Finders Keepers (15 page)

***

               
It was well past midnight when Ellie finally sensed movement outside the sliding glass door.
 
She and Taylor were camped right inside of it.
 
At least six blankets were stacked up beneath them to make lying on the hard, cold tile remotely bearable.
 
Taylor’s eyes were closed and her breathing even.
 
She’d dropped off about half an hour before, after announcing that Ellie “may have bumped her head on a rock underground since laying out borrowed clothes on the back porch with a note tucked inside stating the need to talk was seriously wacked.”

           
However, now there was a shadow creeping along the railing of their porch.
 
It stopped near the neatly folded pants and sweater dress and fingered the material.
 
Ellie slid the glass door along its track just until it was wide enough to squeeze her through.
 
Then she pulled it back into place behind her.
 
The goblin was no more than fifteen feet away, but didn’t look up to acknowledge her.
 
Instead it slunk into a crouched position so only its head could be seen above the deck.
 

“You might as well keep the clothes.
 
Sarah’s not coming back for them.”

           
The female voice was familiar, just not the one Ellie expected.
 
She flipped on her flashlight and shone it on the crouched figure, careful to avoid directing it straight into its eyes.
 
The shadow uncurled itself and stood up revealing long, model-like limbs and silver waist-length hair.
 
Lola.

           
“Oh.”
 
It was all Ellie could get out.
 
Glancing back at Taylor she could see her still sound asleep behind the glass door.
 

           
“What are you doing here?”

           
Lola joined her hands over her head and stretched, reaching way up and making it seem if she could just gain a couple more inches, she might actually touch the moon.
 
After rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck, she focused her attention on Ellie again.
 
“I’m doing Sky a favor, I guess.
 
He wanted to make sure you were okay.”
 

           
“Me?
 
Well, what about him?
 
Is he okay?
 
And Sarah?
 
Has something happened to her?”
 
Ellie stuffed her hands under her arms.
 
Even with gloves on, her fingers were already stiff and numb.
 
She glared at Lola.
 

           
Lola shrugged.
 
“Like what?”

           
Ellie’s fists clenched automatically and she took a step toward the goblin girl.
 
“You’re with Gibbs so don’t act dumb.
 
Why are you really here?”

           
“Fine,” she said and advanced toward Ellie.
 
“But you’re wrong about me and Gibbs.
 
I was the one who sabotaged the original explosive hoping to get rid of Sky or at least incapacitate him so he couldn’t continue the project.
 
I don’t know who or what you care about, but I know that Sky cares about you.
 
Unlike Gibbs, I am not here to threaten or seduce you so that Sky cooperates and finishes the project.
 
I want you to come with me and convince Sky to stop and get out of there.”

“You blew Sky’s hand off and now you want me to help you?”

“It’s not about me.
 
You’ll do this if you care about him.”
 

Ellie’s head spun.
 
Was Lola serious?
 
Maybe a little bit of crazy was another goblin characteristic Flora should have listed alongside of lazy and self-interested.
 
“What’s going to prevent Gibbs from tracking us down again?”

           
“Gibbs is nothing without Sky.
 
This is no ordinary bomb.
 
You can’t just
google
the directions to build it.
 
If Sky leaves the project, the gang will fall apart.”
 
Lola took a step toward Ellie.
 
“Sky is less than a day’s work from finishing the device.
 
I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think you’d be interested.
 
You were waiting around for Sarah were you not?”
 
She flipped the note between her fingers.
 
“Worried what Gibbs might have done to her?”

           
Ellie ground her teeth together.
 
Was she always so transparent?
 
Yes, she was worried about Sarah.
 
And now Sky too.
 
And if she could read anything from Lola’s tone of voice, it was that, indeed, there was something to be worried about.
   

           
“Ellie, wait.
 
There’s something you should know.”

Without Ellie realizing it, Taylor had stepped out onto the porch.
 
She wasn’t clothed in millions of layers like Ellie and her arms were wrapped around her body while she shivered.

           
“Manny likes you.”

           
A nuclear bomb exploding in Ellie’s yard couldn’t have been a more unexpected announcement even if it preceded an alien abduction.
 
Ellie turned on her heel to look squarely into Taylor’s face.
 
Her curls were looser now that they’d been slept on and her eyeliner was smudged around one eye.
 
“It’s true.
 
He’s always had a thing for you.”

           
“What are you talking about?”
 
As many years as Ellie had trusted Taylor implicitly, somehow right there on the porch in the cold, she felt she could trust what came out of Lola’s mouth more than her own best friend.

Taylor stamped her feet.
 
Purple socks peeked out under striped pajama pants.
 
“He’s been saving you, Ellie.
 
Like the playboy that he is, he wanted to have it all, and then when he was done having his fun, dating every cheerleader and pretty face, he figured you’d end up together eventually.
 
Go to the same college.
 
Get married.
 
Have two kids.”
 
Her teeth were chattering now.
 
“I wanted to ruin him for you because you deserve better.
 
He actually sabotaged your date with Caleb.
 
Sunny told me Caleb told her that Manny told Caleb that you were always calling him a redneck moron behind his back.”
   

Lola checked the watch on her arm.
 
“You’re wasting my time.”

“Why are you telling me all this now?” Ellie asked Taylor.
 
“Why didn’t you tell me all this before?”

“Because you are about to go off with a gang of homeless runaways for a guy you barely know!
 
I thought it would make a difference.
 
You could have Manny if you stayed.”

“If he’s such a player, why would I want anything to do with him?”
 
Ellie began to back away from Taylor.
 
Unlike her friend, she’d planned for something like this.
 
Her running shoes were already on.

“Because he
really
likes you.
 
I know because I’ve already seen him treat you better than he has ever treated any of his other girlfriends, even me.
 
You’re special.”

“This is insane Taylor.
 
He’s your boyfriend!
 
I appreciate the concern, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
 
Now go back to sleep.
 
I’ll be back in just a couple of hours.”
 
She stopped right before she got within arm’s reach of Lola.
     

“I’ll prove it.”
 
Taylor produced her cell and waved it at Ellie.
 
After blowing on her fingers, she scrolled through, found a number and hit send.
 
She danced on her tip toes while she waited for the call to go through.
 

Ellie wavered.
 
If Taylor were telling the truth, wouldn’t that change everything?
 
This was Manny they were talking about, after all.
 
He was no Gibbs, but he was human.
 
He didn’t steal cars.
 
Or people.
 
And if she knew one thing more certainly than the rest, it was that going back underground was as dangerous and stupid as stepping her foot into a fire-ant hole.
 

But possibly worth it.
 
Who else would help Sarah and Sky?
 
She could help her friends and also confront a
certrain
green-eyed goblin that had left her without closure.
 
She wasn’t sure she could close the book on him without it.

There didn’t seem to be a clear cut, right answer.
 
Ellie turned to Taylor.
 
Quick as a fox Lola leaped over the railing and latched onto Ellie’s arm.
 
“Maybe I wasn’t clear enough.
 
If you don’t come with me and convince Sky to stop, I will have to kill him.”

10

           
Well, no pressure there.
 
If she believed Lola, then Sky’s life literally rested in her hands.
 
Maybe she could convince him to leave, maybe she couldn’t.
 
But if she did nothing, he was as good as dead.
 
Goblin
.
 
The word turned over and over in her mind.
 
Why should she care?
 
What if Gibbs blew most of the goblin population to pieces?
 
Wouldn’t that make the world just a little safer?
 
Ellie tried to push down the significant part of her that was screaming foul in her head, especially when it lingered on Gibbs.
 
Something about this felt wrong.
 
She yanked her arm free of Lola’s grasp and backed away.
 

           
Taylor was arguing with Manny, or whoever was on the other end of the phone.
 
“I’m putting you on speaker,” she said.
 

           
“Well this is embarrassing.”
 
Manny’s voice crackled in the cold air.

           
Ellie said nothing.
 
She was holding her breath.
 
It’s not like she wasn’t curious.
   

           
“Uh, Ellie what’s all this about?
 
Taylor said you were going to go after that guy again.
 
You know that’s nuts, right?
 
Come on Elle-belle…hey Taylor, take me off speaker and give the phone to Ellie.”

           
Taylor spoke loudly and clearly.
 
“Not until you admit that you have feelings for her.”

           
“What is all this about?
 
Are you trying to break up with me?
 
Did you have to do it at two in the morning?
 
I’m not doing this right now.
 
Not like this.
 
Get me off speaker or I’m hanging up.”
 

           
Taylor growled and took Manny off of speaker.
 
Ellie glanced back at Lola who stood watching her.
 
A small, cruel smile played around Lola’s lips.
 
Without a confession from Manny, Lola appeared confident in her bargaining powers.
 
Ellie clenched her fists, barely resisting the urge to black one of Lola’s pretty blue eyes.
 
If she’d known Ellie even a little better, she would have known there was no question in Ellie’s mind that she would protect Sky.
 
Deep in her gut was an unexplainable protective ferocity when it came to Sky, and nothing short of body-snatching aliens would keep her from helping him.
   

           
“Forget it Taylor.
 
I’m going.”

           
Taylor ended her call with Manny in mid-sentence.
 
“Fine, but I’m coming with you.
 
Wait while I get my shoes… and coat.
 
Is this going to take a while?
 
Do I need to bring my purse?
 
And will there be food because I am already hungry.”

           
Lola snorted.

           
Lola’s way back to the goblin city was different from either the way in or out Ellie experienced before.
 
She led them on foot through the back streets of town.
 
Turning up a narrow one way side street, they cut through an alley and appeared on Main Street.
 
Across the road loomed
The Treasure Bin
thrift shop.
 
Lola scurried across the street, followed more hesitantly by Taylor and Lola.
 
Ellie’s stomach dropped out of her body somewhere before she crossed the yellow center stripe.

           
“Don’t worry,” Lola said, her voice filled with mocking.
 
“It’s in the building next door.”

           
They passed the front window of the thrift shop.
 
Ellie caught sight of a face in the glass.
 
She gasped, stumbled, and tripped—too late realizing the face was a darkened version of her own…a reflection.
 
In spite of her layers, the fall cost the skin on her right knee.
 
Taylor stopped to help pull Ellie to her feet, but Lola barely glanced back as she darted around the corner into another alley.
 
The fresh scrape burned when Ellie bent her leg, so she walked stiff legged and hobbled to catch up.
 
Just like old times
, she thought ironically.
 
Just as she entered the alley, the street lamp closest to them flickered, then went out.

           
Ellie stopped causing Taylor to halt suddenly as well.
 
Before what had been a general sense of unease was quickly turning into full-blown red flags of warning.
 
She had gone underground with Gibbs twice and neither of those occurrences warranted the theatrics Lola seemed to deem necessary.
 
Taylor waited to see if Ellie was going to proceed.
 
This moment was probably the last chance Ellie had to change her mind and turn around.
 
She blew out her breath, and then looped her arm in Taylor’s.
 
They walked forward together Wizard of Oz fashion into the darkness.
 

Considerably more prepared than the last time, Ellie whipped out her flashlight again.
 
The beam was strong, but small and direct.
 
Lola motioned for them to follow her through a broken basement window.
 
Beyond that, she could see nothing.
 
Lola disappeared quickly and easily through the ragged, gaping mouth.

           
Ellie squeezed Taylor’s arm.
 
“You don’t have to come with me.
 
It might be better if you stayed behind and made up an excuse for me if I don’t make it back before my mom starts cooking.
 
She’ll freak if I’m not around to peel potatoes.”

           
“Impossible.
 
My mom will go ballistic if you get on the news one more time without me, and she’s much scarier than your mom.
 
It’s a matter of family pride that I come with you and risk my life for my glorious fifteen minutes.”
 
She grinned and let go of Ellie’s arm.
 
Crouching down and then with the fluid motion of a gymnast she jumped down through the window backwards.
      

           
Gibbs sat in one of the bean bag chairs, which he’d dragged in to where Sky was and shook his head back and forth while texting Zak.
 
Up near the top of the cave they were near enough to the surface that cell phone use was entirely possible even without a signal boost.
 
Sky tinkered with the parts in front of him.
 
He could have been done three days ago, but he’d slowed his progress, dragging out the project as long as possible, hoping that a way out of this would present itself.
 
He stared at the remote and timer in front of him and then rubbed his raccoon ringed eyes.
 
After helping Ellie return to the surface, he’d found sleep impossible.
 
When he wasn’t having nightmares about flying pieces of flesh blowing up, he was torturing himself over thoughts of her.
 
And for the last two hours, he’d been expounding these thoughts on his brother.

He missed her rocking it out to her favorite playlist while washing dishes.
 
He missed the way she grumbled over her physics homework.
 
He liked the way she threw her hair up in a sloppy ponytail when she worked on a project.
 
There were those times when she…
   

 
Gibbs eyes never looked up from the screen, but his face was as hard and frozen as stone.
 
“Bro, if you mention Ellie one more time I promise I will take you down.
 
You’re the one who let her go back, now deal with it.
 
We’re never going to see her again.”
 

The door to the main room opened and several pairs of footsteps shuffled in.
 
Sky and Gibbs looked up simultaneously.
 
As if speaking of her had summoned her, there she was, hands on hips, and scowling at the two of them.

***

Sky strode from the small room he’d been in, leaving behind a table strewn with electronic components, wires, and parts.
 
He barely glanced at Taylor, smiled at Lola, and then his eyes landed on her.
 
And they were blank.
 
Completely emotionless.
 
Anger bubbled inside of Ellie instantly.
 
She was mad at Lola for hurting Sky and threatening to kill him, and she was angry at Gibbs for…for everything.
  
But she was also furious with Sky.
 
Gibbs was right when he said Sky was keeping her in the dark.
 
Why did he have her picture?
 
Why did he act like he cared one minute and not the next?
 
And if his friends and family were going to keep using her to manipulate him as if she were his one big weakness, then Sky should have told her why and what the freak was going on.

His voice, hardened like Gibbs’, cut the silence.
 
“Look what the cat dragged in—the blonde bombshell, her little sidekick, and Lola,” said Sky, loud enough so everyone in the room (which appeared to be the entire gang) could hear.

All eyes shifted to him.
 
Eyebrows were raised and Lola’s jaw dropped.
 
Gibbs, having come up from behind him, even seemed taken aback.
 
But not for long.
 
“What is going on?” Gibbs said at the same time he pushed Sky behind him.

“She escaped on my watch, so I rectified my mistake, as you can see.
 
If we let her go free, there’s no telling if Sky would stay.
 
He’d always be pining for her.”
 
Lola’s voice oozed with disgust.
 
She gave a nod to Dodge who immediately
unslouched
himself from the couch and took Ellie’s other arm and pinned it behind her.
 
She cried out.
 
Flipping open a jack knife Dodge forced Ellie’s palm open.
 
Taylor screeched and dove for Ellie.
 
She was intercepted by Lola.
 
The two girls fought, kicking and scratching until the boy with the oil hair jumped in and dragged Taylor to the corner where he held her arms and legs down with his own body.
 
Ellie bit
 
her lip so hard her teeth punctured the skin.
 
A whimper escaped her throat as the knife dug into her hand.
 
Sky didn’t move.
 
Very slowly, Dodge sliced open Ellie’s palm, from the bottom of her thumb all the way to below her pinkie finger.
 
Sky didn’t even twitch.
 
Not one muscle moved in order to jump to her rescue.

Blood seeped quickly from the wound and overflowed Ellie’s hand until it dripped onto the floor.
 
Her whimpers only stopped when Gibbs stepped forward and grabbed the knife.
 
His hand shook as he wiped the blade on his jeans and then folded it and shoved it to his own pocket.
 
“I know Sky better than anyone.”
 
He turned to where Ellie had slipped to a kneeling position on the floor.
 
Dodge still hadn’t let go of her arm, so she cradled her injured hand against her chest.
 
A black stain spread across the front of her dark blue hoodie.
  
“If he cared for her at all, he would have intervened.
 
I hope that appeases your jealousy, Lola.
 
If you ever act without orders again, you are out.
 
I will not warn you again.”
 
His voice was dangerously low and it rumbled like thunder.