True Colors (The Masks #1)(63)

“Let’s go,” she mouthed, her eyes still rich with fear.

I was obviously missing something.





Chapter 29




I raced to Micah and helped him up. He leaned against me as we hobbled out of the room. Indie closed the door behind us and came around the other side of Micah.

“I’m sorry.” She clung to his side. “I’m sorry.”

He kissed the top of her head and tenderly squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

“We have to get out of here.” Indie’s quivering voice pushed us down the hallway. “He does this sometimes. Falls apart and when he revives, it’s...it’s terrifying.” She shook her head and whispered, “Mason,” then walked forward before I had a chance to ask her what she meant.

We got to the top of the stairs and were about to descend when Indie pulled us to a stop. “The memory stick.” She yanked it out of her dress pocket, rubbing her thumb over the smooth plastic.

“What? Are you insane? You told us we had to get out of here,” Libby near yelled. “What about Mason? You just whispered his name, it must be important.”

“Exactly. Mason. We need some kind of insurance...against both of them. They’re petrified of going to prison. If we have this evidence, it’ll protect us,” Indie whispered back urgently.

“I want to get out of here. We have to get Micah to the hospital.” Libby argued back, pointing at our bleeding friend.

Indie’s face crumpled, tears spilling from her eyes. After a quick read, I saw everyone was on the edge of losing it. I snatched the stick off Indie before I could think better of it.

“You guys go. I’ll get the files and meet you at the hospital.”

“What? No. We have to stay together.” Micah shook his head and winced.

“I’ll be fine.” I touched his arm. “You, on the other hand, look like shit, so would you please just get out of here?” I turned to Libby. “You drive Micah’s car. Mine’s still at the beach. I’ll be five minutes behind you.”

They all stood still at the top of the stairs, hesitating.

“Go, you guys!” I nudged Libby to turn around. She reluctantly trotted down the stairs and I turned my pointed gaze to Indie. “Take care of him.”

Indie nodded. “The files are in a folder marked Business. Just grab the whole thing.”

“Okay.” I gripped the stick in my hand and took off towards the office, hoping Liam would remain a sobbing mess in his room and hoping that Indie, Libby and Micah would make it out of the house without Mason showing up.

I listened to the front door slam and breathed a sigh of relief as I nudged the office door open with my shoulder. The stick nearly fell out of my hands as I sped to the computer and tried to jam it into the USB drive. Bringing the screen to life, I quickly found the folder Indie was talking about and dragged it onto the memory stick icon. I tapped my finger as I impatiently waited for the blue line to inch across the screen. The files were copying at a snail’s pace!

The massive painted portrait of Indie and Maverick Swanson stared at me as I drummed my fingers on the desk. The opulent office was unnerving for some reason. I knew it had nothing to do with the decor and everything to do with the fact that I was fully freaking out. What if Liam came out of his room? What if he had another gun stashed in the house somewhere?

I was near sweating blood as my imagination took flight...and then my insides spasmed as I heard a voice holler up the stairs.

“Liam!” The front door slammed shut. “Liam! Where are you, man?”

My head spun as I tried to control my erratic breathing. Mason. It had to be.

The blue line inched across the screen. The copy was 60% through. Why the hell was it taking so long?

“Liam! You home?”

The voice came up the stairs. I held my breath as I listened for footsteps, willing them not to turn left towards me. My heart was thrumming out an uneven rhythm as I watched the door, convinced it would open in a moment and I’d be faced with Liam’s murdering brother. I wished I could remember what he looked like. My brain scrambled for the grainy image of his face, but I couldn’t find it.

I thought I heard footsteps moving away from me and turned back to the computer just as it dinged, indicating the end of the download. I yanked the stick free and shoved it into my pocket.

With my breathing on hold, I crept towards the door and eased it open. It took what felt like an eternity to find the guts to peek into the hallway, but I finally forced my head out. It was clear. Sucking in a breath, I slowly pulled the door wide enough to squeeze through, praying it wouldn’t creak. I was just turning for the back stairs Libby and I came up when I heard the shouting.

“You idiot! Where are they now?”

“I don’t know, man.” Liam wailed.

“Well, what were they doing here? What’d they want?”

“I just saw Indie and Micah and wanted to kill him...and punish her. I thought they were having an affair! My girl was cheating on me!”

“I don’t give a shit about your girl, Liam. You’re pathetic! What was Caitlyn doing here?”

“How do you know she was here?”

I heard a sharp slap. “Focus, Liam! What did she want?”

There was a long pause and I couldn’t move...until I heard Liam gasp and shout, “The computer! Shit! The files!”