Chapter 54 - Lost and Found (Brennan Conrad POV) Pt.3

Chapter 54 – Lost and Found (Brennan Conrad POV) Pt.3

Grandma Bess' wild blondish brown hair flew in the wind, "Carry her inside the main truck," she instructs Javier. Gripping his sister tighter in his arms, Javier hoists her up and follows Bess.

Standing with my siblings and grandpa Antone, he turns around in the same spot, looking out at the road, the other motorhomes, the hotel across the street and closed bakery.

When he turns back to me, there is pure fire in his eyes. All of the anger narrowed towards me.

Intimidatingly, unlike any way my grandfather had spoken or looks towards me, Antone approaches. "What did you do Brennan?" he demands menacingly. Ducking back, I shake my head, "I – no – I didn't call her or tell Devin where we were heading. She," I swallow; my siblings already knew the truth, thankfully.

"Granddad, I swear, I didn't – Devin knew the list of compounds from when we hacked the servers," my mouth dry, I know for a fact that this was not good. We might not be heading to remain in Arizona, but if Devin had been able to follow us, who else decided to do the same?

"What happened?" Antone asks looking away from me and turning to face Thaddeus. "I," he points to himself, licking his lips.

"I was throwing away our trash and someone honked their horn, I looked towards it and there was nothing that caught my attention, but I had to do a double look. I mean I saw Samson's car and at first I thought it might be him, but then Devin got out."

Antone nods his head, "okay, okay," he murmurs rubbing his hand through his hair.

"Granddad, she said that Taylor killed S-Silas," Thaddeus whispers thickly, my sisters standing beside us all in shock.

"She said that Javier told her to run and I think she might have left Taylor somewhere," I add on. "Should – do we call Javier Senior?"

"We do nothing until I say!" Antone whirls to face me, anger in his eyes. "For all we know this is a trap," he waves a hand in the direction Javier carried Devin.

"Why would she lie?" Thaddeus asks with a thickness in his voice.

Antone ignores Thaddeus, though I see him swallowing, and his chest rises and falls at an increasing pace. Before he's heard more from Devin, Antone turns to me. "Brennan, you sleep now. Thaddeus, we leave in ten minutes." I hear my grandfather but instead of jumping at his instructions I gaze past him, looking at Samson's car.

"I think we should wake Devin up, I'm sure we have smelling salts in our first aid kits. I think we need to wake her up and hear what she knows. I mean, what's the worst that can happen..." I don't look at anyone, instead going to the car, opening the driver's side to pop the hood, then trunk.

Checking out the car, leaning in, I peer around, searching I look for the GPS that comes installed and then the one I knew dad had Angela install in all the cars.

We could cancel out the GPS that came with the car. Searching, I look for the equipment dad had installed in such a way that Samson would never find it. Moving around, I lay flat on my back, pushing myself under the trunk.

Checking the under carriage of the car, I'm not searching for what I find. Frozen, dread filling me, I stare at the flashing red light, and I can time my heart to the blinking.

"Oh god..." I mumble not reaching for the well-placed device. "I don't... how the hell did Devin..." I reach forward shaking away my stupor and shimmy back. Going to stand in front of grandpa, I hold the tracker in the palm of my right hand out to grandpa.

"How did Devin get the car? I mean Samson would never have missed this?" This man, with hard eyes and multiple frown lines, replaces my easygoing grandfather as his rage grows, and in truth nothing makes much sense.

"Thaddeus, we leave in ten minutes," my grandfather instructs, this time, one hand is on my shoulder, leading me to the truck where Devin was with Javier. Not needing to be told once more, Thaddeus turns, gathering my sisters onto the bus.

"Give the car a once over, grab what you think is important, and drive it to the junkyard we saw a few miles back," I nod leaving the tracking device with my grandfather.

In haste I watch him pop the little black device in two, removing the case but letting the wires and motherboard fall to the ground, his shoes crushing it.

Looking around the car, my gaze shifts to the money on display, the hand written direction on the driver's seat and the new cell phone that I did not remember Devin having. Laptop on the floor of the passenger side, the battery besides it.

Turning around, scoping out the back seat I find it empty for any personal belongings.

As granddad says, I drive out of Beatty, heading back three miles to the exit for the car junkyard we sped by. I'm waiting maybe ten minutes when only my grandfathers motorbus comes driving up. While he does a roundabout, I stand outside, deciding to leave the money and phone, but grab the laptop.

"On the bus," Antone barks, stalking towards the little office, hand held out towards me. I stand stupidly for a second before I realize he's asking for the keys, and I hand them over, heading onto the bus.

Unsure, I try to climb the steps silently, enter without bringing attention to myself at all, but the minute my head pops in, Javier already has his eyes on me.

Wet and filled with confusion.

Across from where Javier was consoling an awake albeit weeping Devin, grandma Bess looked on worriedly.

"Has she said anything?" I ask whispering.

Javier shakes his head, "No, but uhm, so far I think..." he stalls not that I blame him. We all heard Devin. Taylor killed Silas and she left Taylor.

Instead of seven hours of sleep, that I had actually been looking too, the minute my grandfather returns, he pulls the motorhome out onto the road, driving back the way I came, passing all the others, leading them on.

As he drives, we make it just onto the highway and granddad remains rigid in his seat, forging forward until five minutes into the drive. "Child! Devin! You are of no use to us weeping as you are right now. If there is danger, spit it out," he says gruffly, while grandma Bess sits besides me twisting her fingers in unnatural positions.

Gasping, Devin nods, pulling away from Javier, but looking at the ground, almost afraid to meet anyone's gaze. Even mine. Just three months ago, had I saw Devin in this disheveled state, her eyes swollen and red, nose and face just as flushed, tears streaming down her face, I'd be the first one to comfort her.

Now? We're practically strangers except my heart knows hers. It's the lies and betrayal that cast this wide divider between us.

"Dad," she starts speaking still sniffling and dealing with residual crying hiccups, "He called me, said that you all left..." at this, even Javier looks away, ashamed.

"I – we – Taylor said that – that," her eyes fill to the brim, and I do not believe her tone could be any more coated in hurt than it is now. "She said that we should follow you all." As she explains this part slowly, I know she's holding back, especially when her voice becomes nothing more than a hoarse sigh.

"She had money and dad said that the car was left for us, we – I – the two of us – Taylor and I," she stammers, no longer the confident person I knew and loved in this moment. "We just – I thought that it was a way to show that," I glance up, and my gaze connects with Javier's.

"You thought that we left it as a way for you to follow us," he finishes, saying what we both know is as far from the truth as possible. Yet, Devin nods.

I had saw her maybe twenty hours ago, but the in those hours, I can only imagine the struggle she experienced. She wasn't physically harmed but she just looked so... defeated.

"Taylor had money and I had the locations of the places where the next compounds were going to be," Devin says looking down at her hand, before her head snaps up. "We – you cannot go there," she blurts out frantically, her heart racing as she speaks.

"Taylor knows and she's working with someone and they knew that she killed Silas," she cries, "I swear I didn't know Brennan, I swear!"

I nod, swallowing unable to process anything she's saying right now.

"Dear, relax," my grandmother says softly, voice full with kindness. "You'll do no one any good if you keep up this panic."

Devin nods, but the words don't stop her tears, "I just – I swear I didn't know," she cries and when I feel my own eyes sting, I look towards the ceiling of the bus, counting and breathing until I have my emotions in check.

"I heard her. I was just going to see what snacks she had bought, but she was on the phone saying that you guys didn't leave us behind because you found out that she t-tampered with the plane," her chest jerks, as she herself tries to rein in the sobs. "I – I was – I don't know what happened, I was so scared and I couldn't – I hadn't heard her wrong, so I jumped in the car and drove away."

While I sit unmoving, grandma Bess stands, going to the other side of Devin. "That's perfectly understandable," she croons.

Taylor killed Silas.

Taylor tampered with the plane.

Taylor that slept at our house, wanted to date Samson, asked me for help, held and comforted Samson when Silas... Taylor killed Silas.

Over and over, as though maybe if the wording changed or maybe if I said it enough times, I could make sense of how the Taylor in my mind could merge with the Taylor that murdered my brother.

"Are you sure?" Javier asks after he's cleared his throat. "I mean, maybe-" but Devin finally looks up at him, shaking her head, tears still slipping down her face. "I didn't misunderstand..." she whispers her voice breaking.

"What happened next?" grandma Bess prompts Devin, keeping her focused before her emotions ruled.

Wiping at her face, inhaling deeply, Devin looks away from Javier and towards my grandmother. "I – I drove for a while but I had to pull over because I was c-crying, my hands and legs were shaking." Grandma nods.

"I called my dad and I explained, I thought – I thought maybe I did hear wrong. I know I didn't. But I thought dad would tell me that I heard Taylor wrong," she says shaking her head from side to side slowly, "But, he called me back and told me to r-run."

There is a moment of silence where I think we're all trying to digest what Devin said. Even then, it's not enough.

"Javier Senior told you," Grandpa Antone starts, "He told you to run, to leave Taylor behind?"

Devin nods before a few seconds pass and she realizes he cannot see the movement as he drives. "Yes, but it was," she looks up as though searching for her next words, gnawing on her lip before she begins again. "He sounded afraid and dad told me to throw my phone away-"

"And you kept it?" I blurt out speaking for the first time.

Rougher than I intended to sound, my question startles Devin. Eyes locked with mine, she shakes her head. "Yes, no. I mean," she says fumbling her words, "I kept it, but turned it off. When I turned it back on... I had stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada and two girls were saying they were headed down to Las Vegas," Devin says licking her lips.

"Uhm, I threw the phone in their car-"

I shake my head, "What was the point? The car had a tracking device on it," I answer, watching her eyes widen and her body stiffen. "No," Devin finally answers after many minutes. "I turned off the GPS," she says slowly.

When she looks at me, searching for answers, and she realizes that, I was not lying, Devin's eyes bug out and she shifts her body towards Javier. "So... Taylor – she might know where we are?" And it's the pure terror in her voice that rocks me wholly.

She's afraid because Taylor murdered Silas... after many repeats everything seems to click and I immediately wonder: why?

Why would Taylor harm Silas?

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