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None of us had any experience with kids really. We’d read books, all of us, when we found out Nick was going to be a dad, but having him there was different. Terrifying.
Somehow, between us, we figured it out though. We fell in love with this little boy and we all looked forward to the times that Kayla would leave him here while she went off, doing who knew what, with the many men she dated. We had made a room for him upstairs and he had everything he needed at our place. We rarely ever used anything Kayla packed in the bag she brought, which was good because she could hardly be bothered to pack anything he actually needed.
I walked into the living room and set Zack down at the coffee table. He had started walking a couple of months before and he liked to move between the furniture, grabbing for anything he could get at.
“How about some sports high lights, huh bud?” I asked him as I sank into the armchair and put on the TV, muting the sound so it wouldn’t wake the others.
I was a little worried about Evie. She’d had a tough day the day before with telling us everything. She came down for dinner, the previous evening, and handed Aleks the tattoos she had carefully drawn out, but then she’d returned to her room and not come back down all night. I’d tried to check in on her when I went to bed, but her door had been locked and she didn’t answer when I knocked gently. I hoped she was just sleeping, so left her alone, but I was anxious to see her come down the stairs that morning. I worried we had pushed her too far the day before.
“Ha-Ha!” Zack cried as he held out one of his little toy cars to me. I took it from him, knowing what he wanted. I set up a ramp with the tv remote and Aleks’s tech magazine that was on the table, then launched his car down it. He laughed happily clapping his hands, then he toddled off to get the car so he could do it again.
“Come on then. You do it now,” I urged as he grabbed the car and scampered back towards me.
I turned at the sound of a cell phone coming closer and found Aleks running down the stairs, still looking half asleep.
“It’s the burner. You should answer it. I’ll grab Zack,” he said as he ran towards me, handing me the ringing cell. He scooped Zack up and sat with him in his lap so I stood and moved to the kitchen. I wasn’t looking forward to this call.
“Get Evie,” I said at the last minute, turning to Aleks. She should be here and I knew whoever was on the other end wouldn’t calm down until they heard her voice.
“Yep.” Aleks jumped up and headed upstairs with Zack in his arms.
“Hello?” I answered as I took a seat at the counter.
“Who the fuck is this?” I couldn’t help but smile when I heard the anger in that one question. There was no mistaking the deep, slightly raspy voice on the other end. I imagined the hulk of a guy it belonged to one the other end, seething that he’d been forced to make the call, when he didn’t know who to.
“Kade. It’s Harris,” I said, putting him out of his misery easily. I was a fuck of a lot bigger and scarier than last time I faced him, but I still didn’t want to fuck with him.
“Harris? Evie’s Harris? Harris Orson?” he asked, sounding completely taken aback.
“Yeah, Evie’s Harris.” I liked the sound of that. I put the phone on speaker and set it down on the counter in front of me.
“What’s going on? Why the fuck are you sending us cryptic fucking messages? Who’s watching us?” Kade demanded.
“Have you heard about Evie?” Another voice asked.
“Hi Kyle,” I said, recognizing his voice too. “Is anyone else there?”
“No. It’s just us,” Kyle replied.
“And you’re in a secure place? This call has to be private,” I warned them.
“We checked the office for bugs. It’s clean,” Kade assured me.
“Is there a computer anywhere near you?” I asked. I didn’t know much about computers, but I didn’t want to take the risk Soloman could be listening.
“No. What the fuck is going on, Harris? Start fucking talking right now!” Kyle barked.
I heard a small squeak and looked up at Evie. She was stood between the kitchen and living room in a set of shorts and t-shirt pajamas that made her look so young. Her hand was clamped over her mouth and she had tears in her eyes.
“Harris! Our sister is fucking missing! Tell us something or stop wasting our time!” Kade growled.
“Kade?” Evie whimpered as she shakily came closer. She leaned in close, tears filling her eyes and slipping down her cheeks. “Kyle?”
There was silence for several moments and I knew they had to be shocked. They surely thought she was dead after so many months of knowing The Number Killer had her.
“Evie? Please tell me that’s you,” Kyle said, and he sounded emotional.
“I-it’s me,” she sniffled. She was shaking badly, so I lifted her into my lap and held her against me, pulling the phone closer, since she seemed to want to be close to it. “I’m with Harris. I…I’m okay.”
