Episode 47: Bold Rescues and Big Grudges

Soon, Chloe was standing outside the barred door, staring in at us. “Is everyone okay? That stuff can cause bad headaches.” She looked concerned, maybe even apologetic… but I wasn’t buying that.

Trenchcoat Man glared up at her from his seated position. “I assume we’re in here so we can’t meddle with whatever your father has planned?” 

She nodded. 

“For how long?” he asked. “And what does he plan to do with us afterward? I can’t imagine he would just let us go.” 

“No,” Chloe said sadly. “He wouldn’t.” She looked past him to me. “Aubrey, can we talk?” 

“Talk from there,” I said. 

She drew a long breath. “Fine. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Truly.” 

She paused, waiting for a response, but I didn’t give her one. I knew I should try to forgive her, for my own sake if not for hers… but I just wasn’t ready. 

She continued in a nervous rambling. “You have to understand… When my father first found me, it was this exciting secret, you know? He’s practically royalty in his spheres and I was his daughter. But—” Her voice caught. “It’s not what it seemed. He’s scary, Aubrey. And once I got involved, I knew if I didn’t do what he said…” She trailed off, then let out a shaky breath. “Just—I never meant for this to happen. I’m so sorry.” 

Part of me felt bad for her, but even if all of that was true, she’d withheld information about the one thing she knew mattered most to me, lied and manipulated me, and now I was staring at her through the bars of her father’s vault… so I wasn’t very inclined to accept her apology. 

“What do you want, Chloe?” I asked. It was all I could manage.

She pulled a ring of keys out of her pocket. “I want to get you out of here.” 

I eyed her. “Really?” 

She nodded. “I know I helped get you into this mess. I just want to make it right.” 

I studied her face for a moment. She looked sincere. 

I stood.

“Aubrey, wait.” Collin reached for my arm. “This could be a trap.” 

I glanced at my parents. 

“It could be,” my dad said, standing up and pulling my mom to her feet. “But the alternative is to wait here like sitting ducks, so I say we take our chances.” 

“The odds certainly aren’t in our favor if we stay in here,” Trenchcoat Man agreed. 

Chloe stuck her key in the lock of the barred door. “They’re in the warehouse right now,” she said. “We’ll have to move quickly and quietly.” She eased the door open, then gestured for us to follow. 

Dad grabbed Mom’s hand, then looked at Collin, Lockley, and me. “You three stay close to me, and stay alert,” he whispered. “Be ready for anything.” 

We nodded, then followed Chloe toward the stairs, with Trenchcoat Man and the cheer hawks taking up the rear. 

When we were all on the stairs, Chloe gestured for us to be quiet as she pushed open the door and peeked out. “All clear,” she whispered. “Let’s go.” 

Sure enough, we exited into an empty hallway—a different one than before. There were several shut doors in the hallway, and a red exit sign gleamed at the end. 

“That door leads to the far end of the parking lot,” she whispered once we were all in the hallway. “Come on.” 

She hurried with quiet steps down the hall, and we followed. 

As we rushed down the hall, I expected bodyguard goons or Chloe’s dad to jump out of one of the rooms at any moment, but they didn’t. We reached the exit door without incident. 

Chloe turned to us. “This usually sets off a fire alarm, but I disabled it… I hope.” She winced as she slowly pushed in the release lever on the door. 

It clicked the door loose with no alarm. 

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. Let me check outside.” She eased the door open enough to look out, then a little wider. After a moment, she shoved it open and turned to us. “It’s clear. Go.” 

The now-empty parking lot spread out in front of us, though from a different angle than we’d approached it before. The woods were a straight shot diagonally from us across the parking lot.  

We all glanced at each other.

“Just run across the lot?” Collin asked, his eyes wide. “Does your dad have any snipers?” 

“You have to go now!” Chloe said with a look of desperation. “If my dad catches me helping you escape—” 

“You first,” Trenchcoat Man said. 

Chloe gave him a fearful look, then stepped outside. 

Nothing happened. 

After a moment, the rest of us followed her out… because what choice did we have?

Chloe turned to me. “Head straight to the woods,” she whispered. “I’ll stay here and make sure they don’t come out of the warehouse and see you. Hurry!” She looked terrified. 

“Come with us,” I said. 

“What?” Meredith yelped. 

I spun to face her. “You saw the way her dad treated her,” I hissed in a whisper. “Do you really think he’s going to believe we escaped on our own? If she stays here…” I wasn’t sure what Chloe’s dad would do to her after this, but I knew it couldn’t be good. 

Meredith huffed. “Fine, okay. I see your point.” 

I turned to my parents. “Can she come with us?” 

They both looked at Chloe. 

My mom’s face softened with compassion. “Richard,” she said pleadingly. 

My dad sighed. “Okay, yes. Unless Marshall objects. But we keep a close eye on her.” 

“I rescue people, not leave them for torture,” Marshall said. “But I do object to standing here in the open. Let’s move.” 

Chloe’s eyes locked on mine with a look of gratitude. “Aubrey, I—” 

“Later,” I said. 

We ran. 

Halfway to the woods, Trenchcoat Man tried clapping, but nothing happened. He continued snapping every few feet, which I assumed was somehow testing whether his magic had returned.

Three-quarters of the way to the woods, we heard a clang and then a bunch of shouts as a door on the building slammed open. 

“They caught us!” Chloe cried in terror. 

“Not yet they haven’t,” Trenchcoat Man said, snapping his fingers with a grin. “Gather in!” 

We all rushed toward him. 

“Stop!” Chloe’s dad yelled in fury as he ran toward us. “Chloe!” He and his goons were getting closer. “You’re dead, Chloe, you hear me! You and your friends—I will catch you!” 

“I’m so sorry, Aubrey,” Chloe said as she pressed in next to me. “I’m so sorry that I—” 

“I know,” I said. 

Trenchcoat Man clapped. A bright light flashed. 

The last thing I heard as the parking lot and woods dropped away was an echoing yell from Chloe’s dad: “You’re too late, Archibald! It’s already begun! You’re too late to stop it now!” 

A moment later, the sound of waves and seagulls crashed in over us. 

We were standing on the beach.

***

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