Page 12 (1/2)

Into the Night

Nathan

Nathan Griffin white-knuckled the wheel of Kota’s sedan

Ahead was a dark lane,either side He wasn’t sure if it was a narrow road or a driveway, but he had gone for a couple offor the house he had been told would be here The exact coordinates were unclear, as the GPS had said he’d arrived at his destination already

The headlights weren’t the brightest, shedding only so ravel road was littered with potholes Kota’s car didn’t have the best suspension, either

Too bad he couldn’t have brought the Jeepnot that he could run back and get it

He released the wheel with one hand to wipe at his lips, trying to ease the tense sensations that’d been in his heart for hours so he could pay attention to the road

Why did they have to live all the way out here? A deer or another animal could hop out of the woods at any moment Normally, he’d like such a rural location It suited his outdoorsy personality Tonight, he groaned at having to slon The longer it took, the later it got The ungodly hour was already horrible enough to be intruding on them Without a phone to call ahead, he’d be lucky if they weren’t traveling and this was for nothing

If it wasn’t an eency, he wouldn’t have come

Eventually, the trees fell away and the high beae, white plantation-style house The home resembled some of the old estates in don Charleston The colonial style was similar to the house Victor lived in, yet this one ider, with a large front porch, white colurounds were trim but bare and brown for midwinter

The grandeur seemed out of place in the middle of the woods It was too fancy to be tucked away and hidden from the world

As he drove around the loop of the driveway, his opinion faded The bushes were a little too wild and needed pruning The grass was filled eeds The front porch appeared in disrepair

Nathan parked, hitting the lock on the inside of the door and checking toit up He gazed up at the house, the darkened s There were no nuht house?

Yet it was exactly where Mr Blackbourne had described it to him before

Weeds crunched under his shoes as he approached the house He eased his foot onto the first step It creaked, and he stopped

They didn’t need an alarave him away

He stilled, not wanting to scare anyone whoto the car and co

He needed to talk to soht be the only one who could help him

He continued to climb up the steps and went to the front door There was a rusty doorbell to one side The door had a knocker

He paused

He closed his eyes

He pictured Sang’s face

Her tears The pleas

He looked down at his own hands, the blood that still stained parts of his knuckles

Blood on top of older bruises

He tried to wipe away the blood, but it had dried hard to his hands

All theup Mistakes He bla blame was a lost cause It didn’t help anyone and only hindered solving the problem

But Nathan didn’t know the solution He only knew everything was horribly wrong

He er at the doorbell He couldn’t hear it ring He wondered if they rigged it to do so other than make noise Vibrate their phones perhaps Give thee of as outside Clever They needed to do this at their homes

After a few minutes, the door inched open and a face appeared The lare that held strong A frown formed on his lips “What do you want?” he asked

“Trout,” Nathan said quickly, letting him knoas Academy with a random response

Without blinking, he answered, “Azalea” He opened the door a bit wider “Who are you?”

“My naainst his jeans at his sides, hoping to hide the”

His eyes went from Nathan’s face to his ru to see other faces “I know them I don’t remember you”

“I’m part of the team, too I need totalk to someone”

“Y’all have too many on your team I can’t keep track” Liam lifted an eyebrow and leaned out of the door “Can’t it wait until ?”

Nathan pressed his lips together and shook his head He couldn’t answer that question Could it wait? Sure He was supposed to say yes

He should have called He should have just sent a text e If he had a phone, he would have

But it couldn’t wait He had driven all the way out here because he needed to fix things He couldn’t go back unless he could fix it

He didn’t kno to talk to her How could he explain what happened?

How could he tell the others?

“I aze

Liahed and opened the door wider “Come in”

Nathan took a sainst the slick floor, granite or marble, he wasn’t sure he could tell the difference There were plants on pedestals and a stairway leading to the second floor further in The inside was nicer and cleaner, the upkeep obvious compared to the outside Nice furniture Clean surfaces Homey

It didn’t make sense to him, but theylike it did

Nathan pressed his palainst each as if he could rub off the soreness in his hand and get rid of the memory of what had happened

Liam closed the door behind him and then stood back He wore jeans and a navy sweater with a white shirt underneath, and dark socks, no shoes His face was covered in rust-colored hair, thin but growing out, unshaved for a least a couple of days In the light, a bit better than the porch, his hair lightened in color, a bit more strawberry blond than reddish