No Strings Attached

Chapter 17: Locked Castle

"Maybe we should tell Marco and James," Aria suggests, locking the front door.

After the scary encounter with Peyton and Conan, Aria and I dashed around the house to lock any door or window we could find. 

So far, the entire house became an enormous fortress; with concealed windows and barricaded doors, I finally felt safe from the terrors lurking outside.

But just because I locked a few doors,  doesn't mean Marco and James would be next.

Seeing me tired, Aria strolled over to the fridge, brought out a glass of refreshing lemonade, then offered it to me.

"Here, " she says, handing me the lemonade. "Drink this."

Thanking her dearly, I take the glass from Aria's hand, drained the yellow, crisp beverage, and set it in the dish-filled sink.

"So, are you okay?" Aria questioned.

I frown glumly. "No."

"Me neither, " Aria admitted. "I can't believe those guys aren't cops."

I snort a laugh, turning on the tap water.

As we talked, I scrubbed the dirty cup with a lemon yellow sponge, rinsed it with warm water, and placed it in the dishwasher rack.

"Yeah, " I agreed. "And I can't believe they knew my address."

"Creeps, " Aria grunted. "I bet a thousand dollars that they are probably recording us now."

"Or bugged our phones."

Drying my hands with a paper towel then said to Aria: "Maybe we should call Marco and James."

"Really?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said in an unsure tone.  "As much as I want to check on the boys, I am worried that we might put them in danger."

Aria frowned, propping her butt on the table. Her teeth nibbled on her perfectly manicured nails, as she watched the curtains waver in front of the windows.

Looking at her for a moment, I asked Aria: "So, why didn't you tell us that those cops interrogate you?"

"You, James, and Marco were still recovering from the toxic slime," she answered. "And besides, they seem like nice people."

Then turning her face to me, Aria added, "I didn't want to go through that horrible night again. That's all."

That's all?  I wondered crossly.

She could have given us a heads up before Will Smith and Braveheart showed up.

As if Aria was hearing my thoughts, she snorts: "Look, I don't know about you, Nadine, but I thought those officers could help us."

I cross my arms. "Okay, so what did you tell them exactly?"

"What I can remember from that night," explained Aria.

"That we were helping James pick up some groceries. However, we noticed two guys driving around in a suspicious van, then followed them."

"What else?" I pressed.

Aria threw up her hands in frustration. "The cops started asking me for specifics: what clothes they were wearing, what vehicle did they drove." 

"And when I told them that I don't remember, one of the cops accused me of drinking."

My eyes narrowed. "What? You've never drunk alcohol before." 

Aria blinked at me. "I know, but they didn't believe me."