Trip Wire by CJ Lyons

Author:CJ Lyons [Lyons, CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-939038-72-2
Publisher: Edgy Reads

Chapter Fourteen

As Morgan drove their stolen Subaru Forester—Adam lived with his foster mother up in the mountains in a little town called Orbisonia, and for some reason even in the summer, Morgan always felt like the trip deserved an all-wheel drive vehicle—Micah used Morgan’s phone and her database apps to search for a phone number. He didn’t find one for Adam, but he did track down a landline and a cell phone listed to Adam’s foster mother.

“He’s my age, right?” he said, after dialing and getting no answer on either. “What kind of kid doesn’t have a cell phone?”

“The kind who doesn’t want to connect with the outside world.”

“That’s you, and you have a cell phone.”

“Ahh, but I’m not interested in connection. I’m interested in manipulation.”

He fiddled with his own phone, scanning the security feeds monitoring his home. Then switched back to hers and dialed again. “Still no answer. Should I leave a message?”

“No. It’ll only spook him. If he runs, I can’t protect him.”

“Why would your own brother run from you?”

“Well, the last time I saw him, I killed a man in front of him, framed Adam for the murder, and then tried to kill him.” She thought about it and decided to be honest. “More than a few times.” She shrugged, not to make light of it, but to shift some of the weight of her past to where it should rest: on her father’s shoulders. “Adam ran away from Clinton and left me alone with him, and I was angry. I couldn’t forgive him.”

“This was back when the FBI caught your father. You were just a little girl, totally in his power.”

“I was young, but I’m not sure I was ever just a girl.” She wasn’t sure even now, but she didn’t have to say that; Micah knew her doubts and fears. “Adam spent some time in juvie—he was trying to do the right thing, protect some kids from Clint, but still, it was against the law. They went easy on him and he ended up with a good foster family. I think he’s happy.”

“You’ve been keeping tabs on him?”

“A little. At first to make sure he hadn’t changed and become more like me and Clint. But I should’ve known better. Adam was never anything like us. He has a sweet heart, the kind of guy who’d give a friend his last nickel without even asking why if you said you needed it.”

She didn’t tell him the other reason she’d kept going back to watch Adam with his foster family—she’d wanted to see what made Adam so different from her, see if there was some trigger or ritual or missing ingredient she could find to fix the hole Clinton Caine had drilled into her own heart.

She’d come away tearful and angry, jealous of Adam’s happiness. Back then, before she met Micah, when she’d been wandering all alone, Clint safely behind bars leaving no one to control and manipulate her, she’d thought of destroying Adam’s perfect new family. She’d reveled in the idea of making him watch as she killed everyone he loved.

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