The Year of Second Chances (Sunnyvale Alternative #3) Read online

  “I’m kind of wondering if maybe my brother has something to do with this …” I shake my head, not wanting to chitchat anymore. “Look, I really need to know if you’ll help me or not before I get to this place.”

  “Yeah, I can do that for you, man,” he says after what feels like the longest minute of my life. “Just give me the address, and I’ll get there ASAP.”

  I yammer off the address to him. “How will I know when you get there?”

  “You won’t,” he replies simply. “That’s kind of the point, right?”

  “Right.” A stressed breath eases from his lips. “But you’ll be there by six for sure?”

  “Yep,” he says. “Later, man.”

  “Later.” I press end, drop the phone into the console, and drive like a bat out of hell to the address on the note, breaking a ton of traffic laws to get there, even though I have plenty of time.

  The need to get Isabella back is too overpowering. I can’t think straight anymore. The maddening silence creates too much time to think about what they could be doing to her, how I may never see her again, how I never told her how I feel about her.

  I should’ve told her I love her. I should’ve really kissed her.

  I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to her.

  Thirty minutes later, at about a quarter after five, I arrived at the destination set in the GPS. The streets converge into a crossroad in the center of a thickly wooded area that surrounds Sunnyvale where no homes, no stores, no nothing are located. The emptiness is unsettling, along with the trees. Anyone could be out there, watching me right now, and I probably wouldn’t know it.

  Deciding to subtly scope out the area, I grab my phone and hop out of the car. When I notice I have no cell phone signal here, I lose my shit. That had to be planned—tell me to drive out to the middle of nowhere so I can’t call for help.

  When Isa first started receiving the texts, I thought maybe it was her half-sister Hannah. Then the flyers showed up at school, and my suspicions grew that not only was Hannah behind it but that she had Kyler’s help. But there’s no way they could be behind the kidnapping. No, either this is someone else entirely, or they have help from another source. Someone smarter.

  Tree branches snapping jerk me out of my thoughts. My attention whips to the right of the dirt road as a figure barrels through the trees. I tense, wishing I had brought a weapon or something.

  Fuck, why didn’t I think to bring a weapon?

  I’m starting to head back to the car to find a crowbar when the figure stumbles out of the forest and onto the dirt road just in front of me.

  “Isa?”

  I’ve never been so relieved to see anyone in my entire life. I didn’t even realize the terror I was feeling until now, and for a moment, I stand there, shocked. But I swiftly snap out of my trance, and then I’m running for her like nothing else matters … because it doesn’t.

  “Kai!” she shouts, panting, her eyes wide as she stumbles toward me. “We have to go! Now! They’re coming!”

  My heart hammers inside my chest as I keep running toward her. “Are you okay!”

  She nods, sprinting toward me. “Yes! But we have to go!”

  We meet in the middle of the road, and she jumps into my arms without slowing down, nearly toppling me over. I manage to catch my balance and wrap my arms around her, holding onto her for dear life.

  Her arms circle around the back of my neck, and her legs hitch around my waist. “Th-they’re coming.” Her body trembles. “W-we need to go.”

  My hands shake as I smooth them up and down her back. “Sh … It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

  She grips me tightly as I turn around and carry her toward the car. I open the car door and move to put her on the passenger side. I don’t want to put her down, and she doesn’t seem too eager to let go of me, either.

  “Isa, baby, I’ve got to get you in the car, or we can’t leave,” I say, hugging her closer. The idea of letting her go feels physically impossible, like my body is incapable of doing it.

  “I know.” She gives a shaky exhale before prying herself off me and climbing into the car.

  I eye her over, checking for wounds. Anger pulsates in my veins at the sight of what looks like a cut on her cheek.

  “I’m fine,” she insists, noting my stare. “I did it to myself when I was running through the trees.”

  Whether she thinks she’s fine or not, my chest burns with so much rage that I feel like I’m about to erupt. Whoever hurt her will pay; I’ll make sure of that. Right now, though, I need to get her out of here and someplace safe.

  I rush around to the driver’s side, tossing glances at the empty dirt road in front of us.

  “You said they were coming?” I ask Isa as I slide into the car and slam the door. “Are they driving or on foot?”

  She chews on her thumbnail, eyeballing the road. “A guy was chasing me through the trees, and the woman was in a van, driving down the road … They should be here soon … They almost caught me … I thought I wasn’t going to …” She sucks in a tremulous breath.

  I place a hand on her knee. “We’re going to get you out of here. I won’t let them hurt you.”

  She nods, her gaze sliding to mine, her eyes overflowing with trust. “I know you won’t. I knew you’d come for me.”

  Sucking in a breath, I start up the engine, press on the gas pedal, and back onto the road.

  Isa fidgets nervously, wringing her hands in her lap with her eyes glued to the forest.

  “They’re not going to get you,” I promise, shoving the shifter into drive.

  She starts to nod, but then her eyes pop wide, her fingers curling around the edge of the leather seat. “Kai! Drive!”

  I track her gaze to a dark van hauling down the dirt road right at us. “Shit.” I slam my foot against the gas pedal, and the tires spin as the car races forward, leaving the stench of burned rubber lingering in the air.

  “Go, go, go, go, go …” She chants under her breath as she twists around in the seat and watches through the window as the van pulls out onto the road behind us.

  “Buckle your seatbelt,” I tell her as I speed the car up.

  Without taking her eyes off the van, she draws the seatbelt over her shoulder. “It doesn’t even have a license plate.” She looks at me as she clips the seatbelt buckle in. “The van, I mean. Unless there’s one on the back. But there’s not one on the front, so I can’t even write it down.”

  “We might not have to worry about that.” I hold my breath as we near a sharp corner that winds around a steep drop off. Knowing the van can’t take the corner very fast, I maintain my speed and grip the wheel. “Hold on.”

  Her gaze darts to the snaking road in front of us, and she instinctively reaches for the oh-shit handle above her. “Kai, be careful …”

  She leans back in the seat and grips on for dear life as we round the corner extremely fast. I struggle to hold the wheel steady, my instincts screaming for me to slow down. But this isn’t my first time driving like this, and I know the car will make the turn, so I push forward, refusing to decelerate.

  The van isn’t equipped for such high speeds around corners, though, and the driver brakes hard, swerving to the right and slamming to a halt in the gravel that acts as a barrier between the road and the drop-off. A cloud of dirt rises in the air and surrounds the vehicle.

  Isa releases the handle and cranes her neck to look out the rear window. “Holy crap! They almost drove off the edge.” She twists around in her seat, breathing heavily. “Jesus, where’d you learn to drive like that?”

  I cringe at her question. “From the same person who taught me how to hotwire a car.”

  Her eyes widen in shock. “You know how to hotwire a car?”

  “Um …” I glance at the steering wheel column. “I kind of did it to your grandma’s car.”

  A pucker forms at her brow. “Kai, I don’t wanna sound mean, but why didn’t you call my grandma Stephy or the cops?”
>
  “Because they threatened me. Said there’d be consequences if I did. I was worried they’d hurt you.” I steal a glance in the rearview mirror at the windy, empty road behind me.

  What the fuck? Where’d they go? Why aren’t they chasing after us anymore?

  “Oh.” Confusion etches her features. “How did they get ahold of you? I mean, how did you find out I was missing?”

  I take a deep breath and tell her what happened up until the point where she came running out of the trees. While I want to leave out the details about how this might be my fault, I care for her too much to lie to her about this.

  “Kai, this isn’t your fault,” she says after I stop rambling.

  “Yes, it is. I should’ve watched you more closely. After you got that text”—I glimpse in the rearview mirror at the road behind us, finding it extremely unsettling that they just turned around and let us get away after trying so hard to chase us down—“I should’ve protected you.”

  Something’s not right. There has to be more to it than this.

  Isa reaches over the console, takes my free hand, and threads her fingers through mine. “No, it’s not.” She chews on her bottom lip, mulling something over. “The guy who took me … His voice sounded vaguely familiar.”

  I trace the folds between her fingers, thinking of Kyler. Could this really be him? Is he that bad of a person?

  “You think you know the person?”

  She shrugs, strands of her long, brown hair falling into her eyes. “I think so. The woman sounded familiar, too.” She leans back in the seat, holding my hand as she stares off into empty space. “I overheard them talking about how they disguised their voices.”

  She’s more relaxed than I expected, but I’m not sure if that’s because she’s in shock or just fighting back her emotions like she sometimes does.

  “Are you okay?” I squeeze her hand. “You went through a lot today. It’s okay not to be okay.”

  “I’m fine.” Her bottom lip quivers as she stares down at her lap. “Or I want to be, anyway … But I was so scared I wasn’t going to get away … alive.” A tear falls from her eye, and she swipes it away.

  My chest constricts. “Everything’s going to be okay. We’re going to get you home where you are safe, and you’ll never have to worry about this again. I’m going to take care of this.” She starts to protest, but I cut her off. “Why don’t you check our phones again? We’re getting close enough to town that we should have a signal.”

  She reaches for the cup holder and collects her phone. “Who should I call first? The police? Or my grandma?”

  “Call the police first,” I tell her. “Then call your grandma.”

  She nods, but then she pales as she reads something on her phone.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, turning on the headlights as the setting sun steals away the last bit of light.

  She swallows hard. “There’s a message from the unknown number.”

  My grip on the wheel tightens. “What’s it say?”

  “We’re watching you, so don’t even think about calling the cops.” Her voice trembles as she reads the text. “If you do, lover boy’s going to pay.” Her gaze meets mine. “Pay with what exactly—” Her phone pings. Gulping, she lowers her gaze to the message. “I have some video footage of Kai selling illegal files, doing drugs, and stealing a car. I bet the police would love to get their hands on it. So either you drop the flash drive off at Sunnyvale Stop and Grub Gas Station and forget what you saw, or we’ll turn his criminal activities in to the police.” Her eyes are huge as she blinks dazedly at me. “Holy crap, Kai. Is this true?”

  “It could be,” I mutter, withdrawing my hand from hers.

  “Well, I think they should have to prove it.” She moves her fingers across the buttons as she types a response.

  Moments later, her phone pings, and she frowns.

  “They sent a video attachment.” She hits play, and sure enough, a video pops up of Jules giving me a demo on how to hotwire a car.

  I don’t need to finish watching the video to know how it ends—with Jules and me speeding off in a stolen car.

  “How long ago did this happen?” Isa asks after the video ends.

  I shrug, feeling like the worst fucking person ever. “Not very long ago. It was actually right when you came back from your trip.”

  She taps the screen with her thumb, closing the video. “Who could have known you were doing this?”

  “I don’t know … Anyone who was at the party we were at, probably. We were talking about doing it while we were there, and we weren’t being very quiet about it …” I suck in a breath and let it out. “I’m sorry, Isa.”

  “Why? It’s not your fault.” The fading sunlight casts across her face, highlighting her pallid skin and her bloodshot eyes. “If anything, this is my fault.”

  “No, it’s not. I’m the one who made all of these bad decisions. I’m the one who helped Jules steal the car. If anything, this is my fault, and you really need to stop blaming yourself.”

  “That’s a two-way street, my friend.” Contemplation crosses her face. “But what I’m really wondering is, whoever these people are, why would they go through all that trouble to get this flash drive? And how the heck did they know a couple of months ago that a video of you stealing a car would get me not to call the police? How would they know we would even be friends by then?”

  “Maybe whoever they are was going to blackmail me,” I say. “Or maybe it was one of the few people who knew I liked you.”

  She looks at me with her face contorted in confusion. “But that was back before you liked me … I mean, I’m not saying you like me now; I just …” An anxious breath puffs from her lips. “Anyway, it doesn’t make sense.”

  She doesn’t get it, never has.

  “Isa,” I start. “I’ve liked you since seventh grade. It might have been more of a friend’s thing back then, but by the time we were juniors, I wanted you.”

  She shakes her head. “There’s no way that could be true.”

  “Why not? Why is it so hard to believe that I could’ve liked you a year ago? And, FYI, I like you now … a lot.” Nope. Not even a lot. I love you.

  She nibbles on her lip. “Yeah, but that’s different.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, back then, you were … you”—she motions at me—“and I was a huge lose—”

  “Don’t ever say that,” I say before she can even finish. “You weren’t a loser. Your stupid family just made you believe that.”

  She stares at me, searching for something. For what, I have no damn clue. But, God, what I wouldn’t give to know.

  “Thank you,” she says quietly, “for saying that.”

  “I’m just saying the truth.”

  “Yeah, but sometimes, it’s hard to see the truth unless someone else tells you it.”

  Holding the steering wheel with one hand, I reach over and sweep her hair out of her face. “You’re beautiful, kind, funny, smart”—my lips quirk—“and a complete weirdo sometimes, but I love that about you.”

  Her lips start to turn into a smile, but then her phone pings, and the moment gets ripped away from us.

  “They want to know our answer,” she says, skimming over the message.

  I return my hand to the wheel. “I say we tell them no.”

  “No way. I don’t want you getting into trouble. And besides, maybe we can figure out who it is if we think of everyone who could’ve seen you that night.” She winds a strand of hair around her finger, thinking. “What I really don’t get is why they’re doing this. The messages warn of some game. Is that all this is? A stupid game? Someone messing with my head? Because it’s a lot of effort just for that.”

  I massage my temple, feeling a headache approaching. “I have no idea, but when I find out, they’re going to pay for hurting you.”

  She untangles the strand of hair from around her finger. “They didn’t really hurt me. The guy was actually kind of gentle wi
th me.”

  I smash my lips together, battling back a raging storm stirring inside me. “I don’t really give a shit if he hurt you or not. He did enough. He deserves to pay.”

  I can feel her eyes boring into me, working to crack me apart and see what’s hidden inside. God, what would she think if she found out how much it would’ve killed me if anything had happened to her?

  “I’d feel the same way if you got hurt,” she utters, “so please don’t do anything that will get you hurt.”

  Does she understand just how much she means to me? How much I care for her? Does she feel the same way?

  “You should call the cops,” I change the subject. “The sooner you do it, the better.”

  She faces forward, setting her phone down on her lap. “I’m not going to. I’m not going to risk you getting into trouble.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m sure I won’t get into that much trouble.”

  She stares me down. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yeah,” I lie thickly through my teeth.

  “You’re lying.” Anger flares in her eyes. “Just like you’re lying about not being in trouble with this T guy.”

  “You shouldn’t be worrying about that. You shouldn’t be worrying about any of this.”

  “You shouldn’t, either. You wouldn’t even be dealing with this if you didn’t know me.”

  “I don’t give a shit. I don’t want to go back to the person I was before we started spending time together.”

  We stare each other down determinedly, neither of us wanting to back down.

  “Isa, just think about this for a second.” I soften my tone, trying to persuade her to listen to me. “If we don’t tell the cops, then these people just get away with what they did.”

  She folds her arms across her chest defiantly. “If we tell anyone, then you’ll probably get arrested.”

  Usually, I love her stubbornness, but right now, it’s pissing me off. She needs to do this to protect herself. It’s the only thing that’s important right now.

  “I’ll take that risk.” I slow down as the speed limit drops.

  “Well, I won’t,” she says matter-of-factly. “And if you call the cops and tell them what happened, I’ll say you were pranking them.”