Free The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) by Stephanie Karpinske

away.”
    “And what about Allie?”
    “She looked for you, too. She even asked her mom to help. She mentioned something about hiring a private investigator. Her parents have the money to do it. They’ve probably already hired someone to find you.”
    “That’s not good, Colin. I don’t need any more people looking for me.”
    “I wouldn’t worry about it. If the police can’t find you, I doubt some small-town Minnesota P.I. can.”
    Colin glanced out the side window. “This is my first time in California. This part almost looks like home. All farmland. Of course, the weather’s a lot better.”
    “Yeah. The weather was part of the reason I picked Stanford.”  
    “So I guess you’re not going there now.”
    “Nope. The college plans are on hold indefinitely. I worked my whole life to get accepted there, and it was all for nothing.”
    “You never know. Maybe this will get worked out somehow.” Colin tried to sound optimistic.
    “That’s not gonna happen, Colin. This is my life now. Always running. At least until the—” I didn’t want to mention the timer again in front of him.
    It was too late. He knew what I meant. I could tell by the worried look on his face.
    “Just forget I mentioned it,” I said before he got worked up again. “Getting upset doesn’t help.”  
    Colin got quiet and looked out the window. After a while, he turned to me again. “So is it weird for you that we’re going to Stanford?”
    “No. Not really. It’s more weird imagining my dad there. I can never picture him or my mom at my age. But you should have seen him on the college tour last fall. It was like he was a teenager again.”
    “I guess I didn’t tell you, but I got an acceptance letter for college. I got it right before all this happened.”
    “Colin, that’s great! Which college?”  
    “U of M, Mankato. They offered me a football scholarship.”
    “That’s awesome, Colin!” I gave him a hug, but he didn’t seem too enthusiastic.
    “It doesn’t really matter now. I’m not going. I won’t even be graduating from high school.”
    I’d been so focused on getting Colin healthy that I hadn’t considered all that he was missing back home. I’d graduated early and wasn’t even thinking about school.  
    “Colin, you can still graduate. You can catch up on what you missed when we get back.”
    He seemed confused. “Back? Who’s going back?”
    I explained my most recent dream to Colin and how we were planning to go back to Minnesota.
    “I’ll have to leave as soon as we get the flash drive, but you can stay and finish school. And then you can go to college. And med school. Just like you planned.”
    “Wait. What are you saying, Sam? You want me to stay behind? I thought we were together on this. I don’t care about college. I can do that later. Right now I need to do whatever I can to help you get that timer shut off. And I need to make sure you’re safe. I’m not staying in Minnesota. I’m going with you.”
    “No, Colin. I can’t have your whole life being ruined. Think about all that you’re missing back home. School. Sports. Your family. And you’re in danger when you’re with me. It’s not safe. I can’t let you go with us.”
    “Are you serious? You really don’t want me to come with you? I can’t even believe you’re saying this.”  
    “It’s just for little while. Once Erik and I get this timer thing stopped and find a place that’s safe, you and I can be together again.”
    He turned his back toward me.  
    “Hey, don’t be mad.”
    “I’m tired, Sam. I’m gonna sleep.” He moved farther away and rested his head on the back of the seat.  
    I instantly regretted what I’d said. I had given it no thought. The words just came out. Like Colin said, I assumed he would continue on this journey with me, but then, when he talked about college, it was like a brick hit me over the head. I couldn’t let him destroy his life. GlobalLife had already ruined enough lives.