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Before I leave the bunker, I shine my flashlight around one last time just to make sure that we haven’t missed anything, although that’s unlikely considering the room isn’t exactly big, and we all searched it thoroughly. Satisfied that we checked everywhere and there’s nothing left to find, I turn back around, ready to head up the steps, when my flashlight catches on something above the door.
“Guys, there’s a camera above the door. I’m fairly certain that we were being watched,” I announce and the guys immediately tense as they all come back down the stairs and glance up at the camera I’ve just found.
“Ace, is it connected to anything and still working?” Rome asks, his voice all business as he subtly tries to move me out of the way of the camera even though there’s not much point now since it’s already captured all of our faces.
“Yeah, it’s still got power. It’s connected to a wifi network though, so the signal is transmitting somewhere. It’s not long-range, so I think it’s most likely transmitting to the house.” Ace explains as he looks the camera over.
“I think it’s fairly safe to assume that Gerald is the one that is watching the feed,” Mason speculates.
“Not necessarily,” I reply, and then explain, “She might not have shared everything with him, and I’ve never actually gone through her bedroom. It felt like a massive invasion of privacy; I don’t even know where it is, just the vague direction.”
Chapter Twenty
Mason
“Either way I need to talk to Gerald even more. Why is this place even under surveillance? Is it for security? Which seems unlikely because who would be on the property and this far out? Or is it because they were waiting for us to find it? Whoever they are?” I ask, my mind spinning a mile a minute.
“Let’s go,” Rome orders, “we can’t find anything else out by staying here. We need to talk to Gerald.”
We all leave, locking it back up behind us even though there’s nothing left in there now except an empty filing cabinet and a camera. The thing about the camera is that it didn’t look like one that was capable of seeing things in the dark, which means it was very specifically put there to catch anyone who got into the room. I just can’t believe that Jynx is an heir, I mean, she’s certainly deadly enough, and that side of things doesn’t surprise me in the slightest, but the coincidence that she is from the last family, the family that got out and we never really knew anything about? It’s just incredible.
“I really don’t understand why Demelza has a painting of our parents?” Ace mutters. “I mean, as far as we’ve always been told, they never got on. They were always at war, and the only time they were in the same room was when they had to discuss business that involved them all, and that was rare. Yet they were all smiling and looked like they were friends in that painting.”
“But we also assumed that the fifth family got wiped out in the feud twenty years ago or disappeared, and that clearly wasn’t the case.” I point out as we walk back through the woods.
“Twenty years ago would’ve been after the painting was done, so maybe they weren’t always enemies. Maybe whatever happened twenty years ago was the catalyst for the falling out and then the feud that’s still ongoing.” Mal replies.
“Yeah, that would make sense. I doubt we’ll ever know what really happened all those years ago that would mean that we have to have a civilized conversation with our parents, and that’s unlikely to happen any time soon,” Rome adds.
“Where are your grandparents?” Jynx asks with a frown.
The guys and I share a look, and the rest of us stay silent as we wait for Rome to explain it to her; he clears his throat, “You know how our parents are trying to kill us to stop us from taking control of the town?”
She nods, her expression becoming grave like she can guess where we’re going with it, “Yeah.”
“Well, that’s a tradition, and our parents killed their parents in order to take over. It’s how the town has always worked. We all vaguely remember them, and then they disappeared, and we never saw them again. I overheard my father saying that it was the only way that they would have complete control, and it was better in the long run.” Rome replies, with a frown, “After that, we never saw them again.”
“At least that’s what we were told about the traditions and how it works, but hearing you say about that conversation now, it doesn’t sound quite right, almost as if he was trying to convince the other parents that it was the right thing to do. We were also told that all of our families had never gotten along, so who knows what the truth was and what was a lie,” I point out again, and suddenly I start questioning everything that they ever told us. One thing is for certain; they need to be stopped. I am done with the fucked up way that they’re running the town.
Rip’s eyebrows hit his hairline, “Actually, you make a really good point. It’s never made sense to me how five families founded the town together but didn’t get on, and that would explain why your grandmother has a painting of them all together when they were teenagers.”
“We need to deal with your parents, something doesn’t sound right about any of that, and I think we need to get to the bottom of it. Plus your poor grandparents, we need to find justice for them,” Jynx suggests, a strength in her eyes that says that she is more than ready and prepared to take on our families and find the truth out about hers.
As soon as we get inside, Ace rushes upstairs to get his laptop, and we put the paintings in the hallway leaning against the wall since we have no idea where to put them. Then when Jynx starts to make her way down the hallway that leads to Gerald’s office, we all follow her out of sheer curiosity; none of us want to miss hearing any of the answers that he could have. Ace is so curious that he ends up catching us up just after we start making our way down the long hallway.
“So, do we think that he’s actually going to tell us anything that we want to know?” I ask.
“I fucking hope so. He was close enough with my grandmother that he must know something about the town, which means he probably knew exactly who you guys were,” Jynx replies.
“That might also be why your grandmother insisted that you went to the school because she knew that we were there,” Ace replies and then adds, “although that doesn’t explain why she wanted us to meet you.”
“She could’ve left me another letter. I thought that was her thing after the first two.” Jynx adds.
“True, but I think that would make it too easy, and your grandmother clearly isn’t a fan of that. Plus, for some reason, I feel like she wanted you to go to the town, which considering she knows better than anyone what happened there, would suggest that there’s something there that she thinks is important for you to see.” I say, trying to think through it all as logically as I can so that we can try to make sense of it.
“Well, if Gerald doesn’t have the answers, then hopefully, going to the town will. I just hope that we can do it safely, and I don’t think that we should involve the Ravens at all. They’ve all got jobs that they can get on with here, and I don’t want to put any of them in danger, and from how you’ve described it and your parents, they would very much be in danger.” Jynx says as we get to the door finally; honestly, this house is so fucking big that you stay fit just fucking living here.
“What’s that on the door?” Rome asks curiously as Jynx reaches up and grabs the envelope that’s pinned to the door of Gerald’s office.
