Free Unknown (Unknown Series Book 1) by Wendy Higgins Page A

bizarre.
    “I thought we kept files of all our stops, even when they get passed to an agency?”
    “Sweetie, when the FBI asks you to delete a file, you do it without question. It’s best if you put it out of your mind. Understand? Criminal activity is touchy business. Don’t speak of it to anyone again. Even me.”
    Criminal activity? Did they think Grace Fondent started that fire in her field? Even if she had, why would it be FBI business? Insurance stuff, maybe? The phone rang again, but this time she answered it, giving me a final smile before turning her attention away. I backed out of the room, unsatisfied and even more confused than yesterday.

I stopped for fuel on the way home and went inside the gas station for a bottle of water. As I stood in line I grinned at the local papers on display and the magazines with pictures of green alien heads and fuzzy pictures of round UFOs. My eyes landed on one article title in particular: HANDSOME ALIENS WITH FOUR ARMS!
    The back of my neck prickled sharply. I stepped out of line and picked it up off the rack, ignoring the scoff from the man behind me. I flipped through until I came to the article. A New Mexico woman, age 59, was quoted: “I was out for a walk ‘cause I couldn’t sleep, and I saw a big group of people sort of wandering near our property line. I stood real quiet behind a tree, ‘cause I’d never seen so many people out our way before. There were hundreds of them, all moving the same direction. Nobody made any noise. But one of them, he looked my direction. Even in the dark I could see he had a face like an angel, with a full head of dark hair . . . but his body . . . that’s when I got scared. He had four arms. I looked around ‘cause I thought I was going crazy, but it was the same for the others. Some of them had four arms, some three. Only a couple had two. I ran straight home and called the police!”
    The magazine slipped from my hand with a clatter against the floor. My heart was pounding. The gum-chomping cashier and the man checking out stared at me. I bent down and grabbed it, trying three times before I got it back into the slot on the rack. I don’t even remember paying for my drink or driving home. Next thing I knew I was sitting at the dinner table with everyone chatting around me.
    “Bad day at work, hun?” Dad asked carefully.
    I blinked. “Have you noticed all the alien stuff in the tabloids lately?” I asked.
    Dad chuckled and Mom gave me a funny look.
    “There’s always alien stuff,” Dad said. “We’re a stone’s throw from Area 51.”
    Not really, it was a couple hour drive, but I knew what he meant.
    “It just seems like more than usual lately.”
    They got quiet, exchanging worried glances, as if I might finally be cracking under the pressure of my job.
    “Sorry,” I said. “Yeah, bad day at work.”
    This seemed to appease them; my bad days being something they were accustomed to. Abuela put a giant scoop of yellow rice with diced veggies on my plate. I picked at my food as I thought about Grace Fondent and the woman from the article. There had to be a logical explanation for why they’d both seen multiple-arm beings. My mind turned and turned until it hit me. Grace Fondent must have done or seen something awful, just like Julian said. But she also must have read that stupid tabloid this week, and for whatever reason her mind replayed it and made it her reality.
    Relief trickled through me, clear and sweet. I nearly laughed at myself for getting so freaked out. I put a helping of black beans on my rice and relaxed.

    Remy was more excited about my date with Ken than I was. I swore to her I’d call her the minute I left him. My stomach was a bundle of nerves when I showed up at the Japanese steakhouse, but his bright smile put me at ease right away. Time to relax. Enjoy his company.
    “Want a drink?” he asked, nodding to the cocktail list.
    “I’m only twenty,” I whispered.
    He winked. “The owner is my