Free Talisman 2 - The Sapphire Talisman by Brenda Pandos Page B

could take a picture of the test page and you could send me the answers.”
    Nicholas looked smugly back. “Nice try.”
    I faked a laugh while lounging back in my seat. The nagging dread of getting caught interrupted me every time I started to have fun. And now that we were nearing home, the feeling seemed to heighten, causing my heart to twitter and my foot to shake. I imagined Dad at home, in the doorway with his arms folded, anger shooting from his eyes like fire.
    “Hey, can I call Sam to let her know we are on our way? I want to make sure everything’s okay.”
    Nicholas handed me his silver Motorola Ming with a clear cover. I opened the phone with an oooh .
    “Don’t get any ideas,” he said teasingly. “You’re getting the plain watch model—no camera.”
    “Funny.”
    I scrunched up my nose at him, then punched in her number and waited.
    “Hello?”
    “Sam, its Julia—”
    “Crap, Julia. Your phone’s been ringing off the hook all morning. Where are you?”
    “What? Who’s calling me?”
    “Some unlisted number, and Luke a couple times. I didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to say,” Sam gushed out in a total panic. “You know I’m lousy about lying and stuff . Geez, Jules. When will you be back?”
    “In about . . . ” I looked to Nicholas and he mouthed two hours . “Two hours.”
    “Two hours? What the heck am I supposed to do for two hours?”
    “I don’t know . . . stall . . . or something. I’ll get there as quickly as I can.”
    “Yah, you better. Crap, there it goes again.”
    I moaned, listening to my symphonic ring. Getting caught could ruin our perfect weekend, our budding relationship, my life. The phone beeped with a message.
    “Wait, I want to listen to what he said.”
    “Okay . . . hold on.” Sam jostled her phone and suddenly the sound seemed to echo. “Can you hear me?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I put you on speaker. Okay, let me play the messages.”
    My heart swam in fear of why Luke would be calling when the annoying message lady started speaking. “You have three new messages. First message . . . ” Luke’s voice rang clearly through the speaker, filled with concern. “Julia, call me as soon as you get this.”
    I shivered. Luke never called. He usually just sent a text.
    “Next message . . . ” You didn’t need to be an emotion reader to sense the panic in Luke’s voice this time. “Dang it. Where are you? Call me.”
    “Next message . . . ” I closed my eyes. “If you don’t call me back,” Luke all but yelled. “I’m coming over to Sam’s to get you.”
    Sam gasped. “What do I say? What if he’s coming over right now?” Her breathy voice fit the image I had of her dancing around her room, flipping her hands in hysteria.
    “Calm down, Sam. I’ll call him right now. Don’t worry.”
    “But your return number. He’ll know you’re not using your phone.”
    I looked towards Nicholas and he nodded with radiating confidence. He obviously listened in with his super hearing and knew what to do.
    “I’ll figure it out and call you back.”
    I flipped the phone shut, silencing Sam’s next whimpered concern. Nicholas held out his hand for the phone.
    “What’s your brother’s number,” he said.
    I repeated the digits from memory and Nicholas added a few of his own.
    “Are you ready?” Nicholas’ finger hovered over the send. “Don’t worry, I’ve masked the number. Tell him you were out with Sam and left your phone at her house by mistake.”
    “Won’t your number show up?”
    “It’ll show your number, not mine.”
    “Really? Okay.” I gulped down my own fear, imagining myself crawling under Nicholas’ confidence instead. Infused by his spirit, I nodded my head.
    My heart didn’t even pick up in tempo once the ringing started.
    “Hello?”
    “Luke, it’s—”
    “Julia! What the heck? Where have you been?”
    “At the movies and forgot to bring my phone. What’s going on?”
    “Dad,” Luke said in a breathless stream.