Classified ☑

[ chapter 30 ]

"Why can't we just go to the cops?" Mark asked, throwing his hands up in frustration from the bed he's sitting on.

We were back at the hotel that Dante and I stayed at before going back to Lucille's house. Mark and Shelly were now showered and clean, like I was. I'd explained everything to them. What happened with my dad, to finding out how Cole had played me, everything besides the clues I'd found with Thomas.

Watching the two of them hurt. They were betrayed by one of their closest friends.

Mark looked even skinnier than he did earlier today if that was possible, even Shelly did. They looked exhausted sitting next to each other, but the dynamic between them had changed.

Shelly had her hand on his shoulder and looked at him in understanding, there was also something deeper there but I couldn't tell what it was. But I knew they'd gotten a lot closer.

They only had each other for the last month. They'd told me that they had been kidnapped with Cole, or so they thought, that night they went camping. They hadn't seen Cole since that night. Until today. So all those texts I had received from Mark and Shelly had probably been sent by Luther or Cole, trying to figure out where I was.

The first town we hit after leaving that abandoned warehouse, we traded the van for a truck. Or I should say stole. That's how Shelly and Mark would've explained it. But Dante said it was necessary for us to stay off Luther's radar. Luther, Cole's and Dante's dad, had no doubt put a tracker on that van so we had to to ditch it in order for us to not be tracked down.

They were angry and I understood why they wanted to go to the cops, but it wasn't that simple. TIA probably had trained assassins waiting for us to go to the cops. That's what they're expected us to do.

"Mark, it's not that simple," I explained. "They can't track us down right now and have no idea where we are. It won't last for long, but I promise you they most likely have people waiting for us at all of the nearby police stations. It's not safe for us to be going anywhere right now. They're not stupid."

Luther definitely wasn't, but something about how easy we escaped didn't feel right. It was almost too easy.

"I want to go home." Shelly started to cry and it made my heart ache. Mark wrapped his arm around her shoulders and puller her into him.

Seeing them like that felt like a punch to the gut. I couldn't imagine what their parents were going through and that made me feel all the more guilty about keeping them in hiding. But I wanted them to be safe, and right now, hiding was our best bet.

"Please just stay in here." They'd gotten the one bed room beside us, so Dante and I were just next door. I'd offered to stay with the two of them, but they told me they wanted to be alone. "If you need anything, just come knock, okay?"

The two of them nodded their heads in sync.

I got up and left the room, telling them to lock it after I was outside. I opened the door to the room Dante and I were sharing and saw him sitting on the bed with the lights turned off.

Something dangled from his fingers and glinted when the moonlight hit it. He looked up and clasped the chain in his hands. "Hey." His voice was weak and tired.

After shutting the door, I walked over to the bed and plopped onto it beside him. "That felt too easy."

His brows scrunched in confusion. "What?"

"Us escaping. It felt too easy."

Dante nodded his head. "I agree. They had nearly untrained guards as their last defense to stop us from leaving. Something about that isn't right."