Page 65 of Landon (In Safe Hands)
Thesecurity light outside Landon’s house comes on as I park underneath it. His caris in the drive, but it doesn’t look like any of the other ISH guys are here. Itake a deep breath and try to rein in my emotions before climbing out of thecar.
Landon’sfront door is ajar. A chill runs through me as thoughts of every horror movieI’ve seen run through my head. Am I going to be the stupid girl who goes in,the one I always yell at? It appears so. I can’t call the cops, not from ISHheadquarters. I’ll just go in and see if everything is okay.
Windhowls through the trees, making the scene a lot creepier, and I jump when a catdarts across the yard. As quietly as possible, I make my way up the steps andacross the porch, which creaks in way too many places. If someone is justinside, they’ve surely heard me by now, but I can’t stop. I have to know ifhe’s okay.
Hisliving room lights are on, as is the T.V., and a bottle of soda sits on thecoffee table next to the remote. Nothing is out of place. It’s everything I cando not to call out his name, but something just doesn’t feel right to me.
Iapproach the room they use for ISH, and I’m rooted to the spot as terror likeI’ve never experienced grips me. Everything slows down and I can hear myheartbeat in my ears. My brain can’t seem to process what I’m seeing and mygaze sweeps over the room, trying to take in the blood, the destruction.“Landon?” The word comes out lower than a whisper.
Akeyboard hangs by its cord from one of the desks, dangling above a puddle ofblood. Bloody footprints are smeared across the floor, and droplets decoratethe nearby wall. Even in my panic, I’m careful not to step in the blood ortouch anything. “Landon!” I yell, desperately hoping he’ll walk in and explainwhat happened. There’s nothing but the sound of the wind whipping around thehouse.
Irun to check every room, but he’s gone. My hands feel numb and it takes me twotries to press the right buttons to call Dare. He answers on the second ring.
“Zoe?”
“Dare!He’s gone and there’s blood. And a monitor is broken, but his car is here.” Iramble on, talking so fast it’s a wonder he can even understand me.
“Zoe!Listen to me.” The way he barks my name makes me stop and listen.
“I-I’mlistening.”
“Don’tcall the police. I’m on my way to you right now. Lock the front door and onlyopen it to me, do you understand?”
“Yes,please hurry.”
“Fiveminutes,” he says. I take Dare’s advice and lock the door, though it seemsunnecessary now. I doubt whoever did this is coming back. It’s a good thingLandon has hardwood floors instead of carpet since I’d have worn it away pacingback and forth throughout the house, a million possible scenarios runningthrough my head, each one worse than the last.
There’sa lot of blood, but that doesn’t mean he’s fatally wounded, right? Headinjuries bleed a lot. Hell, Ethan has had nose bleeds that scared the shit outof me. He could’ve gone to the hospital. I should call the hospitals!
Thefact that his car hasn’t left the drive doesn’t occur to me until I’ve alreadycalled the two main hospitals in our area and been told he isn’t there.
Trueto his word, Dare shows up five minutes later with Justus and Jeremy in tow.They scan the scene for a moment before Justus and Jeremy jump on the twoundamaged computers. “What are they doing?” I cry. “We need to find him…or callthe cops, or something!”
“They’relooking for him. If this is someone who figured out who he is and what he does,the evidence will be there.” His eyes meet mine. “We’ll find him. When was thelast time you heard from him?”
“Alittle after ten. He said he was coming over.”
Dareproduces his phone and tries to call Landon’s. When he gets sent to voicemail,he hangs up and starts touching the screen again. “We have an app where we cantrack each other, just in case there’s an emergency.”
“There’snothing here,” Justus announces. “Nothing to suggest he’s been doxed.”
“Everythingappears to be secure,” Jeremy agrees.
“Shit.I almost had a track on him. It lead to the woods beside Cowler Lake, but thenit failed. It’s possible the phone is off or the battery is dead.”
“Whatnow?” I ask.
“Now,you go home and we’ll find him,” Jeremy replies.
“You’reout of your fucking mind if you think I’m not going with you. It’s nearly dawn.What if he can’t get out of the sun?”
Dareslides his hand under my jaw. “You want to go with us, you do what I say when Isay it, do you understand? If I tell you to run or hide, you fucking do it nomatter what’s going on. Landon will never forgive me if I put you in danger.”
“Whateveryou tell me,” I promise.
Jeremyholds up Landon’s sun proof suit and Dare nods. “Then let’s go find him.”
Dareand Jeremy ride in the front seat of Dare’s SUV while I sit on the edge of theback seat, chewing my nails to the bone. Justus follows behind us in his truck.Jeremy keeps trying to track Landon’s cell, but it must be turned off.
