“It’s almost noon,” Hodge said.
I stared at him.“Again?”
He grinned.“Rough life.”
Tempi opened the refrigerator.“Burger.Egg.Cheese.Maybe bacon.”
My stomach gave a tiny, interested flutter.“That actually sounds amazing,” I admitted.
Tempi pointed at me.“See?Trust me.”
Twister started flipping through the mail while everyone kept talking around him.
Cord and Plug kept sweeping.Hodge leaned on his pool cue and watched them like he was supervising.Podge tried to sort a stack of papers at the bar while Gramps stood beside him, complaining about how the mail was proof society had failed.
Wheels stayed close to me, quiet, drinking coffee.I drank mine and let the noise settle around me.For a few minutes, it almost felt normal.
Not my old normal.A new one full of men arguing about chores and women threatening to throw bottles at presidents.
Then Twister went still.
The room didn’t quiet immediately.
Cord’s broom scraped across the floor.Tempi opened a cabinet.Hodge muttered something to Plug, but I saw Wheels notice.His body shifted beside me.Not much.Just enough.
Then Twister said, “What the fuck?”
The room dropped silent instantly.Tempi turned from the kitchen, and Wheels sat forward.
Swift appeared at the top of the stairs, suddenly wide awake, with Britta peeking around him in an oversized shirt and messy hair.
Twister held a plain white envelope in one hand.
No return address.No stamp.No postage mark.
My stomach went cold.
“That come in the mail?”Wheels asked.
Gramps frowned.“It was in the stack.”
Twister looked at him.“It wasn’t mailed.”
Gramps’ scowl deepened.“Then how the hell did it get in the mailbox?”
Nobody answered because nobody had to.
Twister opened the envelope slowly and pulled out one sheet of paper.
Twister read the note, and his jaw tightened.
Wheels stood.“What does it say?”
Twister didn’t answer right away.He lowered the paper onto the table, turning it so the rest of us could see.
The words were typed in a plain black font.
WE KNOW YOU KNOW.
