smiled and tipped an imaginary hat. “You have my word, dear lady.”
She looked back over her shoulder and gave me one last look. She held on to Ian as he lifted off the ground and headed toward our house.
“Um, Darrton,” I said before he lifted us up.
“Yes, Elizabeth.”
“Back there when you said you...you said that you...”
“Loved you?” he asked, his lips parting and making my body melt on the inside.
I nodded. “Ummhmm. Were you serious?”
He smiled and kissed my lips. “I am always serious, Iofiel.”
“I love you, too, Darrton.”
His mouth pulled up at the corner and my heart fluttered. His fingers traced my jawline and he kissed my forehead. “That’s great to hear you say. Now, let’s go home, Iofiel.”
CHAPTER 20
Lizzie
Darrton and Ian dropped us off at the curb. Samantha wasted no time running toward our house.
Ian smiled and nodded. “I’ll see you soon, Lizzie.”
I watched as he ran down the road and disappeared.
“Everything will be okay, Elizabeth.”
I nodded. “Where are you going? You’re not leaving, are you?”
“I’ll be back when everyone goes to sleep. Now go, before your parents come looking for you.” Darrton kissed my forehead and disappeared down the road.
Samantha was knocking on our door when I rounded the corner. “Mom! Dad! Please! Open the door!”
The door opened. Mom flung herself out and onto Samantha. She looked up and began to cry when she saw me walking toward her. She ran to me, without any hesitation, and grabbed me. “Oh. My. God. I thought you two were never coming home!” she cried into my hair.
Dad was hugging Samantha by the door and I watched as his eyes studied me closely. He didn’t smile. A look of confusion crossed his face. He was starting to get a little stubble on his chin and his eyes were tired.
“Come inside. We have to call the police. We have to tell them what happened.”
“I don’t’ know what happened,” I stated. We had made it to the front steps. Samantha looked up at me. Her face was serious.
“Me, either,” she said. “We just woke up down the road in the ditch.” She lied so perfectly.
I nodded and felt a tear slide down my face.
My dad coughed and asked, “You two don’t remember anything that happened? Nothing?”
I watched Dad’s gaze travel down our bodies, examining our cuts and bruises. His eyes met mine. He didn’t believe us.
“Tommy, leave them alone, they just got home. I’m going to go cook you guys something, and, Tommy, you call the cops and tell them they are okay. Tell them we will have the interviews tomorrow after they’ve rested.”
Mom led us into the house but Dad stayed back, eyeing me closely. What did he know?
Surprisingly, Mom cooked us pizzas. This was normally not on her menu, ever. Samantha ate six slices of pizza by herself. After dinner, I told them I wanted to shower and get cleaned up. I was tired and I wanted to go to bed. They didn’t argue. I think they were scared, too. They just wanted us to be okay. Mom kissed my forehead and Dad watched me closely, only saying goodnight before I disappeared up the stairs.
After scrubbing the blood, dirt, and grime off of my bruised body, I walked back into my room. Since my other PJs were trashed and bloody, I put on a pair of blue ones. When I opened the door Dad was sitting on my bed. His hands rested between his knees and his brow was furrowed.
“Oh! Hey, Dad, is everything all right?”
He smiled. “I should be asking you the same thing, Lizzie. You were the one who was kidnapped.”
“Um, I think everything is fine. I mean I told you we didn’t remember anything. So, I really don’t know if I’m fine. I’m not hurt. My arm is a little sore, that’s all.”
Dad shook his head and stood up. He pulled a huge black feather from his jacket pocket. I stood up straighter. A warm rush of nerves covered my body. “What’s that?” I asked.
He shrugged and placed it on the bed then dug his fingers into his pockets. “I don’t know. You tell me. It’s rather big for a bird, isn’t it?”
I pulled at my long-sleeved shirt sleeve. “Uh, yeah, it’s really big and weird. Where did you get it?”
“Your tree house. I found it when we were looking for you two.”
“Hmm. Never saw it before. Maybe you should take it to the lab and see if you can figure something out,” I said, walking past