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“When you get to hell, tell Roy I said hi,” I told her before Levi closed and bolted the door.
Turning, I headed back up the stairs with Levi behind me. Gage was at the top, and he led the way as we headed for the back door we’d broken into. None of us said anything as we left. The absence of any proof Trinity had lived in that house spoke volumes. Family photos of Tabitha, Roy, and Benjamin, but nothing with Trinity’s face in it. The room that must have been hers was a sewing room full of old women’s crafts and shit. The room Roy had used had his pictures on the wall. High school trophies, diplomas, it was all there.
We headed back through the woods until we made it to the place we had left the SUV. Gage climbed into the driver’s seat, and I took the passenger seat. I wasn’t in the state of mind to drive. My fucking chest hurt from seeing that place. Knowing what she’d gone through, living there. I hated everything about that house.
Although we were almost a mile away, we could hear the explosion. I sighed and leaned back in my seat. That shit was done.
“Bye-bye, Tabitha.” Gage chuckled.
He was one messed up son of a bitch.
Thirty-Two
Trinity
I listened to the voice mail again. Hayes’s grandmother, telling me that if there was anything I needed or something she could do for me and Roy to let her know. She’d called Roy, but he hadn’t returned her calls. She hoped we knew how much they loved Tabitha.
I stared at my phone, trying to understand what this was about. Did I call her? She expected me to know what she was talking about. I searched the internet for Tabitha’s name and read the first thing that popped up.
Fire, explosion, gas leak … nothing left. I looked at the date—two days ago. Tabitha had died in an explosion caused by a gas leak. The house and everything in it had burned to the ground.
I didn’t feel anything. Should I?
The garage door opened and closed. I slipped my phone in my pocket. It was Gage. He stopped and studied me. Normally, I was never sitting in the living room when they returned in the evenings. I was sure it appeared odd now. The television wasn’t on. Just me, alone in the living room, sitting there.
“You good?” he asked.
I nodded. I was fine.
“Dinner is ready,” I told him.
His gaze searched my face again before he walked on through to the kitchen.
Huck hadn’t texted me all day. That wasn’t like him. Today must have been a busy one. I stood up and decided to go get a shower. I didn’t know how late he would be. It was already after seven.
My thoughts kept going back to the fact that Tabitha was dead. It was strange. Seeing Roy, then this, when I’d gone over half a year, barely thinking of them. I was sure Hayes would be disappointed in my thoughts. He’d have wanted me to feel something. Oddly enough, what I felt was relief. The house with all those terrible memories that haunted me was gone. Did it mean I was human that I felt this way, or did this merely justify Tabitha’s belief that I was evil?
After my shower, I curled up in the middle of Huck’s bed and closed my eyes. The next time I opened them, I knew I had been asleep, but I didn’t know for how long. Sitting up, I looked around for any sign that Huck had come home. When I didn’t see anything, I got off the bed and checked my phone. It was after twelve in the morning. No text or call from Huck.
Are you okay?I texted him.
I waited several minutes and no response. I was now officially worried. Pulling on a pair of shorts with Huck’s shirt I’d been asleep in, I headed for the stairs. Didn’t he know that I would worry? I knew that he did dangerous things. Not coming home or explaining why was concerning.
When I reached the main floor of the house, I heard voices. Feeling somewhat relieved, I followed the sound. It was coming from the living room. Gage and Levi were talking, but I didn’t hear Huck. I heard Gage say my name, and I stopped before walking in so they couldn’t see me.
Gage lowered his voice. “I don’t know what to tell her if she asks. He hung up the fucking phone. Maybe he texted her.”
“Do you think he’s with her?” Levi asked.
“He’s drunk. It’s not like him.” Gage paused. “I don’t know.”
“Why would he get drunk?”
“Fuck if I know.”
“Blaise will know. Huck tells him shit.”
“If I’ve got to go down to Devil’s tonight, I’m gonna be pissed,” Gage grunted.
