A Loaded Gun

Chapter 23

Daniel POV

We lost her. She was probably halfway to Virginia by now. She never showed up at the subway station, so she must have taken a bus and escaped like that. 

She's smart, so I wouldn't put it past her to have conned her way onto a Greyhound and skipped town.

After 3 hours of waiting at the station, we admitted defeat and shuffled back to the car. We drove in silence at first, before Michael spoke up in a cold voice. 

"I don't know about you guys, but if we don't find Brooke, I will never forgive Marcus." Lucas and I nodded in agreement.

"But it's not over yet. We still have contacts in the police department, so if she is spotted they'll let us know." Lucas, as always, was hopeful. I was not as optimistic as we pulled into the driveway.

"I just wish I could see her one last time," Michael's anguished voice made my throat tighten. We entered the house to the sound of deep laughter. 

How could Marcus be laughing at a time like this? Callous bastard.

We exchanged glances and rushed to the source, stopping short when we saw not one, but two figures sitting at the kitchen table eating leftover mac and cheese.

"...Brooke?" Lucas said eagerly. Both heads turned toward us and Marcus spoke casually. 

"Oh, hi. Pull up a chair, Brooke was about to tell me about how she led you guys on a wild goose chase."

Brooke whacked his arm gently, glaring cheerfully. "Apologize, Marcus." 

She turned toward us. "He told me what you guys said and did before going after me. Lucas, great speech. Almost worthy of me. Appreciate the loyalty."

"But Brooke, I don't want to apologize," his teasingly whiny voice made us jerk with surprise. Marcus never kids around.

"Marcus, now." Her stern voice made him wilt, and he turned towards us. "I'm sorry for causing Brooke to run away and for not respecting her boundaries. Can you tell me now?" 

He didn't even take a breath; it was all one word. Brooke sighed. "Alright, fine. Everyone gather around.

"I figured the first place you'd look would be the subway station, so I couldn't go there. Plus I didn't put it past you to have put a tracker on me, so I figured better be safe than sorry."

At that, we exchanged glances. How come we didn't think to put a tracker on her?

"So I went to the mall–-well, first, let me give you back your credit card Daniel." I raised my eyebrows. 

She sheepishly reached into her pocket and handed a plastic card to me with an impish grin.

"Anyway, after I got some cash from an ATM, I went to go swim in a fountain to disable a possible tracker, which by the way, no one told me was illegal. So...I may have gotten detained for that."

"You what??"

"Yeah, but the dude was very nice about the whole thing. I gave him a fake name and he drove me home."

"Wait, you came back here?"

Marcus laughed. "No, she went to her old house. What she didn't know was that I was waiting for her."

"How did you know she would be there?" Michael was confused, and he wasn't the only one.

He shrugged. "Where else did she have to go? I knew at some point she would show up, it was just a matter of time.