“You’re doing what you believe is right, like you always do. And there’s a high likelihood that what you believe is rightisright.”
A series of shouts sounded from the living room, followed by a crash. Alice and Kimberly stared wide-eyed at each other, then ran down the hall. A glass table was lying on its side, and Carter had Kimberly’s fiancé in a headlock. “You’re the guy,” Malik gasped. “You’re the guy they’re looking for. The guy who took Alice.”
“Who is right here, and fine,” said Alice, stepping to where Malik could see her. “It’s okay, Carter, you can let him go.”
“I caught him going through our stuff,” Malik said, straightening, and stretching his neck. “I thought it was a burglar and then I saw his face.”
“Carter, meet my future brother-in-law, Malik. Malik, meet my hero—the one from my book, I mean. Antihero, technically, but there’s no need to call the cops.”
“Uh, too late?” Malik said, picking up his cell phone, which was lying on the floor. “Sorry, I’ll call them straight back.”
“They’ll come anyway,” Carter said. “We need to get outta here, dictaphone or no dictaphone.”
“Make that ‘dictaphone,’” Alice said, holding it up.
“Legend. Now how long did you say that recording was?”
“Nine very long hours,” Kimberly replied. “Do you need somewhere to hide while you find out what’s on it?” she added, warming up to the intrigue. “Aunt Helen’s lake house is empty at the moment. I have the key.”
“All good. We’ll find a motel on the way to D.C.”
A siren sounded, in the distance. Malik gaped at his phone. “Man, that was quick.”
“We’ll go out the back,” Carter said. “The neighbors over the fence aren’t home.”
“How did you know that?” Kimberly said.
“Never go into a situation unless you know at least two ways out,” Alice called back, running to the glass doors that opened out to the backyard.
“What do we tell them?” Kimberly pointed in the direction of the sirens—multiple sirens, now.
“Don’t lie, don’t omit,” Carter said, following Alice. “Don’t get yourself in trouble. We have nothing to hide, and you don’t want to get caught up in this. Answer every question truthfully—about what we took, where we’re going, whatever they want to know.”
“Tell them it’s all a misunderstanding,” Alice called back as she slid the door open. “That I’m okay, I haven’t been kidnapped. That we’re just trying to find out the truth.”
“But if you can avoid mentioning the headlock, that would be awesome,” Carter added, shouting over the siren. “And, uh, sorry about that, man.”
“I’m hardly gonna want to admit it, am I? I have a brown belt in jiu-jitsu.”
“And you’re very good at it,” Kimberly said, reassuringly. “Be careful!” she yelled, stepping onto the back deck as Carter and Alice crossed the yard.
“So on one hand you’re telling me to take the biggest risk of my life, and the other to be careful?” Alice called back.
“It’s especially important to be careful when you take a risk. But it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a risk. Oh, and you be careful too, Carter. People around Alice tend to die. Correlation not causation, as far as we know, but no studies have yet been done.”
As Carter gave Alice a leg-up over the back fence, Kimberly and Malik stood waving, arms around each other as if this was a regular farewell. Weekend guests departing for home.
“I’m surprised you chose to stick with me,” Carter said as he jumped into the neighbor’s grassy backyard behind her. “You could have stayed behind, waited for the police. It’s not like I would have forced you to come.”
“I didn’t really have time to think it through. Snap decision.”
He smiled approvingly, and she could practically feel the dopamine release, though she really shouldn’t be savoring approval from a guy like him. “I find those kinds of decisions are usually the most sensible ones.”
“I suppose I want to know some answers, too. Before I turn you in.” She grinned, and then her face fell. “Omigod, what am I doing?”
“The right thing. Come on, talk and run.”
“The right thing for who?”
