Page 55 of When You Stayed
“I’m home. Geez, Royce. I know we need to talk, but you don’t typically hit this sort of level of upset out there in the wild. You need to come have your crashout at home.”
A sob got caught in my throat. “Fuck you.”
She paused, and while she typically would curse me in return, this time she didn’t. Her voice was gentle as she said, “Tell me where you are so I can come get you.”
More anger surged as I swiped at my eyes. “You’d know where I was if you hadn’t turned off location sharing.”
A long pause on her end followed by a deep sigh skittered down my spine, warning me that she might just confirm everything I was afraid of.
“Where are you, Royce?”
“I’m parked on Ford Ryan’s street.”
My sister made a sound, and then I heard the door shut on her end. “What do you want to do in Ford’s house, Royce?”
I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but I had no idea if it would work. “I want to steal Gus back. If he’s not there, then I want to steal something else. I want to mess with him the way he’s messed with me.”
Keys jingled and knew my sister was on her way to me. Something in my chest eased, like releasing a pressure valve.
“I’ll be there in eight minutes.”
A smile slipped along my mouth, reluctantly. It took fifteen minutes to get into town from our house, but I loved that my sister would drop everything and come for me when I needed her. I was still pissed at her, but now I was marginally less pissed. I hung up and watched the house, hoping like hell that a cute gray cat was currently sleeping inside.
We cut through a side yard and rounded a quaint house. It was surrounded by a waist-high white picket fence, bordering an overgrown yard. The home was white brick with black trim and a red, chipped door.
“The man needs to update the house,” Taryn said quietly.
I ran my hand over the top of his worn picket fence while we made our way to the entry gate.
“He also needs a good landscaper or to buy a mower. Are we going in through the front door or?—”
Taryn kept walking until we passed his house and moved to the neighbors’. “Just follow me and keep your head down like I told you.”
“Should I be worried that you’re so good at this?” I asked, pulling my baseball hat lower on my head. Taryn had brought me a black shirt, and a hat. My sister wore similar clothing to help conceal us.
Once we were near the neighbors’, Taryn slipped into the shadows between the two houses. I quickly followed her as she jumped over Ford’s side fence and jogged toward the siding where a few basement windows were visible.
“Taryn,” I hissed, ducking low to try to keep up.
She pulled open one of the windows while glancing back at me. “Stop saying my name.”
Dammit, we hadn’t discussed code names. Instead of asking my question that I had for her, I blindly shadowed her. She jumped down into the basement, completely unafraid that there might be snakes or spiders…or dead bodies. Who the hell knew what Ford Ryan had in his basement.
Regardless, I’d never let my baby sister jump into the dark alone.
Crouching low, I got onto my hands and knees and slipped my feet in through the window. Sliding on my belly, I moved backward until my legs and waist were inside.
“There’s a table under you.” Taryn guided my legs until I wasdropping down to the desk. Once my feet were solid, I crouched down again and jumped to the floor.
“Now what?” I whispered.
The room in front of us was dark, but the lights from the street filtered in from the windows. Cement ran under my feet, with a few worn rugs tossed down, a worktable sat on the far side of the room, a few shelves, and an old vacuum, nothing out of the ordinary.
Taryn didn’t waste any time moving to the stairs. My stomach rolled nervously as she climbed each step. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this. What if Ford thinks we’re breaking in and shoots us?”
I knew he had a firearm, I’d seen it holstered at his hip a few times and tucked into the back part of his jeans.
“We’re going to be careful, don’t worry.” Taryn promised while turning the knob. “Also, he’s not even home right now.”
