“Yeah, my phone vibrated, but I got nothing.”
“Shitty service.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling. I feel like someone’s trying to get in touch with me. I have to leave. Now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CALLIE
I got no response from Donny.
That in itself is odd, but I can’t worry about it. I have more pressing things to worry about. What the hell happened to that file box?
“Let’s look around,” Rory says frantically. “Someone was here, and they must have left evidence. Someone would have driven up, right?”
“Yeah. I didn’t hear anything, did you?”
“Of course not, but we were out back with the dogs. Mom and Dad are in bed. Where’s Jesse?”
“He probably went to bed as well.”
“Let’s have a look around.”
We leave the garage, brandishing our flashlights still, and look closely. Our driveway is asphalt, so there’s not really any way to tell if a car has been here. Footprints?
The same. Not really any way to tell without knowing what we’re looking for.
“Damn,” I say.
“Looking for this?”
Our brother stands in the doorway from the kitchen to the garage. In his hands is the file box, and it’s opened.
“Damn it, Jesse!” Rory says. “That isn’t yours.”
“No, it isn’t, but I’m going to need you to explain the contents.”
“We don’t have to explain a damn thing—”
“What contents?” Rory interrupts me, her voice dropping to a low timbre.
“Let’s just say it’s something a brother never should have to look at.”
My heart falls to my stomach. “Oh, shit.”
“It’s a thumb drive, along with hard copies. I only looked at one. That’s all I could take.”
“Which one of us was it?” I ask.
“It was you, Rory. But does that mean there’s photos of both of you? Christ.” He pulls out his man bun and lets his hair float around his shoulders. “Christ,” he says again.
I’m oddly thankful that my brother didn’t see the picture of me first.
“I think, girls, we need to have a little talk.”
“It’s a long boring story, Jesse,” I say. “And…thanks for not looking any further.”
“Are you kidding me? I feel like I need to have my eyes burned out just from seeing one. What were you thinking, Rory?”