Page 290 of Nobody's Girl

We follow him down the stairs and see Scotty has even been brought into it, something I’m not happy with. I don’t want anything to happen to him. I don’t want anything to happen to anybody.

Eden leads us to sit directly across from our fathers and Kyle. I hold Eden’s hand tightly, as I find I am getting pretty nervous. Then I notice Brady isn’t here and so does Laura.

“Where’s that guy?” Laura asks Eden.

“He’s been taken home, so he can start to contact Stiles,” Eden says as he motions for us to sit. “We’re hoping Stiles will see he’s been released and try to contact him again. Once he’s made contact with him, he’s going to let us know, and then our part of the plan will begin.”

Lyle takes our attention as he adds, “We’ve decided it’s improbable that we can get Stiles to come here again. We need to do this out in the open. The three of you will take a trip into town to go to the New Orleans zoo.”

Dad continues where Lyle left off. “We all feel he’s much more likely to think he can get to you in a place like that. Although the three of you will arrive together, the rest of us will arrive there a bit later, so he’ll not see us all together and get suspicious. We’ll flank you on each side, so you’re never alone, but at times you will appear to be.”

Lyle takes our attention again as he says, “Once he’s taken the bait—that’s you, Alyssa—then we will all come in on him at once. Our security team will be there as well to make sure he doesn’t get away.”

My father adds. “He will not be taken to the police station, as we feel he might get out, and we can’t have that. Instead, our security team will take him to a mental institution in Alaska, where he’ll never be released.”

Laura looks at Kyle across the room and asks, “Who are the three they’re talking about, Kyle?”

“Me, Ally, and Eden,” he answers.

She looks at me. “Ally, I want to come too. I didn’t come all this way to not help you.”

I look at Eden and send, ‘Is that going to work, if she doesn’t come? I don’t want anyone in danger that isn’t essential for this plan to work out.’

Eden’s hands go running through his hair as flashes of his dream flow through his mind and out to mine. Her role seems to have been played out already. She was supposed to be with me at the swimming pool and she was.

He has to come up with something to tell Laura, though, so he says, “Kyle feels strongly about you staying here, Laura. He doesn’t want you in any danger.”

Laura looks at Kyle. “I feel like I should go, though.”

Kyle rises and comes to her, taking her by the hand. He lifts her up and puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. “Laura, please just do what I ask. I can’t see both of you in danger. My mind will stay more focused if I don’t have to worry about you too. I love you, you know,” he tells her.

Eden takes my hand and gives it a squeeze as a sharp pain stabs at my heart with his confession of love for another.

A slight blush covers her cheeks. “Well, when you put it that way. I would feel terrible if something happened to you because you got distracted because of me,” she concedes.

“So that’s settled,” my father says. “Laura, you can help Scotty here, then. He’ll be tracking us all and keeping us updated about where everyone’s at. We gave Brady a tracking device that we hope he can put on Stiles somehow, if he’s able to actually see him. The chances of that are slim, though, so we’ll tap into the surveillance cameras at the zoo as well. It may take both of you to keep track of everyone, plus keep us informed.”

Laura nods her head. “That’s good. At least I can be of some use.”

Kyle kisses her on top of the head. “You’re always useful, baby,” he tells her, making her smile.

Will I ever get used to seeing them together like this?

Eden’s warm breath fills my ear. “It’ll get easier.”

Why am I so jealous?

Dad stands up. “You kids get your bathing suits on and go for a swim. Have some fun for goodness sakes. I’m going to teach Lyle here how to barbecue this evening. I know how much Kyle and Laura love my barbecue ribs.”

“Yes,” Kyle hisses as he hugs Laura tighter. “I missed those the most.”

I give him a dirty look. “Thanks a lot, Kyle,” I find myself saying, before I can stop the words from flowing out of my mouth. “Now I know the real reason you came all this way and it wasn’t for me.”

Kyle laughs at me. “The truth is out, Ally. It was never you I was after. It was your dad’s barbecue,” he teases me.

“Stop it Kyle. We don’t want to burst her bubble with the fact that we only came here to get to eat her Daddy’s barbecue and her Mom’s apple pie,” Laura adds as she gives me a wink.

“You guys are awful,” I say with a laugh as we go up the stairs to change into our bathing suits.