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Pressing against the door, I closed my eyes and pictured the lock The rush of static crept down h the wood The click of the lock turning sounded like a nuclear bo off in my head

I took aon the other side of the door If someone were in there, I’d have to defendhim or her, sickenedmyself I could do this, I opened the door and slowly stepped into the kitchen A light was on above the stove, casting the rooht I shut the door behind me and drew in a deep breath This is insane I crept forward, grateful for the thin soles on ood old B&E

Balling my hands up under the sleeves ofroo on the floor Two couches were pressed against the wall in the living room There wasn’t a TV It reavea breath, I went upstairs slowly Nothing about this house seemed real It had no homey smells like leftover food or perfume It smelled vacant At the top of the stairs, there was a bathroom that had clearly been in use There were hair products on the sink--gel and two toothbrushes

My stohtened as I left the bathroom All the bedroom doors were open Each of them just had a bed and a dresser All were empty

The last rooe desk sat in the middle of the otherwise empty roo around the desk, I pulled out the center drawer Nothing I checked the side drawers, beco frustrated when they were all empty I yanked open the last one

"Jackpot," I whispered

I pulled out a file folder that was thick and heavy at the botto the file out carefully, I laid it on the desk and flipped it opened There were pictures, hundreds of pictures

My hands shook as I went through the filled my ears as I turned over picture after picture

One offrom my car to the front of school in short sleeves There were several from outside the S in front of the , then one of us walking out the door,Several ether, at school, onin front of the FOOLAND, the first day I’d met her

Then there were pictures of Daeht as he was snapped walking around his SUV, keys clenched in his hand Another was hi on his porch, shirtless and in jeans, withit in the light that ca suit, standing on the bank of the lake I’d been looking off to the side, and Dae--unbeknownst to me I hadn’t known he ever smiled around me at that time

I dropped the picture as if it burned my skin And it did on a surreal level

There werefroo There were pictures ofto work, some with her and Will There were no pictures of Blake and ether

But the worst picture, the one that al ht I’d been sick The photo was dark and grainy, but I couldlimp, the look of pure concentration on Daemon’s face as he had one foot on the porch step

Hell, could they be watching me now? I couldn’t let h skin and bone They’d been watching us fro I wanted to take all these pictures I wanted to burn theer Who gave theer so potent I could taste it, I gathered up the photos and placed the the

The botto the file back, I reached down and felt around until I got a grip on the edge Peeling the contact paper back, I saw several sheets of paper Most of the everything There were bank slips, too, showing ed at the amounts Another slip of paper had an address with the letters DB written under it

Dawson Black? Dee Black? Dae the slip of paper into my pocket, I pressed the contact paper back down and put the file away I closed the door, feeling nu in here?" a voice demanded

Chapter 29

My heart leaped inthe rush of energyin the doorway, I gasped

Moonlight co in from the ashed over Bethany’s pale face as she stepped into the roo off her slender body Her dirty hair fell in clu in here?"

"Bethany?" I croaked

She cocked her head to the side "Katy?" Her voice mimicked mine

Taken aback by the fact she knew my name, I stared at her "How do you knoho I aed at her lips "Everyone knoho you are," she said in a singsong voice that reminded me of a child "And so do I"

I sed "Youknows They always know They always hope, too Whenever we get close" She paused, closing her eyes, sighing "They hope we get close"