Page 126 of Shattered Veil

I drove blindly, and Colton sighed loud enough for us all to hear it.

“I get it,” he said sympathetically, “but none of us are a help to James if we start getting questioned by the cops, not to mention if there are more police involved with this…I really do think waiting until dark is a no-go, though.”

Claire asked, “Why?”

“’Cause he’d be home, right?” he replied. “Sure, it’s the middle of the day right now, but as far as we know, this guy usually works a nine-to-five.”

“When he showed up after 2D broke into Zoey and Claire’s, it was late,” Liam stated. “Not nine-to-five timing.”

I countered, “If he’s the one that pulled Jay over, it would be nine-to-five timing.”

“We have no idea if he was actually on the clock for either of those things,” Zoey noted. “We can all try to figure out his schedule, but there are too many variables with that.” She paused. “Left here, immediate right, third house on the left.”

I nodded as I stopped briefly at a stop sign and turned the wheel.

“Zoey’s right,” Colton said. “If it looks like no one’s home, I’ll go in. If not, we’ve gotta tail the place for a bit.”

“And what about being seen if you’re going in now?” Claire inquired.

“Snow’s coming down a little harder,” he said. “I’ll pull my hood up—it’s not like I’m robbing the place. Just looking for papers…shit behind locked doors…clues, yeah? If I just get in, get out, and get on my way, we should be fine.”

I whispered more to myself than anyone else, “Yeah.”

Turning once more, I eyed the road ahead, and it was the first time that I had absorbed the scenery around me while we were all speaking. The neighborhood was oddly nice considering our circumstances for visiting and the potential monster that lived within. Not overly-rich. Just…nice…and the picture of suburbia. Colored in what was most certainly home-owner’s-association-approved muted palettes, the houses were all similarly shaped—as if the head designer had created the blueprint and simply hit copy, paste.

A children’s play area was visible over Liam’s shoulder, the swings moving slightly in the wind, though no one was present, most likely due to the snow. In fact, all seemed quiet. Any neighbors were out of sight—assumedly either in their homes and away from the blustery weather, or out and about.

Noting that the streets were wide enough to allow visitors ample room to park, I helped myself to a space on the right-hand side of the road, slowed to a crawl, and put the car in park. Luke did the same as I watched him pull up behind me in my rear-view mirror, and I looked to the house—the third one on the left.

The two-story home was painted a dusty, greyish pink. An attached garage that could store two cars side-by-side was closed. Snow in the driveway was a pristine, untouched layer, and the same could be said for what covered the walkway that led to the small eave of the front porch. The windows on the upper floor all had blinds drawn; however, there was one to the left of the front door that left our view into the house entirely unobstructed.

“Lights are off,” Colton spoke my observation.

“Driveway’s empty,” Luke noted. “Think a car’s in the garage?”

Claire stated, “No one’s driven on that snow.”

“No one’s home?” I voiced my hopeful thoughts aloud.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Liam said. “Unless they’ve been home for a while?”

“Give it a few minutes,” Colton murmured. “Eyes on the window—looks clear, but you never know.”

I didn’t look at anyone else, but the pause in our conversation gave me the feeling that everyone had collectively narrowed their gaze toward the same space, searching for any movement within.

There wasn’t any. In fact, the small window allowed us to see directly into what appeared to be a living room…and all looked quiet. Undisturbed. Empty.

Still, I examined it as if that would change, as did everyone else.

Claire asked, “Colt, do you have your headphones on you?”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “Y’all gonna look out for me?”

“Someone’s gotta do it,” she quipped.

“I’m going in with you,” I nearly cut her off mid-sentence.

No one questioned why, nor did they argue that it was too risky to go along with him in the hopes of finding further evidence of where James could be. Instead, because all of us were jumpy with anxiety due to his disappearance, everyone was silent as Colton slowly replied:

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