The next day, Saturday, I headed over to the Left’s a little bit before lunchtime. First of all, Stenway was over and for some reason he’d taken to apologizing about my Super book still being missing. I had left a few of my comics on the table, so maybe he’d seen those. Whatever the reason, I was tired of it and of being reminded that I’d been kidnapped by my sister and her boyfriend. I couldn’t wait to get our of the house. I figured Donny was probably someone who wouldn’t miss a meal, so he’d be around his house and I had a good chance of catching him on the phone.

  I was in the kitchen, just kicking off my shoes, when the phone rang. I picked it up. “Seriously, Stenway, couldn’t wait 20 minutes until I get back to the…”

  “Sorry to disappoint, Ms. Tyler.”

  I felt all the bones in my back turn cold. My hands started tingling. “Who is this?”

  “I think you know. Tell Stenway that we have the girl.” The phone clicked off. The bright green eyes hovered in front of me.

  “The girl?” I asked the kitchen. “Who?”

  I hurried through feeding the cats and actually jogged back to my house. I hate running. “Stenway!” I opened the door so hard it smacked into the wall. “Syd? Stenway?”

  “T.J. don’t slam the door.” Sydney came thudding down the stairs. “Stenway just left. What’s going on?”

  “Where did he go?”

  “To the corner market, I think. He said he didn’t have a lot in the house. What’s wrong?”

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the house. “The phone rang right as I got there.” I looked up and down the street. “Should we try to find him or wait at the house?”

  Sydney stopped me and held my shoulders. “Tyler. What is going on?”

  “Left called. He said to tell Stenway that ‘we have the girl.’ Do you know what that means? I mean I know it’s not me.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Sydney gave me a little shove. “Go back to the mansion and wait there. I’ll look and see if I can find him. I’ll be at there in half an hour or so.”

  I was not jogging that route again- too much running in one day for me.

  “Tyler!” Stenway and Sydney banged the kitchen door open and I jumped up from the table. “He said he has the girl?”

  “Sten, what girl is he talking about?” Sydney stared at him with a frozen face.

  I glitched- all of a sudden I was back in that cold hallway, watching my ID float off of me and across to the blonde girl. The one from the mugshot. The one with the crackly hair and the jokes. I looked up at Stenway. “The blonde one. What was her name, it started with a B?”

  “Briony.” His voice was tight, like when you clamp your whole hand down on the neck of a guitar and then try to play one of the strings.

  All three of us spoke almost at once.

  “Who is she?”

  “That’s not important right now, Syd.”

  “I need to get ahold of the doctor.” Stenway spun and reached for the phone. “Thank you, Tyler. You should go home now.”

  I dug my hands into my hips. “I was the one to answer that call, you know. Plus, I don’t want to leave here just for you to drag me somewhere under false pretenses to be interrogated.”

  “Ok, dictionary.” Stenway glared at me. “Just stay quiet, both of you.” Sydney and I sat at the table and listened to his very short conversation with Dr. Tellivar. We could hear a loud siren going off in the background of the phone call- Stenway fit his sentences into the breaks between the wailing. He hung up. “The doctor is going to come ask you some questions. They knew she was gone, but they didn’t know who did it. That was why there were sirens.”

  “Who is she, Stenway?” Sydney seemed less worked up, but very stiff.

  I looked over at him. “Her name, the name she gave the cops, is Briony Blue.” He stared at me. “She was arrested a few years ago on some sort of vehicle heist business. A Super found her in town. Why was she working for the Supers a few weeks ago?”

  Stenway pulled out a chair and spun it around backwards. Sinking into it, he ran his fingers straight up through his hair, then dropped his head into his hands.

  It clicked. “She’s… related to you? A cousin? You don’t have the same last name.” I ran my fingers through my hair, definitely not getting the same effect as Stenway and the blonde girl, but the gesture was the same.

  Stenway stared off into space. “She’s my sister. Mr. Left has my sister.”