pull me back | a drag me down spin off

【fifteen】

"Another fucking robbery." Mom carefully whispers from the kitchen, I can hear the strain in her voice.

"I thought Duke was on it." Dad angrily says, I don't need to see his face to know he's upset about the news.

"He said it's hard to find direct suspects. They're going with the surfer theory again, but no grains of sand have been found." Mom says in a low voice, probably hoping Skylar and I won't hear anything. Too late.

I'm in my usual spying position, crotched down on the stairs and hiding behind the wall. I can't believe they haven't figured out that I eavesdrop of hundreds of their conversations. But this one is important.

Word broke out this morning that the masked phantoms hit up their third bank of the month. I read all about it on my social media, and heard my uncle frantically storm out of the house.

"I tried not to think about it, but I'm starting to think it's them." Dad lets out a groan.

My eyebrows furrow at the word them. Who exactly is them? The original gang? Why does my father care so much? Is he worried about Mom's safety?

"Has Duke heard anything back from the Australia police department?" Mom quickly asks.

"Nobody has contacted him. I feel like we would have heard of a break out, though."

"As long as they don't find us, we're safe. Right?" My mother says with a low whisper.

Australia? I think hard on these clues. Is that where the masked phantoms ran off to? Maybe theories of them leaving the country were true, and maybe my parents already knew that.

"Not exactly. The girls need to stay away from the beach, the bars, anywhere they might be." Dad mumbles.

"I guess our Riker theory is debunked. He seemed fine." I hear Mom say.

Now my eyes widen. They have a theory on Riker? Why, because of the way he looks? It's been two days since our date, and we've been texting like crazy.

The more I hear from him, the less I hear from Cameron. He hasn't sent me one message since the other day when I asked him if everything was okay. I'm starting to miss him a lot.

"For now, I guess. I still don't trust him, though. His vibe was oddly familiar, and you know why." Dad tells Mom.

"Well, I'm going to jump in the shower now. I need to destress." Mom sighs.

I quickly rise to my feet and tiptoe back into my room. I squeeze my eyes shut and let out heavy breaths. Okay, now I'm officially suspicious.

My phone buzzes with a text on my nightstand, and I rush over to it. I have a new message from Cameron, finally.

cam❤️:
I found crazy new info on the gang. i'm coming to get you, so be ready. we have a lot to discuss.

He thinks he has good information? I think I just solved a new piece of the case. I send him back a quick "okay," message and slip on a pair of sneakers. I get my purse ready and jog back downstairs.

Dad is watching the TV screen closely, and the news channel is displaying new information on the robbery. When my presence becomes known to him, he turns the TV off and looks at me.

"Going somewhere?" He raises an eyebrow up.

"Out with Cameron." I shrug.

"Is Cameron code for Riker?"

"Nope, Cameron means Cameron. As in, my best friend for the last six years. The Cameron you love and adore."

"Okay, but come right home after. Another robbery happened this morning."