Cooper was more than willing to help Lydia keep an eye on the closet door to the holding cells. Each day while they watched, she asked for more information about Nina, but he had none to give her. At the moment, they were at an impasse as far as helping her. “Although,” he said, “she was surprised that you went to Harper. I don’t think she expected that.”
Aidan and Jando easily tracked the guards coming and going from the guard’s post, noting when the shift changes were and how the security camera controls worked. They informed Lydia about all they learned when they regrouped with her at the end of every day. The beginnings of a plan started to form for her. “There’s a ten-minute window during the shift changes when the next guard sets up,” Aidan said. “And Lenny looks to be the weak link.”
“The shrimpy guy, right?” Jando asked. “He eats dinner before his shift. I could get some laxatives and sneak some into his food, but what about the door? We have the access code, but Lenny won’t leave the keys behind. Or do you plan to speak to Heather from outside?”
“No,” Lydia said. “We’ll have to find some other way.” Breaking the door down was out, and none of them could pick the lock. Thankfully, help came in the form of Wren, who overheard their conversation one evening and offered to assist them.
“I could use my ice to make a key,” she said, swinging into her room and pointing to the door. She touched the keyhole, and ice crawled out of her finger and into the lock. In her palm, the ice hardened into a ring end. When she finished, she turned the ice key back and forth, locking and unlocking the door.
“What about the ice?” Aidan said. “We can’t leave it behind.”
“We’ll bring a lighter and melt it when we’re done,” Lydia said. She looked at Wren. “You’re sure about this? You could get in trouble.”
“Not if we don’t get caught,” she said, grinning. She took Lydia aside after the guys left. “So…,” she said, drawing out the word.
“So?”
“Don’t ‘so’ me,” Wren said, putting her hands on her hips. “Aidan. Have you done anything? You two would be so cute together.” She shoved her knuckles into her lips and seemed to be on the verge of squealing.
“He’s dating Dariela. That’s all there is to it,” Lydia said.
Wren rolled her eyes. “‘All there is to it.’ Yeah, uh-huh, sure.” She didn’t let up, casting knowing looks when Aidan was around them and asking if Lydia had acted on her “deep desires” each day. Lydia kept ignoring her questions, much to Wren’s chagrin. She had to focus.
Breaking into the holding cells had to wait for a while. In the middle of the week, Debra and Dariela arrived. Lydia greeted them and Dariela planted a kiss on Aidan’s cheek. Lydia refrained from letting it bother her. She was onto their game. She just needed to pull the truth from Dariela.
Unfortunately, at every opportunity, Dariela acted natural. “So, you and Aidan, huh? Gotta admit, seemed a little odd,” Lydia would say.
“Yeah, but maybe that’s what makes it work. We’re very different,” Dariela would reply.
Or, “Why Aidan? Out of all the guys here, I wouldn’t think he’d be your first choice.”
Dariela would ponder the question, or pretend to. “I don’t know. There’s just something about him that draws you in.”
There had to be a chink in her armor somewhere. Some hole to bring down this charade. Lydia tried to flirt with Jando in front of them, a wink here or a suggestive remark there. “Want to get some one-on-one training after dinner, Jando? I could show you some moves.” That caused Aidan to look ill, or so she thought. Dariela didn’t react at all.
At lunch one day, Lydia asked Dariela, “Got anything planned for today?”
“Probably hang out with Aidan,” she said, looking down the table at him. He waved at her.
“What kinds of things do you guys do? Besides fly around the Cave?” Lydia asked.
“Why all the questions about Aidan?” Dariela said, smirking. “Interested in him?”
“No, no,” Lydia said, finishing her food. “Just curious. You two always disappear when you’re together.” She finished the rest of her soda.
“Well,” she said, tilting her head and looking off to the side, “we do need our alone time.”
Lydia crushed her soda can until it was as thin as a straw in her grip and rose from the table. “Have fun then. I’ll see you later.” She dumped her food and stomped out of the lunchroom. She couldn’t take it. At times, Lydia wondered at if she were wrong. However, when she tried eavesdropping on the couple on the few occasions she found them alone, they talked in hushed whispers and always clammed up or moved away when Aidan noticed her. That only heightened her suspicions.
As Lydia walked through the hall, wondering what to do next, someone grabbed her and pulled her into an empty training room. Lydia raised her fists and was surprised to find Nina glaring at her. The girl’s deep-sea-diver helmet tipped, splashing the water within onto the floor. She angled her body so the open top pointed at Lydia.
Lydia caught on and stood on her tiptoes, facing Nina’s raised head through the helmet’s open top. The girl struggled to adjust the water until her face poked out of it. “What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
“Excuse me?”
“Going to Harper and trying to find out why I’m being kept here?” Nina jabbed her finger in Lydia’s chest. “I told you it was none of your business. Why do you insist on sticking your nose in? What’s in it for you?”
“I only want to help you two,” Lydia said. “Honest.”
“Why?”
Lydia took a breath. “Because I know what it’s like to have your family taken from you. To feel like you’re suddenly ripped apart from them.” Nina blinked and backed off. “I know you and Cooper are real close and I don’t want that to happen to you two. I’d appreciate it if you told me everything.”
Nina straightened her helmet, losing more water, and left without another word. Lydia groaned and headed to her room. She wished it was next week. She could handle sneaking into the holding cells much better than she could all these other problems.
* * *