Page 13 of Grim Justice

“The kids are awfully quiet,” Faith observed.

She was right. I stood, and my sister followed. We approached the room and peeked inside.

While we were talking, Jessa managed to find her pink tea set and brought it to Creed’s room. They had cleared off one of Creed’s Lego tables and arranged the cups, saucers, and teapot on the surface, seating stuffed animals, including Cuddles, around them.

Creed held onto a cup and pretended to drink from it.

“You have to hold out your pinky, Cree.”

She never said the last letter of his name.

He mimicked her, lifting his chin like she did.

“Now we sip tea and smile and pretend to be rich.”

Faith snorted.

I couldn’t hold back a giggle. Kids were so unpredictable.

Later, after pizza, we spent the evening catching up as the kids played. Creed loved having his cousin Jessa stay with us.We made plans to take the kids to Millie’s Diner for breakfast and shopping the following day.

After I set up Faith and Jessa in the spare bedroom, I stripped and slipped under the covers, opening my tablet to read before Grim came to bed. I knew he was playing pool downstairs and would likely be up late. He wanted to give me space with my sister, and I appreciated his willingness to provide us with girl time.

Halfway through a chapter, my phone alerted me to an incoming call. The ID registered the call as spam. Ignoring it, I went back to my book. Five minutes later, it rang again. This time, the ID came up as unknown.

Frowning, I wondered who was calling. Could it be important?

I decided to answer, swiping across to open the call. “Hello?”

Silence.

“Hello?” I repeated.

I heard a click. The call ended.

Weird.

My eyes grew heavy as I rolled onto my side. I turned off the volume and placed it beside me in case Grim called or texted.

My phone vibrated in my hand as my eyes snapped open. I’d fallen asleep for another fifteen minutes. Another incoming call from an unknown number.

I swiped across, answering before anyone could say a word. “This isn’t funny.”

Someone panted on the other end of the line, breathing heavily as if they just finished running a long distance.

“Rael? Is that you? Nylah will kick your ass.”

Sometimes, Rael drunk-texted or called the wrong person. He dialed me more than once instead of his woman. She thought it was hilarious when it happened.

No reply. More breathing.

Another click. The call ended.

By now, I was annoyed. I decided to place the phone on my dresser where it wouldn’t bother me when a new call flashed on the screen. No spam or unknown number. This time, it was someone I knew. Adeadsomeone.

Moby. My stepbrother.

What the hell? Who was messing with me?

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