The room is silent for several minutes before Kay clears her throat. “He knows about you both, he knows who you are.”
West swings his head around to her, fire in his eyes which causes Ty to stand up, lifting to his full height as his eyes flash a warning at him.
He slowly sits back down beside Seb, his face turning red as his anger overtakes him. “He can’t know, we’ve been fucking careful.”
I close the lid of my laptop, pushing my chair back and picking it up off the table. “Let me do some digging, if I find anything, I’ll let you know ASAP.” With that, I walk out of the warehouse and back to my cabin where I head down to my safe room so that I can do some digging without anyone being able to get into my system.
If Darrell knows who Seb and West are, then why are they still partially in the loop? I know they’re doing side jobs for him, so he must trust them at least a little. Unless it’s all a setup and he wants them to think he still trusts them.
I frown. He trusts me because he gave me the date, right now that’s all that matters.
The trees rustle as the wind flows through them, the branches causing shadows on the road that I’m currently walking along. The sun is setting above them, casting darkness all around me at a fast pace. My heart thumps loudly in my chest, my palms start to sweat and I seem to hear noises that aren’t really there.
I should have thought about this when Evan called and asked me to come over. I shake my head as I think about it. I was so caught up in him asking me to come here, giddy with excitement at being invited to his home that I didn’t even think how to get there until I was about to leave Livvy’s house.
I managed to get a bus to the main road, but I’ve been walking for the last half an hour with the darkness slowly surrounding me.
I pull my thin jacket around me, trying to ward off from the chill that is slowly seeping into my bones when I finally see the large, imposing gates. The breath leaves my body in a sigh of relief before I speed up, stopping when I see the sign that warns me the fence has electricity running through it.
I’ve only been here twice, and each of those times I came in with someone else in a car.
I slowly lift my pointer finger, pressing the button on the metal box that sits next to the gate, waiting for something to happen.
It’s several seconds before a click sounds and then static comes over the line and I hear, “Hello?”
“Erm…” I clear my throat. “Hi!” I shake my head at the loudness of my voice as it echoes around me. “I’m here to see Evan.”
“Lexi?”
Shuffling on the spot nervously, I look down at the boots that I’m wearing. They come up to just under my knees, my pale-yellow sundress sitting above them.
“Yeah.”
The static goes off as the gates open enough for me to slip through before they’re closing behind me.
I take a good look around, seeing the large warehouse to the left and then another house to the right with a wraparound porch. As I walk closer, I see a figure standing up, holding their hand to their head as they watch me.
My stomach tumbles, not able to make out who it is until I hear, “Lexi?”
“Kay?”
A smile kicks up the corners of my lips as I start to walk toward her when she jogs down the few steps that lead to the house.
“I didn’t know you were coming!” She wraps her arms around my shoulders, pulling me closer as she hugs me. I don’t hesitate hugging her back before pulling away. I haven’t seen her since I had a mini meltdown in the community center.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “About the other week—”
She waves her hand, cutting me off as she places her arm through mine and steers me in the opposite direction to the house she came from.
“Don’t worry about it, trust me, I’ve seen worse.” The knowing look in her eyes tells me that she’s telling the truth, but all I can do is nod as I frown. “So you’re here to see Evan? I have to say…” she starts. “I’ve never seen him like this.” Her gaze meets mine as I turn to face her. “Ever.”
“You… you haven’t?” My hand lands on my stomach, trying to stop the butterflies that are swarming like bees who have had their nest disturbed. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that she’s never seen him like this? I’m about to ask but decide not to.
“Nope,” she says, popping the p. “Anyway… this is you.”
She comes to a stop outside a wooden cabin and my eyes widen. He’s in there—the person who has consumed me ever since I first set eyes on him at the community center. I never knew that I could feel something like this: something so strong, mind-numbing, and all-consuming.
I turn around but Kay is already halfway back to the house with the wraparound porch; she lifts her hand in a wave to which I reply with one of my own before turning back toward the cabin.