Fractured

Chapter 57

"Oh god," I groaned, breathing hard.  Looking back up to Luke, I bit my lip and just shook my head.  "So there probably are more.  That's just... just fucking great," I croaked, my eyes falling to the ground.  We were so screwed.  She could know everything.  She might be a huge step in front of us.  She had a plan... and she could know what we were planning on doing in the backyard.  Meaning, she probably knew Luke was on my side. Fully.  In every way, loyally and romantically....  Oh god.  And if she knew her husband abandoned her like he did... well, like I knew, she would loose it.  She cracked when my father left.  She was broken now.  And that meant she had nothing to loose if she wanted to kill me or him at any second.  That was such a bigger possibility now than before....

"Albany," Luke said, getting my attention back to him.  My eyes finding his, he was closer.  He was kneeling before me now on the floor as I was sitting on the steps.  He grasped his hand in mine and buried his gaze deep into mine.  "We'll--"

"Don't lie and say we will be okay when you don't even know!" I said up to him, gasping.  "We're not going to be okay."

"I was going to say that we'll come up with a plan.  We'll do as much as we can to get through this.  No, I don't know if we will be okay.  I don't know.  But I will put my life on this that I'll do everything I can to make sure we are," he said in a very firm voice.

I sighed, my head dropping from his gaze as I just shook my head. "What are we going to do?" I said.  "She wants me out in a few weeks or she will kill me... now she's been spying on us for who knows how long," I groaned in an aggravated voice.

"Well... I have a few theories that could help.  But first, I want to show you the bug I found," he said. "Then, you are going to head to school like it's a normal day.  I'm going to go to work, pick up some detectors and devices to pick up bugs, and come back home for the day.  I'll sweep the house, dissect every inch I can of it and especially your room by the time you get home."

"What do we do now though?" I asked.  "After you show me the mic."

"You can go back to bed and I'll stay up.  But I doubt you would want to do that," he said in a knowing voice.

"Yeah, you're damn right I'm not going back to sleep.  I can handle being tired, no big deal," I murmured.

"When we go back in the house though," he said, sighing and biting his lip, looking up to the door,  "you know you can't say anything about this since we don't know if she can hear us...."

I glared at him.  It's like he didn't know me at all.  Of course, I admit I've shown moron behavior in the past that I understood he was worried I would repeat.  I scowled either way.  "I'm not retarded.  If I say anything, it will involve us being awake because 'we heard a noise.'  Christ, give me some credit." I said as I watched the slightly amused expression over his face.  It was gone quickly. 

"Okay," he said nodding.  "Let's go," he nodded, squeezing my hand tighter before he let go and knelt back up from the ground and I followed, going back into not just hell anymore.  The tainted and bugged house of hell.  I felt ten time more uncomfortable going back into the house than I did when I followed him into the garage.

***

He showed me the mic.  Not a word was said, obviously, as we inspected it close up.  It was as he said.  A little microphone on the end of a very thick wire leading down into the floor.  It didn't look like a big deal.  But by the time Luke and I moved the dresser back quietly and perfectly, we sat down on my bed and I found out something....  He mouthed to me very clearly the words, 'very advanced' and that's all he could give me so far on the bug.  After all, what else could he do?  Tell me everything he was thinking out loud so the mic would pick it up?  We weren't even safe to speak what we wanted.