Page 60 of Bound By Secrets

“Woah, he’s got a PS4 in here. Dude, we should take this!” I roll my eye, close the drawer that I was looking through, and then turn around to glower at Brad.

“We’re not taking anything. We’re meant to be searching for anything that might be helpful,” I snap.

“Oh, come on. I’ve been searching Derek’s room for ages. There’s nothing in there apart from normal stuff that every other middle-aged man has in their room. I’m bored, Nate,” he whines, flopping backward on the bed like a sulking teenager.

“Be glad that you haven’t found anything in his room. I’d gladly swap rooms because this room is starting to give me the creeps.”

“Why? What have you found?” All playfulness has left him now and he’s leaning on his elbow, watching me with inquisitive eyes.

“Where do I start,” I mutter, walking over and sitting beside him on the bed. “There’s needles, drugs and knives in his wardrobe. Condoms in one of his bedside tables and a picture of Callie in the other one, pretty sure he’s stabbed the picture a few times.”

His brows rise as his eyes go wide. I nod, silently telling him that I’m being truthful and I haven’t said that as some sort of sick joke.

“Drugs as in weed? Or something stronger?”

I sigh and shake my head, “Something much stronger. I’d estimate about a dozen bottles of fentanyl and something called midazolam.”

His eyes narrow and he pulls out his phone, typing something in once it’s unlocked.

“Holy shit!” He pushes his phone in front of my face, almost whacking me with it. I pull it out of his hands and read the article that he’s pulled up on Google.

“So they’re the drugs that Callie, Connor, and Callum must be injected with all the time.”

“Duh, why else would he have sedatives,” Brad deadpans. I ignore his snarky comment and continue to read through the paragraphs until I find the one for the side effects that the drugs may cause. There’s at least twenty different side effects for each drug.

“You think they mixed them together or used them separately?” I ask, handing Brad his phone back before pulling my own from my pocket.

“Are they safe to be mixed together?” I shrug in response to his question and stand from the bed as I press the call button on my phone, pacing back and forth across the room as I wait for the call to connect.

“Hey, kiddo. This will have to be a quick call. I’m busy at the moment,” my dad says as soon as the call is connected.

“Okay, just an update. We’ve found some fentanyl and midazolam. I’m assuming that’s what Cameron and Derek have been using to sedate Callie and the twins. I haven’t touched anything, but I have taken pictures and sent them over to you. We’re gonna keep looking for anything else.” I end the callbefore he can reply, eager to try and find more now that it’s been confirmed that the drugs were used on my girl and my friends.

“Help me search the rest of this room, and then we’ll go look through the guest room afterwards.” Brad jumps up and follows me over to the chest of drawers.

“There’s nothing here,” Brad grumbles, tossing a box of papers over his shoulder and letting them spill out across the room.

“There must be. Who hides boxes filled with paperwork in a guest bedroom unless there is something important within the box? It doesn’t make sense,” Kat snaps back, ruffling through stacks of paper.

“He has a point, Kat. We’ve searched through six boxes already, and there’s nothing suspicious or incriminating on any of these papers.” She glares at me and huffs in frustration before turning her attention back to the papers in her hand.

“Do you two know that Ryker’s downstairs with Callie at the moment? All alone in her father’s office whilst the twins have gone to get some food,” she says in a teasing tone.

Brad whips around to face her, a scowl painted on his face. She giggles when she peers over her shoulder and sees his reaction.

“If you’re planning to share her, Brad, then you need to stop with the jealousy.”

“I’m not jealous, but I am hungry so I think I might go downstairs for a little while.”

I laugh as he starts ambling his way out of the room.

“Connor and Callum have gone to get food. Just stay here until they get back if you’re hungry.”

“I’m not hungry. I’m thirsty. I’m just gonna go get a drink!” With that, he rushes out of the room.

“What has happened to our friend? He was so gruff and rude with other people before. Now look at him, he’s acting like some sort of buffoon.”

“He likes Callie a lot. He’s just being himself, Kat. We can’t fault him for that. He also seems to have a slight obsession with Ryker, so I’m going to guess that his infatuation is making him act irrational,” I tell her, chuckling softly as I pick up some of the papers scattered across the floor to help her.

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