Read Online The Secret by Taryn A. Taylor - Free Book Online Page B

grabbing my shoulders gruffly. “Why was he spying on us?” His voice was low and tight.
    I looked at his hands, feeling a calm anger sweep over me. I knew I couldn’t trust him. I knew this all felt wrong.
    Jake held my eyes without saying anything. Anger and then sadness washed over his face. He pulled away from me. “Okay, guys.”
    Before I knew what was happening, cold, strong hands clamped down on my wrists.
    “You had me—until you sent your brother to spy on us. Nope, that wasn’t very nice of you. But now we are going to get some answers.” Reed bound my wrists in handcuffs as Marsha and Karen started duct-taping my fingers and hands.
    “What the…?”
    Jake cut me off. “Sorry, Lanie.”
    Reed pushed me forward into the front of the house. The warm air from the room assaulted me. It smelled like cinnamon with a touch of vanilla. I looked around. Rob was sitting at the kitchen table, his hands bound behind his back. Tilting his head up, he shrugged. “Hey, Sis.”
    Annoyance surged through me.
    Reed manhandled me to the table—giving me a push every few seconds.
    Jake glared at him and gave him a shove in the shoulder. “Just stop.”
    Pulling out a chair next to Rob, Reed pointed to it, but looked at Jake. “Oh—you want me to stop? I’m just getting started. They think they can spy on us? Pffftt.” He jerked his thumb at Rob. “First of all, it’s pretty sad when the people you’re spying on can hear you tripping and, even worse, he breathes like a freaking gorilla.”
    “Do not! ” Rob glowered at him.
    Karen sat across from Rob and frowned, avoiding my gaze.
    Marsha stood behind her, holding my eyes. “I guess you weren’t man enough to come to us yourself—you have to send in this pitiful mess?”
    Rob let out a breath. “That’s not fair—I let you find me.”
    I glanced at Rob. He gave a quick shake of his head in answer to my unasked question and I felt myself relax. They didn’t know about his power.
    Reed moved around the table, standing beside Marsha and Karen. Placing both hands down, he leaned over us, glaring. “I’m not fond of the guy—but why shouldn’t we just call Luth right now? For whatever reason, he wants her, and I bet he’d be willing to help us if we told him we have her.”
    Panic swept over me. I tried to sound tough. “Go ahead.”
    Jake put his hand up. “We talked about this. No. Absolutely not.”
    Slamming his hands against the table, Reed pulled away. “Grr…” He whirled in a circle and then moved face to face with Jake. “Don’t you miss it, man? At one time you could have sensed what they wanted. Doesn’t that suck for you?”
    Reed didn’t wait for Jake to respond, but turned to Marsha. “C’mon...”
    Marsha paused in thought and then shook her head. “Luth won’t help us—don’t you remember?” She put her fingers in quote marks and rolled her eyes. “It is ‘good for us to leave the garden for a while—see if we can survive outside of Eden’—jerk.”
    Reed shook his head. “I used to be somebody—I could run a hundred miles an hour. I could lift anything.” He sucked in a breath. “Now I’m nothin’.”
    “Are you dying?” Rob blurted it out and looked at Karen.
    Reed moved in front of Rob, poking him in the chest. “You care?”
    Karen put up her hand. “Leave him alone.”
    Jake stepped behind Karen, touching her shoulder softly. “I think we should show them, Karen.”
    Karen pulled out a sheet of paper. She opened it, turning it around and laying it in front of Rob and me. It was a drawing of what looked like rock formations or mountains. “I found this in Luth’s lab the day before he kicked us out.”
    Recognition jarred inside of me. Tourists came to Boulder every year to climb the Flatirons.
    Rob nodded to it. “What is the significance?”
    Karen shook her head. “We don’t know. But—look here.” She pointed beneath the picture.
    I gasped. The date, March 20th, was scrawled next to the