Page 69 of Not A Whisper

The houses are comfortably spaced apart, on either side of the water. Connecting the two homes is a wooden walkway that meets in the middle of the pond where a small floating dock sits. The railing around the deck is wrapped with fairylights and there are candles burning on the picnic table in the middle of the floating space.

It’s my vision board come to life almost down to the candles.

“Oh, my! What is this place?” Luane asks, leaning between the front seats as she stares at the houses.

Trip parks Jason’s truck on the stone parking pad and we park behind him. As Grant turns off the truck, Jason answers her,

“Remember what I told you back at the main house?” Jason asks, his voice subdued in the darkness of the cab. “About helping you get away from Garry? This is how we’re going to do it. That house on the right is yours. The other is Carlos’s.”

Together, the Nani’s gasps.

“Jay… This is… How did you…” Luane’s voice trails off.

“This is why you rushed us here after work?” Kai asks, his voice suddenly gruff. “To show usthis?”

“Actually, it’s to do more than that. We’re moving you in tonight. Trip has a crew at your house now, packing things up and getting it onto a box truck,” Jason answers.

Kai grunts. “What? Why? We can’t just leave, Jay. You know?—”

“Yeah, I do know why, Dad,” Jason cuts off firmly. “But Garry can’t touch you anymore, not here. You don’t deserve to have to deal with his bullshit anymore. His harassment of you guys is amping up and will only get worse in the coming days.”

“How do you know that?” Kai asks.

Grant looks over his shoulder. “Because we’re about to rock the boat. Please don’t ask how, just take comfort in knowing that we’ve planned for all of this and are taking the necessary precautions. We’re in the process of wiping the debt from your records, and we’ll be transferring these houses over to you shortly. You’re going to be free and safe.”

Luane sniffs. I know if I look back at them, I’ll find her teary-eyed. So rather than get sucked into her silent joy and end up crying with her, I lean against the passenger door and stare at the set-up. I still end up biting my bottom lip as it wobbles. Going from having nothing to something? It must feel like a miracle. I can’t imagine how overwhelmed they must be.

“You boys treat us so well,” she manages to get out, her voice wobbling.

Jason’s door opens. “Here, let me show you guys around.”

The three of them slip out of the truck but Grant and I don’t follow. In front of us, Trip is pulling Carlos’s wheelchair from out of the bed of Jason’s truck. He helps his father out of the cab and into his seat before pushing him toward the house that belongs to him.

I sit there reeling—trying to piece together how this was possible. When I can’t take the silence anymore, I turn to Grant.

“How the hell did you pull this off?”

He looks over at me and smiles. “Money and connections. These are modular homes that we bought prefab right off a nearby lot. Anything that needs to be changed can be later on. They run on generators for now, but we’ll make sure it’s more stable and permanent in the coming months. I don’t know why we didn’t think of this to begin with but, god, this was ingenious.”

My eyes travel over both homes. I catch a glimpse of Trip as he pushes Carlos past a window. Both guys are smiling. Grant’s hand tightens around me, reminding me that we’re still connected. My attention drops to our hands.

“It may not seem like it, but moving the Nani’s and Carlos is me non-publicly taking a stance against my father,” Grant says after a pause. “He won’t realizeIhelped move them or that I’ve brought them here, but there’s no way that he would everbelieve I don’t know where they went. Same with Jason and Trip. And when he can’t get to them—” he waves his hands toward the houses “—or get the information out of me about their whereabouts, he’s going to retaliate hard and fast.”

I lick my bottom lip nervously. “How can we stop him?”

“Stop him? There’s nostoppingGarry Gipson.” Grant shakes his head slowly. “This, on top of my announcement that I’m breaking things off with Carmilla, is going to be…” Grant shakes his head, unable to finish the sentence.

“That bad, huh?”

Grant’s answering laughter is almost hysterical. When it dies down, he sighs.

“You’ll see soon enough. He’s going to come for you next, I’m sure of it.”

“Me?”

Grant nods. “He won’t be able to threaten Trip and Jason without their parents around. So, you’ll be the next logical target. You’re the closest person to all of us, Bri.”

My conversation with Garry replays in my head. He’s a bastard, there’s no other way to put it. And now that I’ve seen what he’s capable of firsthand, I know having his sole focus on me is dangerous. Will I be able to survive whatever he throws at me?

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