Echoes by Marissa Lete (best books for students to read txt) 📕

I’ve got my face against the steering wheel, trying not to break down when Maverick opens the door to my car, a blast of cold air hitting me.

He slides into the passenger seat, looks at me. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I say, wiping my nose on my sleeve and averting my eyes. It’s not very convincing.

“Nothing,” Maverick teases, wiping his nose on his sleeve dramatically, making a sad face.

I can’t help but laugh, a hollow, choked-up sound. “Shut up,” I reply.

He gives me a half-smile, then goes serious, his eyes meeting mine across the center console. “I’m sorry for causing you so much stress.”

I let out a long sigh. “It’s not that, right now. Mostly just friend drama. It’s not important.” Not as important as attempting to stop a crazy woman trying to kidnap me, at least.

“Are Grace and Andy having problems again?” he asks casually, as if he’s known them his whole life.

I blink in surprise. “You know my friends?” I ask.

He just shrugs. “Once upon a time, we would all hang out together.”

“Wow,” I say, raising my eyebrows. “Still weird that you know these things.”

Maverick looks down at his feet. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I respond genuinely. “I’ll just have to give you the update, then. Andy and Grace broke up, and then Andy got back with Dana.”

Maverick scrunches his nose in disgust. “Seriously?” I nod. “He’s a jerk. I never liked him anyway.”

“You and me both. And—get this—Leo is, apparently, in love with Grace.”

Maverick gives me a sideways glance. “You mean you didn’t know that?”

My jaw drops. “What? How did you know?” I ask, incredulous.

“You seriously never noticed the way he always sits so close to her? The way he looks her in the eye like she’s the only thing he sees? His constant attempts to flirt?” I shake my head as he ticks each item off on his fingers.

“I didn’t notice any of those things,” I reply, thinking about Leo and Grace’s playful banter. Perhaps it could have been flirting, I’d just never put the dots together.

“And they say guys are oblivious,” Maverick laughs. I laugh, too, and then silence falls around us.

“Grace is mad at me,” I finally say, “because one night she went to this party and got into a bit of a bad situation. She called me, asking me to pick her up, and even though I told her I would be there in a few minutes, I never showed up. Because I got kidnapped by a crazy woman named Alice before I ever made it.”

Maverick nods. “So that’s why you were heading way out there that night.”

Something dawns on me. “You were following me, weren’t you? That’s how you showed up there. And why you were there the night of the dance.”

Maverick nods. “I tried my best to keep tabs on you once I found out Alice was looking for you. I even tried to work for her again so she’d leave you alone. But I was intentionally a little sloppy with my work, hoping she’d get caught. But she didn’t, and then she found out what I was doing, hence the kidnapping and everything.”

It feels weird knowing that he was out there, watching me, perhaps the whole time I was hearing his echoes and questioning my sanity. I expect to feel some form of violation, but I don’t. Instead, the thought calms me. Like I had some kind of guardian angel watching out for me. Protecting me, if only for as much time as he could.

“Thank you,” I tell him honestly.

Maverick just stares out the window. “So I’ve got a plan,” he says.

I swallow. “What is it?”

“Alice usually leaves her office around seven. So we’ll head there before then, and make sure we see her leave before we go inside.”

“How do we get inside? Is it locked?”

“It’s in a medical building with a bunch of other offices and practices. The main doors are usually unlocked, so we’ll just have to get past the receptionist at the front.”

“How do we do that?” I ask him.

He just stares at me for a long moment.

“Oh. Right,” I say. Memory erasing abilities. Got it.

He looks away. “Before we go, I want to make sure you know how to use a gun. So you can at least defend yourself in case anything happens.”

“What? You don’t think I’m capable of taking down a couple of bad guys with my bare hands?” I try to lighten the mood, grinning.

Maverick can’t help but break into a smile. “Based on the fact that you still got kidnapped, even with my help? No,” he says, and then we both laugh.

✽✽✽✽✽

The blue Corolla rolls to a stop in front of Maverick’s house thirty minutes later. I’d ridden with him and texted my parents to let them know that I was at Grace’s for the evening. If they ever figure out what I’m really up to, I’m afraid that I might never leave the house again.

        We hop out of the car and step inside, and once again I take in the magnificence of the place. Maverick leads me through a hallway, a few doors, then down a flight of stairs into a basement. The basement is fully furnished, complete with a giant, flat-screen TV mounted on the wall, brown suede couches, a pool table, and a minibar along the backside of the room. Next to it is a wood cabinet that’s padlocked shut.

        Maverick goes to the cabinet, plucks a key from his keychain, and unlocks it, sliding the dark-stained doors open.

        I gasp.

        Inside, there are guns. A lot of them.

        “Dad was a hunter,” Maverick tells me. He reaches inside, then pulls out a small handgun, weighing it in