Trust - Lucas Sinclair

The Case of the Missing Lifeguard (Part 4)

Mike and Lucas rode their bikes to Will's house after he had stormed off. They felt bad for not taking his campaign seriously and, from what Lucas heard, Will and Mike had an even worst argument in the garage. Which Mike also felt really bad about.

"Will!" Mike yelled over the storm, knocking loudly on the door. "Will, I'm sorry, man, all right? I was being a total asshole. Please, can you just come outside and we'll talk?"

Lucas moved to the window as Mike continued to pound on the door. He knock on the window glass, "Hey, Will! Come on, man! We're sorry! Will!"

"Maybe he's not here," Mike said after a few more knocks.

"Where would he go then?" Lucas turned to his friend.

Mike thought for a second before his eyes lit up. "Castle Byers."

***

Max and Nikki rode there bikes down the road as El stood on the back of Max's bike.

They stopped in front of a house with a red door. "Is this it?"

Both Nikki and Max turned to El who nodded her head.

They ditched their bikes on the ground and walked up to the door. El wasted no time at all unlocking it and making it creek open before Nikki even got the chance to knock.

"El!" Nikki scolded her sister as El stepped into the house with Max and a reluctant Nikki following her.

"This is her house," Max said after looking at a photo of Heather and her family.

"What?" Nikki and El said in unison, making the girls glare at each other.

"Heather's house," Max explained, not noticing the girls's silent argument.

The sound of a woman laughing made them snap out of their glares and turn to the sound.

Nikki led the way to the end of the hallway, where three people sat around a dining table with smiles on their faces. One person however they didn't expect to be there.

"Max," Billy looked at his sister as the laughter stopped.

"We didn't mean to barge in," Max tried to come up with an excuse quickly. "We tried to knock, but maybe you didn't hear us over the storm."

"I'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" Heather's father glared at the girls.

Billy let out a laugh. "I'm sorry. Janet, Tom, this is my sister, Maxine, and her friend Nikki."

"Oh!" Janet smiled at the girls brightly.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Billy asked Max as he got up from his seat and walked over to the girls. "Is something wrong?"

"We just wanted to make sure everything was okay," Max half lied.

"Okay?" Billy looked between Max and Nikki. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Where is she?" El asked before Max or Nikki had time to answer.

"I'm sorry. Where is who?"

"Well, they're a little burnt, I'm sorry—" a new voice came from the kitchen. Heather walked in with a smile on her face but quickly stopped talking once she noticed the girls.

"Heather!" Billy greeted. "This is my sister, Maxine. And her friends, Nikki and, I'm sorry I did not quite catch your name."

El turned to Billy with a daring look in her eye. "El."

"El," Billy repeated in a way that made Nikki want to take a step back. "Now, now what is it you were saying, El? You were looking for somebody?"

El turned to Heather who was now seated in between her parents. "I..I saw—"

"Your manager," Nikki cut in quickly. "At the pool. He said you guys didn't come in to work today and we knew you guys wouldn't do that on purpose, so we got worried."

"Heather wasn't feeling so hot today," Billy told Nikki, "so we thought we'd take the day off to nurse her back to health. But you're feeling just fine right now, aren't you, Heather?"

"I'm feeling so much better," Heather nodded. She stood up and grabbed the cookie tray she carried in. "Do you girls want a cookie? They're fresh out of the oven."

"We're good," Nikki answered for them, not getting the best feeling. She grabbed both El's and Max's hands and led them out of the house. "Sorry for disturbing you, enjoy your dinner."

Billy shut the door behind them as the girls got back on their bikes.

Max started to peddle do the driveway and Nikki was about to follow her until she felt a small pit form in her stomach. She turned back toward the house and immediately noticed Billy standing by the door, looking at her. His eyes darkened enough for a cold chill to run up Nikki's spine. He looked almost ready to kill.

She turned away from him and started peddling, wanting to get away from the house. Feeling a weird sense of deja vu, she picked up speed to catch up to Max and El. She did not dare to look back.

***

"Will!" Mike yelled as they got closer to the fort.

"Will!" Lucas called as they saw him standing in the rain, looking around with a destroyed Castle Byers at his feet.

"What happened?" Mike asked as they got closer to him. "Are you okay?"

Will turned back to Mike and Lucas with fear in his eyes.

"He's back."

Author note
Yay! You guys didn't have to wait forever for an update this time! Yesterday I got a lot of writing done, so there will be another chapter coming out later on this week. Until then...

Love ya!!❤️❤️❤️