Page 60 of The Obvious Check

She scoffs lightly, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it, either. I almost didn’t accept the call since I didn’t recognize the number. Whose phone are you using?”

I glance around the empty apartment, my gaze landing on Stanley, who’s next to me, his tail thumping lazily. “It’s my friend Cade’s iPad.”

“Friend?” Someone off-screen snorts.

Adley rolls her eyes, shifting the camera. “Sav, meet Briar. My… uh, foster sister.”

The screen moves and suddenly I’m staring at a girl with tangled dark hair and sharp, unreadable eyes. She’s sitting on a bare mattress, her arms crossed over her chest like she’s not sure she wants to be part of this. I get it. I know the feeling of being letdown so many times that you instinctively push everyone away. Even people who are going through the same thing as you.

“Hey,” she mutters.

“Hey, Briar. I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Ditto.”

My focus drifts past her to the attic behind them, and my stomach twists. They both live up there, and it’s tiny. The walls are barely insulated. There are patches of exposed wood in places that should be covered, and with the single, grimy window letting in a weak trickle of daylight, it can’t be warm. There’s no rug. No decorations. There’s just a pile of thin blankets, a dented space heater, and books stacked against the wall.

Something inside me snaps. “Adley, is this your room?” My voice comes out quiet and careful when inside I’m angry. Frustrated that my sister has to live like that. How could anyone think thatthose peopleare doing what’s best for her?

She offers me a sheepish smile, shrugging. “It’s fine. Briar and I are at school most of the time anyway.”

I press my lips together, forcing myself to swallow the anger rising up my throat. It’s not fine. It’s not even close to fine, and I’m led to wonder if this is how Cade felt when he found me sleeping in my car and making excuses for it.

Losing it won’t help her, though. I can’t afford to get a plane ticket over there just to berate her foster parents. I have to play by the rules they set, otherwise I risk losing Adley forever.

“I’m going to get you out of there,” I say. It’s not a question. Not a thought. It’s a promise. “You too, Briar. If you want it.” Okay, that might be me overstating what I can do, and I’m sure they both know it, but they don’t react to it.

“Are you warm enough up there?” I ask.

“It’s not that bad here, Sav. I promise. School’s pretty good.”

Briar lets out a laugh, and I immediately know there’s more to it than what Adley’s saying.

“What’s wrong with school, Briar?” I know she has no need to tell me what I want to hear.

Briar seems a little surprised, and Adley moves the camera so they’re both in view. “There’s a bitch in my year named Carissa. Stupid name, right? She’s terrible.”

“Is she mean?” I ask, looking back at my sister, watching her face, hoping I can tell if she’s lying to me or not.

“Only sometimes with me. She’s worse to Briar,” she admits.

“What does she do?”

“Nothing worth talking about since it’s not going to change my situation,” Briar says monotonously.

“Yet,” I whisper just as Stanley lifts his head and licks my cheek. His way of letting me know he wants me to scratch him behind the ears.

“Wait, is that a dog?” Adley asks.

“Yeah, it’s Cade’s,” I say, smiling. “His name is Stanley.”

“He looks like a bear.”

I laugh, rubbing the spot he requested. “He kind of acts like one, too.”

Adley shakes her head, her smile matching mine, and for a second, everything feels normal. Like we aren’t thousands of miles away and haven’t seen each other in years.

But then the girls freeze, and I hear a loud bang. Something passes between the two of them, making my stomach knot.

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