan and I plan on sleeping in the car. Just like every night. What you two do depends on you.”

Neal paused. Ricky stood up with a shrug. “Well, we might be a bit squished in there, but Collins and I can fit fine in the back.” He strolled toward the car.

Seth’s mouth fell open. “Hey!” He jogged after Ricky.

Megan looked at Neal. “Looks like we’ll be working together.”

In the end, they got a motel for the night. Seth slapped the money down at the front desk.

“Just one night.” He jammed the key into the electronic reader and shoved open the door to their first-floor room. “Just so we can make a plan. I’m not spending that money again.”

“No problem.” Ricky spread out on one of the beds. “It’s not like we expect to be out here that long. Right?”

Megan glanced around the room. Two queen beds. She didn’t have to analyze their group to know that wasn’t going to work. “We’re going to need another bed.”

Seth shook his head. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“I’ll call the front desk and ask for a roll-a-bed.” She picked up the black phone receiver.

“Megan! I can sleep on the floor!”

Neal frowned at Seth. “Is it such a big deal? If she wants to get a bed?”

Megan withdrew her hand and shook her head, a lump in her throat making it hard to swallow. “No, it’s fine.” She coughed. “So. You had questions,” she said, trying to put Seth’s weird reaction behind them.