Page 84 of By the Time You Read This

St. Ivany checked her phone. “It’s only five.”

Raisa shrugged. “You said first thing.”

“That I did.” St. Ivany groaned as she pushed herself to her feet.

St. Ivany drove them. Seattle, distance wise, was only an hour away, but with traffic it took them two hours to get into the city and find a parking spot a few blocks from their final destination.

“I looked at the street view earlier this morning—it seems to be an old house,” St. Ivany said. “I searched for expired rental listings, and about a year ago, this address had posted about a basement room.”

“Impressive,” Raisa murmured.

“Don’t sound surprised,” St. Ivany said.

Raisa shot her a grin, but then sobered as they walked toward the house on the corner.

She swallowed hard and told herself that Delaney probably wasn’t there. She would never let herself be found this way if she didn’t want to be.

“If she is involved in all this, she won’t want us to come sniffing around,” Raisa said. “Which means, she probably won’t answer if we knock, and then we’ll lose her for good.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Waiting her out for now,” Raisa said.

St. Ivany nodded. “You know her best.”

Raisa didn’t, but it meant she’d get her way, so that was fine. They walked past the house and then stopped at a coffee shop, where they set up by a window.

The morning passed slowly into early afternoon.

“Do we even know she’s there?” St. Ivany finally asked. They’d sat in silence for the past hour. “We can’t just wait here forever.”

“I’ll go check,” Raisa said and then had to shake St. Ivany’s hand off. “Better me than you. I can say I wanted to check up on her as her sister. You would start getting into dicey territory.”

St. Ivany hesitated, but she had to know Raisa had logic on her side. Eventually, she nodded.

Raisa left her bag with St. Ivany and then headed out of the coffee shop. She eyed the house as she crossed the street at a light jog.

She had a feeling there would be windows somewhere near the ground if the basement had been used as an apartment. Most people wouldn’t rent something without at least a little bit of light.

Tall bushes flanked the sides of the house, and Raisa headed toward them—after checking to see if there were any passersby about to call the cops on her.

When she felt confident she had the all clear, she ducked behind one of the plants. It was substantial enough to completely hide her from the street.

Right where she expected, there was a window. Only about a foot by two feet, not enough to slip through, but wide enough to at least check inside.

Raisa dropped to the ground and water immediately soaked into the knees of her jeans.

She took a deep breath and then shifted to peer through the window.

And there ... there was Delaney.

Her back was to Raisa, but her long braid and profile were distinct enough that Raisa could tell, even at a glance, at this awkward angle, that it was her sister.

As if she’d heard the thought, Delaney whipped around.

Instinct had Raisa flattening herself to the wall, her breathing tight.

Delaney hadn’t seen her, she was sure of it.

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