Free Saving Autumn by Marissa Farrar Page A

had grown too small, and the time they spent waiting, only for the others not to show, had made everyone awkward. Toby kept letting out over-exaggerated sighs of frustration. Peter was pacing. Dana tried to fill the time by offering too many cups of coffee and trying to force sandwiches on them all.
    Mia hit the button to dial Autumn’s number once again. The number was new, her old phone having been lost or broken some time during the last week.
    Come on girl. Pick up, pick up, pick up, she willed. Considering the things she’d learned over the course of that afternoon, she was starting to get worried. The call had rung out every time she’d tried over the past hour or so, when it became clear they weren’t going to turn up.
    “Hello?”
    Autumn’s voice on the other end of the line made Mia jump. She realized she’d not been expecting her friend to answer.
    “Hey, it’s me. We’re wondering where you guys are.” She heard her friend sniff and her heart sank. “What’s the matter?”
    “He’s gone.”
    “What? Who’s gone?”
    “Blake. We got stuck in the middle of a protest and there was a huge fight and Blake got involved. He was helping someone who got hurt, but he left me there.”
    She experienced a surge of anger. “He left you in the middle of a protest?”
    Peter was staring at her, his eyebrows raised to ask her what was happening. She waved a hand briefly to give her a minute to speak to Autumn. Her friend sounded upset, her voice tight as if she were trying to hide how she felt.
    “It wasn’t his fault. If he hadn’t gotten involved, someone might have been killed.”
    “Yes, you might have been! He should have stayed to look after you.”
    “I’m a big girl, Mia. I can take care of myself.”
    Mia pressed her lips together to prevent herself from ranting. Blake’s colleague and best friend stood beside her, and besides, she didn’t know the whole story. Perhaps Autumn had been well away from any kind of danger. Given what she now knew, she wondered if Autumn would ever truly be out of danger.
    “Where are you now?” she asked, clamping down on her anger.
    “I’m at Blake’s place.”
    “Where does he live? Do you need me to come and meet you?”
    “No.” She could hear Autumn shaking her head against the phone. “I’ll be fine. I’m sure he’ll show up here soon.”
    Mia didn’t like the idea of her being alone with trouble going on in the city. Plus, there was a good chance she was being followed by the same people who had abducted and tortured Toby. She wanted to tell her friend to call the police, to tell them she was in trouble, but she couldn’t even tell her that much on the phone. Peter had warned her that their phones might be bugged, people listening in on their conversations.
    “Okay, honey,” she relented. “But you call me if you need me, okay?”
    “Will do.”
    Mia hung up.
    Peter was still looking at her expectantly.
    She sighed. “They’re not coming. They got caught up in some trouble in town.”
    “Damn.” Peter bit his lower lip with his straight white teeth. Something in Mia’s chest tightened. “Can we go to them? Blake really needs to know what Toby’s discovered, but I daren’t talk about it over the phone. God only knows who is listening in.”
    “He’s not there. It sounds like Blake is tied up with something else. Autumn doesn’t know when he’ll be back.” She didn’t want to say too much with Toby and his parents listening in.
    “Okay, but I’m not going to drive you to your apartment if Autumn isn’t there. I can take you back to your parents?” Mia wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Well, I’m not going to leave you alone in this city, knowing what we do now. We can go back to your place, together, or you’re welcome to come back to mine.”
    She felt a surge of pleasure at the thought of getting to see where he lived. Considering the expensive car parked at the sidewalk outside, she had a feeling she would be