"PAT!"

I rush up to him and rip the duct tape from his mouth.

Nolan gulps in a breath before sputtering, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What the hell happened to you?" I cry out.

"I'll explain once we get outta here!" He pulls his arms against the restraints. "Now get me out!"

"Yeah, of course!" I begin working at the tight knot holding down Nolan's left hand.

"After we get out from under here, we'll go get Brett," I hear Nolan state.

I pull out the rope. "WHAT?" I face him. "H-he bailed out on me! Why is he here—" I throw down the rope. "He's the murderer and the police are here for me! Why would he be at Nico's place?!"

Nolan shakes his head. "No, Brett didn't murder anyone! Nico did!"

I instantly drop my jaw. Shock has me gripped so well, I am unable to do anything else.

"Nico murdered G. He framed you. He then murdered TK. And kidnapped me."

I lower myself onto my knee and reach out to Nolan's tied ankle. "Why...?" I begin untying the rope.

"Because G prevented the Devils from going to the Finals. And he was mad at that. He was also mad at your performance."

I tug the rope out and cast it aside before pushing myself to Nolan's other leg and working on the rope around it.

"So he killed two birds with one stone," Nolan continues. "TK knew and told me when I brought Nico to our place. Nico murdered him there and took me away because I knew too much. It's not you, it's not Brett; it's Nico."

I pry the rope away from Nolan's ankle before gaping at the ground.

"Wow." I rise to my feet and toss the rope down. "But why Brett? Why did he take him?" I reach for Nolan's last restraint and begin pushing at the knot.

"Because Brett knew too much too; he was helping you too much to the point where it was hurting his plan. And also to help frame you for TK's murder."

I scoff dryly, not stopping my movements. "Well, I'll give Nico credit for such a brilliant plan!"

"No matter how brilliant, it has to be stopped."

I pull the rope away from his arm and thrust it on the ground. "Oh, we will stop it for—"

Nolan slaps his hand over my mouth and pulls me onto his lap. My head hits his chest. I stay frozen at his sudden movements with wide eyes.

Within the silence of the room, muffling is clearly heard from above.

I snap my eyes up, as if that will make the voices more clear or give me x-ray vision to see the voices' owners through the ground.

The only clear sound pulsing through my ears in Nolan's quick heartbeat. I flick my eyes to peer up at Nolan's face. From the low angle, I can see him glaring up, his arm reaching down to my mouth.

Nolan has me against him in such a protective position. He is protecting me. He still cares for me. We're still friends.

The sporadic trepidation bouncing within me dissolves into comfort and relief. I press my focus on Nolan's steadying heartbeat and rising and falling chest.

I sense Nolan body relax: his hand slips off from my mouth as his other arm loosens around me. I rise to my feet.

"That could've been Nico or the police," Nolan states as he stands up as well. "Whatever it was, they couldn't find us and left. Let's go."

He whisks past me and into the main room. I follow him across the room and onto the staircase.

With my eyes glued to his back, I exclaim, "Oh, there's a car like right above us—"

The muffling resumes, this time more clearer. Nolan freezes, causing me to halt as well.

I press my focus into the muffling, noticing the familiarity in one of the voices.

"Brett," I whisper.

"And Nico," Nolan finishes in a quieter tone.

I raise my hand toward the direction of the trap door. "We should go up and get Brett—"

"No!" Nolan swats my hand away, making me retract it with buzzing pain. "If we show ourselves to Nico like this, we're dead."

"But Brett!"

Nolan whips his head around his shoulder to shoot me a glare. "Shut it."

I lean back, fear clouding my determined expression.

The sound of a car engine roaring to life echoes from above. The creaking of the garage door opening follows after.

I let out a whimper of helplessness. "Pat...Brett's going away...!"

"And we would too if we go out right now!"

The room then settles into silence.

With that, Nolan throws the trapdoor open from above, letting in a flood of light. He steps up into the light; I come behind him.

I step up into the garage, noticing it much bigger now that the car that was in the middle is gone. Nolan stands to my left, rubbing his arm.

"Nico must've taken Brett away," I conclude to the garage.

Nolan turns to me. "Where to?"

I flick my eyes down as my mind begins to rummage for a possible answer.

Nico is most likely going to murder Brett since Brett is hindering his plan. He can't go to a public place. It can't be at Travis and Nolan's place because that's now a crime scene. Brett's house is on the police's radar. And certainly not here. That only leaves one place:

I turn to my left to face Nolan. "My place." I then knit my eyebrows.

Nolan's space is empty.

"Sounds reasonable," Nolan's voice echoes from behind me.

I peer behind my shoulder.

Nolan stands in front of a wall lined with guns of all shapes and sizes. He whirls around to face me; in his hand is a pistol.

He pushes the magazine into the gun with a click. "Let's go."