Page 53 of Splintered Memories
My spine stiffened. “And the security system?”
A deep line formed between Fox’s brows. “It was disarmed.”
My eyes widened. “Disarmed?”
He nodded. “It was disarmed shortly before the fire. Whoever did this knew the code and had gotten in the house by disarming the system. They probably disengaged the fire alarms, too. All but the one in the room you were sleeping in.”
Nausea roiled inside me. I looked back at Emersyn, wanting to gauge her reaction to this information. She only stared, her eyes glassy and unfocused as if she hadn’t heard a word.
Lark glanced from Emersyn’s blank expression to mine, her mouth thinning with worry. Her fingers tightened around Emersyn’s hand, as if she could hold her friend together by the simple action.
My voice was soft as I spoke next, low and soothing. “Emy?” A shred of relief hit me as Emersyn blinked. Her eyes found mine, still glassy, but I had some of her attention. “Did you give the code to the security system to anyone?”
I’d advised her to keep it to only the two of us for safety reasons, but Emersyn was nothing if not her own person, and I couldn’t forbid her from doing anything.
She gave me three, agonizingly slow blinks before she answered. “No.” She frowned. “No one except for my brother.”
My heart sank, and as if someone had turned on the lights, Emersyn’s eyes widened.
Her lips parted in shock. “Oh,” she gasped. “Jake. I have to call him. He’ll be worried.”
She looked around herself, patting the thighs of her sweats where there were no pockets. Her panic seemed to escalate when she didn’t find what she was looking for: her phone. She hadn’t grabbed it from the house before we fled.
“It’s okay,” Lark said, before I could. “You can use my phone.”
Emersyn watched her friend as she handed over the phone. She stared at it a beat before she nodded. “Thanks.”
We were all silent as Emersyn called her brother. She didn’t seem aware of that, though. The call went to what I assumed was voicemail and she left a message.
“Hey, Jake.” Her voice trembled on his name, but she cleared her throat. “It’s me. I wanted to let you know that I’m fine. Call me back when you can.” She hesitated before whispering, “I love you.”
She gave the phone back to Lark, that blank stare shifting into raw anxiety.
I shared a glance with Fox.
Emersyn’s brother was an interesting character. I didn’t know him well, but in a town this small, people knew most other people’s business. Jake Hawthorn was the son of the former mayor—a good Americanboy, until he wasn’t. Everyone knew about his descent into infamy, of the trouble he fell into with drugs and alcoholism.
Knowing what I know now, about what he went through growing up, I didn’t judge him. Emersyn was so proud of him for getting sober and cleaning himself up.
But Jake also had an air of instability about him. He had been around Emersyn’s house a lot recently, worried about his sister. Yet, how much did I really know about Jake?
My gaze flicked to Fox, and he gave me an almost imperceptible nod. He knew what I was thinking.
I needed more information about him. I needed to know where he was and where he’d gone, especially tonight.
Taking out my phone, the phone I had kept with me even through the fire, I sent Fox a text with Jake’s phone number and address. He slipped from the room without another word, no doubt to exit out the back door and head to the Hearthstone office and his computer.
My brothers didn’t ask where he went, just continued on as if it never happened.
Graham, who’d lingered quietly near the corner, stepped toward the group. His gaze flicked to Emersyn, who was staring down at her lap.
I crossed my arms back over my chest, appraising my brother. “What do you think?” I asked him.
He had given me a profile of Emersyn’s possible attacker like I’d asked of him two weeks ago, though it hadn’t been much help. The conclusion that he had come to was that the way in which Emersyn had been attacked didn’t fit with the Shadow Stalker’s profile.
Graham ran his knuckles along his jaw as he studied Emersyn. “I wish I could be more helpful.” The corner of his mouth dipped in apensive frown. “I thought I had more of a grasp of what was going on here, but now I’m not so sure.”
My eyes narrowed on him. “What do you mean?”
