Page 50 of Say Nothing
TPHUBT PH-RD BAOURD
Her mind worked to rearrange the letters into words that made sense.It was meant for her, she knew it, she just had to make sense to it, but that was impossible.She said the words over and over in her mind, trying to hear sounds that made sense, but it was still the same garbled mess.
What game are you playing with me?Is that the game?I’m not supposed to understand it, but I obsess over it until it drives me crazy.Is it a distraction?
"There," Derek said.
He stopped the vehicle behind someone who was about to pull out of their space, and the car behind honked in frustration.The car in front pulled out when Derek stopped, and the car behind tried to quickly pull around, almost hitting the first car as it pulled.Both cars honked loudly at each other, and probably at Derek, too.It was a trumpeting fanfare that everyone around heard.
Including whoever was in the house.
Derek pulled into the spot and stopped the car.
"You’re staying where you are and I mean it this time," Derek warned."Someone got into your home to deliver that warning.You’re not setting foot in that house until I clear it.Do you understand me?"
She’d never heard Derek talk so authoritatively to her, and even though she didn't like it or anything about the situation, she knew he was right.
"I won't move from here until you come back," she replied."Just don't take long, okay?The longer you’re gone, the more I’ll worry, and I will come after you at some point."
"I’ll be in and out, and I’m bringing the suspect with me," he told her.
"Just be careful," she said.She reached over and patted his hand, and it felt like the most intimate thing she’d ever done.
Derek placed a hand atop hers as her hand was on his."I’ll be back," he told her.
His jaw tightened when he exited the vehicle and marched toward the unassuming red brick house.She watched as he walked up the four steps to the front door and knocked.She couldn’t see the door, but something in the way he held himself told her something was off.Derek stepped forward and entered the house.
It must have been unlocked, and when he knocked, the door opened inward.Alison was tempted at that point to get out of the vehicle and follow him in.If the door was unlocked and open, then something was wrong.
"Where’s the backup?"she muttered.She looked down the street and in the side mirror to see behind.There was no sign of a patrol car.
The wait was agonizing.She stared at the front door of the house, trying to count the seconds in her head.How long was she supposed to wait before following him in?Had someone grabbed him as soon as he entered the house?Was he already dead?
She knew only seconds were ticking, but each felt like a minute, and that was a long time when stepping into the unknown.If a patrol car arrived and a couple of officers followed him in, she would feel much better, but Derek was gone, and no one was there to help him.
"Come on, where are you?"
Alison couldn’t bear it any longer.She got out of the car and stood by the vehicle for a moment, knowing that Derek wouldn’t want her anywhere near the house, especially if he were in trouble.That’s why she had to go.If he were in trouble, she could see him.Or, she might also die.
She was the one they wanted.
Alison was about to move to the house when the phone rang.She took it from her pocket to see that Derek was calling her.
She answered."Hello?"
"You need to get in here," he said."You have to see this."
Alison breathed a sigh of relief.She walked toward the house with almost a skip in her step, up the four steps to the door, and into the darkness.
It was only once she was inside that she wondered if it could be a trap.Had they captured him and forced him to make the call.
Alison brought the phone back to her ear."Derek?"
The line was dead
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Alison immediately shoved the phone back into her pocket and drew her gun.She was in the house now, and if they had Derek, then she wasn’t running away.He had put his life on the line many times for her, so she would put her life on the line for him.
