Page 108 of Wild Embers
Eyeing each of their positions, I duck low as Santiago’s arms attempt to snag me. Walker and Levi bump heads when they both try to bend down and grab hold of me.
Sliding backward, I move myself out of their reach and sprint for the stairs. My legs are long enough that I can take them two at a time.
“Blake, no!”
“Butterfly!”
Skidding to a stop in front of the door, I notice that it doesn’t sit quite right in the frame. The brass cylinder looks as if someone punched it inward, leaving a jagged ring of exposed wood around where the knob is holding on for dear life. Long cracks spiderweb over the painted doorframe where the deadbolt tore free. Even though the door hangs open an inch, I still have to ram my shoulder above the knob to wrench it open.
Bear whines, circling my legs. Once he’s satisfied that it’s really me, he jumps, placing his front paws on my stomach, and sniffs, searching for anything amiss. When he goes back down onto all fours, my stomach drops, and my breath grows thin and uneven at the sight in front of me.
“My stuff…”
The lamp lies shattered on the floor. The mattress has been shoved halfway off the bedframe. Every dresser drawer hangs open along with the closet doors. My clothes litter the room as if someone tossed them over their shoulder, one armful at a time.
Whoever did this wasn’t just searching for something.
They were ripping my life apart.
“Blake, you can’t be in here,” Walker says as more of a command than a suggestion.
“Walk,ya déjenla.”Leave her alone.
“Fine, but don’t touch anything,” Walker commands
“Her fingerprints are already all over the room,” Levi asserts.
“I mean you two,” Walker points to Levi and Santiago. “Gloves. Now.” Walker steps out of the room, and I overhear his side of a phone call. “Jo, call in Tess and Ridge. I need them down at Moose Gap Lodge ASAP.”
Leaving Walker to his conversation, I move around the room, inspecting for anything else out of place.
On Bear’s bed, I find one of my sketches torn apart. I drop down onto my knees and sort through the pieces, putting them together like a puzzle.
I only have a few pieces in place when I realize that it’s a sketch I drew weeks ago. Levi, Santiago, and Walker were hanging out together in front of the police station. Flurries floated through the air as bits of sunlight reflected off them, showcasing how they danced in the breeze. The guys were having a moment. I don’t know what was said, but whatever it was, it had them all smiling and laughing together. For a brief moment, they were carefree and unburdened.
Why would someone destroy this moment?
The sketch was in my nightstand drawer.
Shaking off the dread, I ask myself out loud, “Who would do this?”
Santiago’s head pops out of the closet, and in his gloved hands, he holds a few of my clothes. “Piss anyone off lately?”
Where did he get the gloves?
I don’t think I want to know.
“Besides Walk?” I retort.
“This is serious.” Walker chimes in. I didn’t hear him come back in.
“I’m not laughing,” I return.
Walker looms over my shoulder, gazing down at my pieced-together sketch, and a knot of anxiety twists in my stomach.
I don’t like him seeing this. It’s like he’s peering into my soul. I know it’s just a simple charcoal sketch, but I feel as if this paper reveals too much about myself.
I don’t know when Levi and Santiago come over here, but Levi is the first to speak up.
