Page 30 of Pike’s Redemption

“What the hell?” This was like some goddamn horror movie. The next thing would be some asshole in a Jason mask popping up.

Panicking, I dialed Enzo frantically. “Come on, come on.”

“Nat?” His voice came online with a snap. I never called him. Ever.

“I’m in the kitchen. I need you here at the slider. Now.” I clicked off, unable to take my eyes off the smear even though I’d backed myself against the counter as my hand searched for a knife, a weapon of some kind. I could hear Enzo thundering forward, his footsteps nearly sliding against the wood as he ran.

“Nat!” he shouted. “Nat!”

“I’m here,” I called out, pointing stupidly to the slider glass. He couldn’t miss the mess, so I wasn’t even sure why I was bothering to point. I let my hand fall to my side.

“What the fuck?” Enzo came to a stop beside me, his gun out as he stared dumbfounded. “Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m ok.” I wanted to turn from the glass and look for a knife or something to hold onto, just in case, but instead, I edged closer to Enzo, who was solid and real, without taking my eyes off the glass or the yard. I didn’t want to be caught unaware. “I thought I saw someone outside, and when I got close, the lights flickered. I should have called right away instead of just standing there.” I hesitated, not wanting to overdramatize the situation. “I didn’t actually see anyone.” Suddenly, I felt stupid and had to remind myself that someone was there. Someone had to have thrown that shit at the window.

“Obviously, you weren’t wrong. Someone was out there.” That made me feel better that he didn’t scold me for not phoning immediately. “Can you call Luca? I don’t want to leave you guys in the house alone.” He frowned at the glass and then at his phone. “The perimeter alarms don’t show a breach. That’s weird. They should have lit up if anyone stepped foot within a mile of here. Fuck.”

I reluctantly took my eyes off the glass, pushed through a text, and then waited for an answer. I looked up from my phone to Enzo, who waited, his body lines hard and angry. “Luca is downstairs with Ronnie. He’ll be here in a minute.”

“Oh, good.” Engo looked relieved. “I was going to have him go and get her so you’d be together before one of us goes outside.”

Ronnie appeared at the top of the stairs, looking disgruntled, still looking like a mole person. I hadn’t talked to her since earlier, and the thought suddenly occurred to me that this might all be connected to our conversation. Right? Luca was hot on her heels.

“This one,” Luca jabbed a finger at her, annoyed. “Has something to share.”

“I told you about people near the house. That should be enough. There was no way they were getting inside,” Ronnie retorted with an unrepentant smirk. “Stop being a bully.”

“Ronnie, this isn’t the time,” I bit out, unable to stop myself even as I knew it wouldn’t help the situation. “Did you see who it was?” I sighed. Ronnie was difficult sometimes, and when you forced her to do something, she was an actual brat. It came from getting her way all the time when she was sick. She got catered to a lot.

“No.” She closed her lips and crossed her arms, a clear sign that she wouldn’t be saying more.

“What’s this? Someone threw a dead animal at the window?” Luca wrinkled his nose as he walked forward and examined the remains against the foot of the glass outside. “Huh. Not sure what the purpose of that is.”

“To harass someone, I guess. Scare them?” Ronnie suggested with a shrug.

“You know. If you have information …”

“I don’t,” Ronnie said mulishly.

“Can we deal with that shit later? Luca, stay here. I’m going to go see if I can find anything,” Enzo grumbled, seemingly done with whatever was happening with Ronnie.

“Sure, but she’s going to need to come clean,” Luca said again, scowling.

“Yeah, yeah, mudak. Later. Fucking can it. Just pay attention.”

Ronnie sighed and went to the fridge, pulling out the milk and chocolate syrup. Working in concert, I pulled out the ice cream and the blender—late nights called for milkshakes or cocktails. I preferred a cocktail, but I could be flexible. I had been jonesing for a snack earlier, so this would have to do.

“You spotted something on the cameras?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.

“Barely,” she answered, the roar of the blender drowning her out. “Just two shadows, and then the lights flickered.” Her eyes darted to me. “I knew you were in the kitchen,” she hesitated. “There have been some security breaks the last few days. Things left down on the patio.” The confession was under her breath, but Luca’s eyes were hawk-like on her, narrowed and intense. What the hell? Things left on the patio? She hadn’t said anything to us about things being left on the patio.

“What kind of things?”

“Things that shouldn’t be there. That weren’t there before.” That was no help to me and gave no information—typically cryptic of her. I sighed and tried to hide my frustration. Her mischievous smile indicated she knew I was irritated and didn’t care.

“But was it the same gap in security as this? Were these people working together?” I tried not to allow anger to tinge my voice and didn’t think I succeeded.

“No, definitely not working together. When Pike talked about Eli and Victor tonight, it made complete sense to me. It explained something that has been showing up in the video…” Her eyes darted to me as she hesitated momentarily and slopped out her milkshake. I could hear Luca scoffing in the background, but I focused on my sister. Something was up. Ronnie had never been a good liar, even as a little girl. It hadn’t mattered if it was something big or small.

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